SanDisk Sansa™ e250 (2 GB) MP3 Player

I bought one of these a few weeks ago to use with Napster to go. Although I love the player there are some problems.

Sometimes the player will stop playing an Napster tracks but will still play regular mp3s. This just seems to happen out of nowhere and the only way to fix it is to reformat the player using Windows Media player and reload everything. (Updating to the latest firmware did not fix this).

Video files have to be converted to quicktime. The bundled conversion app choked on many of my videos. One wouldn't play and with most the others the sound was distorted even at low volume levels (the video looks great however). I have only been able to get a few videos to play with good sound quality but it probably has something to do with how they were originally encoded and is not a problem with the player itself.

On the positive side the player is much cheaper than a iPod.

Works with Napster To Go so you can pay $14.99 a month and download and load anything in the Napster library that is not 'buy only' (Unlike iTunes where you have to pay for every song you want).

The player looks great (I bought a black one) and is packed with features. I love having the ability to play video files and the built in FM turner eliminates the need for any other portable audio device.

One other note if you are really looking to load it up with videos spring for the higher capacity versions (they make 2, 4, 6 and 8GB models) 2GB is just not enough for both music and videos and the memory cards you can use to add capacity are limited to 2GB.

Update 3/10/2007:

I have not had the downloaded tracks refusing to play out of nowhere problem in months. This appears to have been a syncing problem with Napster that has been improved with recent versions of Napster.

Since I have most of my music files ripped in WMA format, I've been looking for a flash MP3 player to compete with the IPOD Nano. After much research, I decided to take a chance on this newly released player.

I'm very impressed to start. The player is small (just a bit thicker than the Nano), and fairly light. The screen shows excellent color- based on the menus. I'm not planning to use it much for video or photos, so I'm not very concerned with the screen size, which is expectedly small. The player in general is very easy to use. I looked over the quick reference guide and didn't even bother with the user guide (user guide is in PDF format on the cd-rom.) The overall appearance is excellent.

You can load music by dragging and dropping, or using Windows Media Player 10. I prefer to use WMP10 to sync, since I have my music organized well. Syncing in this manner was very simple. I didn't encounter any issues with the first two syncs I've performed. If you have your id3 tags correct, the Sansa will display your music by Artist, Album, Songs, or Genere. There's also a "To Go playlist". The Sansa sorted my music just fine. The display is informative when playing music. The sound so far is excellent. I've used a few different headsets to test it and have no complaints.

The center dial/wheel rotates and glows in a bright blue. It allows you to scroll through menu items and to increase/decrease the volume. The directional buttons around the wheel are a little difficult to use with only one hand. Because the center dial is raised so much, you end up needing to use the tips of your fingers to press the buttons that surround it. I suppose it will take a little getting used to- but it's not a dealbreaker for me.

Following the precedent set by other companies. The USB connector is of course proprietary. This is currently the only way to charge the Sansa, so don't lose it. I don't see any wall/travel charges offered yet- even at the Sandisk Website. Since it's new- there aren't really any accessories offered. This isn't a concern to me personally- so I bought it anyway. I definitely would like a separate charging apparatus, rather than having to charge via USB- so I hope Sandisk offers such an item, sooner rather than later.

It comes with a small velvet pouch. I'll be searching for some sort of "skin" to protect the player, instead of relying on the pouch. It's just not efficient if you want to protect and use the player at the same time.

Pros:
It looks beautiful.
Plays WMA Files.
Easy to sync.
Drag & Drop available.
Sounds great.
Flash memory- so no need to wory about hard drive skipping.
2GB of memory with models that go up to 6GB.
Expansion slot for miniSD cards for more memory.
Lots of features: Music, Video, Pics, FM, Voice Recording, etc.
Price - $159.

Cons:
Buttons can be hard to use.
Charging via USB only (at this time.)
Not many accessories offered (yet.)
Doesn't support many file types.

Again, please understand when reading this, that my primary use is for music. All the other features are merely a bonus for me. So if you're looking for something to use regularly to play video, pics, etc- please do your homework to see if the player is a good fit for your needs. Most of the time when I read negative reviews, it's because the reviewer bought something that did not fit their needs. Companies are in business to sell their products- do your own research to determine if the product is right for you.

It is easy to put songs on, to remove songs and the sound is great! However, you have to have the software installed to your computer and the unit attached to the computer in order to remove songs, change folders, etc..

I have owned several different mp3 players in the past but none of them really seemed to fit me and have all the features I want in a good MP3 player. Until I bought my Sansa E250 that is. The only other pleyer that even came close to the Sansa was the Creative Zen V plus. As Both players are able to play videos I find the Sansa player more durable and user friendly not even to mention the amasing design and easy to use turn click wheel. But overall My favorite part of the sansa is its software. In the past I was sucked into buying one of those "MP4" players and let me tell you it was the most slow, hard to use, and time waisting devices I have ever owned not to mention I didnt even have it a week before it quit working.
The sansa player also comes in 3 different sizes, 2gb (E250), 4gb (e260), and 8gb (e280).
When I went to buy a mp3 player, Sansa was the clear choice for me.
I have now had it for almost a year and still works like new.

Pros:
1- Great turn click wheel.
2- Nice shiny smooth design.
3- Very easy to use and very user friendly.
4- Fast processor and you do not need to wait for songs to load.
5- Plays clear smooth videos.
6- Very nice screen that is good for viewing photos and movies.
7- Nice metal back that makes it very durable.
8- easy to setup and sync with the computer.
9- Good computer software for converting videos.
10- small, it fits nicely in your pocket.
11- battery lasts long.

Cons:
1- Weighs more than some players because of the metal back.
2- Not the best charger port. You may need to buy another charger after a while.

Be sure to vote on the helpfulness of this review to keep me posting.
Thanks, For reading