SanDisk Sansa e260 4 GB MP3 Player with MicroSD Expansion Slot (Black
by SanDisk
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Our Price: $259.96 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $52.99 (click here) Category: Network Media Player See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of SanDisk Sansa e260 4 GB MP3 Player with MicroSD Expansion Slot (Black
Customer Review: Great mp3 player
Summary: 5 Stars
I really like my Sansa e260. I purchased it to test it out while the e270 was on backorder and I have been pretty impressed what it can do.
What I like about my Sansa e260:
-Audio/photo/video playback is excellent
-Small in size but thicker than the iPod Nano (the Nano in my opinion is a tad too thin)
-Large screen and good photo/video quality for something its size. It's not top of the line, but my coworkers and I have been impressed with the screen quality. I've watched videos on it with no problem
-Nifty blue glowing dial
-Ease of use. Most of it was self explanatory though a "quick guide" was included in the box
-Battery life. Even playing videos, I was able to get 10+ hours before the battery was too low.
-Expandable memory (micro SD card, which I will soon purchase)
-Comes with conversion software for photos and video
Things I don't like about my Sansa e260:
-Lack of accessories. I did have to hunt down my player but if you walk into any store you can see that it is an iPod dominated market. I was only able to find a silicon case for it but hopefully this will change over the next few weeks
-Lack of AC charger. Only a USB changer was available as is in the iPod, however I have been unable to locate a OEM or aftermarket AC charger. Hopefully this will change but until then I use a USB/AC adapter
-Expandable memory slot will play mp3s only, not photos or video
-Attracts finger prints like crazy. Somehow the oils on your finger tips show up on both the black and metal parts of the player. I expected it on the front but not on the liquid metal.
-Radio works but doesn't get the best reception on all stations
-Conversion software will split large video files into smaller shorter clips (~10 min clips) which results in short pauses as it goes to the next file
Is it the iPod Nano killer?
Yes and no. I think it's a wonderful flash player with many features the Nano lacks (but some can be added on) for a comparable price. If you are an avid iPod fan you may not like the tactile wheel. I love the photo and video playback and am impressed with the screen, which is larger than the Nano's. I would suggest finding a vender and testing it out before you purchase it. Although it is thicker than the Nano, it has an impressive battery life even with video playback and the battery is user replacable. I am satified with my Sansa e260 and think it's worth checking out if you're looking for a flash player with many features.
Customer Review: Great Buy!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
First of all I would like to say that this was probably the best mp3 player I have ever owned. Much better than the Apple iPods. Putting music onto the player was as easy as pie. You can either drag and drop the file or sync it to Windows Media Player 10 or many other programs.
The image quality of the pics and videos are amazing. It's almost like owning a mini HD tv. All you have to do is drag and drop the pictures. For videos you need to convert them into the right format. If you buy it new, it comes with the software it won't download whole dvds. I would really only recommend this to people whose sole purpose is to use it just for music. Personally I think it is just too much of a hassle to convert videos into the right format on any device.
For parents, I think that you should consider buying this product before buying any of the iPods. This is a great mp3 player for younger children and much less expensive to replace if it gets lost or stolen. It is also easier to get music downloads for it as well.
When I got it, I had to go and buy new headphones for it because the ones that it came with were too big for my ears though they were comfortable. I liked the fact that the player has a high volume. I like to listen to my music at somewhere close to sonic boom and this player went above and beyond. For the first time, I didn't have my player up at full volume. So this is definitely something that kids would like.
There is one small problem that I had with it. When you hook it up to your computer to charge, you cannot listen to music at the same time. I found out though that if you turn on your computer and don't log into your account, you can play music and charge at the same time. But really. What's the point unless you're going to hook it up to a stereo or something? Nobody's really going to just sit there listening to music while it charges.
This player is also durable. I have sat on it, dropped it, and drowned it. When I accidentally dropped it in a toilet, all I had to do was open it up and air it dry. Afterwards I just screwed the back on again and it worked beautifully.
So the downsides are the video converter hassles, the fact that music cannot be played while logged into your computer, and the headphones were a little too big. The upsides were the how easy it was ot get pictures and music onto the player, the durability of it, and THE PRICE! I'd reccomend this to any of my friends.
Customer Review: An Excellent MP3 Player
Summary: 4 Stars
This MP3 player is far and away better than an iPod Nano. Like anything else, it has it's pros and cons, listed here:
Pros
* Excellent size and feel. It's small, yet fits in the hand perfectly. It's only slightly thicker than a Nano.
* The screen is bright, crisp, and displays video. The video is a double-edged sword, however. More on that in the cons.
* 4GB is a lot of space, and you can add even more with the MicroSD slot for a good price.
Cons
There are two different categories in the Cons. Cons that can be fixed (via a firmware update), and those that can't.
First, the Cons that can be fixed:
* You can only delete songs from the computer, not through the interface. This can be easily fixed in a firmware update.
* Sometimes a weird glitch occurs where you see songs on the MP3 player that don't really exist. You select it and nothing happens. I find simply taking everything off the MP3 player to the computer, then back to the MP3 player will fix this. The downside to this method is that you lose the ratings you give your songs.
