Customer Reviews

SanDisk Cruzer Micro Mp3 Companion

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(26)

 

 

It's a decent little piece of equipment, that expands the Cruzer Micro flash drive into an MP3 player. It's a fair value for the price, since (now, August 2004) other players with 256MB are going for much more. But it feels a bit cheap in construction and features.

What's good:

The sound is decent, and it interfaces well with my car stereo inputs.

It runs for more than 8 hours on a single AAA battery.

File download is relatively quick and easy. It plays MP3s and WMAs, and ignores other document types one might have on the drive.

What's not so good:

There are very few controls: An on/off/play/pause button on the front, a volume up/down rocker on the side, and a menu/function flick-up/down/in button for traversing all other functions next to it. One can do a fair amount with just these controls, but it takes a lot of care and attention, not good for the car.

There is no easy way to move between folders of music files. One must concentrate on the tiny display and flick in/up/up/in and then in/in... until one is at the folder one wants to play, then up/in to select it. Not great when driving, or even walking around.

Construction feels a little cheap, and bulky. If Sandisk has gone to the effort of designing a truly compact and elegant package for its flash drive, why make a player that's twice as deep and wide as it needs to be? Peering inside its cavities when changing batteries and drives reveals a great deal of empty space.

Despite the order of file names (I order them by track number first), the player will often decide a different order completely, and not allow re-ordering.

The unit has crashed several times. Hard. Frozen. No response to controls. Pulling the drive out will sometimes fix this, but I have also had to pop out the battery to clear it.

It is indeed a cool little idea, and a nice form factor, but all in all, I'd like a little more quality and function for a $50 piece of equipment.

I just plugged my half-gig Micro Cruzer into this unit, and despite many negative reviews, it works fine for me!

Let me preface that by saying that this is my first MP3 player, and all I wanted was mobility and inexpensive. These are apt descriptions of this little unit.

It runs forever on a good AAA rechargeable battery, and although it's pure plastic and seems a bit fragile, I dropped it on the concrete while jogging, and it came up working fine.

The instructions tell you very little, so be advised. On the other hand, there's not much to learn. Just plug in the thumb drive (SanDisk only) and play away. It even remembers where you stopped on the next insertion.

Don't expect to read the MP3 indicator text in low light, and the thing desperately needs a case (which I can't find). Nevertheless, for basic MP3 playing, it serves my purpose well. The two-year warranty doesn't hurt either.

I like it. It's small, it's cheap and comes very handy in many ways. I experienced no problems so far. The sound quality is good and might be improved by using headphones of better quality. When I connected the Companion to a stereo results were just fine and the party was saved since the cd-player died. It has a build in equalizer with different settings such as bass boost, hall, classic, normal, rock... There are just a few things that bother me but I can live with them: 1.There's no option to browse through the songlists while the Companion is playing. Thus, you can only skip to the next file or back to the previous. (But you can fast forward (and rewind) within a playing track.) 2.There is no Sleep timer that would come in handy for using the player when hitting the hay.

I think Sandisk could solve these problems by adding fixes to a firm ware update.

You can easily create several folders containing the songs you like on the USB stick on your computer. I just copy the songs from my playlist in my itunes music software and paste them to the folder on the USB memory drive. They always appear in the right order on my Companion. I can only recommend this player when you are looking for a versatile low prized solution to make your USB memory drive sound.

Pros: Small, lightweight, semi-intuitive, "good enough" sound, marries MP# players and USB disk drives

Cons: No directions, firmware issue

There is a compatability issue with the most recently released 512 mb Sandisk Cruzer Micro USB drives. The older 512 Micro drives (ie. SN starting with 0120) work just fine with the MP3 Companion - I've validated this. If you have a newer 512mb Micro drive like me (SN starting with AX), the drive is incompatible with the MP3 Companion. According to Sandisk tech support, the issue was first identified during the week of March 20th, 2005. The engineering team believes it's a firmware issue on the Cruzer, and is working the issue - eta of 1 month.

You'll know if you have that compatability issue because you'll see the message "Insert Cruzer Micro" scrolling across the screen even though you've already inserted it.

I did get it to work with a 256MB micro. Curiously enough, I also got it to work fine with my 512MB Cruzer Mini. (I've read that this is possible, but burns batteries.)

Other than that... I agree that the unit "feels" cheap, but it seems to work fine. The sound is clear, but bass is a little weak - which isn't an issue for me since I use it while skiing, cycling, roller blading... (Maybe better headphones may fix that, I don't know.) The UI is reasonably intuitive. It's definitely not iPod caliber - it's not supposed to be - but it hasn't hindered my ability to listen to music.

