SanDisk Sansa e280 8 GB MP3 Player (Black) by SanDisk
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List Price: Our Price: $50.00 You Save: $199.99 (80%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Network Media Player See more digital camera details and other models |
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Digital camera reviews of SanDisk Sansa e280 8 GB MP3 Player (Black)
Digital camera Review: A great, affordable first MP3 for the techno-impaired (and everybody else)
Summary: 5 Stars
After some research, I chose this unit as my first MP3 - chiefly because the price was right, the consumer reviews were favorable, and because the size of the screen was the biggest I could find. This unit is very easy to operate and the sound quality and function are terrific. I intend to use it only for music, but it has video and recording capability as well. It also records sound files, but beware of this function - the "record" button is entirely too easy to turn on, so you may find yourself recording accidentally and then having to delete this useless file. I have a fairly big music collection and went for the 8GB memory rather than the 4GB, and I'm glad because I used 4GB of the space in no time. Be aware that the unit comes with some material already on it, which takes up some space - you can delete it. The e-series players also have a user-replaceable battery, which was another selling point for me.
My one gripe is that for those of us of the analog generation, there is no "stop" feature, which I'm told the iPod does have. I get it; there are no moving parts and therefore nothing to "stop", but when one has a playlist five albums long and you want to quit 1/3 of the way into it, it is frustrating to have to either zoom all the way to the end or select another album and then cancel out of that one. I contacted Sansa Tech Support and they confirmed that these are basically the only options, which is ridiculous. (Turning the unit off for a spell doesn't help either; the player simply starts up again where you left off, the next time you turn it on.)
I strongly recommend that you also order the Sansa e-Series AC Charger, so you can just charge your unit from a wall outlet rather than your PC. The postage will cost more than the charger but it is completely worth having for the convenience. I also have (and highly recommend) the Altec Lansing speaker/docking/charging unit that is compatible with the Sansa e-Series players, as I use the unit almost exclusively with speakers rather than with the ear buds.
A quick note for first-time and techno-impaired users: I will spare you the pile of research and feeling foolish that I went through, with some basic tips, as none of this is mentioned in the downloadable User's manual. This manual erroneously assumes that everyone already knows the basic theory behind how MP3 players work.
First, you MUST have Windows Media Player 11 on your PC, and not an earlier version. Countless forums online have mentioned this as the solution to problems of getting their players to interface with their PCs. I made sure I had MP11 up front and have not had any problems.
Second, the basic concept of using an MP3 is as follows. Your computer is going to serve as the master storage library for all of your MP3 music - your music will have to stay on there for as long as you want it on your MP3. You put your music cd into your cdr drive and bring up Windows Media Player; you must tell Media Player to "rip" the music to your library (which means it makes a sort of low-res version of the music file - it sounds fine, don't worry). You can opt to uncheck the one song that you don't like on a CD, and it will be left out. When you have done this to all of the cd's you want to add for the time being, you then plug your MP3 into the USB port of your PC (the Sansa MP3 player comes with a plug thingy for this) and you must tell Media Player to "Synch" (i.e. synchronize) the library's contents to your MP3 player. It will copy everything over as it is on the library. NOTE: If you remove something from the library, the next time you synch, it will be removed from your MP3 player as well. You can add to the library and re-synch over time. You should also map out in advance what, if any, Playlists you want to make up. These are very handy things - you can select and string albums or songs together in any order and give it a name, and the player will store and follow it; however, you have to create the playlist in Media Player before you Synch your MP3. It will synch over with the rest of the material.
I recommend downloading the full Users manual from the Sansa site. Their Tech Support folk are also very helpful. Enjoy your unit!
Digital camera Review: A nice little MP3 player
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought the Sansa e280 about a month ago because I really wanted to be able to listen to my music wherever I went. So far, this unit has been a fun little player.
I like the radio feature and how you can autofill your presets.
I plan to expand the capacity via a microSD card when I get the chance.
The only things I'd suggest are to buy a cover to protect the screen, which scratches easily, and to remember to charge the unit BEFORE you use it, per the instructions.
I like just about every feature of this player has to offer, except for the way SanDisk handles playlists. Adding and deleting music via WMP is a breeze and the included utility makes it simple to add pictures and movies...
Would I buy this player again? Heck Yea!
Peace,
JW
Digital camera Review: A savior on long, boring flights
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought my e280 after observing many folks get on a fight with me and immediately tune-out with their mp3 player. I'm ecstatic with the Sansa. I recently put in three flight legs totalling about 21 hours, watched two movies and spent the rest of my time listening to my Sansa, with no recharging. As I rarely fall asleep on intercontinental flights, the Sansa really made my day - and night. Never again will I be limited to the lame audio channels on commercial airliners.
This machine is very easy for a first time user like me to master. I ripped my CD's to my laptop and synched nearly 1800 tunes to the Sansa with very little trouble. I'm now starting to experiment with moving audiobooks to the Sansa and looking forward to moving a few favorite photos to the machine.
As I am moderately deaf to frequencies above 8K (age related), I love that the equalizer function allows me to hear the high notes again.
I will not get on an airplane without my Sansa again.
Digital camera Review: A very viable iPod replacement
Summary: 4 Stars
I've had two iPods already, a 20gb 3rd Gen and a 60gb photo. Both were treated very nicely and both failed to unrepairable hard drive problems after just over one year of almost daily use. This was finally enough to push me toward flash memory this time, even though I appreciate the extra storage of the hard drive players.
The sansa is very nice overall. The controls can't compare to an ipod but they are better than almost every non-apple player out there. Big advantages over an ipod include the addition of an fm radio, a voice recorder, a user-replaceable battery and a microSD removable memory slot. I also appreciate the two file transfer modes supported: The player can either sync with media player/Rhapsody or appear as a hard drive from which you can drag and drop files in windows. If you use the player in hard drive mode, it will spend a minute or two refreshing it's database after adding new songs. You can then browse the files by ID3 tag info, the same as if you had added songs through syncing.
A good value, pretty good build-quality and a decent design. It has some room for improvement, but no problems big enough to keep me from enjoying the player. I'm looking forward to future SanDisk mp3 players, with some refinement this could definitely be an "ipod killer".
Digital camera Review: A+
Summary: 5 Stars
I got this little guy refurbished on eBay a several years ago for around $60 and I have really gotten my money's worth. Sound quality and battery life are both excellent. I am now on my second battery, and the little player is still going! I even found the navigation wheel to be easier to use than the wheels on iPods because it gives nice tactile feedback. It is small enough and light weight enough to hold in my hand while I go running, which I do frequently. The only thing I don't love about it is the obnoxious blue light on the click wheel, but I don't even notice it anymore.
If you feel like tinkering, this MP3 player supports the Rockbox firmware, which allows vast UI customization, games, as well as support for additional music formats. I chose this player specifically because I could use Rockbox to play FLAC files and it has performed flawlessly.