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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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of SanDisk Sansa e260 4 GB MP3 Player with MicroSD Expansion Slot (Black
Customer Review: Excellent MP3 Player
Summary: 5 Stars
This mp3 player performs exactly as it says it will. We bought three; one for me, one for my lady, and one as a present for a friend, because we thought so highly of the earlier ones we bought. These purchases were after several other brands that were very disappointing.
I've been using it for about two months now, with no problems. It's everything I could want in an mp3 player, plus the FM radio receiver, which works very well. The battery is easily replaceable (unlike the iPod), although I haven't had any reason to do that yet.
Songs are easy to download with a drag-and-drop facility from your computer's HD. Your can also sync to WPM playlists. It charges the battery by simply plugging in the USB connector to a USB port on your computer, and the battery runs for several hours on a single charge. Sound quality is good. You can also store images and videos, if you want to eat up the memory space with that kind of thing. I'll admit to loading on a video of G.W. Bush bloopers for entertaining my politically-aware friends.
MY ADVICE: Avoid iRiver players. We bought one and it promptly failed. A Google search revealed a lot of other people who experienced the same kind of problems: the OS fails and is usually impossible to get working again. We also bought a generic Chinese player. It kind of works, although the user's manual is such bad Chin-lish that we show it to people to get a guaranteed half hour of uncontrollable laughter. Beyond the humor value, the manual is utterly unintelligible; there's no way of learning how the thing works!
Also, unless you're an absolute diehard Apple fanatic, stay away from the popular iPod. It's much too expensive, very proprietary (Apple has a long history of shooting themselves in the foot with this approach), and there are battery problems (again, a Google search will fill you in on the details of this problem).
If all you want is an mp3 player that has all the latest features and works exactly as advertised, you can't go wrong with the Sansa player. I suspect there are other players out there that also perform well. There's certainly an overwhelming assortment of them. But, if you want to be sure you get your money's worth without doing extensive research, you won't go wrong with the Sansa.
Customer Review: Excellent iPod alternative - get it while you still can
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been a Sansa owner since 2006, when I purchased an e280 (8gb) for myself. I've always been happy with the functionality, battery life, and sound quality compared to the price of about $200 at the time. Now I've purchased an e260 (4gb) for my wife. While it only has half the built-in memory, I've found this version to be superior for a few reasons.
One thing I did not expect is that this is a "version 2" Sansa. They've improved many features over my "version 1". You can delete songs on the fly right from the menu button, which you can't do with the version 1. This is helpful when you listen to a lot of podcasts, as I do, and you want to get rid of them as you go so they don't clutter up your library. The response time on clicks to accessing menu features seems to be quicker too, and the scroll wheel has a smoother feel now.
The main reason to look for a version 2 Sansa, though, is that it's compatible with the final firmware update from Sandisk. A version-1 Sansa can only be upgraded to firmware 01.02.24A. The version 2 can be upgraded all the way to the most-recent 03.01 release.
Another reason to look for version 2 models is that they're compatible with the newer Micro SDHC cards, whereas the version 1 models only work with original Micro SD cards up to 2gb.
The Sansa e200 models have lots of other great features, such as built-in voice memo recording, a built-in FM radio tuner, and support for playing videos and showing photos. The one drawback to these last two features is that you have to run your media through Sansa's media converter on your computer for them to work with the unit. This is where iPods would likely be superior with their plug-and-play functionality with iTunes.
I will say, however, that I've been very pleased with how well both my e280 and my wife's e240 work with Windows Media Player 11.
Overall, while you can still get them, the e200 players are great products. Make sure you get a "v2", though. You can tell by looking on the back of the unit. If the model number in the lower-right corner does not say v2, don't buy it. Sandisk has discontinued the e200s in favor of a new model called the Fuze. But the functionality is virtually the same, and you're likely to get a better price on the older models.
Customer Review: A Solid alternative to Ipod Nano
Summary: 5 Stars
This player is really well thought out. I would highly recommend it to anyone thinking about an Ipod nano. The included software is complete and works flawlessly. Best of all, it will play WMA music files, has an included FM radio, has an expansion slot, and plays home videos. Here's what I've learned so far:
1. MUSIC- You can drag and drop from windows explorer or you can use Windows Media Player 10. Your choice. Either way works great. Note: The installation CD does not include WMP 10 but no big deal.
2. PHOTOS- The included media app on the install CD is a wonder to behold. It couldn't be easier to use and is rock solid stable. Photos shot horizontally are cropped (like widescreen) but photos that are vertical are shown full screen. I am going to experiment on this but haven't had time just yet since I just bought the Sansa.