The lack of directions was frustrating. It drove me nuts. To turn it on... Press the play button for several seconds, and wait for the power bar to finish loading. To turn off, do the same thing. Then you'll have to play with it for a bit to figure it out.

I *LOVE* the fact that I can use the usb disk for other data storage/transport too.

So my two cents are... If you're looking for audiophile quality, look elsewhere. However, if you're looking for something that's "good enough" to play tunes while cycling, skiing, or working out, and you don't need perfect sound replication, this little unit might work.

Cheap and cheerful little tune player--and it works with the (longer, less elegant) Sandisk 'Mini Cruzer' USB sticks as well.

Has a very long (two year) warranty as well, much longer than alot of the 'dedicated' MP3 players on the market, at any price.

OK, so here's a little about me, since the user's personality will figure heavily into satisfaction with this unit... I'm a computer geek (jack of all trades programmer/analyst/DB/SA) and a tech gear hound.

So, in those terms, I think of this like I would a piece of "beta release" software. It was cheap to acquire, fits a niche that I haven't seen anybody else create a solution for yet (music player with swappable drive), and has both good and bad points. You've seen the other write-ups, so I'll go from there...

Most common comments:

1) Cheap Construction: YES! This is definitely true. If you are planning on banging this thing around, it may or may not handle it well. It will definitely get scratched and scuffed quickly. I've had good luck, though wearing it from the cruzer micro neck strap (the unit is light enough that it doesn't pull itself off the drive, and the headphones should catch the unit if it did). I wouldn't try jogging like that, though.

NOTE: the battery door is particularly prone to damage - PAY ATTENTION when swapping batteries. The door slides to the side ALL THE WAY till it has released the battery bay (and the built in retaining strap is tensioned). When replacing the door, be VERY careful to start with it far enough open that when you press it down on the battery you don't bend or break the channels that hold it in place off! It's very easy to break, so look at it really close and pull the door out as far as you can TO THE SIDE (NOT UP) before pressing down and sliding it closed. It doesn't click down, it slides in a very breakable groove.

2) Battery Life: Depends on what batteries you are using and volume. OK, so the volume observation seems kinda "DUH" to me. Expect the manufacturer to quote battery life at mid-range volume. Also expect that cranking it will chew through the battery quicker. Also note that if you are using anything other than the OEM headsets you may be affecting battery life with them as well. Personally I was satisfied with the originals, so that's what I use. I have noticed the lockup issue, but only right as a battery dies. This, however, seems to be one of the main things people don't seem to understand, here's my battery rant:

I've run the unit on both alkaline and NiMH batteries. I have had most of my lockups using alkalines. I have had the poorest battery life from alkalines. This is easily explained, and fixed, just use NiMH rechargeables! Alkaline batteries have a higher voltage and power level when they are first used, but fall off at a fairly linear pace from then on (great for flashlights and smoke detectors, BAD for electronics gear). NiMH has lower voltage and slightly less power to start, but stays at that level until the battery is practically dead, then falls off rapidly. Hence, you will find that when your unit claims an alkaline is dead and is hanging, the battery will probably still light up your mini mag light. I've had very few hangs and very long life using 750 mAh AAA NiMH rechargeables (old Panasonics, to be exact). You will find that this is true with digital cameras as well, so get yourself some NiMH rechargeables and enjoy better performance with your gear, plus reduced cost over time...

3) Ability to Switch Music: I really like that feature!! My wife and I both have drives which we use with this unit and for occasional data transport. The unit nicely ignores data (and encrypted folders), and we can each load the music we prefer on our own drives. That way when we switch off we don't have to re-load the unit each time. Get a bunch of smaller micros (prices are dropping all the time) and set up different "playlists" on each...

4) Navigation / Order of Music: Yes, this is inconvenient. The push/rocker button does have an especially cheap feel to it, and occasionally seems to miss a push or get stuck. Use care with that switch... The different repeat and shuffle modes are pretty good, though, and I haven't had a problem with album / track ordering, though I use "album artist track song" ordering for my filenames (except soundtracks which get "album track artist song" order).

5) WMA and MP3 Performance: I've used my unit for both WMA and MP3 files, and I've been very satisfied with performance on both formats. I like having the coice of which to use...

Basically, it has good and bad points, but if you pay attention to a few things (use NiMH rechargables and be careful with that battery door!!) you shouldn't have many of the problems others have mentioned.