* The movies are gigantic. The software included streamlines the process, but it manages to take a 54MB .mp4 file and convert it into a 300MB+ Motion JPEG file. I'm not sure if this is normal for the Motion JPEG codec, but it boggles the mind. Also, it breaks up videos into segments of ten minutes. I'm assuming this is because you can only fast-forward at one speed, so it helps make it easier to find where you left off. This can be fixed by simply using the same feature it uses for it's songs, the "Scan through song" feature. Hopefully this can be addressed in a future firmware update.
Unfixable Con:
* The buttons are hard to push. If the scroll wheel (which lights up with a cool blue whenever you use it) was set into the MP3 player just a liiittle bit deeper, it would be easier to hit the buttons. But it's not. So it isn't. You end up putting your thumb on the wheel, and tilting your thumb toward the button, or you use your fingernails. Sort of annoying. The menu button doesn't have a responsive "click" or anything of the sort, so you have to push it and hope it registers. Also sort of annoying.
I know there are way more cons then pros, but it's human nature to point out the flaws. But if/when the fixable cons get fixed, it becomes obvious the pros outweigh the cons. I can still wholeheartedly recommend this MP3 player right now.
Customer Review: Superior product
Summary: 5 Stars
This is likely the best mp3 player on the market. I owned a previous SanDisk player, but didn't like the fact that it was AAA battery powered. Wasn't in too big a hurry though, so I took my time looking around.
The most obvious first choice was iPod. I took a look at several offerings, and found them to be pretty varied. The cheaper models looked good, but they seemed a bit expensive for the functionality available. Additionally, I was put off by the fact that you can't use the player as a USB storage device. This is actually one of the major things I use these for, having it double as a media player and a flash drive. Next on the lineup were offerings by Samsung, Creative, and even Microsoft. Zune looked and felt too big and clumsy in general, as did most of the hard disk-based Creative players. I wanted the thing to fit in my pocket, not fill it. The Samsungs were small and cheap, but didn't have much storage space and all but the top-end ones had very small screens.
Then there was SanDisk again. I must say, despite the fact that my old player didn't have what I wanted in terms of battery life/type, it still did work. Checking out the selection, I saw this player and settled on a mid-range 4 GB size. I'm pleased with the choice.
Pros: Very nice screen.
Good software that's pretty straightforward to use (just be sure to run the updater).
One-touch voice recording.
FM tuner with pretty good reception.
Very long battery life, fast charging.
Lots of storage space, and additional available via Micro-SD. Holds all my files, and then some.
Very easy to sync with Windows Media Player.
Battery is removable/replaceable.
Just plain looks cool- on par with iPod Nano in my opinion.
Cons: The included earbuds are lousy. Bought myself some new ones.
Some buttons are a bit small.
USB charging only with proprietary cable; requires a PC that's turned on (not a big deal in most cases).
Can't seem to play directly from player while plugged in, though of course you can play from the PC.
Relies on Windows Media Player for sync, file ID, playlists, etc., so if you don't like WMP you can still organize stuff, but it's a bit of a pain.
Essentially this is an iPod Nano with much better software/compatibility options, slightly inferior hardware key layout, and much lower price. I think it's no contest which is the better deal.
Customer Review: Only buy this if you have no preferences whatsoever
Summary: 3 Stars
Let's start with the good stuff: this product is nice looking, it's light, compact, and easy to navigate. Customer service is exceptional considering the state of customer service in this country. The sound is very decent for such a small flash player, although I had a hard time finding a comfortable spot for the earbuds.
Now for the bad: this player froze up after only two weeks of use, and although I was able to fix it within only minutes on the phone with customer service, it didn't fix the problem completely. I had to re-format the player, erasing everything I had put on it in two weeks, but the drive space was still showing as filled, which took another call to customer service to figure out.
It is absolutely impossible to put anything in any kind of order on this player. With music that's not really a big deal, but when you're trying to download an audio book with 150 different tracks, it's a little important to be able to download track 1, 2, 3, 4 etc...Because, well, the book progresses that way. I can't really follow the story if I listen to track 23 then track 14 then track 142...It's a little confusing. And, it's also a little bit of a pain to have to scroll through 150 songs looking for track 2, then 3 etc.
The software they provide, rhapsody, is garbage. I must have reorganized about 1,000 tracks on my computer, redoing the ID3 tags for music and audio books, so that when I downloaded them it would all be under the same title, genre, whatever. Well, after spending hours and hours redoing all my audio files so I could download them in a relatively organized manner I thought it would be nice to put them on my mp3 player, but as soon as I dropped them into the player through rhapsody, it reverted all my files back to the original id3 tag (which customer service was baffled by).
Playlists are also quite a problem on this. You can't simply create a playlist while on the computer, you have to go to every individual song you want on the playlist to select it, then find the next song, select it, and so on. It was too much of a hassle.
In short, do your research, and make sure that you are getting the right type of player for your needs. If you plan on listening to anything in order, don't buy this player. What I have found is that it pays to do your research, and it is often worth it to pay the extra money for "nicer" products.