SanDisk Sansa m230 512 MB MP3 Player (Blue)
by SanDisk
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List Price: Our Price: $27.95 You Save: $22.04 (44%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $14.54 (click here) Category: Network Media Player See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of SanDisk Sansa m230 512 MB MP3 Player (Blue)
Customer Review: MP3 Play-bound
Summary: 4 Stars
With all the talk we hear about how we listen to our music today, there are many different ways we keep the music playing. One of them is through the traditionals with radio, and buying music simply through the record stores. However, many of us would interestingly prefer now to download music off the internet. With MP3 players becoming more popular today, there is just so many styles to really choose from. While so many of us would rather prefer the Ipod from Apple, there are sites like Napster and MSN Music that actually don't recognize the popular music device. However, many people also can't afford to buy an traditional Ipod or Ipod Nano because it is too expensive. Well, there are other choices, and this is one of them.
Sandisk's Sansa M230 is a MP3 player that is convient and easy to install into your computer. All you do is simply plug it into your USB port in your computer, and it simply works like a charm. This device is very easy to operate, and you can use this for storing your downloaded music you buy from sites like Napster and Puertracks and subscription services like Rhapsody and Yahoo Music too. The device is very simple and easy to operate, and doesn't need to be recharged constantly. All it takes is a simple AAA battery, and you have your music on the go. You can play up to over 200 songs you download from this device, and it also has a F.M. radio tuner as well. The only disadvantage with the device is that you only get about 20 hours of battery life with each battery, but it doesn't thankfully eat up a lot of electricity when you'd need to constantly plug it in for recharging.
All in all, you could pay nearly double the amount for a Ipod Shuffle to get the same quality with Itunes, or you could simply get a convient MP3 player, without the hastle from the wallet. I think this is a terrific MP3 player, and Sadisk's Sansa does a great job for anyone who needs to MP3, even to those on a budget. I really recommend this great MP3 player a whole lot.
Price: A-
Convience: A-
Easy To Operate: B+
F.M. Playback: B
Overall: B+
Customer Review: Very good little player
Summary: 4 Stars
I was looking for a replacement for an old Rio Sport that finally just must have gotten dropped too many times. I looked into the Shuffle, but since I've not used iTunes, was used to a display, and didn't see the need to spend twice the money, I went with this one.
I really like it. The controls and menus are more intutive for me than the Rio's, and the display is nice and big. I was looking solely for a workout player - no need for the big jukebox - and this delivers. I do wish that it came with a belt clip - the only option that arrives in the box is the arm band - but I think it's just a matter of getting used to running with something on my arm. I may try to rig it with a lanyard, but that's just a personal preference.
The battery life appears to be great. The radio works, the ear buds are typical for this kind of player (in other words, if you have headphones you already like, you could just use them - for a workout, these are fine for me.)
It does not have a slot to expand the memory, but again, for my workout purposes, I don't need more than what's here in the first place. I don't want to work out to every song that I own, and I use the random function to avoid repetitive workout soundtracks. The 512 memory holds enough that I don't hear every song every day by any means, and sometimes it takes two or three before I feel that I've covered everything.
I think this is a great value for the money. I don't have enough "peppy songs" to justify a bigger memory for more money. My gym does have TVs with audio routed through a radio, so the little extras like the radio - rarely used, but available - sent me straight to this one over the more expensive iPod options, and I'm very pleased with the results. Why didn't I give it 5 stars? I don't know, and now I can't change it! It doesn't feel like a "rave about it" product, but I will say that it works perfectly, is a great value, and I can find nothing negative to say.
Customer Review: Great for podcasts!
Summary: 4 Stars
(minor updates added June 11, 2007)
I don't use an MP3 player the way most people do. I listen to podcasts on my commute to work. So, I don't need perfect audio. But I do need it to play the tracks in order from first to last and I need the device to remember exactly where I was at power down so I can pick it back up right where I left off. This little player does that perfectly. It's easy to move files to it via Windows Media Player and erase them when I'm ready to put the next set of files on.
