SanDisk Sansa c250 (2GB)

Pros: Fantastic value

Cons: feels too light and delicate

Summary: Since my 40g ipod decided to kick the bucket and I have to get it repaired I was in need of a new mp3 player, esp since I do a lot of running and it is much easier to lug than a CD player.

Yesterday my fiance' got me this for christmas and I have spent the better part of this morning (with her in bed) adding songs to this, testing the sound quality and enjoying it.

I don't buy the editor's review of poor sound quality. I mean it isn't the Bose Wave system, but what do you expect from an mp3 player?

The nice thing about a smaller capacity player is that I actually can customize playlists for my daily tastes instead of my library of 7000 songs on my ipod which will shuffle and I sometimes have to skip 10 songs ahead, depending on my moods... not everyone is like me, but those that have varied musical tastes which can shift daily appreciate that.

The editor complained about the blue screen and the font, I say who cares. I am in this for music, ease of loading and portability issues, and this player does it all beautifully. If I wanted to look at a screen and a font, I would stay at home on my PC instead of being active with my player.

The only downside is the weight and material it is made out of. Being that it is real light and almost all plastic, I feel that if it is dropped it won't last too long. Hence, why tomorrow I will be buying an arm band for this badboy. If that is my only complaint, then oh well.

In closing... although, IMO, the ipod is the creme de la crop of mp3 players, the sansa c250 is definitely a winner and even when my ipod gets repaired I will use this for running, lifting and other activities that don't require me to have 40 gigs of music at my fingertips.

Great job Sansa and a great price to boot!