Suprisingly Impressed by the Shaker

I love my iPod and it is definitely my primary mp3 player. However, there was recently a deal I could not pass up on the Sandisk Shaker. Through buy.com, using Google Checkout ($10 off for new members) you could get the Sandisk Shaker for $1.77 with free shipping. How could you resist? So I did it, thinking it would be a nice alternative to the iPod Video for the gym.

Reading the reviews online, I can't say I was expecting much.

I received my Sandisk Shaker a few days after ordering it. It came in a plastic box (the kind that are impossible to open without cutting yourself and muttering a few curse words).

Included were:
The mp3 player
A pair of headphones
A USB cable
User guides
A AAA battery
512mb Sandisk SD card

Setup was easy enough (after you got the box open- there was nothing easy about that). It was slightly difficult to figure out how to pop off the bottom (lightly twist and pull), but once you got it off, it was obvious where the card and battery went.

The packaging informed me that the Sandisk Shaker would only work with a windows computer. I use a Mac. However, it's been my experience several times in the past that things that supposedly don't work will miraculously work with no installation on my Mac. So I decided to plug it in and give it a go.

I was right.

The Sandisk Shaker showed up as an external drive on my desktop. Clicking on it allowed me to delete the included kid's songs (Old McDonald, et al). From there, I simply dragged and dropped the songs I wanted from iTunes onto the disk.

Worked like a charm.

Pros
The Sandisk Shaker has many features not typically found on mp3 players geared for adults.

I like the built in speaker. It's not the best quality song, and audiophiles will be disappointed, but it's decent. It's best at average volume, with sounds getting distorted at higher volumes. The quality is better than I expected. I would call it par with base model computer speakers.

I like the SD card as a medium for music. This allows me to have one SD card for the gym, one for the car, and one for falling asleep to with my typical music for each event on it. Obviously play lists are one way to do this on higher end mp3 players, but hey, we're talking basic here. SD cards are also an affordable and convenient way to add music. They're small and portable, and a 1 gig SD card can be had for $15 if you know where to look these days.

The Sandisk Shaker has 2 headphone jacks, for listening with a friend. This is awesome! I can't tell you how many times on plane trips with my sister I have wanted this feature.

The headphones that came with it are nicer than those that came with my iPod. They're ear buds, but they're cushioned for comfort, and the long cable is nice for using the dual headphone feature or at the gym. The sound quality is decent.

The controls are very clear and concise. The top knob spins to control volume. The play/pause button acts as a play/pause button and the power button. The bottom knob allows you to skip forward or go back a song. Holding the play/pause button and shaking the shaker causes it to randomly skip to another song. I'm glad it doesn't skip every time it shakes.

Finally, the bottom of the player has a rubber grip so it can easily be sat on a surface and not slide around.

Cons
Besides the awful blood-letting packaging?

The shape. It's shaped like a salt shaker. This means don't plan on carrying it in your pocket (Is that an mp3 player in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?). It's also awkward to hang around your neck for a run (I'm just making myself sound so athletic today!), it will just bounce around, unlike the nice built in clip with the iPod Shuffle. A hook-style clip is included with the Shaker, but that just makes things worse.

The single AAA battery isn't rechargable (though I suppose you could try rechargables). Time will tell how good battery life is.

A light flashes continuously when it's on. This is irritating, and I imagine is drains the batteries, but it's nice for identifying if it's on when it's suppose to be off (kid in bed, or accidentally left on).

There's no screen, though I imagine that's a given on an mp3 player in this price range.

When switching songs, there's momentary static between songs. I haven't found this to be overly devastating yet.

A "fun" sound plays are start up and when a song is skipped that I could deal without, but this is a minor issue.

Finally, I could have done without the pre-loaded songs, though those are easily dealt with.

Summary
Overall, you cannot beat the deal I got on this and it is way better than I ever imagined it would be.

It's geared at kids, though I see no reason why adults cannot enjoy it.

Time will tell more on the quality, but it feels well built and Sandisk is reputable. It comes with a one year warranty.

I'm happy with my purchase and would recommend this.