CNET Slams View in Review

[myet01]

CNET Slammed the View - http://reviews.cnet.com/portable-vid...tag=prod.txt.1

Tony

[CrowdAds]

[zuke8675309]

Well, I just got a View and after reading their article I can't say that I agree with them. Some of the things they complain about are very tic-tac. I mean their main complaints seem to be that they think the menu system isn't pretty enough beecause they say that the "inner menus" are "rather blah". And the interface is called uninspiring.

Let's run down the checklist:
16gb for $200
Audio formats: mp3, wav, aac (unprotected), wma, and audible
Video formats: mp4 h.264 wmv
large, bright, clear screen
micro SD slot
~35 hours battery life for audio playback

In terms of audio quality, I do not detect large levels of "hiss" on good quality recordings. While I wouldn't classify bass response as spectacular, I would say it's acceptable.

Add all those things up and the View provides more features and value than most players on the market and definitely more features than the Ipod Nano.

[digitalq]

I agree. The 7.3 rating does not seem to agree with the pros and cons, and then when you read the review they seem to go on and on about the lackluster menus. (I notice that they left out the album art thumbnail view, but mentioned the photo thumbnail menu view) They seem to place great emphasis on things that are not "issues".

It has issues no doubt, but give them a firmware or two to get it fixed up and I'm betting it will be a solid performer.

[bradavon]

I agree talk about over sensitive to menus. They're menus! As long as you can see what you're supposed to be seeing I don't give a monkeys.

Is it really "that" large? It looks pretty small to me, smaller than my iRiver H10 anyway. Actually measuring my H10 it looks to be virtually the same size but that has a screen nowhere near 2.4". I can live with it being the same size as my H10.

As to sound quality that's so individual IMO unless it's downright faulty it's not even worth mentioning. I've yet to find an MP3 Player that every single person says gives great sounds quality.

The Zen has a messed up SD Card option that's pretty huge. There's little point having an SD Card slot if it doesn't integrate properly IMO.

I notice that they left out the album art thumbnail view.

They did mention that.

Speaking of Album Art how does it have to be named? I use WMP11 to playback music so most of my folders have a Folder.jpg. I presume the View will pick this up if I copy the folder across using MSC?

You can set different wallpaper colors, but they all appear a bit washed out, and there's no option to set a photo as your backdrop.

I bet this is possible. You just need to work out which JPEG it's using and replace it with the same format. This is how you can do it on the iAudio X5.

Originally Posted by zuke8675309

Add all those things up and the View provides more features and value than most players on the market and definitely more features than the Ipod Nano.

That extremely overrated player also insists on the god awful ITunes too.

Even in MTP the View doesn't require any additional software, even Video support isn't compulsory on extra video (assuming it's in the right format already).

[millst]

How is a rating of "very good" considered a slam? The only better ratings are "excellent" and "spectacular." CNet's highest rated MP3 player, the Clix, is rated "excellent."

tm

Originally Posted by myet01

CNET Slammed the View - http://reviews.cnet.com/portable-vid...tag=prod.txt.1

Tony

[javamon]

yeah, I don't know how they "slammed" it. sounds like tony was trolling.

the only thing that i'm still noticing after the new firmware is that i'm getting nowhere near the battery life i think that i should. from a full charge this morning, i'm already at half empty, and i've only had it playing music a little over an hour, recorded an hour with the voice recorded, and played about 30 minutes of video.

btw, there is no way to change the wallpaper, as i think all that data is in the firmware which is on a hidden partition of sorts, if they followed the same model as the e200's. (even if you get access to the partition and dump it, probably still wouldn't be in a format you could just replace the jpg).

[DaHarder]

How is this review a 'slam' by any measure?

The reviewer apparently has preferences concerning how a GUI should look/feel, size etc. and the Sansa View was not to his liking... Who Cares?

The Sansa View offers the 1st true flash-based competitor to (the soon to be phased-out) HD-based DAP units with its near limitless memory expansion capabilities, screen size etc.

It's an outstanding value, has solid sound quality and a wealth of other features that, when added to the best selling players via expensive add-ons, would make them physically much bulkier/larger than the Sansa View, and even worse values.

Personally, I'm very impressed with my Sansa view 16gb, and will encourage all others shopping for a DAP to give it a serious look...

[digitalq]

I've never considered CNET reviews to be very objective anyway. With most new products, I tend to wait a bit and then look at user reviews in various places.

Always have to keep in mind that people are more likely to post when they have issues with something than when it does not give them any trouble at all. And there is always that one guy that hates EVERYTHING.

[ptruett]

Originally Posted by javamon

i'm getting nowhere near the battery life i think that i should. fr

Same, 4-5 hours for audio. 35 hours = give me some of that stuff you are smoking.

I also wonder if the View is truly shutting down or staying on at times and continuing to bleed the battery. You power down and sometimes it rebuilds the database, sometimes not. Inconsistent operation in that regard to me, I think they are trying to do too many things with the one shutdown lever.