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"Can it be the ONE!!!!" on by i4u2c2
Pros: removable battery, slide show functionality, FM reception and recording, flash memory expansion and scratch resistant coating
Cons: none for windows users but a general concern with MAC users
Summary: This product is truly a remarkable product, based on the features that it provides. It has a removable battery that is really useful feature and it provides the option of buying an additional battery for extended playback... really nice...
It can also shows pictures and video on its 1.8" screen; larger than the popular Ipod Nano (1.5"). Its size is similar to that of the Nano but just a hair larger.. i mean heh size in this case doesnt really matter...
Also it has a liquid metal scratch resistant coating... a big plus noting the scandal and major defect of Ipod...
Another cool option is the FM tuner and recording being included on the unit itself... thus NO UNNECESSARY PURCHASES/LOAD.....YEAY! This is Unlike its Ipod counterpart in which you'll have to spend $50 for the same feature... too much money... I also like the fact that they have line in recording, very useful for lectures and interviews.
Another advantage, and this seems to be the most important, is its ability to expand in terms of storage space through the use of micro SD flash cards (at this point their is a 1GB available, ~$119, with a 2GB a few months/weeks away Retail Price ~$190). Thus a potential of 8GB of STORAGE....!!!!
Sandisk Technical Support can be a little tedious and intrusive at first because they would require your contact info but it would become easier the second time around as they would have that info logged in for you. I called to make a pre-purchase query and they were prompt but the agent was little unpleasant/hasty but that can definately be overlooked TO A POINT....!
I love the freedom that i get with these non-ipod products in that i can easily download my music to my other PC without the fear of my previous music library being wiped out...lol...(as i have 2 systems)... I mean yes there is Sharepod (Windows) and Senuti (Macs) but thats too much valuable space and time...
With all these benefits i definately believe that this is the ONE for me .... BUT.... there is one major drawback/concern...
even though the Sandisk stated on their website that their Sansa e200 series only work with Windows XP and not Macs, in other forums people suggest that on Macs it would appear as a external hardware/harddrive and thus you can click and drag your files with ease.But i'm not sure would someone be able to clarify this for me?
But besides this issue, BASED ON ITS FEATURES, its a good bargain at around $300, which will be the same price for the 4GB Nano plus its FM remote ($250+$50), and you can have all the basic features of the Nano and then some... -
"Future Editor's Choice winner" on by ShiningWizard
Pros: The world's first 6GB flash player, with tons of extras.
Cons: None I can think of.
Summary: Yes, we all see how much wonderful press Apple gets here on CNet. But I say give CNet their due. Yes the iPod, the mini, and the nano all got Editor's choice... but the shuffle did not. Creative's Vision:M got one, as well as the Creative Zen Micro Photo and the now-defunct Sony NW-HD5 (which would have been a stellar player if not for the horrid SonicStage software.) As for the Sansa e270, I have been chomping at the bit for this player for a few months now, because of all the iPods... I LOATHE the Nano the most. I hate hate hate hate HATE the Nano. Give me an old school mini any day over that anorexic, scratched up piece of junk. I don't know about anyone else, but I like a piece of technology that will not snap like a twig if you drop it on the ground accidentally... (same reason I don't like the Moto Razr or Slvr). And I think once they get around to a video (which they don't usually get a round to til a few weeks after the review, which was just 5 days ago! Cmon guys, give them some time to test it in the labs, they JUST got their hands on the darned thing) you will see the appreciation shine through. Heck, these guys gave an Editors Choice to the Samsung YEPP YP-T7 & the Cowon iAudio U2 in the flash player category... and they had 1GB or less space. I'll be very surprised if they don't give this thing an Editor's Choice.
As far as comparing to the iPod, as much as I hate iPods, I have to say that the Click Wheel is a very intuitive, smooth, well-designed control system... and truth be told, others have tried to copy, but you can't duplicate that kind of thing. Apple nailed it when it comes to control. It may be the control system to which Mp3 players get judged against for quite a while. But there is something to be said for tactile buttons. I like not have to guess whether I pressed a button or not. It really comes down to personal preference. Read the review; they praise the control system the whole way through, save the last two lines... and they even tell of a few one-ups this control system has on the IPod Click Wheel & its menu system if you read the whole thing carefully. I personally chuckled a bit a few not-so-subtle stabs at the Nano they took as well, praising the durability of this device at least twice. The only time they claim the Nano is better is when comparing "raw size and sleekness" or "design flair"... which really is subjective; if you believe thinner really is better, then yeah, I guess you might like the Nano better... until it gets scratched all to hell. CMON! It's half an inch thick, and weighs 2.6 ounces. Is that really TOO THICK AND HEAVY FOR ANYONE????
