Sandisk Sansa digital music player - an iPod beater.

The Sandisk Sansa: a music player that beats the iPod

The mass media and hysteria have drummed it into me that iPod is the best. However, after doing a lot of research and realizing that my priority was the quality of music and the option to have more choice, then I found that the SanDisk Sansa was actually the better option.

Here's my main reasons:

Price - the SanDisk is far cheaper - $54 cheaper for similar models

Compatibility - I can use a subcscription service on the Sansa - that's 7,000,000 unlimited downloads for $15 a month - I can't do that on the iPod

Expandibility - I can use Micro SD memory, thus making the Sansa have unlimited expandibility

Battery - you can replace it should it fail - no need to send back to SanDisk - all you need is a small screwdriver and a new battery

SanDisk Sansa e260 - My Full Review.

The 8GB player is very sturdy; it is relatively heavy, and this gives you confidence in the ability of the player to survive being dropped - add to this the fact that the memory is 'flash' memory and I'd suspect that a drop would only scratch the player and do no real harm - I note I have not dropped the player, and do not intend to do so just for this opinion!

My previous experience with mp3 players included a Creative Labs piece of 'junk' that my daughter dropped on the first day - as it had a 'disk drive', it failed immediately - this is why I tend to buy mp3 players with flash memory. I also had an iPod nano - while it generally was a very good player, and was very small - it didn't seem to 'feel' like a decent player - I know the Appleites will scream at me, but that's how I felt!

I want the mp3 player to feel good, have some weight and give me confidence in its longevity - this may simply be perception, but it made me feel good.

One thing I do like about this player is that it looks good - again this doesn't really matter - but part of the beauty of the 'iPod' is that it looks good and makes you feel 'cool' - the look of the Sansa is distinct and while it does borrow from the iPod look, it again makes me feel good to have the mp3 player with me.

After opening the box, with a trusty pair of scissors and a lot of frustration I might add, I quickly skim the manual - having had the 2GB version, I note that there are not any differences and as the player has a little charge in it, I turned the player on - immediately went to the music / picture / movie folders and deleted the free music etc that comes with the player. While some of the free samples are not that bad, I just find that I end up deleting them eventually - so I deleted them straight away.

I went straight down to my PC, plugged in the provided USB cable, and was pleased that Windows Vista immediately recognized the player. One advantage of plugging the cable in is that the mp3 player is getting charged as I begin to upload songs. The other thing that happens, is that windows automatically opens a window and gives you various options on how to upload songs to the player. I chose to log in to Rhapsody and went from there! (I note that in some circumstances, you have to 'mess' with Rhapsody to get your player to work - as most subscription services limit the number of mp3 players you can use, you have to delete any old players you have to allow the new player to download subscription songs).

The Sansa player itself is very intuitive to use; the controls are fairly simple; the usual play, pause, fast forward, rewind keys are available - they are a little small but you soon get used to it.

The wheel that surrounds the keys is a little strange to get used to if you've never used it, but after a little practice it becomes very intuitive. The wheel can be used to navigate the menu system (which is mostly icons that you can 'click'), but also allows you to turn the volume up or down. I found that after using it for a while, I was able to control the mp3 player very easily - I also note that while driving, I constantly play with the wheel (*grin* OK so it sounds a little perverse, but somehow fun!).

One thing you need to do immediately is to update the firmware on the mp3 player. It is easy to do and fairly intuitive, but it's a little annoying that this isn't done automatically in the background - on my old 2GB player, it took me a while to realize that I had to update the firmware before I could use my subscription service (the manual does note this, but who reads a manual!!!)


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