Sansa Clip feature request list

[PromisedPlanet]

Originally Posted by macilaci457

Please, I need file browsing!
I have too many Unknown Artist

I know it's not what you're asking for, but ... have you considered using a program like MP3Tag to set the song tags based on the file name? You could do this directly on the Clip in MSC mode, for songs that have been synced via MSC.

[macilaci457]

Originally Posted by PromisedPlanet

I know it's not what you're asking for, but ... have you considered using a program like MP3Tag to set the song tags based on the file name? You could do this directly on the Clip in MSC mode, for songs that have been synced via MSC.

I'll give that a try, thanks.

[pannayar]

Get rid of the super bright circular light that IMHO does not achieve any purpose at all, but is probably a unnecessary drain on the battery. If the designer of that light is so enamored with it, keep it as an option!

include somekind of an power-saving option where the screen does not turn on during volume changing or skipping tracks -- which is a frequent operation in the gym etc (for which this player is extremely well suited).

to hell with the sansa firmware updater! When I used the Sansa Updater, it downloaded the manual, but failed to update the firmware from 1.01.11 to 1.01.17, with the message in red "The installation failed, please try again later. Thank you for using Sansa Updater". This is THE most senseless & useless message I have ever come across from a software program.

And the user manual, when it describes some of the settings (like the volume setting) -- says how to "execute" the steps to change the setting (which almost anyone can figure out pretty easily) -- and not saying anything about what the setting does -- not a bit useful at all.

Some kind of backlight always off mode?

[johnnyz86]

a lot of good things here.

a minor thing: 2 min power off.. 1 min too short, 5 mins too long.
-customizable eq
-file information mode (my understanding is it was taken out with 18?)

[Kilgore Trout]

Originally Posted by PromisedPlanet

Consistency is definitely important but I like the fact that hitting any button activates the display. This is useful when the backlight has gone off, and you want to quickly see what song is playing. I could see this being firmware-settable.

Wishlist items for me:
1) Supply default values for blank tag fields (maybe "Unknown"?), so songs with blank tag fields can be added to database.
2) Yes! MSC mode selectable via firmware.
3) Option to set backlight to "always on." Why not?

As for keeping the backlight on all the time, here is a quote from the official Sandisk Clip Forum:

"Our Sansa Clips have OLED displays that wear out much quicker than backlit LCD displays, so keeping it on all the time would probably not be the best idea. (5000 hours, or about 208 days always on is the lifespan of typical OLED displays, and blue pixels are said to wear out the quickest)"

In an answer to another question about leaving the clip plugged into a USB port for extended periods of time, it was stated that although this would not harm the battery, the clock would be ticking on the OLED display's limited lifetime.

You can't really answer this question without knowing the expected lifetime of the battery itself, which has more to do with the number of charge / discharge cycles than with hours of operation. Leaving the backlight on all the time would presumably force you to recharge your Clip more often, and therefore shorten the overall life expectancy of the device itself. ( I'm assuming that once the battery fails, it will be time to re-cycle the product.)

Suggested improvements?

> Save the OLED display by having it turn off after a few minutes when plugged into a USB port. Inform users that it should never take more than 3 hours to fully recharge their Clip and tell them how to check the condition of the battery via the "Properties" window.

> Upon removal from a USB port, the device should assume an OFF state. There is no reason why the device should power up by itself when unplugged from a charger. This is especially true if it was locked in the OFF position when placed in the charger.

> It would be nice to change the FM reception mode from stereo to mono directly from within the Radio option menu without having to exit the radio and going to the Settings menu to do this. Although with this radio there seems to be very little difference between Stereo & Mono, the mono mode usually greatly reduces the noise level on weak stations.

> Expand the Options under the PRESS & HOLD menu to include "Add Preset"
"Stereo / Mono"
"Delete Song"

[macilaci457]

According to the above informations about the display:

I would like the ability to NOT turn on the display for a simple operation. The best would be a display on-off function on the center button instead the spectrum analizer, which seems to be only an eye-catcher since the display is turning off after a few seconds anyway ( but I know, it looks cool ).

I second that the sandisk animation is not needed for charging. For me, it is a positive thing that the Clip goes on after a cable removal, since I usually charge it when I copy files too in msc mode, and because there are still problems with some files, I wouldn't be happy, if the refreshing database operation would stop because of a bad file, after I left home.

A skip function would be necessary for in-player database building!

[Mikerman]

In response to one of the above, Rockbox does not currently offer REW and FF with sound (unfortuately, in my humble opinion; and its only real lapse).

Given the Clip's form factor, I wasn't sure if Rockbox really is well-suited to the Clip. But it could be sweet to see.

[kukrapok]

My choices, by order of importance:

- gap-less (very important, can't stand those Pink Floyd and instrumental albums being cut like this - eeek!)

- be able to decrease the display brightness YET MORE. Here it's set to the minimum and it's still a lil' bit too bright by night (from under the blankets). BTW, as a sub-feature request, it would be nice if the blue circle light could follow the display brightness level, still by night and under the blankets I can't look to the Clip directly because the blue circle light is way too bright, I have to spin the Clip a bit so that we're not face-to-face or put fingers onto the circle.

