Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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211 of 214 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Unit, November 24, 2006
I've never written a review on Amazon before, but I like this unit so much that I thought I'd capture a few points that I think make this player a great choice:
1.) Currently an excellent $/GB value.
2.) Build quality is great (solid metal backplane). Screen will scratch, but one of the many available screen protectors will address this problem.
3.) User interface is well-deigned. I'm a fairly big guy (6'1") with large hands, but I have no problems operating the 4 buttons arranged around the scroll wheel. I was apprehensive about the scroll wheel, but it works great for me. The fact that it - unlike the iPod wheel - is raised a bit (i.e., has a positive profile) makes it easy to locate with your thumb when the player is out of view.
4.) Battery life is excellent; I've never run the unit to full discharge, but with heavy use on trans-pacific flights I've never gotten close to battery-empty status, so the stated 20 hrs. seems very realistic.(Remember that turning the brightness down will do wonders for battery life...)
5.) My player is loaded to capacity, and it takes apx. 10-15 sec. for booting, no more.
6.) Sandisk phone customer service has been more than satisfactory on two occasions (wait time was quite long but the actual service was very good).
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509 of 533 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
excellent balance of form, function and value, September 21, 2006
the inevitable comparisons to the iPod nano notwithstanding, the Sandisk Sansa e200 series is an excellent choice for a digital audio and video player that meets most mp3 player owners' requirements in portability and styling, feature sets, ease-of-use, and price. The Sandisk Sansa is a winner out of the box, and a serious competitor to the iPod Nano....
You get more capacity (8GB flash + up to 2GB with the microSD slot), more features that the iPod doesn't have (larger screen, video playback, FM tuner + recorder, voice recorder, user customizable EQ, on-the-go playlisting), for the same price.
And that's the MSRP price: Apple rarely lowers it's iPod prices unless a new generation model is ready for release. Sandisk has and will continue to lower it's prices as the market allows, so even now, 9 days after the release of the new Nano, you can find some e280 Sansa's online that are selling for $20-$30 less than the 8GB Nano.
The Sansa no longer has that clear-cut superior build quality over the Nano, now that it's in annodized aluminum. But the Sansa's liquid metal alloy titanium back plate is far more durable and scratch-resistant than the Nano's aluminum. And, you can remove and replace the rechargeable lithium-ion battery yourself, for $20, while the Nano has to be sent back to Apple for the replacement, at a cost of $50 (the Nano's battery is soldered to the motherboard). It's the same size as the Nano, although it's almost twice as thick (0.5" vs. 0.3") - probably due to the removable battery.
The new Nano still is uncomfortable-feeling in my hand as the 1G nano was, due to it's thinness, even tho it now has rounded sides. The Sansa's 0.5" thickness is still very thin, yet it feels substantial in my hand, and more of my hand's skin is gripping it's body, which makes me feel like I'm going to hang on to it, and not drop it, like it always feels like with the Nano.
Both the Sansa and the Nano have a similar sound presentation. The Sansa DID have a clearer, crisper reproduction compared to the 1G Nano, but the 2G Nano appears to be improved slightly in this area, and has caught up neck-to-neck with the Sansa. The Nano is a tick or two louder in volume....both have meek results in the low (bass) frequencies flat, but the user EQ for the Sansa helps in this regard quite a bit, while the only bass-editing feature for the Nano - bass booster - distorts quite a bit. Overall, the Nano has a slight edge in volume, but the improvements in bass for the Sansa in my opinion make it the winner in overall audio quality. Opinions of audio quality is subjective, and may depend on if you are a "basshead" or not.
so overall, in regards to build quality, styling, features, and price, the Sandisk Sansa is a very solid competitor to the iPod Nano, and will be looking eye-to-eye with the Nano, and maybe even down on the Nano, for quite some time to come. In my opinion, it's the clear winner over the Nano, and what I'd recommend first to anyone. It's why I sold my first generation 4GB nano, and bought my e260 Sansa. And now with the 2nd gen. nano, there's no reason for me to go back. The styling of the iPod is getting old to me: it's basically un-changed since 2001, with the exception of 4 buttons being under the screen for the 4G iPod, and the Mini's and Nano's colors.
If you want to "think different", get the Sansa!
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75 of 77 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great ... simply great. , March 28, 2007
I'm a long time customer of SanDisk memory products, so when I heard they were making MP3 players, I was intrigued to see how they'd do. If the e200 series is any indication of how they're doing, I'd say they're doing VERY well.
I got the d280 with 8gig of memory and a cross section of features that was perfect for me, including the standard MP3 player, FM radio, FM record, voice recorder and the ability to display both video and photo files. This is really a perfect set up for me, as I plan to use my unit as much for sharing small sample photos and videos as for listening to music. I'm a photographer and writer by trade, and this little number is a lot like having a business card that doubles as a mini-portfolio. With the capacity to hold a couple hundred thousand photos ... it's more than I'll ever need for that purpose ... leaving lots of memory for video samples and music. What an incredible bundle of fun stuff in such a small, well made package.
The unit I got came as advertised with SanDisk software (user manual and photo/video conversion utility), USB cable, a small sleeve to protect the unit, a wrist/neck lanyard and screen protection shield. The software installed easily on my WinXP machine and allows me to easily drag and drop photos into a utility that converts them to a format that displays on the e280. I've passed both bmp and jpg format files into this unit and so far have had no trouble at all. The resulting images that reside on the e280 range from around 40k to 80k. The display feature on this unit is quite nice for something so small, but certainly was not intended to be a high resolution photo or video viewer. But as a business card sized "portfolio in your pocket" this unit works REALLY well. Now, no matter where I am, I can slip this unit out of my pocket and show someone individual samples or a slideshow of my work. Video playback was surprisingly good for such a small screen and I think will enable me to use this unit for displaying video samples as well.
