The Clymo Brief: Gym-proof MP3 players
One thing that really irritates me about my local gym is their policy of advertising new album releases ad infinitum. I’ve got nothing against them plugging products on the in-house PA system as such. In fact, it’s much better to hear that than Neil Fox on a loop tape, which was the instrument of torture we were subjected to before the latest barrage of advertising came along.

However, what does drive me mad is the way they have just one or two snippets of tracks on an endless cycle rather than the whole song. Intersperse that with the same old car commercial and it’s enough to make you hurl your dumbbells at the girl on reception. It’s been going on for weeks now.
It’s resulted in me deciding to take my own music to the gym these days. I never used to, simply because I own an iPod, or rather a pair of them, and they break with remarkable ease. Some people seem to find them indestructible, but not me. I watch muscle-bound weight lifters balancing nanos on bulging biceps with ease and grey-haired old ladies doing squat thrusts and star jumps with shuffles clipped to their waists. No problem.

Okay, so a very big man did step on mine in the changing rooms the last time it broke, which is probably not covered by the warranty, but I wish they were just a little bit more durable.
So now that listening to music via my own MP3 player is the only option for a spot of inner peace down at the local sweatshop, I’ve been looking at harder wearing alternatives and there is salvation close at hand. The SanDisk Sansa View. If ever there was a challenger to the iPod then this could be it.

You don’t immediately associate SanDisk with music players though. They’re better known for flash memory, portable storage and the like. So this entry into the mega-competitive world of the MP3 player might seem like a mad bad business idea. But it’s not, ‘cos the Sansa is a sensation. It’s been around in various forms for a couple of years or so, but the newest incarnation has everything I want from a gadget that’s going to be used at the gym or in a similarly boisterous environment.
There’s generous storage capacity, 16GB in fact, although the flash-based memory goes right on up to 32GB on the top of the range model while this one also has a microSDHC card slot if you need to make space for anything else. Battery life seems stonking. SanDisk reckon 35 hours and I wouldn’t dispute it. Best of all, the View, like all halfway decent gadgets, is wonderfully easy to use, even more so when you’re gasping for breath and getting flayed alive on the cross-trainer.

It’s even got a built-in FM radio. I bought one of those add-on receivers for my iPod in America a couple of years ago and it never really worked right. That had terrible interference, a permanently weak signal and was disappointing to say the least. It’s also meant that I’ve always had to carry my tired but dependable little Sony SRF-S84 radio around too. The sound quality from the View may not be without its flaws, but it’ll still drown out Neil Fox with ease if he ever decides to come back. There’s also a voice recorder if you ever feel the need for such a thing.
The technical details and performance are, in themselves, impressive but the thing that has convinced me most about the little View is its durability. I’ve done all sorts with it in the short time we’ve been together and it refuses to die. Better still, it remains in pristine condition. Do anything with an iPod aside from leaving it in the box and you’ll find marks and scratches on it. Break out in a sweat on your Summit Trainer and a single bead of perspiration could put it out of action once and for all.

While I’m on the subject of moaning about gym entertainment systems, let’s not forget those multiple TV screens that don’t leave much to be desired either. I thought I’d discovered a wonderful new alternative to that as well after coming across the personal media viewer from MyVu. They cost an arm and a leg but allow you to watch video via what basically amounts to a pair of plastic specs.
The only trouble with the idea is that they only work with, you’ve guessed it, an iPod that can play video - which brings us full circle. Oh, wait a minute… the View shows video too via its very nice 2.4 inch screen, although it has to be said that this is the less successful aspect of the product. No matter.

The View will be much better value than a gym membership you never use and it also costs less than the iPod. Of course, it doesn’t come with the snob value of an Apple product but if you’re like me and looking for a survivor to keep you company down the gym then take the Sansa View and leave your iPod preening itself at home.


More from Tech & Gadgets columnist Rob Clymo:

Battling for broadband
How Sony won the HD war
Waterproof gadgets