SanDisk Sansa c250 (2 GB) MP3 Player

Technology lovers, be warned! When you come across the Sandisk Sansa c250, run far far away! There are some serious flaws, and this unit is seriously over priced.

First off, my biggest issues is with why I bought this MP3 player. I was needing to do some recording off of FM radio from a local symposium that was broadcasting it's program over short range FM radio. I really wanted to record several talks, so I bought this little bugger.

Yes, the FM tuner works just fine. However, the FM recorder is horrid. The sound quality is easily cut in half for recording. Ok, no biggie. It's still a tolerable recording.

Move to the music folder using the awefully grainy, poor contrast screen. So, I did a test recording of the FM broadcast, to ensure that the unit was working right. I simply delete it from the music folder, right? Guess again! There is only 1 delet option that you can use within the player: Format Device. Thats right, you get to kill off all of your music, photos, etc. just to erase 1 song while on the move. Big no-no, Sandisk!

So, you fire up the computer to add and remove songs. That's not cool. So, you now install the software drivers, and boot up the software to add and remove songs. Easy, right? Nope!

The player has to be off (which it turns on automaticaly when you plug it into the computer) to add/remove songs, pics, recordings, etc. Can you use the included software for that? NO! You have to use microsoft explorer to remove songs, and Windows Media Player (or equivelent) to add songs, as they must be converted first. You can use the included software for this, though.

Through all of this, your battery has crapped out. It's late at night, you shut down your machine and go to plug the player in.... except you realize that it's sole way of charging is via your computer USB port. Simple, plug it in, and your done, right? Nope. Your computer has to be on, or in standby to charge the device. Thats it, toss this junk out! Worst of all, the sound is under powered, with muted highs and lows. I know that MP3 players give off bad quality sound compared to pc 5.1 pc surround speakers with a top of the line sound card... but really, the music shouldn't sound like compressed junk.

Ok, so I was very critical. But I DEMAND high quality in my electronics. Even more so from a reputible company such as SanDisk.

Not all is bad. The volume goes up a good way (much better than players operated with just normal replaceable batteries), and I love the idea of a MicroSD card slot. But all in all, I just don't like this device.

It's going staright back to the electronics store in the morning!