Dissapointed with MP3 Player cable

[janlafata]

I just bought my first portable MP3 player, a SanDisk Sansa Clip. I was all excited about firing this thing up when I noticed that the supplied USB cable is only like, 8 inches long, which will make for an awkward setup coming from the back of my computer tower.

I just got through writing SanDisk about this to see if they offer any longer cables or if another longer cable that I supplied might work, however in the few threads that I have seen online it looks like even the same type of cable (USB to mini USB) bought elsewhere, will not work, that it has to be a SanDisk cable, and I don't think they seel any longer ones.

Anyone else run into this or know if a third party cable, will work in it? If not I'm sending it back to New Egg!

 

[Adam]

From the little that I read on that, you can indeed use a non-SanDisk cable. Here's one mention of using other cables.

Do you have one around the house that you can try, such as from a digital camera? Monoprice.com is a good place to get cables, IMO, and they sell those for an inexpensive price (for example, a three-foot version for about a dollar).

 

[Seth=L]

Whomever stated that only the supplied usb cable works with the Clip is a flipping moron. I've used countless usb cables with clip with no incident. I even used a usb cable I bought from Dollar Tree, for a dollar, and it works perfectly fine. The Sansa Fuze and View have a more specific data cable, they are longer. The Clip uses a generic mini-usb connector, which IMO should be used by all Sansa MP3 players.

 

[pzaur]

You could just buy an extension USB cable and never have to dig out the backside of your computer again. I've got a couple of 10 foot extension cables running from my computer to the topside of the desk. This allows me to connect any USB device on the literal desktop and not have to worry about "How the hell am I going to find the right port!" kind of situation.

Monoprice.com extension USB cables

-pat

 

[BMXTRIX]

You could just buy an extension USB cable and never have to dig out the backside of your computer again. I've got a couple of 10 foot extension cables running from my computer to the topside of the desk. This allows me to connect any USB device on the literal desktop and not have to worry about "How the hell am I going to find the right port!" kind of situation.

Monoprice.com extension USB cables

-pat

This is ABSOLUTELY the way to do it.

If people don't have an extension USB cable, or better yet, a USB hub, sitting right up on top of their computer desk they are missing out on the ease and convenience of what you can do with portable electronics. Just walking up and plugging stuff in as you need to without digging around on the floor around your big black box of a computer.

Get the extension cable, plug it in, call it done.

 

[Seth=L]

This is an excellent plan, I use several extensions for many USB based devices all the time. Why I didn't think to mention that escapes me. Dollar Tree often stocks the extensions as well for a buck a piece.