The Sansa has a bigger, brighter, COLOR screen that is clearly superior to the Nano; The back is made of a durable liquid-metal that has to be seen to be appreciated; The iconic menu system is sweet looking; Voice Recording; a MicroSD Card Slot for extra storage; Accessories hit the market very soon; USER REMOVABLE/REPLACEABLE BATTERY!!! (a big plus over the IPod); FM Radio tuner; Photo & Video capabilites (can you say Album Art?); plays MP3, WMA DRM 10 (subscription), and WAV files; 20 hour playback as opposed to the 12 hour playback of the Nano; ... do you even NEED any more than that?
I make none of this up. Most all of this is quoted or paraphrased from the FULL (preliminary) review of this device. At least 11 areas where the e270 is CLEARLY superior, and 2 debatable areas. If you can read this review & the CNet review in its entirety and STILL choose the Nano over the e270... you must be a hard "core" (hahaha) Apple fanatic. And you know what, good for you. Buy what makes you happy. But when that thing gets scratched to kingdom come & the battery dies after 14 months... and you're forced to buy a new one... maybe you'll think twice and rebel against the evil Empire that is IPod.Updated
Finally found a place nearby that sells the 6GB version of this and let me tell you, this is one of the best investments I've ever made. The big wide color screen on this thing is beautiful. The drag & drop functionality is gorgeous. The scroll wheel is much easier to maneuver than previously thought. The liquid metal backing is super-tough and dead sexy. The controls on it are very simple & the menu system is very easy to figure out. The review says the buttons are difficult to press... that's really being picky; I have pretty big hands & I didn't have any trouble pressing them. The micro SD slot shows up as a removable drive once the player is connected to my computer via USB, so it is also easy to drag & drop to. Just to sound unbias, I always try and pick one thing that could have been improved to anything I write a review to. I had to get real picky, but one thing that could've been put in is the recognition of .m3u or .pls playlists. In older Sandisk models, you could load multiple playlists that you wrote beforehand via WinAmp or WMP or whatever. This player actually makes you construct the playlist on the player. There might be a way around it, but I haven't figured it out yet (then again, I've only had this thing for 3 days.) So that's my arbitrary small critique/quibble... but other than that, this thing is the sleekest, coolest mp3 I've ever owned and is MILES ahead of the iPod nano. -
"Just might be the solution!!!!" on by feelmaroon
Pros: battery life is obscene, line in, video, mini sd card, FM with recording
Cons: none that i can see. what does it encode as?(mp3 or wav)
Summary: I always try to be the most objective with tech. we all know the archos av500 puts the ipod video to shame, that the nano is sweet, and that most companies just can't topple ipods domination even though no ipods have built in fm radios, line ins, and most have junk battery life. why consumers settle for this is a shame but really, a bigger feature set isn't as big as reliability for most. BUT NOW here comes sandisk who have amazing customer service(broke my titanium flash drive and sent it in. i had a brand new sealed one in my mailbox in a week), they make amazing products, and their software is prettty seemless. so now with this 6gig e270, its got nano's size and about six additional features. did you see the website which says mp3 playback on these things is 94 hours? are you serious!!!!!????? that itself makes it worth the extra 50 bucks. even if they're 75 percent right, that's still 70 hours strong. what i'm looking forward to is the line in(i'm curious if it encodes to mp3 automatically. big difference in a line in that records .wav *useless* and one that records mp3*amazing*. make sure you distinguish) the fm radio that you can record mp3s off of would be amazing. the pictures of it look great and i can't wait for it to come out. that sd card that you can slide right in make it as big as 8 gigs. that's bananas for a flash drive. i will give it the benefit of the doubt and give it a 10 because it seems like its legit. steve jobs will never give the publis a built in fm radio or a line in and will always pull back on battery life to save it for his next gen. stop falling for the products that lack. as a public, we should demand more. let's hope this sensa lives up to its expectations.
