The Clip+ supports their new refinements, I don't think slotRadio works on the Clip.

In addition one reviewer posted the following about the improvements in the Sansa+:

- Overall build quality has improved, but especially with the clip mechanism.
- Files on MicroSD integrate seemlessly with the on board memory.
- The volume and power buttons have more ergonomic placement on the device.
- Sound quality remains great.
- Audiobook files can be sped up slightly to save some "reading" time.
- The interface is a little smoother and nicer to move through.
- The square trackpad makes it easier to navigate without looking at the player. (good for runners)

A reviewer noted that build quality is higher, especially the clip. The clip is pretty important, if you plan on actually using it.

EDIT: orcish beat me, but the way I read the review not all of those bullets were Clip+ vs. Clip points.

Creative Muvo T100. Use it since years, is pretty much a run of the mill pen drive that can play audio (copied into a folder named "music", including sub-folders) with good sound quality. You can switch between shuffle / folder by folder play (and switch a whole folder with a flick of the selector).

And I'll be damned...the $25 gift card came in the mail today. I picked up the Sansa Clip Plus 2GB model for just $4.99 out of pocket (free shipping on orders over $25).

Thanks everyone for your help! Its encouraging when a few people I know & trust all have the same good things to say about a product! Who would've thunk it on a gaming site, of all places? ;-)

Ok, I lied, one MORE last question. I already ordered the player, so its not going to alter my desire to have it, but...

I've heard of devices (cell phones & mp3 players) that will play through your car's speakers if you set your car radio to a specific frequency (example: 88.9 FM). What exactly is this function called, and does the Sansa Clip Plus do it? If not, I can always just get one of those cheap cassette-adapters that plugs into it.

Nick someone's iPod in the street.
It's quite small, and definitely cheap.

There might be a few players that have this feature built in, but I'm pretty sure you'll need to buy a separate fm transmitter for the Clip. I've had several transmitters and I used them a lot at a job I used to have because there were no cd/cassette players on the truck's head units that I drove. Most of the radio stations I was able to pick up in that area were pop country stations, so I needed my mp3 player, but this was also good for my fm transmitter because I didn't have to constantly try to find a blank frequency that didn't interfere with my transmitter's weak transmission.

A transmitter can be pretty handy, but I'd say you might be better off with the cassette adapter if you are in an area that has a lot of radio stations because you will have a tough time finding a blank frequency to transmit on, especially when you're on the move. If there's a 3.5mm aux port on your head unit, even better. The transmitter might cost more than that Clip ;)

The kind I am using is a Caanoo, though it's more of a game console then a Player, but it does all the things you expect a music player to do, plus it's smaller then the DS or PSP and plays movies, it relies on SD and SDHC cards for memory, so there are no drivers and you can just drag and drop your music into the device. it also does music shuffle and has a touch screen.

Is about $150

You will need an external transmitter to do that. They are relatively cheap and usually come with a car charger plug. I own a couple of them as well and the only recommendation I would make is before you buy one, make sure the available frequencies it covers are completely free of any broadcast radio transmissions; you really need a frequency that has nothing but white noise on it for the transmitter to work well. I bought one that was limited to 5 or 6 frequencies, none of which were completely free of broadcast transmissions in my area and it didn't work very well at all. I ended up investing a little extra money to get a version that is tunable like a radio and it works much better. Also, this is kind of odd, but you may find that traffic lights will sometimes interfere with the transmitter. I'm not sure what it is about traffic lights, but more often than not when I pull up to one while using my MP3 player transmitter, it causes the transmission to go all "staticky".

Now that I know what they're called (thanks everyone), I've been looking at fm transmitters on Amazon. Alot of them are specific to particular models of iPod, and alot that just get bad or mixed reviews. Top that off with comments from the GOG gang here & I think it will be better if I just go with the cassette adapter.

Thanks once again!

I'm a bit late to the party, but you've made an excellent choice with the Sansa Clip+. I own one and I'm very satisfied with it, to the point that I bought another one for my wife.

I also have a phone that has a built-in FM transmitter, it's handy but the sound quality is poor. It's also a bit of a pain when you're driving around because you sometime have to change the frequency as you go, because a new station appeared on your current frequency. It's a shame my car does not support cassettes, only CDs, because I think that the cassette adapters provide a better sound quality and are just plug'n play.

Another question (and yes, I know I'm a pain in the ass)...

If I put a MicroSD card in, and both the card & the player have music...will the Shuffle feature take music from both sources?

(The player hasn't gotten here yet so I can't test it myself)

The Clip+ model is supposed to seamlessly integrate both as if they're one big "drive". I'd guess, yes.

Also, the FM broadcaster will work on anything that can feed into it (i.e. if it takes input from the headphone jack, it's easy). Good luck finding a band that some FM station isn't stomping the fuck all over, in your area, but that's how those work. Also, don't be a jerk and get a highpowered one that wrecks havoc with everyone's radio reception for 15 car lengths, that's just not necessary.

If you really want to do it right, you broadcast between your music clip and radio via bluetooth. This probably would require a greater investment than you want to make. If you have a newer model smart phone though, you've already got the transmitter, you just have to update your car radio.

Unless Microsoft has given up on it, the Zune looked like a good piece of hardware. I know they have that Zune Pass thing (which basically means you must use the Zune software) which is sort of like added value, if added value meant actually paying $15 a month for music you don't own. The interface is extremely good, though.

I tried out Zune Pass, it's good, even if you don't have a Zune, the free 10 songs (no DRM) per month you get to keep forever make it really cheap. The XBox 360 integration is good, I was hoping for better Kinect controls, I suspect they'll be refined, just as the Last.fm Kinect integration has been.

I think the Zune is still a good player, in fact, it has apps, just like the iPod Touch (or whatever, the newest one is). I think their (disgustingly named) Squirt functionality would have been 1000 times cooler if they just said "screw it, we're just going to make the feature people want, not the stupid media moguls". I think if you're willing to buy a WP7 phone you may not need a Zune anymore, though. Perhaps an actual WP7 phone owner can clarify how much it's like a Zune, perhaps it's more like the Zune desktop software running on your phone, no idea.

I didn't muck with the Zune desktop software much during my trial, and I haven't used iTunes but once back when it was first launched, but by what I read I take it it's actually way better than iTunes these days.

Zunes don't fit the OP criteria for inexpensive though.