- EQ to apply to radio. Radio sound here is way too loud and doesn't seem to react to EQ changes (my Nokia 6136 does apply EQ to radio - can't tell me it's not possible). Since sound is often too loud, I've set the custom EQ to be a low-level volume setting, but unfortunately it doesn't apply to radio!

- OGG support (less important, but it's itchy to have to convert each time)

- some hidden options or features ;-)


FYI: I'm using a Sansa Clip (M350) 2GB accessed from GNU/Linux, firmware 1.01.18A.

[kukrapok]

I'd add this one to my personal list of feature request:

- quick profiles changing

so that you can define several settings profiles that you quickly switch to. Profiles should include powersaving, volume, brightness, custom EQ settings. This would allow users to switch from indoor (quiet) to outdoor (sports, loud volume environment, etc.) and night (very quiet, less brightness) mode more quickly than having to set all settings one by one.

[PromisedPlanet]

Originally Posted by Kilgore Trout

"Our Sansa Clips have OLED displays that wear out much quicker than backlit LCD displays, so keeping it on all the time would probably not be the best idea. (5000 hours, or about 208 days always on is the lifespan of typical OLED displays, and blue pixels are said to wear out the quickest)"

In an answer to another question about leaving the clip plugged into a USB port for extended periods of time, it was stated that although this would not harm the battery, the clock would be ticking on the OLED display's limited lifetime.

Interesting ... thanks. So as someone mentioned, the display really should turn off while charging, at some point. Maybe temporarily reactivated when a button is pressed.

[kukrapok]

FYI, it's off while charging if you use a standalone charger (carplug-charger-usb-clip or wallplug-charger-usb-clip), as there's no data link w/ any computer.

[epithetless]

Originally Posted by amkaos

all songs and playlists [should] display no matter if you transfer in mtp or msc.

Originally Posted by Technikal

- Better support for non-MS OS's - ex: better consistency between MTP and MSC connections, published specs for playlists

I very much agree with the above. I would like to see the following:

- All songs/files transferred in MTP mode should be visible when connected to a computer in MSC mode and vice versa.
- Implementation of M3U playlists to allow playlist creation in MSC mode.

Also, a bug: Because the Clip seems to keep MSC and MTP transfers separate, it duplicates artists/albums/songs in its Music menu that have been transferred using both methods, even with the exact same MP3 file. I came across this bug when making playlists in MTP mode (the only workable method, as far as I can tell) of songs that had already been transferred to the device in MSC mode. In my mind, duplicate entries are a no-no.

[jaylicht]

In order of importance to me:
1. Support AAC (.m4a) (other non-iPod players now have this)
2. Agree on gapless playback (I realize this isn't totally easy)
3. Agree: Just give me the firmware file to copy to my clip. We don't need a masquerade of wizardry in Windows only to do this.
4. Agree on a better weighted volume scale done
5. Agree on being able to add songs to an ongoing playlist queue while it is playing closer
6. Agree that button light is not needed (make it optional)
7. Finer battery indicator increments done

Update: Thanks for fixing the phantom files from the Mac.

[Misterkyu]

Well, I just got my brother the new Sansa Clip 2GB and it's working quite nicely and really think it's cool. Well, I don't know what's missing or should be needed yet, but I noticed that there's no clock on it. Maybe a clock would be nice, but it would be too much for such a small screen.

[FreeZ5]

Originally Posted by Misterkyu

Well, I just got my brother the new Sansa Clip 2GB and it's working quite nicely and really think it's cool. Well, I don't know what's missing or should be needed yet, but I noticed that there's no clock on it. Maybe a clock would be nice, but it would be too much for such a small screen.

I'm going to agree that a clock would be nice. I was recently sitting on an airplane listening to my Clip wondering what time it was. Since I don't wear a watch, I needed to find an electronic device with a clock. My Zen Stone doesn't have a screen. Oh yeah, my Samsung YP-Z5. Damn I put it in my checked baggage.

On the return trip I made sure that my Canon SD600 was handy and that the clock was accurate.

Steve

[Misterkyu]

Yeah those are the reasons why I want a clock. You never know, but the time is always important.

[kukrapok]

Maybe adding a clock means adding extra electronics or circuitry and that's definitely not possible thru a firmware upgrade :-) (would anyone confirm that it would need hardware changes?). And BTW that would suck the battery even when the device is off, maybe not a good thing for such small battery even if the leak is small.

[dfkt]

There certainly must be an internal clock on the Clip already, otherwise certain DRMed tracks wouldn't work. There's also this quarter circle icon in the upper part of the display for said DRM tracks, reminding you to update the license. The battery on the Clip already drains like there's no tomorrow - after one week of no usage, it's gone down to below half capacity for me.

BTW, Enzo posted parts of this thread to the front page. http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archi...sansa-clip.php

[kukrapok]

Interesting. During the first hours I used the Sansa Clip, I noticed that a clock was missing too, so I'd second this request, even if minor to me.

[PromisedPlanet]

I guess at this point my biggest request would be to have play counts maintained on the Clip and then synced back to the songs on my PC. I don't know if it would be a simple firmware change to fix this. I really like my "Songs I Haven't Heard Yet" playlist, and I rarely listen to music on my PC.