Updated
...the 2gb mind you but its nice to finally play with what i've been salivating over for so long. first impressions with it in my hand: colors on screen are clean and bright,screen looks solid, the hardware itself looks much better than in pictures (titanium back is straight butter, screen shines like the black nano, not as awkward, the dual color, in person. looks like a black player for the most part). one thing i thought failed to impress me is that that blue lit ring around the wheel you see in all the pictures is actually the wheel which you roll to move the cursor. it works well but when its off, it looks like a cheap piece of white plastic wrapped around the wheel core (which is a button not a touch sensitive pad). i noticed on the b and h site, they sell the skin so that's a plus. rolled through the video demo and it looked clean even though it didnt' cover the whole screen. album art came up. settings indeed had that bass adjust everyone's been talking about. the fm radio was seemless and the mic built in at the top seemed to work too. a record button to the left. the micro sd slot was perfectly placed and everything seemed as mentioned in the reviews...can't wait till the 6gb comes out. the video didn't load in an mpg cause you had to use conversion software but with the usb plug which charged the phone, it came up right in the 'my computer' subfile with a little 'sansa' icon. drop and go. looking forward to gettting it revved up and seeing how it stands. much thicker than the nano but height length seems the same. this is actually a good thing cause the nano dare i say is too thin and flimsy. this is small but feels sturdy and not bulky like those mini 1 gig players like all those samsungs and lower end sandisks. pick this up!!! -
"Still rough around the edges" on by adlyb1
Pros: Really good design. Excellent features. MiniSD Slot is big bonus.
Cons: File conversion to proprietary formats makes unusable as transport device. Limited file format support, especially, no support for popular lossless formats.
Summary: The reason so many of us have shunned the iPod is the proprietary nature of it's software, from the iTunes lock-in, to incompatible file formats and then SanDisk one ups the all the iPod competition, but drops the ball by using the same tricks as the iPod. Here's a hint, you don't beat the iPod by being just like it. Give us standard file formats and support for loss-less audio formats, and allow us to just use the device like a storage drive and you will have winner. Oh, and while you are at it, fix your website and provide some documentation for this product.
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"First Impressions" on by chammi
Pros: Lovely form factor, Linux compatible (in Mass Storage Mode), on-the-fly playlist and EQ, User-replaceable battery
Cons: Must convert video and pics (d'oh!) using proprietary software, Cheap-feeling scroll wheel, proprietary USB connector
Summary: This is my second Mp3 Player (first was a Bantam BA350 in 2001). I chose Sandisk because I love their Cruzer line of flash drives. I think their flash-based products seem very solid, which is fitting since they pioneered the medium. My price point was sub 100$ (flash memory DOES wear out-- you can't expect to use this player for years if the music gets heavy rotation). I ended up fudging up to about $150 beacuse the cheaper players were too "toylike".
Here's a first look at the Sansa e250:
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* I still think that Apple hit the nail on the head when they realized that moving your finger in a circular motion is a great way to scroll through lists. So I am very wary of ANY "cross shaped" navigator or D-pad.
The scroll wheel is raised on the Sansa E200 series. I think this makes pushing the buttons more difficult than if it were flush or recessed. Not a huge deal: I mean, reaching over a bit with your thumb is NOT a Sisyphian task. The scroll wheel is slightly narrower than my thumb, and I felt that the player was hard to scroll through because my thumb was so large-- when I got to the bottom of the scroll wheel, the player was unbalanced in my hand, and it felt that my thumb had to "reach" a bit. The wheel is MUCH easier to use if I turn the player upside down--but then the screen is upside-down and partially covered by my hand (what if the player had a scroll wheel on the back of the player, on the far end? That seems better.)
I find myself cradling the player in one hand and using the index finger of the other hand to control the wheel and push buttons.
Also, the scroll wheel feels cheap: it rattles a slight bit--even right out of the box. I felt like it was (a-hem) like something Sandisk took off a Happy Meal toy and put on their otherwise solidly built player. Why couldn't they have made the wheel out of that cool LiquidMetal stuff they're touting? No, it wouldn't be able to light up, but then, the back-lit wheel is really more of a showy thing.
Think about it: you can FEEL the wheel--and it only rotates one way of the other-- there's no screwing this up if you can't see it. However, the buttons are another story. I would have preferred that THOSE light up in the dark--especially since I find myself using the menu button quite a bit. But the wheel has a nice tactile "clicky" feel to it, you can actually feel the gear under it.
