Customer Reviews

SanDisk Sansa e280 8 GB MP3 Player (Black)

5 star:		(388)
4 star:		(205)
3 star:		(61)
2 star:		(37)
1 star:		(66)

 

 

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).

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!

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.

Why Sansa over iPod if 8GB are the same price for both?
* Sansa has FM radio
* Sansa has voice recorder, and can record from the radio
* Freedom from overpriced accessories. Apple is starting to take on the razor/blade model.
* The Sansa price will fall over time - Apple's never will.
* Replaceable battery
* Break from the crowd
Side-by-side, there are advantages ...

I've got this device two weeks ago and I am very happy with it.

PROS:
+ solidly build, scratch resistant, looks great (truly "sexy")
+ great looking interface, easy and quick navigation
+ tactile navigation wheel for fast navigation (also looks great when shines blue)
+ good sound, custom EQ, also loud enough
+ sharp display; even videos are looking good
+ good tuner reception, sensivity over average, works also in Europe
+ 20 hours with one battery charge
+ the battery is replaceable: $19.99 if you need it one day... in contrast to $60+ for an iPod
+ supports MSC (Mass Storage Compliant) mode: no need for any software to transfer files, can be used for any data as USB stick
+ supports MTP (Music Transfer Protocol) and MS PlaysForSure (eg. for Napster To Go)
+ can by extended to 10GB with an microSD card
+ is not an iPod ;-)

CONTRAS:
- supports only an old QuickTime format for videos (big files)
- buttons are quite small and may be difficult to push
- upper surface is a fingerprint magnet (easy to clean, fortunately..)
- no gapless playback (very short - maybe 0.2s - breaks between live tracks)
- bad quality FM recording
- sometimes crashes during video playback
- microSD Card can only be used in MSC mode if I am right.. and can only be used for music, no photos/videos

I don't really need video, so big .MOV files is not an issue to me, and also don't care about audio recording... therefore I can easily give 4.5 stars ... or even 4 3/4. Truly great gadget!

Let me start by saying that this thing is really small. I saw the pictures and even some video reviews on youtube, but I was still pleasantly surprised at how tiny this player actually is. My Motorola Razor cellphone dwarfs it.
It's cheap, so unless you're a dedicated Apple user (i.e. have more money than brains), you're getting a great bargain.
I got it mainly because of nice size and compatibility (no need for dealing with iTunes - this baby looks just like another drive to your comptuer, which means drag and drop support for files).
I wasn't expecting much from video - but changed my mind, after being able to watch tv series episodes on it during my commute to work, or full movies during recent flights. The resolution/quality of the LCD is simply amazing.
FM tuner gets great reception, even in my basement - not to mention the fact that I can quickly record a new song directly off the radio, so that I can listen to it later.
The only downside I can list at the moment is the button interface - the rotating wheel could be a little more depressed, to make pressing buttons around it easier, but you get used to it really fast.
Other than that - this device is definitely the way to go. I couldn't be more happy with the purchase.

When my Zen Micro blew up on me a few weeks ago, I decided it was time to purchase a new MP3 player. I had long tried to avoid the iPod but after playing with a friend of mines new 8GB iPod Nano I decided I would get one. Fortunetly, I stumbled across the Sansa E280 by chance while looking for a good deal on the Nano. I decided to take a chance on this relatively unknown device and am now thrilled that I did!

While it is basically the same width and height as the Nano, it is slightly thicker which might bother some people but I still don't even know it's there while in my pocket. The Nano has a color screen which can be used to view photos and 8GB. It's actually a nice little player but compared to the Sansa E280 it falls easily to a comendable second place. the E280 has an internal 8GB but there is a slot for a 2GB expandable memory disk! It is very easy to connect to the pc as well. I am by no means a computer expert and I use Windows Media Player to store my music. When I first connected the E280 to the pc, it asked me did I want to sync the two, which I said yes to. Ten minutes later the Sansa was loaded with all my music, no problems what-so-ever.In addition to displaying photos as the Nano does, it also plays videos. When reading reviews I thought this was a clever gimic but nothing worth using on such a small screen (it is only slightly larger than the nano's). I put an episode of South Park onto it when I first got the E280 and was suprised by the quality. I still wouldn't recommend replacing your tv with one of these but it is actually far better than I thought it could be. The packaged video coverter works well. I literally dragged and dropped the episode into it and the it was converted and transferred to the E280 before my eyes. The fm radio is also brilliant. My Zen Micro had an fm radio that never really worked. I didn't expect much better from my new MP3 player but once again I was suprised. No problems picking up the local stations at all.

