SanDisk Sansa Shaker 512 MB MP3 Player (Blue)

I purchased this as a gift for a grandchild but liked it so much I kept it for myself. Of course, I could rationalize my selfish act since the child is barely 3 and Sandisk insists the device should not be used by anyone under the age of 8. The reason for the manufacturer issuing the precaution is no doubt the potential harm to young children abusing ear buds. But forget the ear buds: what distinguishes this device from an iPod (apart from its smaller, salt-shaker size) is the built-in speaker. It puts out adequate sound for a musician who wants the companionship of his favorite tunes without the encumbrance of earphones.As usual, Sandisk makes no claims for its products with respect to Apple computers or iTunes. It works out of the box for an Apple downloader--no installation of programs needed--but most likely offers less storage space. So if you're an Apple person, you may wish to consider the one-gig model. (I've had no difficulty storing 30-40 minutes worth of mp3 files in the 512MB model.) Frankly, this is a novel product, one that fills yet another niche. I hope it catches on and sees a few improvements.The pluses: Simple, instant, effective, minuscule--whether you're an adult or little kid. Above all, no earphones required, and the claim of ten hours' worth of music on a single battery seems about right.The minuses: 1. The "shaker" attraction is misleading. I thought it meant a child could shake the gizmo to make it play (great ploy, since kids won't play the CDs I give them); instead, shaking it merely produces weird sound-effects and causes (somewhat erratically) the song being played to be replaced by another song--providing the play switch is depressed. If it played a song whenever it was shaken, it would be great for a one- or two-year-old (on the other hand, then I would have had to give it to my grandchild.) 2. The bottom cover must be twisted loose to insert one AAA battery as well as the storage card but is somewhat difficult to get reseated tightly, especially since it's part of the fast-forward control assembly. For added "security," the bottom cover is attached by a thin "safety" thread that no doubt will be an early casualty. Perhaps a better-constructed device would be one with a single ear bud (forget the stereo), which would free up more space for batteries, card, and FF control (which could be eliminated for my money), along with a more traditional screw-in cover for the battery compartment. Still, unless it breaks within a week, this mp3 player that contains a built-in speaker yet is smaller than a whiskey jigger is a winner.

We bought this for a boy who isn't quite ready for a regular MP3 player but too old for the FP3 player. The price is great and I like the sturdiness of the shaker but I really felt a couple of things weren't quite clear enough! Primarily the part where ONLY MP3 formatted songs and stories can play on this. This is a big deal and for those of us who are amatures it can be a BIG fuss. Yes it came loaded with some kids songs but really who wants them? My kids have their own personal favorites and of course they were not MP3 formatted so I had to get an additional program to format them. I also did not like the fact there was no screen for the kids to easily find their favorite tune or story. All in all a good product but it literally took me all night to get it ready to give as a gift since I am not really used to these machines and I had to find a way to format everything to work on this. I only have 1 CD that is MP3 formatted so it was a pain. Also, You can't work with these files in Windows Media Player so I had to learn another way to transfer the files. Not a deal buster necessarily but I probably would have gone with the same MP3 players his brothers have if I had known that I would have to do all this extra stuff. This one is not great for stories but we can make them work. This is not a complaint about the machine itself but the programming/formatting parts. If you already have a lot of MP3 formatted stuff and you are not trying to use any stories, then you will have little or no problems. Everyone I know, including myself, did not have much already formatted MP3 this includes our downloaded songs. It just made the experience more of a fuss than fun.

I bought the 512MB Sansa Shaker in pink for my 6-year-old daughter. She has long coveted her teenaged sister's $300 iPod, but there was no way I was getting her one. I chose this because of several features:*Size makes it easier to keep track of*Two headphone jacks for sharing with her brother in generous moments*Single AAA battery provides power*Pink color would be a big hit*The seperate speaker lets her listen without headphones*Easy copy and paste when adding music (no complicated iTunes to use)*No digital readout to deal with (child doesn't have to be able to read)She's had it for a week, and I think it's become grafted to her body! To her, it's just as good as her sister's. It came with 5 children's songs included, so it was ready to use right out of the box until we could add more music for her. It also includes one AAA battery, a set of earbuds, and a 512MB card. To add music, just load the music onto your computer, then drag or copy and paste onto the card, and you're set.The battery says it will provide 8 hours of music. In practical use, she got about two days out of it, and that was heavy use. Walmart sells these in a 4-pack for 99 cents.The earbuds were a bit hard for sich a little girl to manage, but my mom gave her a set of earbud-looking things attached by a piece that goes over her head (it's a fold-up set), and these have worked perfectly for her.The speaker doesn't have a loud capability, so I don't have to wake up to music blasting throughout the house. Not bad sound at all for such a little unit, though you won't be DJing a party with it. She's perfectly happy with it.The 512MB will hold hundreds of songs; more than any kid that age could ever need. If for whatever reason you decide your child needs more space, just pay $20 for a 1G card later on.The size is a bit smaller than I had expected. It appears to be the size of a pop can, but I'd liken it more to the size of a salt shaker. Just the right size to grip in a child's hand, but big enough to find in a messy house. The flat iPods can become lost under as little as a sheet of paper.It comes with a D-clamp to attach to a lanyard, but does not include the lanyard itself. The stores were closed on Christmas Day, so I just made one from an old shoestring.Bottom line: It comes with everything you will need to run it right out of the box, including pre-loaded music, and it has been a fantastic hit with my 6-year-old. The battery life is satisfactory (keep more handy). I love this so much that I'll be buying the blue one in November when my son turns six!