When people talk about the scroll wheel "not feeling good" I think thy are talking about the balance issue and the cheapish plastic used on the wheel. If it were made of metal and seated a bit better (so it wasn't loose), I'll bet they would go for it.
I think he CNET staff reviewer who says the wheel will "tire out" or "wear out" your thyumb is referring to how you have to reach with your thumb if you keep your finger on the wheel.
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* The plastic finish seems slightly less shiny than the iPod's. But it's still nice. I wonder if it REALLY is more scratch-resistant? My screen seems to have acquired a couple of micro scratches in only the first couple of hours I've owned this.
* The LiquidMetal alloy on the back is NOT like the iPod's-- It's not chrome-like, but more of a satiny brushed finish, The color is also slightly bronze-hued. I like it a lot! The entire player seems to pick up fingerprints readily. The anal-retentive might end up polishing them off constantly.
* The dedicated hold switch is right on the top. Much appreciated.
* The bottom has a proprietary connector, It looks similar to the Apple dock connector.
* The back of the player has a small symbol of a trash can with an X over it. This is supposed to tell you not to chuck the player--presumably b/c the battery is not eco-friendly. But I can't help thinking it mean "Please don't throw away this expensive electronic goodie! We worked so hard on it!" Makes me grin.
* A let-down: the Samsung Z5 has cooler menu animations. I THOUGHT the Sansa would have something similar, but theirs are simpler. The menu is really just a series of images that changes--the icons don't actually slide smoothly from one position to another. They just sort of appear in the next position. A small thing, but I'm a sucker for eye-candy and would have appreciated more sleekness here. Also, the "playing progress bar" introduces magenta into an otherwise cool (as in "cool and warm colors") color scheme. Why?
* The included earbuds didn't really fit into my ear canal well. I didn't bother playing with them. They have the same cheap foam padding that you find on sub 10$ earbuds. :o(
I ended up using the grey-white Philips surround sound earbuds that I bought last Christmas (20-30$)
* The lanyard looks like a rubber cord. Not terribly sleek. I'd actually prefer a nylon/poly woven lanyard like on the Sandisk Mini Cruzers. Even though the lanyard is cheap, I appreciate having a lanyard hole in the top corner of the player. I wish Sandisk would just not bother with the cheap accessories and give me what I really want: a heavier-duty scroll wheel and/or adaptors (like a USB-Sandisk connector adaptor) and charging accessories--like a car/plane charger or even just a silicone skin to protect the screen.
* Some have complained that the unit is thicker than the nano. I see this as a plus (it's perhaps a slight bit thinner than the iPod video). Watching Steve Jobs take the Nano out of his pocket made me cringe: I could just see myself accidentally snapping this elegant--and pricey-- object it in two.
But the Sandisk player has a nice solid weight in my hand. I would even stand for it to be an ounce or so heavier. It currently weighs just under 3 ounces.
* One of my fav. aspects of the iPod is how the song will stop playing when the headphones are unplugged. How thoughtful of Apple! Unfortunately, Sandisk hasn't picked up on this yet.
* Menus are mostly intuitive. Sandisk was thoughtful enough to group similar menu items on the same screen--so you don't have to navigate through lots of screens---but similar functions are visually placed in sets. The look is quite similar to something you'd find on an iPod. You get an oscilloscope showing the playing levels if you push the center button once at the current track. It doesn't seem to react in realtime to the music though. It seems to laga slight bit. Subsequent presses will display fullscreen album art (thank you!) and (this is especially nice): the next song that the player is going to play.
* I wish ratings were easier to do: I think Apple lets you rate with just a click or two from the currently playing track. You have to dig into the context menu and then scroll down a couple to access ratings Also, in my firmware version (01.00.09A), clicking the center button to set the rating causes the player's display to hang for about 10 seconds. A bit scary at first. The music keeps going though. After a few seconds, it fixes itself. Occasionally, it would display the rated song's title and album art, even after moving on to the next song. If it bothers you, just click fwd to he next song and then bkwd to return to the current song.