But I also want to say how pleased I am with the Sandisk customer support. About 6 months after I got it, it quit allowing me to erase files or write new files to it. The ones that were there continued to play but it did not remember where I was when I powered it off and always went back to some other location when I powered up later. So, I called Sandisk. My hold time was somewhere around 2 minutes. The guy who came on the line spoke clear English and was very helpful in guiding me through several trouble shooting steps. One of the steps was going to take about 15 minutes so I said I would call back if it did not work. I called back the next day. Again, the hold time was about 2 minutes and the woman who came on the line communicated clearly and was very helpful. When several trouble shooting steps failed she said she was going to get me a replacement. All I have to do is provide the box. They will provide a mailing label and cover the cost of shipping. They did not even ask for proof of purchase to verify that it was still under warranty. Of course, I'm not happy that it's not working, but what a *great* customer service experience this has been so far.
If I have any complaint it's that the player seems to go through AAA batteries more quickly than an RCA Lyra that I have. But RCA has disappointed me in other ways (poor quality) so I'm not likely to buy any of their products any time soon.
Customer Review: Basic mp3 player good for basic needs
Summary: 3 Stars
I've enjoyed my SanDisk for the most part so far, but there are a few things people should know before investing in it. First of all, while it begins with 512 MB of data storage, I found that after the first few clearings of the library the storage had gone DOWN; now, I think it has about 495 MB of storage remaining (that's about 99 songs). Also, the player comes with a booklet "guide" that doesn't really tell you anything about how to use the player; you're told how to add songs, and some basic usage rules, but other than that I found myself having to just fiddle around with it to figure anything out. If you're looking for an mp3 player that plays several formats of music, I'd invest in another one; I'm happy with being able to use my Window's Media Player library, but everyone should know that you can't play iTunes music (which is mp4), you can only play mp3s and WMAs.
I've had very few problems with the player, although there have been a few times when the battery life has suddenly plummeted to death for no reason. Also, there are songs I've tried to put on that simply won't play; for one song, not only would it not play on the mp3 player, but when I tried to play it in Media Player it had stopped playing as well (fortunately I had two copies of the song). Some people have problems with the headphone cord length, but I've been able to wear it in a coat or jean pocket and have a comfortable length to work with (I'm about 5'5"/5'6" if that helps). Buyers should also know that the display is backlit, but when your batteries are dying it won't work; you'll want to change those batteries BEFORE trying to operate it in the dark (as I learned the hard way)! I still haven't used the recording device, so I can't say anything about that, but overall I'd call this a decent buy for anyone interested in having a small portable media storage unit who also isn't too caught up in more advanced mp3 device technology!
Customer Review: Worked for 2 weeks, then quit
Summary: 1 Stars
Initially I really liked this player, but it had its drawbacks.
Pros:
1)Cheap price
2)Not an Apple
3)FM Tuner
4)Voice recorder - which works pretty well.
Cons:
1)Volume control was hard to adjust
2)Interface was different on different computers. What I mean by this is that files I downloaded onto one computer could not be viewed on another. I have no idea why.
3)Could not "Click and drag" files into a created folder and still have them accessible when player was unpluged from the usb port.
4)All non-music files wound up in a folder titled "Unknown Artist". Since most of the mp3 files I listen to are not music files, this made making a playlist impossible.
5) Unplugging the player from the computer automatically rearranges all the files in folders different than the ones created on the computer.
6) Flash drive copies non music files from a computer, but cannot be seen on a different computer.
7) iTunes, Rahpsody and Windows Media Player all interface poorly with this player. Rhapsody is the best, but you have no control as to where the files go once the player is unplugged (see point #5).
8)Armband was too small.
9)After 2 weeks it would not play back any mp3 files. The display would read that all the audio files were 0.00/0.00 meaning that the files were zero seconds into a zero second audio file. The player would just run through all the files in an album continuously without playing any of them. These all were files which were able to be played back during the first 2 weeks. It is for this reason that I am returning the player.
Maybe I just have a faulty player, since most of the other reviewers seem to have had a positive experience with it. I'm returning it and not requesting a replacement. It seems that all MP3 players are a gamble as far as quality is concerned.