The MP3 player, FM radio, FM record and other music functions seem work very well and I have no complaints at all. If you're a music junkie and are looking for lots of advanced music handling features, please read other reviews of this product, as this is not my primary interest in this unit. The FM radio works well even in places where my dedicated radios don't, the sound is clear and true and the volume and tuning controls are easy. The menu and playback options for MP3's are quite suitable by my standards, but again, read other reviews for more details on that.
The menu system on the unit is pretty intuitive and easy to navigate with the thumb wheel and buttons found on the unit, though there are a couple of corners of the menu that still have me scratching my head, I'm sure I'll sort them out soon.
The user manual is not the best I've ever seen, by a long shot. It covers the basics and it's not hard to understand, but there are a lot of obvious questions for which it doesn't provide answers. As someone who writes such manuals as part of his job, I'd have to say that the only disappointment I've had so far with the e280 was the manual. But, since the unit is such a delight to use, that's not such a big deal.
In terms of construction, the unit's titanium alloy back seems quite rigid and sturdy and gives the unit a light yet very substantial feel. The buttons all seem to work well, the screen is clear and bright, the cables all plug in easily (usb and headphone) and using the unit is very easy and intuitive, even for someone with slightly larger than average hands like me.
Notables ...
This unit comes with the ability to add up to 2 gig of extra memory on an insertable chip, but this memory add on can't be used to house photos or videos ... interesting.
The Lithium Ion battery can be replaced by the end user when it finally dies and recharges via the USB cable, though it requires the PC be on while charging. After market cigarette lighter (car) and AC recharge adapters are available.
The carrying case that comes with the unit isn't much to brag about, so I'd recommend one of the after market units there too. The one recommended by Amazon when looking at this unit is quite good.
I'm VERY happy with this unit and look forward to using it quite a lot every day.
AFTER A BIT OF USE
Now that I've had a bit more time to use the Sansa, I can say I really do love it. It works like a charm and it's fun to use. I do have a few comments for would be users to allow you to make your choice of an MP3 player with as much information as possible.
a) Controls - The for arch shaped buttons arranged around the thumb dial are a bit hard to access for larger fingers, especially if you keep the unit in a leather carrying case. I don't find that this bothers me, but some folks certainly might.
b) USB Cable Connection - When plugging the USB cable into the Sansa, I find I have to carefully push the cable firmly into the socket to make sure that both little catches on either side of the connector are in place. It's not hard or tricky, but I'm not paying attention and just plug it in with the same force as I do my cell phone, quite often one or the other catches on the connector won't seat properly and the cable could slip out. After just a few instances of this, I got in the habit of plugging it in more carefully and I've had no troubles since. Again, I don't find this difficult or tricky or even troublesome ... but it's something that might annoy some folks, so I thought I'd pass along the information.
c) Transferring Photos - As I mentioned in my review, one of my chief uses for this unit is sharing photos. I find the software what comes with the unit does a fine job of creating small versions of my photos and meets my need as a sort of digital business card sized portfolio. But it should be noted that when the software reduces the images to this size, there are some minor imperfections in the smaller pictures. I don't find them objectionable, but some might. Again, just something to be aware of.
d) FM Radio - Like many of us, I work inside a steel frame building and I've found that getting a good FM radio signal at work can be VERY tricky. I wouldn't have been too upset to find that the Sansa didn't deliver any better an FM signal than my dedicated radios did ... but I'm OVERJOYED to report that this little unit delivers a GREAT FM signal even in the depths of the building. I get great reception where no radio I've owned has gotten even adequate reception. QUITE happy.
e) Voice Recorder - good enough pick up for dictation, but not really usable for group settings like meetings. I have a Panasonic voice recorder for my more serious voice recording needs, but it is handy to have a VR built into this unit for jotting down ideas when I don't happen to have my Panasonic with me.
f) FM Record ... works really well and is quite handy. I love this feature.
g) LOCK UP - I rather foolishly tried to change modes on the Sansa while plugging in the USB cord ... my mistake. This locked up the unit in what appeared to be the OFF mode, and none of the buttons would respond. I read the digital owners guide, saw that I needed to hold down the START/MENU button for 15 seconds to reset ... did this ... and nothing seemed to happen. I then pressed the START/MENU button again, and it started up with no problems and no loss of data. Everything was fine. My only note would be that the user guide doesn't mention that the 15 second depression of the START/MENU button must be followed by then turning the unit on by pressing the START/MENU button again. Some units restart when you reset, some don't. This oen doesn't. So ... if it gets locked (which only has happened once, and it was clearly my fault), FIRST press and hold the START/MENU button for 15 seconds ... nothing will appear to have happened. THEN ... press the START/MENU button again ... it should fire up just fine, as mine did.
h) USER GUIDE - I find that this user guide covers all the necessary bases, but rather in a minimalist way, leaving out some rather important details. I've bene able to figure most of the missing details out on my own, but as a writer of such manuals, I can't say the manual for the Sansa is one of its strong suits. I LOVE my Sansa ... I don't love the manual.
Yes, all in all, I'm THRILLED with my purchase, especially since it included the E200 series Travel Case Kit. The combination of these two is making me a very happy camper.
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