* I like how the player will automatically scan for FM stations and set them as presets. I DON'T like how you can't easily move backwards through your presets. You can only go forwards or manually scan back to the station. Also, the first scan didn't seem to pick up my local NPR affiliate (which is really all that I listen to) on the first go. Will try again once I'm in the car.
Interestingly enough, the player supports has a Japanese, a US and a "Worldwide" radio setting. not sure what this does, but v. cool since I plan on traveling to Japan soon.
* Sound is good. I don't hear any problems aside from poor quality mp3s (which is MY fault). You do hear some mild mild intereference between tracks in the silence. I don't think you'd notice it if you weren't lookign for it.
* I REALLY wish it had support for free formats like OGG and FLAC. I'm Linux user and also a Wikipedian. The Wiki uses exclusively OGG (for legal/rights issues) I'd love to be able to listen to the Spoken Wiki articles.
* I also wish photo support were better. You have to use Sandisk's own software to convert your photos (scaling etc.) for the player. What a hassle! Ditto for video--except it converts to Quicktime, which other users have reported actually makes the videos take up MORE space! I'd like to see support for GIF and PNG in the photo realm. As for video--what about support for Linux systems? But I'm sure if the player gets popular eough, I can find Linux software that will handle the conversion functions for me. At this point, it's not that important.
* The screen does seem...not "blurry" but kind of glary with whites. To see what I mean, turn on the player. The logo screen is a good demo of this.
* 1-touch voice recording. A nice add-on. Good for memos.
* Support for cover art. Also a nice touch.
* The player supports a WinMedia-centric file trasnfer mode (use for your DRM music store purchases) and a USB "mass storage" mode-- which basically converts your player into a flash drive. This is actually part of the Bantam's undoing. When they upgraded the players to work as flash drives they ran into all kinds of problems.
Not so with the Sansa, It elegantly handles your files. Just toss the music into the pre-made MUSIC folder on your drive: once you disconnect, the system restarts and the software handily indexes your music. Nice. It takea little while, but I'm just glad it works. It doesn't matter whether you have your music in subfolders or not; it uses the id3 tags to build your menus. If you include folders with cover art, that displays when you play the proper track.
* I know this is TRUE wishful thinking, but I wish the screen could be re-oriented upside down and/or sideways. Wouldn't it be better to have landscape mode menus when you are watching movies with the player turned sideways? I know they *thought* of landscape viewing because one of the sample movies on my unit is in landscape mode. Speaking of this, you'll find roughly 128 MB worth of sample music, video and pics on your player. Nice to have if you want to see the Sansa flexc its muscles without having to load your own video and pics (see above not on how inconvenient this is).
Over, not a bad player. I was also considering the Samsung Z5, but I really didn't like the nav button. Afetr about 10 minutes, I still couldn't figure out how the pad was supposed to react to my finger's touch, pressure and movement. I had a lot of trouble just moving down by one or two selections--the cursor would go whizzing down the menu. I feel that the tactile scroll wheel on the Sansa offers me the ability to move quickly through my music but ALSO the control to move down by only a line or two.
I think the FM tuner and the voice recorder are dealmakers for this unit over the Z5, though. Sure, they're not fancy fancy, but I could see them coming in useful every now and then. The Z5's menue are damn-sexy, though. But the way I see it, the Sansa *could* fix that in firmware updates. The Z5 is stuck with that unruly touchpad. Also, the Z5 is about 100$ more expensive than the e250. And yes, it DOES have 4 GB instead of 2, but like I said, flash memory wears out--do you really want ot spend $250+ on something that will only last a year or two--especially something that could get lost, stolen or crushed by any manner of heavy object? Maybe you're okay with that, Big Spender, but I just don't have the money for that kind of down-payment. 2 GB is well enough for anyone who is in close contact with their main computer--Especially if you're letting Winmedia sync your playlist. If you load your music judiciously (that is, only putting on stuff that you actually listen to) you should have enough material for a few days of unique listening. And let's face it-- since you can only charge it with the USB connector, you're going to be going back to a computer fairly often. (I actually consider USB charging a plus-- the Li-ion batteries are lighter than AAA and you don't have to keep buying/recharging batteries and throwing them away. Plus, if you're travelling internationally, you don't have to worry about voltage conversion--the computer that you're charging from has already done the work for you! The down side is that Li-ion batts are known to die if they don't get used or charged in a couple of days.
SanDisk Sansa e270 user reviews (6GB)
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