Adding YouTube Videos to Your Sansa MP3 Player

It's easy to add YouTube Videos to your Sansa MP3 player. In addition to your Sansa MP3 player, you will need a computer with broadband Internet access and two software programs - Sansa Media Converter and YouTube Dowloader. Both of these programs can be quickly downloaded - for free!

Step 1. Connect your Sansa MP3 Player to your computer through the USB connection.

Step 2. Download Sansa's Media Converter at http://mp3support.sandisk.com/downloads/smc-4.236.exe.

Step 3. Download YouTube's Down Loader at http://www.download.com/YouTube-Downloader/3000-2071_4-10647340.html. This software allows you to download videos from a wide variety of sites including YouTube and then convert the digital file into the video format of your choice including Windows Media Player (that can be used for Sansa MP3 players), XVid and MP3.

Step 4. Go to YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/ and select the video clip you want to add to your Sansa MP3 player.

Step 5. Open the YouTube Downloader program and enter the selected video clip's URL. Then select the first menu button "Download video from YouTube".

Step 6. The YouTube video will be automatically downloaded on to your computer.

Step 7. After the video download is completed, you need to select the second menu button "Convert video previously downloaded" and find Windows Media Video (V. 7 WMV) in the "Convert to" menu screen. Make sure the URL is still in the top window.

Step 8. Before beginning the conversion, you will get a message screen asking you to select the quality level you want and if you want to cut the video or disable the audio.

Step 9. After the video clip has been converted to V.7 WMV, open the Sansa Media Converter program and click on the "Add Media" button. Select the file you just converted. As soon as you select the file, an image of it will appear in the window. Now select the "Convert" menu button at the far right hand corner of the screen and your YouTube video will be automatically added to your Sansa MP3 player. Sometimes converting multiple videos at the same time causes problems on the Sansa Fuze so if this happens, just convert each video file separately.

Now enjoy. Select the video icon on your Sansa Player, locate the YouTube video from your menu selection on the player – hit play and enjoy. It is that simple! And with the microSD™ expansion slot you can have an entire collection of YouTube videos, categorized any way you want – always available to entertain friends and family.

Sansa® Clip™ Product Reviews From Across the Industry

The Sansa® Clip™ has received some terrific reviews. We thought we'd highlight some of the reviews the Sansa® Clip™ has received and let you decide.

CNet review
"The SanDisk Sansa® Clip™ is an incredible value that's set to edge out the competition with a user-friendly interface, gym-worthy design, and great sound quality.
http://reviews.cnet.com/mp3-players/sandisk-sansa-clip-1gb/4505-6490_7-32577901.html

"For the gym, I prefer the SanDisk Sansa Clip, which offers a removable belt clip, a tiny chassis, and impressive sound quality. Plus, it's super friendly on the wallet and works with Macs."
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-6490_7-9972994-49.html

CoolTechZone
These are music players that you don't mind getting hot and sweaty with, and they can endure long sessions without giving up, thanks to their tough attitude and an equally low price tag. The Sansa Clip™ is a perfect definition of "gym-ready" music players.
http://www.cooltechzone.com/Reviews/Audio_Reviews/

TelegraphTV
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/telegraphtv/?ID=Lifestyle&bcpid=1365140478&bclid=1387917998&bctid=1599080330

Blender Magazine – April 2008
Sansa® Clip™ was featured as one of the best new MP3 players.

Techware Labs
"Our friends at SanDisk® have graced us with another remarkable product"
http://www.techwarelabs.com/reviews/audio/sandisk_sansa_clip/

And if those reviews have not convinced you, take a look at the performance of the Clip while Scaling Mount Everest.

Brief Background and History of MP3 Technology

You've probably seen almost everyone plugged into their MP3 player these days. They're working out at the gym, out jogging, riding their bikes, grocery shopping, waiting to see their dentist, taking the bus or just hanging out - and they're all plugged into their own sound. If you don't have an MP3, you probably wonder what is this really all about? And, how does it work? Well, here are a few answers.

WHAT IS MP3?

MP3 is part of MPEG (Motion Pictures Expert Group), a family of standards for displaying video and audio.

"MP3" stands for MPEG Audio Layer III – the accepted standard for audio compression. It makes any music file much smaller with little or no loss of sound quality. An MP3 file is typically about 1/10th to 1/12th the size of the original CD file created from the same audio source. In other words, MP3 is the technology that lets you store a tremendous number of songs in a very, very small player.

