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Technology Bytes
by Francine Brokaw
San Disk Sansa e130 MP3 Player
Weighing a mere 1.8 ounces (with the battery), this portable unit is much more than an MP3 player. First of all, there is really no installation necessary in order to use the unit. Just plug the USB plug into the unit and connect it to your Windows based (XP or 2000) computer and it will automatically recognize the Sansa player and install the necessary hardware, which is minimal. Then all you do is drag your music to the unit and you’re ready to go! How simple is that? There is no programming necessary or any technical mumbo jumbo to learn. Just drag and drop your music to the player. That’s all there is to it. Now you have up to 16 hours of playback for WMA formatted music and 8 hours for MP3 formatted music on the single AAA battery. This translates to roughly 240 and 120 songs, respectively. That’s a lot of music. With the optional SD memory cards (up to 2 GB more memory), you can take a big portion of your music library with you wherever you go.
Reading the contents of your unit is easy with the backlit screen. There are four lines on the display showing the artist, album, song title and other information. This lets you see exactly what is playing on your system at any given time.
With a digital FM tuner and up to 20 preset stations, you know you will always have new music wherever you go. And, there is a built-in stopwatch so you can time your walk or your child’s activities.
Now, because this unit is more than a simple music player, you can use it to store your data files for transporting or for safe keeping. You don’t have to use the space strictly for music.
Also there is some additional bundled software that is included in the package. All you do is install the software from the enclosed disc to get even more out of the player. San Disk gives you several trial subscriptions to different services. The additional software includes a free trial to Rhapsody, a digital music service with over a million songs in its library. There is also a free trial for Audio Feast, a digital quality radio service with over 400 commercial free stations. And included in the package is a free trial to Audible.com, where you can download audio books to play on your unit. With audio books you can listen to a good book while you are doing other things, like relaxing on the beach. This is a fun way to catch up on your reading list and to enjoy a good book with your eyes closed, if you wish!
The San Disk Sansa e130 MP3 player is a good quality unit that is easy to use and expandable with additional memory cards. And, with the free bonus trials you can try out several services and decide if you want to subscribe after the trial runs out. Because it weighs almost nothing and measures approximately 2”x3” and is about ½” deep, it will easily fit into a pocket, however it comes with a case and an arm band to use while you’re off on your daily run. With high quality earpieces, this is one solid little unit.
© 2005 Francine Brokaw
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