3. VIDEO- Probably the best feature. The same media app that you use for photos also doubles for videos. Again, unlike some other players that have problems with converting video, this is heaven sent. Just pick out a video and press convert. It converts and then transfers in one step. It works perfectly.
Unlike past Sansa's you have to spend extra for a decent carrying case. Still, if you like felt pouches and lanyards (I Don't), they come included. One minor drawback is that you can only charge using the USB attached to the computer. An AC adapter would have been nice.
One final note. I tried to convert 2 DVD movies that were already on my hard drive. They were in the 550-700mb range. Each time, the video utility started to convert them no problem. However, in each case the utility timed out after 13 minutes 39 seconds. It cancelled the whole thing so not to worry about having 1/2 a movie on your sansa. I am going to fool around with this and see if I can shrink the file size of those 2 movies to around 200-300mb and try again. If I can work around this and am sucessful I'll let you know. Even though trying to watch a feature length movie on a 1.8 inch screen might be a bit much, the screen itself is really crystal clear (better than nano) and TFT not STN. I would highly recommend this player to anyone. Finally, a company that got everything right and it all comes right out of the box.
Customer Review: Works Great
Summary: 5 Stars
So far I have no complaints about this device. It worked right out of the box.
It did have it stop working temporarily, but I just did a soft reboot. You do that by holding down the power button for about 20 seconds, release it, then press the power button like you would normally to turn it on. The problem was caused by the player being connected to a third party car charger when the car was started.
The only thing that could make this any better would be for it to have more memory, but that was more due to my impatience and lack of extra funds.
It requires some software from Sansa in order to transfer videos and pictures to the player. I found the software to be very easy to use, with an uncluttered interface. The videos come out as clear as the original, and the audio keeps track with the video.
The audio comes out great from the mp3 player, generally as clear as the source. I did not notice the "cheapness" that is suggested for the ear buds, they worked well if you have nothing else. The only improvement I would want for them would be some volume control. The player's audio setting has to be at its lowest in order to not blow out your ears with the provided ear buds.
Adding playlists to the player is a breeze, just load up WMP, drag and drop the playlists in, and sync it. You can also just drag and drop your own songs in, but I prefer to just pre-create a playlist. The player does have a feature for creating a on-the-go playlist, but it could use a little tweaking for easier use.
The radio feature works great, though it can have trouble with weaker stations. I love being able to store my favorite stations, it is prefered over my last mobile radio. Weaker stations come in clearer with a little tweaking of the headphone cord. The recording feature for the radio is also great, whatever you are hearing is what you get.
I haven't gotten to use the mic function to much, but it seems to work fairly nicely. The only complaint is that it picks up movement from the user, or the click to turn off the recording feature. There is a record button on the side of the player, wich woudl work nicely if one has to make a quick recording. This could also work nicely for making a memo.
All together, I am quite satisfied with this device.
Customer Review: Lets be realistic...good but not great.
Summary: 3 Stars
People seem to be overrating this product just because it is not an iPod. Is everyone so amazed by the fact that another company can but out a halfway decent mp3 player? I think their expectations of this unit are way too low.
Anyway, here's the good stuff.
+Good style, the blue on black is very nice.
+Cheap, you're not gonna find this much storage for this price in any other mp3 player.
+Its not an iPod, which means it will work with subscription music services like Napster and Rhapsody and you don't have to use iTunes.
Now for the bad.
-The e200 does have some quality issues. Others have already mentioned that it may stop playing out of one side of your headphones. This has happened intermittently on mine over the past 2 months I've had it. It also lost all my music licenses so all the files on there were useless. I had to wait until I got home that now and format the whole thing then copy over 3gb of songs again.
-The middle wheel is just not right. It is no where near as smooth as the iPod's or the creative zen's navigation control. You'll find that sometimes it just goes one too far.
-It takes awhile to boot up. It takes somewhere between around 15 seconds to turn on where you'll be standing there having to listen to other people talk on their cell phones.
-The hold button is not well placed. It is too close to the headphone jack on the top so it cannot be reached easily when trying to take off hold with just your right hand.
-The interface needs to be streamlined. When listening to music it takes two separate button clicks to get back to your music list. Depending on where you go it may have to hit another button twice to get back. The center wheel can be used to navigate up and down but you can also also use the buttons located on the top and bottom of it to do the same thing. This is redundant. Instead the functionality should be spread out allowing quicker navigation.
All in all this is a good mp3 player. The best reason to buy it however is its price. Compared side by side to other units it doesn't stand up. A few small fixes and it could be an iPod killer, but right now its more of an ankle biter.