Today, inexpensive 40GB MP3 players can hold more than 16,000 CD quality songs. And, that's just the beginning. The Sansa e200 Series MP3 player, for example, has memory expansion slots that can hold up to a huge 8GB capacity. It lets you carry what would take up enormous boxes of CDs and DVDs in one small player. You can have access to your complete collection no matter where you are - or what you're doing.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

MP3 uses what is called a "lossy compression algorithm" to greatly reduce the amount of data without losing sound quality. MP3 files sound like the original to most listeners. It works by reducing the accuracy of certain parts of sound that most people can't hear anyway. It gets rid of the sound frequencies that the average human ear is incapable of hearing. This method is commonly referred to as Perceptual Coding.

HOW DO I PUT STUFF ON MY MP3? HOW DO I CONVERT MY AUDIO/VIDEO TO MY MP3?

Your MP3 will work with your PC to let you transfer music or videos from your CD and DVD collection. You can also go online and download files directly from a number of Internet sites - some offer free music, some charge a fee and some are subscription based. Once you get it loaded, you can search your files in a number of ways to find something specific. You can utilize play lists to hear a mixture of things.

DO ALL MP3s WORK FOR BOTH VIDEO AND AUDIO?

Originally, MP3 involved only audio compression. Today, however, there are players such as the Sansa View that marries full MP3 player capabilities with full-motion video support.

WHO INVENTED MP3?

The German company Fraunhofer-Gesellshaft developed MP3 technology and now licenses the patent rights to the audio compression technology. The inventors named on the MP3 patent are Bernhard Grill, Karl-Heinz Brandenburg, Thomas Sporer, Bernd Kurten, and Ernst Eberlein.

In 1987, the Fraunhofer Institut Integrierte Schaltungen research center began researching high quality, low bit-rate audio coding, a project named EUREKA. The Fraunhofer Institut was helped with their audio coding by Dieter Seitzer, a professor at the University of Erlangen. Dieter Seitzer had been working on the quality transfer of music over a standard phone line. The Fraunhofer research was led by Karlheinz Brandenburg often called the "father of MP3".

Karlheinz Brandenburg was a specialist in mathematics and electronics and had been researching methods of compressing music since 1977. In an interview with Intel, Karlheinz Brandenburg described how MP3 took several years to fully develop and almost failed. Brandenburg stated "In 1991, the project almost died. During modification tests, the encoding simply did not want to work properly. Two days before submission of the first version of the MP3 codec, we found the compiler error."

MP3 Player's Turn 10

It has been almost a decade since the first mass market digital audio (MP3) player came to the market ("MPMan" from SaeHan Information Systems)…. And boy have they come along way since. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP3_player.

• Size - Ultra Compact MP3 players have shrunk from the size of a deck of cards to the size of the tip of your finger.

• Storage - From the original 16MB of flash memory to 32 GB of flash memory. Even larger hard drive players are capable of storing 250GB of music and video. That's 20,000 times more storage folks!

• Expandable Memory - If 20,000 times more storage is not enough for you, MP3 Players like the Sansa Fuze offer expandable memory. This memory also works in cameras, phones and other electronic accessories.

• Style - Brightly lit LCD screens offer better visibility and the ability to play video and view photos which was not present in the first models back in 1998.

• Additional Functionality - Today's MP3 players play more than just music. They can store photos, play videos, come with FM Tuners and some even have built in voice Recorders.

What will the next 10 years bring to the MP3 World? More storage, embedded players, voice activation? Chime in with your thoughts and comments on what's coming next or what you would like to see in the next 10 years.

SanDisk Acquires MusicGremlin

SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK), a leading seller of MP3 players in the United States, announced it has acquired MusicGremlin, a privately-held technology company that develops advanced digital content distribution technologies.

"MusicGremlin's digital distribution platform and capabilities will provide SanDisk with adaptive and innovative technology that will play a key role in the development of future Sansa products for consumers," said Daniel Schreiber, general manager and senior vice president for SanDisk's Sansa audio/video business unit.

"SanDisk and MusicGremlin share a core passion for granting consumers easy access to digital content," said Khedouri. "We're very pleased that MusicGremlin technologies will soon contribute to a new generation of Sansa products and services. We look forward to joining SanDisk in realizing our vision for the future of distributed media."

Founded in 2003, MusicGremlin, Inc. develops technologies to enhance the digital content experience. A pioneer in direct-to-device and wireless distribution technologies, in 2006 the company launched a first-of-its-kind portable Wi-Fi digital audio player (the MG-1000 "Gremlin(R)") and companion digital music service that includes music from all the major labels and thousands of independents. The Gremlin(R) device incorporated numerous innovative features, including its push-content Gremlist(TM) service which allows users access to fresh DJ-programmed content that is automatically updated over a wireless connection. The device also featured the ability for users to program the device and to legally and wirelessly share music between devices for the first time.

Sansa Fuze CNET Review

The Sansa Fuze was recently mentioned in CNET's article Ultrathin MP3 players and given an overall good review in the below video.