The player itself fits comfortably in my hand. The only complaint I have about the physical player is the rotating wheel. At first I was disappointed with it as it felt very cheap, particularly when compared with the rest of the player. I got used to this very quickly and don't have a problem with it anymore but I think it is worth noting all the same. The other complaint I would have about the player is that songs cannot be deleted from the player itself, you must hook it up to the computer and manually remove them.

All in all, I would highly recommend the Sansa E280. Of the many MP3 players I tried out, this one really came out of top. It is beaten on size by the iPod, although the difference is near negligible. If your looking for a great little player packed with more features than you'd know what to do with, pick a Sansa E280 up!

After my old MP3 player broke (Creative Zen Xtra Jukebox; the LCD screen cracked after getting crushed in my backpack), I was in the market for a new MP3 player. Since the main situation I used my old MP3 player was for running and I'm a fan of new technology, I wanted to get a flash memory-based MP3 player (for those of you not so technologically literate, flash memory is the same kind of memory in USB thumb drives and has numerous advantages over traditional hard drives although currently has less capacity). I was faced with a difficult decision: go the iPod Nano route, or go with an off-brand, which worked very well for me last time? I ended up choosing the latter by purchasing the Sansa e280, and while I don't regret my decision, I can comfortably say that the folks over at Apple needn't be trembling in fear about this product.

First, there are some definite advantages the Sansa has over the iPod Nano. The most obvious one is price. When I bought mine, the Sansa was a solid $30 lower than the iPod Nano 8 GB was at the moment. Another perk is the presence of FM radio and Voice Memo on the player. These options come in very handy and round the player out well. In addition, the presence of two USB modes works to the Sansa's advantage. The Sansa has two choices: MSC (Mass Storage Control) and MTP (Media Transfer Protocol). In the MTP mode, the Sansa acts just like an iPod would, but with Windows Media Player instead of iTunes. In the MSC mode, however, the Sansa in essence becomes a USB drive. This is very helpful if you want to not add your entire music library on your (or someone else's) computer onto your MP3 player.

All those nice features aside, I've ran into my share of frustrating problems with my MP3 player. The headphones and lanyard that came with the MP3 player were both rather low quality (the lanyard was obscenely long, which boggled my mind). The firmware on the player has frozen on me occasionally, requiring a hard restart of the system. Setting up a playlist on the Sansa is a pain; you have to be in MTP, set up a playlist, transfer it over to the device, and then sync it to the device (it's partially because I think Windows Media Player has a shabby interface and I don't like dealing with it, but I can't even transfer a playlist from another program I use to listen music, which bothers me). The internal clock on the MP3 player seems to run slow. There's usually a delay after you click to play a song. I had some problems uploading videos to the device, but those were ironed out.

All in all, that's a lot of little annoyances to get in the way of an otherwise great MP3 player. I think the number one thing that testifies to the comparative quality of the Sansa e280 to its Apple equivalent is that the interface is extremely similar to Apple's; in fact, the only major difference is that the scroll wheel moves instead of being touch sensitive. It shows that the Sansa is trying to be like the iPod. If an MP3 player is going to dethrone Apple, they need to do it by innovating instead of packing a few fancy features on an otherwise identical product.

The sansa e280 isnt a bad choice for an mp3 player because unlike the ipod nano, you can remove the battery by yourself(Although I haven't tried it) and overall its pretty good for its price but there are a few things you should be aware of. These things aren't necessarily bad because other mp3 players might be the same and might not be much different but you should take these things into condsideration before buying it.

1. When it comes to photos and videos, the name will appear the way the actual file is named on the computer. So it's not like music where the file name can be GoD's PrOJeCt and on the mp3 player it says God's Project. The way it appears on the file name is the way it will appear on the screen.

2. Unlike the photos, you can't have seperate albums for your videos so you'll have to name your videos in a way that will organize them. So if you want all your rock videos in a section you could put a 1 in front of the name, then your rnb videos with a 2 in front of the name so that you don't have to scroll up or down and all over the place to find the videos you're looking for.

3. Because you can't fastforward or "scan" like in your songs, it'd be wise to NOT have a compilation of videos into one. This usually only happens with reggaeton videos where they'll show like two or three songs from the album on that one video alone. I haven't tried movies yet as their resolution is too high and it takes to long to cut them into parts but if you must, don't put the whole thing in one clip.

4. Unlike the videos which are formatted in the best way to fit the screen, the photos can be put in in different angles. If you want to get the pictures to fit the screen the best way possible, change their angle so its a standing rectangle just like the screen. It will fill most of the screen and you'll be able to see your pictures better.

5. There is a recorder for voice and FM but be aware, it won't sound as good as when you're recording the song you hear on the radio. This meaning you can't record, send to computer, turn into mp3, send back to sansa, and hear it with same quality sound. It's not totally useless as you can keep the recording until you find the name of the artist and/or song or you can understand the lyrics enough to find the name of the song. Hopefully in the future we'll be able to record the song from the radio and hear it with the same quality as when we were recording it but until then, use this as a way to find what you're looking for.

