MaximumPC 2007 07

reviews Tes Ted. Reviewed. veRdic Tized

78 MAXIMUMPC july 2007

M

edia players—other than Apple’s

largely overrated iPods, that is—are

rapidly approaching commodity

status. Cowon and SanDisk have taken very

different approaches by adding features that

set their products apart from the hundreds

of others crowding store shelves.

—Michael Brown

SanDiSk SanSa

connect 4GB

Microsoft’s idea of letting people share their

favorite songs using a wireless connection

was as botched in execution as it was bril-

liant in conception. SanDisk’s Sansa Connect

makes much more sense, although it requires

users who want to share to cough up the $12-

to $15-per-month subscription fee for Yahoo’s

Music Unlimited to Go service.

Unlike the Zune’s silly wire-

less-sharing capability, the Sansa

Connect’s networking feature

is useful, even if you’re not

interested in sharing or renting

music. The device can join any

Wi-Fi network (with support for

WEP, WPA, or WPA2 security,

but not Enterprise authentica-

tion) and it uses two free Yahoo services:

Launchcast Internet radio and the Flickr

photo-sharing service.

The Internet radio service is particu-

larly cool because it uses the Zing Mobile

Entertainment Engine to automatically create

playlists based on the songs you’ve listened

to. This works much like the Internet services

Pandora and Last.fm do on the PC, and it’s a

terrific way to discover new artists.

Although the Sansa Connect sounds

very good, we do wish SanDisk hadn’t limit-

ed the player to just MP3, WMA, and secure

WMA audio formats at maximum bitrates of

320Kb/s VBR. We find ourselves increas-

ingly enamored with the pristine quality of

losslessly encoded music (FLAC, WMA loss-

less, etc.), which it doesn’t support at all. We

do understand the file-size drawbacks: The

Tower of Power tune “What Is Hip?” requires

about 8MB of storage when encoded (using

EAC and LAME) in MP3 format at 320Kb/s

VBR, compared to nearly 36MB when

encoded using EAC and FLAC.

We dig the wireless networking feature

and it sounds fabulous at the bitrates and file

formats it does support. SanDisk tells us they

could support lossless formats with a firmware

update, so we’re hoping to see that in the next

go-round.

cowon D2

Cowon provides a wealth of choice where

SanDisk sets severe limits: The D2 supports

not only MP3, WMA, and secure WMA, but

also OGG, FLAC, and even WAV.

But if you’re planning to fill your player

with losslessly encoded tracks, drop the

extra $30 for the model with 4GB of flash

memory. Both players include an SD slot,

which renders their storage capacity virtually

unlimited, but 2GB is just not enough for a

large library of tracks encoded with even a

lossy codec.

The D2 doesn’t have anything as unique

as wireless networking, but it does offer

several features the Sansa Connect does

not, including video support (320x240 reso-

lution), voice recording, a text reader, and an

FM radio tuner. The D2 also features a slick

touch screen, but navigating a GUI in three

square inches is awkward with the included

stylus and nearly impossible with your fin-

gertips. (The stylus can also serve as a kick-

stand while you’re watching videos.)

The D2 is supremely versatile, it sounds

fabulous, and it’s certainly priced right. Oh,

what we wouldn’t give to trade its highfalutin

touch screen for a simple control wheel and

a couple of buttons.

Media Player Playoff

Craving innovation? Look beyond the iPod

we dig the cowon’s D2’s comprehensive file-format

support, and the display is gorgeous; it’s just not big

enough to be a touch screen.

the control wheel and buttons on the

Sansa connect have been improved in

every way over previous Sansa models.

$190, http://www.cowonamerica.com

cowon d2

lookinG for SoMe tuSh

Support for all types of

media, including lossless

audio formats.

puSh your tuSh^8

Not enough built-in memory.

CapaCity 4GB Flash plus MicroSD slot 2GB Flash plus SD slot

audio File Formats MP3, WMA, Secure WMA MP3, OGG, FLAC, WAV, WMA, Secure WMA

max audio Bit rate MP3: 320Kb/s VBR 320Kb/s VBR

Fm radio tuner No Yes

Video File Formats N/A WMV 9, MPEG 4

image File Formats JPEG, PNG JPEG

sCreen size (inChes) 2.2 2.5

touCh sCreen No Yes

Wi-Fi 802.11b/g N/A

specs

2.25"

3.75"

$250, http://www.sandisk.com

sandisk sansa connect

Down to the niGhtcluB

Wireless networking,

Internet radio, great user

interface.

copacaBana

Limited codec support, no

support for lossless formats.

9

MAXIMUMP

C

KICKASS

SanSa connect cowon D2

2 "

3”