I personally have loved the unit, but my wife hates it. She gets too frustrated by the awkward navigation and since she doesn't keep a charger at work, she was using alkalines, which gave her several lockups. She also had a hard time with the battery door - this is not a criticism of her, it is somewhat difficult to get it slid way over, pressed down, then slid back without damaging the track it slides into... Since it is the only unit I've seen which allows you to swap USB media, though, it may be for you if you are willing to take the bad with the good.

I read so many complaints. Well I just go mine today. Only knew about this player because I bought the memory stick for work and read the documentation.

Anyhow mine came with the new firmware 1.1.0 already......it has a hold/pause button that is right on the front, someone else complained of no hold button. Maybe mine is a newer version.

Anyhow I have used it for about 4 hours almost non stop, and it works great with BIG wma and mp3 files of high quality. I have the 512meg stick so I can put about 200 songs on it.

Yes the screen is small but it works fine and gets the job done. The battery door worked fine for me, has a little plastic strap to keep it from being lost. Personally the clear belt clip will always be on it for me, helps protect the device.

It does have a plastic feel to it...but does not feal cheap. Sound wise its great with lots of volume. The cheap ear pods that come with it should be tossed right away. I have used the Sony ear buds and they sound much better. Right now I have my Sennheiser HD 497 head set plugged into it, playing Gwen Stefani and it sounds great.

I recently sold my 3gen 20 gig ipod my wife gave me a couple years ago. The ipod hardware was great....battery life sucked, and mine was fading. 20 gigs was over kill for me...I never ever put more than 300 songs on it. Having a large collection of mwa files the Ipod and I never got along. Itunes, while it looks great has some major limitations compared to WMP10, like folder monitoring. If the Ipod had worked with wma and wmp10 I would not be writing this.

Anyhow the Sandisk player is simply amazing for the price. Sounds as good as my Ipod with good head phones and it is so simple to use with wmp10.....and being able to simply use the memory stick for other things is a GIANT plus.

Others have covered the goods and bads of this product and I dont think I can add to their ample findings HOWEVER:

I have FOUR tips YOU can use for making this a better product.

FIRST put some Graphite Grease (or oil if you dont have it) on the sliding & locking parts of the battery cover. Less friction for easy on and off - plastic can bind so LUBRICATE it.

SECOND install the latest (directory aware) software. Version 1.1.0 runs reliable for me. I had to email the tech people for file ccmp1110.rom (just put it on the micro and power up it self installs USE A FRESH BATTERY FOR UPGRADING) - At first the tech people say it's not available. Tell them to email it to you or to give you an RMA for the product's return. They emailed it to me rather than honor the 2 year warantee for money back! If they still give you a hard time ask why they sent it to [...] and can't send it to you....

THIRD Grab the special SanDisk USB drive Format/Checkout utility usb-test-tool.exe in the "OEM" area from: [...]

in case you need to reformat and your opsys refuses to help.

FOURTH Use some contact cleaner such as DeoxIT to remove the slight "grease?" or whatever that seems to come on the mini's USB contacts - an improved electrical connection will reduce or eliminate the disk errors. And seems to allow operation with lower voltage (weaker battery) due to less electrical resistance.

SORRY ABOUT THE ... areas - but Amazon does not want me to put some details (web addresses or my email address) and I must abide by their rules as this is their site and they are nice enought to provide it to us.

Just hollar at the SanDisk Tech Department and give the file names......

Sorry, Sandisk. This thing just doesn't make it. I returned the first one under warranty because the battery door wouldn't stay shut. I was hoping the replacement unit would have a better closure for the battery, but it's the same awful design (TINY plastic tabs to hold the door shut, and they shear off at the slightest provocation!).

The second unit refuses to recognize the Sandisk Micro USB drive. I can't get it to play at all, and this is right out of the box!

To be avoided at all costs! I'll never buy another or recommend this unit to anyone.

I had an old 64MB key drive for four years and I seriously needed an upgrade. But I was also eyeing some mp3 players. I received a Cruzer micro 1GB flash drive as a gift, and I was given the option to exchange it for an MP3 player. When I learned that SanDisk sold an mp3 companion I thought,"I win!"

I can have all sorts of files on my new flash drive, and the mp3 companion quickly finds the folders with my music files!

I'm also impressed with the sound. For a small add-on, it's great. And preset equalizer options!!

***It has frozen a couple of times. But nothing detrimental. Just pop out and insert the battery.,***

I love the flexibility of having a flash drive for work and an mp3 player to get me through work. :)