Product consistency vs. other brands?

[d_headshot]

I always see posts about sansa product defects, problems, issues, etc. and was wondering the product consistency compared to other brands. Now don't get me wrong, sandisk has great products and for the ones that don't have any problems they are very good media players. Every company has batches of defective products and etc., and most problems may come from people's computers or how they use it but compared to other brands, how do you think sandisk ranks?

[CrowdAds]

[Enigmatic]

Originally Posted by d_headshot

I always see posts about sansa product defects, problems, issues, etc. and was wondering the product consistency compared to other brands. Now don't get me wrong, sandisk has great products and for the ones that don't have any problems they are very good media players. Every company has batches of defective products and etc., and most problems may come from people's computers or how they use it but compared to other brands, how do you think sandisk ranks?

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2211428,00.asp

[chromableed]

maybe it's just me but the problems I see most(i work retail) with sandisk mp3 players are not software bugs or hardware defects--But just plain BAD design.

Most of their devices aren't particularly elegant or functional--and unless you are a 'computer person', or have had a SanDisk player before, they are NOT intuitive either.

(this is an old example but still) For example, I tried to get a sansa(several actually) for my dad. Now he is not a 'techie' or anything, but he does use a computer everyday for work, and know his way around a computer pretty well. He wanted to make a simple workout playlist and transfer it to his player.... 6 months later even with my help there still seems to be no easy, intuitive way to do such a simple thing. (although there was third party software available on this site to help with the playlists, something this basic should have 'just worked')

sansa mp3 players get returned all the time at my store just because customers get so frusterated just trying to get songs on the device that they give up entirely(I myself had dificulty helping my father set up syncing when first he did not have the 'latest' version of WMP, and then had to try to explain the difference between MTP and MSC)

[dgb52]

Originally Posted by chromableed

maybe it's just me but the problems I see most(i work retail) with sandisk mp3 players are not software bugs or hardware defects--But just plain BAD design.

Most of their devices aren't particularly elegant or functional--and unless you are a 'computer person', or have had a SanDisk player before, they are NOT intuitive either.

(this is an old example but still) For example, I tried to get a sansa(several actually) for my dad. Now he is not a 'techie' or anything, but he does use a computer everyday for work, and know his way around a computer pretty well. He wanted to make a simple workout playlist and transfer it to his player.... 6 months later even with my help there still seems to be no easy, intuitive way to do such a simple thing. (although there was third party software available on this site to help with the playlists, something this basic should have 'just worked')

sansa mp3 players get returned all the time at my store just because customers get so frusterated just trying to get songs on the device that they give up entirely(I myself had dificulty helping my father set up syncing when first he did not have the 'latest' version of WMP, and then had to try to explain the difference between MTP and MSC)

I think i have to disagree, i think they are very easy to use, i just copy and paste everything to my players. but i think making playlists is more of wmp or what other kind of software you use than a sandisk problem. as for the way they look i think my e200's and my clip look great

[d_headshot]

Originally Posted by chromableed

maybe it's just me but the problems I see most(i work retail) with sandisk mp3 players are not software bugs or hardware defects--But just plain BAD design.

Most of their devices aren't particularly elegant or functional--and unless you are a 'computer person', or have had a SanDisk player before, they are NOT intuitive either.

(this is an old example but still) For example, I tried to get a sansa(several actually) for my dad. Now he is not a 'techie' or anything, but he does use a computer everyday for work, and know his way around a computer pretty well. He wanted to make a simple workout playlist and transfer it to his player.... 6 months later even with my help there still seems to be no easy, intuitive way to do such a simple thing. (although there was third party software available on this site to help with the playlists, something this basic should have 'just worked')

sansa mp3 players get returned all the time at my store just because customers get so frusterated just trying to get songs on the device that they give up entirely(I myself had dificulty helping my father set up syncing when first he did not have the 'latest' version of WMP, and then had to try to explain the difference between MTP and MSC)

What player and firmware are you using? Have you tried dragging and dropping the playlist file in to the player's internal memory? IMO, the best and easiest way to transfer files to an mp3 player is to drag and drop them directly on to the player as a MSC device.

[FreeZ5]

Originally Posted by chromableed

(although there was third party software available on this site to help with the playlists, something this basic should have 'just worked')

sansa mp3 players get returned all the time at my store just because customers get so frusterated just trying to get songs on the device that they give up entirely(I myself had dificulty helping my father set up syncing when first he did not have the 'latest' version of WMP, and then had to try to explain the difference between MTP and MSC)

Yeah I know what you mean. I have a friend who plays World of Warcraft a LOT!!! Even has two computers so that both can play it at the same time. He has to get a friend to install simple add-ons cause if it ain't WoW he's lost.

He probably won't be able to figure out his new Clip either. He has had two excellent chances to ask me, and he got the Clip because I really like mine. But did he ask? No. Thats a Clip that will get returned, or won't get used.

Playlists. On my Fuze with Vista, I just dragged a bunch of songs over to it. Highlighted them and right clicked because I was going to pop them into Winamp. Saw a Create Playlist line. Playlist created and it worked. Pretty damn basic, wouldn't you say?

Steve