The heart of the Sandisk Sansa Connect is a 4gb hard drive that will store and playMp3 and WMA files including those with DRM applied. Measuring x x mm the Connect is nicely proportioned but not as slim as the Nano, but like a curvaceous lady there is something to love about the look and feel of the Sandisk unit. The 2.2." colour LCD screen is both bright and useable when combined with a wonderfully simplistic interface which gives the iPod a run for its money.

You can opt to fill up the 4gb HDD by simple drag and drop from a PC connected via USB 2.0 as with the other E200 models, or more likely that you'll opt to use the internal 802.11 WiFi capabilities and download directly from one of the official (legal) download stores based on "Zing". At this stage we were unable to find out the exact details of the stores but they are most likely to be subscription based as opposed to pay per track.

Far from the disappointment of the Zunes community features the Sansa connect promises more and on first impressions delivers more. Instead of physically pushing a copy of a file to be shard it sends a link containing unique identifiers which the receiving Sansa can use to download the matching track from the online store. This is partly the reason we suspect a subscription service to accompany the launch of the connect in late March. This enables some other WiFi rich features like being able to listen to internet radio and then chose to purchase the songs that you hear.

The brief demo we had of the internet radio feature was most impressive, the WiFi connection is used to go via your home or work router (or in theory a WiFi hotspot) and to stream WMA and Mp3 audio stations. Only those that stream with track details will allow you to tag tracks for download from the Zing powered store. It also seems that like the WiFi powered Skype phones the Sansa will lack a full web browser meaning surfing the net is off limits and so will be any WiFi network that requires you to enter codes or accept terms and conditions within a browser.

Finding other Connect players is simple enough via search facility which triggers the WiFi network to identify any Sansa devices within range, they can then be added to a "friends list". The next time you power up and a friend is in range you can see what they are listening too and via versa, plus send them recommended tracks.

Should the 4gb storage be a little restrictive Sansa have equipped the Connect with a micro SD card slot which you can use to expand the storage amount and also as a transfer method. It seems reasonable to expect that Sandisk will launch both larger and smaller models of the Sansa Connect over time and we wouldn't be surprised to see the 8gb model appearing in the Autumn.

With the promise that this model will be Vista ready and still support Plays for sure music it seems that Sandisk may have a model that offers an alternate take to both the iPod and Zune. We really warmed to the look and feel, loved the interface and quality build plus the WiFi isn't just a gimmick it works.

Ready to ship in the USA at the end of march for a shade under $250 it'll be a while longer before it reaches the UK for around £175.

Published - 11/20/2007

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