SanDisk Sansa c250 2 GB MP3 Player (Black)
by SanDisk
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List Price: Our Price: $50.91 You Save: $49.08 (49%) Availability: Usually ships in 2-3 business days Buy Used: from $18.03 (click here) Category: Network Media Player See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of SanDisk Sansa c250 2 GB MP3 Player (Black)
Customer Review: Caveat: Make sure it's a V1 and install RockBox!
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought my Sansa c250 a couple years ago. I used it lightly for playing MP3s but more heavily as an FM radio to listen to NPR on long bus rides. Recently the battery started not to hold a charge for very long. A little searching on the web yielded two important results:
1. The USB cable that comes with the c250 doesn't do a great job charging. I bought the Belkin Charging Kit for SanDisk Sansa c200, e200, View, Connect and Fuze and now it charges faster and more thoroughly.
2. I "upgraded" the firmware to RockBox (see [...]). The Sansa C250 is one of the best supported devices. The battery management in RockBox helped revive my aging battery. It also gave me OGG and FLAC playback support, the ability to use > 2GB MicroSD cards in my Sansa C250 V1 (the Sansa firmware supports only < 2GB), and a collection of games I can play while listening to music.
After these upgrades, I found myself using my C250 even more. I ended up buying a second battery, HQRP Replacement Battery for Sandisk Sansa C200 C240 C250 MP3 Player plus HQRP Universal Screen Protector, and a new pair of ear buds: Sennheiser CX300-B Earbuds (Black).
All-in-all, I probably spent about $40 and have turned my aging Sansa c250 in a great device that's getting more use than ever. I may buy a second one for a backup!
Update: I lost my orignal Sansa C250 on a trip a little while back. Because I had so many accessories (extra battery, chargers, etc.) I opted to order a new one from Amazon. It was fulfilled by BlueProton. The one they sent me was in the original packaging (i.e., perfectly new) and V1! I was afraid that I'd get a V2 and wouldn't be able to upgrade to RockBox. I'm quite happy that I opted to a 4-year old MP3 player instead of some flashy new device. Of course that really says something about the technology here: A 4-5 year old MP3 player is perfectly adequate (if not great) even compared to the latest offering from the fruit-named company. I do need to replace my Sennheiser head phones. Evidently a huge black market has arisen for those so I'll have to be careful.
Customer Review: Player is not recognized by Vista or XP but .....
Summary: 4 Stars
I just received my 2GB Sansa c200 yesterday and I was very excited to try it out but when I plugged it into my laptop computer ... that's when the fun started!!!
First off, my computer saw it immediately as an MTP device, and in the device manager it put it under Portable devices with MTP as one of the labels. However, it wouldn't work! I couldn't locate it in My Computer, nor did any of my music synching programs work. In Device Manager it showed the device with the yellow exclamation mark. I checked the properties and it gave me a Code 1 error, device not configured correctly.
I worked with it for a good couple of hours trying to determine why my XP Pro wouldn't install it properly. Finally I did the following steps and it worked immediately!! (If you are using Vista, try to figure out how to adapt the following instructions. They are pretty similar).
0. Plug the Sansa Express into a USB 2.0 slot
1. Open the start menu and right click on My Computer
2. Click on properties
3. Locate and click on the "Hardware" Tab of the system properties window that pops up
4. Find the button that says "Device Manager"
5. When you do this, another window will pop up with a list of all of the hardware installed inside of your computer, you should see the Sansa Express somewhere in this list with the yellow exclamation mark.
6. Right-Click on the Sansa Express and click on "Update Driver"
7. When the next window opens up, instead of allowing it to search automatically, click on "Install from a list or a specific location (Advanced)" and click next
8. On the next window, click on the last option "Don't search, I will choose the driver to install" and click next
9. When I did this, it had two options listed. MTP Device and USB Mass Storage Device. If you see these options highlight the USB Mass Storage Device and click next. It should install Immediately!!
I sincerely hope this helps anyone, I searched and searched on line for an answer, and I couldn't come up with anything. I fiddled around with it for a long time. Thank god I got it to work! Good Luck everyone!!
billotana (with the help of Joshua Holmgren, member of the Sandisk forums community)
Customer Review: Great mp3 player for music only fans
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been obsessively researching mp3 players and I found this one (but pink) on sale at an Office Depot for $39.99. I checked around and there were some mixed reviews, but in the end I decided this would be he player for me to just play music on and expand the memory if I really wanted to. The photo viewer is nice but no necessary since the screen is too small to properly view pictures. But it's nice enough.
Important things to know:
1. It came charged straight of the packaging (just not for too long) but I was able to use it before I got home to play around with it properly.