6. It can and will freeze. Don't worry it won't freeze that often but from time to time it will. I haven't found a way to fix it or unfreeze it so until then, take your time, pause what you're listening to before you change it, and just try not to do too much at one time.

7. Videos and photos are formatted to fit the screen on the sansa so it's not like you can put the photos and videos in, and then copy them back to the computer and see them with the same quality as the original file so keep the original files somewhere like a dvd disk in data mode which will hold more than 70 mb of space.

8. The buttons around the wheel may be hard to reach. Even I that I have skinny fingers, have a little trouble pressing those buttons. It's still better than the ipod where its hard to stop where you want it to so maybe they'll make the buttons wider and the wheel shorter next time.

Be a little realistic about these things though because some of these might be a downer but you might or might not even see that many photos or videos. Some people don't even organize their music or label it right and they have to look everywhere anyway. But if you're like me where you like your music, videos and picturess organized and easy to access, there's your alternative and solutions to some problems. I didn't see these things as that big of a problem and found ways around most of them so that's why I give it a 5.

Update: There is an alternative firmware that you can get for free online called Rockbox which works for this mp3 player. It has games and some other applications and other neat stuff. However it wasn't developed by sansa though and it will become your primary firmware. If at any point you want to go back to the firmware that comes with the sansa then do this. When you turn it on, click and hold down the rewind button until the screen tells you that its loading the sansa firmware. Rockbox also lets you use some SD cards which the original firmware may not detect. Depending on the card, it may or may not be read by the original firmware but the sansa will pick it up though.

I bought this MP3 player to replace my Creative Zen Micro that died on me. I was leaning towards the Creative Zen V plus, which is comparable to the SanDisk Sansa e280; however, there are several reasons why I chose this player. I figured a review was in order after working with the player over a 3 month period.

Note: This review is based off of the "older" model of the Sansa e280.

Pluses
-Long battery life! (20+ Hours, depending on usage and settings)
-Vivid color LCD screen
-Sleek design
-Solid Construction
-Expandable Memory
-Excellent Radio
-Voice Recording
-Video/Image Playback
-Great Audio
-Easy Firmware Updating

Inconveniences
-Wheel feels loose
-Screen goes completely dark without Backlight
-Hiccups or hesitations between tracks in albums
-Buttons can be difficult to press
-Lengthy Boot time
-Volume resets after booting (edit)

Cons
-NO Organization Software!
-No AC charger

This player really offers a lot to users who are looking for a decent player, even though it has a few extra frills. I only wanted to use my player for music. I am not one for burning my eyes out on a tiny screen. The radio receiver is great, even picks up stations my car cannot get. The player's sleek, small, and well built design makes it ready to go anywhere, but the buttons take some time to get used to until you find the "sweet spot." The hiccups between tracks in albums are annoying, yet are nothing too serious.

After seeing this player and the Creative Zen V Plus sitting next to each other, I was so happy I chose the Sansa e280. The Zen Vs are way too small, in my opinion, and the Sansa e280 fits well into the palm, especially if you have larger hands. Some people may be turned off about the stiff wheel, but I find it nice, since I will not skip over the track I am looking for as easily.

The real down fall of this product is the lack of a media organizer. Some people may find this terribly aggravating, especially if you have never owned an MP3 player before. I tried coping and pasting my music library into the device, which works, but everything was jumbled up. I read in a previous review on this product that mentioned a media organizer called Media Monkey. I tested it out and I really like it. The program is free and even has an itunes feel to it. There are other media organizers and I highly suggest downloading one once you get this player. The only software it comes with is the media converter for images and video clips.

Overall, I think this is a great player that provides most of the essentials, even though it lacks a crucial element for MP3 players. This player delivers and is less expensive than similar devices; definitely better than an ipod nano.

[EDIT]
I forgot a few things.

Every time you boot the player, whether from an auto shut down or not, the volume level automatically resets to a specific default setting, 50%. It's just an inconvenience.

Tips when using the Sansa e280
-Regardless of what others might have said, you can save your place in a long track, album, or playlist. Just pause the track and shut down the player with the power button or let the player go into auto shut down. Then simply reboot the player and it picks up where you left off. Just remember to recalibrate your volume.
-In case the device does not boot properly, hold the power button until the player shuts off. Then try again.
-Firmware updates come out about every other month. You should at least attempt an update once a month. Follow the simple instructions to do so.
-How do I go back to the music list while I'm still listening? Simply press the "Submenu" button, the one with 4 bars on it, and select "Back to music list."