2. You have to go to the sandisk website (http://www.sandisk.com/Retail/Default.aspx?CatID=1376)to download an updated firmware which isn't hard or anything, so the player will show up on your computer. I have Vista and it worked for me.
3. Tried the software they gave me-a waste of a cd if you ask me. So I can now drag and drop my files in there like I did with an older RCA model before it was stolen. A few files needed to be "converted" in order to show up but they were ALL photos, no mp3's. I keep getting a warning before the songs will copy on he player but it still plays which is important to me. Like I said, the photo viewer is insignificant. So...
4. If you want to view photos and videos - don't get this c250 sansa.
5. Headphones come with it but I bought my own. Inner ear because they stay in my ear and don't hurt a lot unlike the other ones. $10 @ Marshalls and $15 @ Target, SkullCandy. Cheap & great, like it should be at least $25 for great sound and design. Not flimsy.
6. The charger is cool. It charges via computer. I'm in luck and have an A/V for an energizer rechargeable battery and my sansa usb plugs in there so I can charge it via wall as well, which is great since I wont always be at a computer.
If you want something that has basic controls, acts as a usb, and just want something that will play music, this is the player for you. I have other recommendations such as the creative zen stone (plus/plus w/speakers) as well but too freakishly tiny for me. I have only had this for a day now but I know me and the sansa c250 are going to get along just fine. Better with a case.
Customer Review: Actually pretty incredible for the price.
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm gonna keep this as brief as possible. I'm writing this to address and/ or counter the less than stellar reviews given by some of the questionably intelligent "reviewers". (I use this word very loosely). I realize this product is quite old, but due to it's price, is still quite popular. ESPECIALLY to the Rockboxers (More on this later)
First of all, this is NOT a high-end unit, and no one has proclaimed it to be. That being said, the build quality, interface, sound quality and battery life are much more than expected at this price level. If you find anything other, then I would suggest a lobotomy.
Getting music on your player is quite an easy task. You can "drag-and-drop" via MSC mode or sync with your favorite audio player(WMP, Winamp, Foobar, etc) via MTP mode. It really couldnt get much simpler.
As far as the user interface, I cannot, for the life of me, understand why people have such a hard time with this. You press up, down, left and right then click in the middle. How much simpler do you want it? I will say, however, the STN LCD screen is definitely not going to win any awards any time soon. Specifically, the contrast is way off, which makes selection a bit more difficult. Not impossible, tho. This problem is cured by Rockbox, so I'm not quite sure why SanDisk didnt allow for contrast adjustment and/or create a better background colorset, but it is what it is. A super cheap MP3 player with above average performance.
Lastly, those complaining about SQ, there is a simple solution. It's called Rockbox. Google it if you don't know what I'm talking about. Not only does it increase the SQ by way of infinite sound adjustments, it also expands on, and adds a TON of features not included with the factory firmware. It is easily installed and makes the unit worth its weight in gold. And it's free.
I would also recommend a better pair of IEM headphones. The stockies, while are not awful, are certainly not anything I'd call grand.
In summary, do NOT be deterred by the questionable negative reviews as none have complained about anything that is either a huge problem, or cannot be rectified.
Customer Review: Small product large sound
Summary: 5 Stars
I was hesitant about buying an MP3 player because I am relatively inept when it comes to electronic devices. After researching different MP3 players I decided to take a chance on the SanDisk because of its reasonable price plus I had read that it was compatible with Windows Media Player (WMP). I had downloaded dozens of CDs onto the WMP and now needed something small and pocket sized that was inconspicuous to use at work. My profession affords me with occasional down time so I wanted a small MP3 player with ear plugs that would help me pass the time by dusting off a few musical neural networks encoded in the 60's. First of all I was surprised at how simple transferring songs was using the WMP and the Sandisk. You first open up the WMP and once the computer recognizes the "device" you click on the icon, which allows the WMP to connect with the SanDisk. Then you can either right click on selected songs and select "add to synch" or you can right click on the CD title and add the entire contents of the CD to the sync list. The WMP shows you how much room you have left on the Sandisk after each input. Pretty simple. The real surprise occurred when I placed the ear plugs in and listened to my old archaic music. I'm not crazy about ear plugs (can't use headphones at work), but the ones that come with the player are not uncomfortable. The sound quality of the SanDisk is extremely impressive for such a small device. Although the player comes with an equalizer I did not even find it necessary to adjust the sounds. I give this product 5 stars for the musical portion of the SanDisk. I cannot comment on the other options that this product has, but I am obviously impressed enough to leave a review on this item. I should mention that the device comes with a CD that I downloaded and it appears to assist in using the other features of the SanDisk MP3 player, but as mentioned I bought the player solely for listening to music and am simply commenting on the musical portion of the SanDisk Sansa c250 MP3 player. I hope that this helps you in deciding which player to buy. I am very satisfied with this product.