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 product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of SanDisk Sansa e280 8 GB MP3 Player (Black)
Customer Review: Sansa E280
Summary: 5 Stars
When my Zen Micro blew up on me a few weeks ago, I decided it was time to purchase a new MP3 player. I had long tried to avoid the iPod but after playing with a friend of mines new 8GB iPod Nano I decided I would get one. Fortunetly, I stumbled across the Sansa E280 by chance while looking for a good deal on the Nano. I decided to take a chance on this relatively unknown device and am now thrilled that I did!
While it is basically the same width and height as the Nano, it is slightly thicker which might bother some people but I still don't even know it's there while in my pocket. The Nano has a color screen which can be used to view photos and 8GB. It's actually a nice little player but compared to the Sansa E280 it falls easily to a comendable second place. the E280 has an internal 8GB but there is a slot for a 2GB expandable memory disk! It is very easy to connect to the pc as well. I am by no means a computer expert and I use Windows Media Player to store my music. When I first connected the E280 to the pc, it asked me did I want to sync the two, which I said yes to. Ten minutes later the Sansa was loaded with all my music, no problems what-so-ever.In addition to displaying photos as the Nano does, it also plays videos. When reading reviews I thought this was a clever gimic but nothing worth using on such a small screen (it is only slightly larger than the nano's). I put an episode of South Park onto it when I first got the E280 and was suprised by the quality. I still wouldn't recommend replacing your tv with one of these but it is actually far better than I thought it could be. The packaged video coverter works well. I literally dragged and dropped the episode into it and the it was converted and transferred to the E280 before my eyes. The fm radio is also brilliant. My Zen Micro had an fm radio that never really worked. I didn't expect much better from my new MP3 player but once again I was suprised. No problems picking up the local stations at all.
The player itself fits comfortably in my hand. The only complaint I have about the physical player is the rotating wheel. At first I was disappointed with it as it felt very cheap, particularly when compared with the rest of the player. I got used to this very quickly and don't have a problem with it anymore but I think it is worth noting all the same. The other complaint I would have about the player is that songs cannot be deleted from the player itself, you must hook it up to the computer and manually remove them.
All in all, I would highly recommend the Sansa E280. Of the many MP3 players I tried out, this one really came out of top. It is beaten on size by the iPod, although the difference is near negligible. If your looking for a great little player packed with more features than you'd know what to do with, pick a Sansa E280 up!
Customer Review: Fab and not an I*p*d!
Summary: 5 Stars
I, too, read the reviews and bought one of these at a deep discount. Hooray, it's not an IPOD. It's a flash memory unit without a microdrive spinning. For workouts, it can't be beat because all that exercise doesn't affect the flash drive.
OK, it's scroll wheel is mechanical instead of the IPOD's cool, finger sensitive wheel. Ummm, DRM is not cool, so who cares about the mechanical scroll wheel; it works well. When it's dark and the blue wheel lights up (like in the car at night) the feel of the mechanical wheel lets me know that what I want to do is getting done.
The color screen is brilliant, the menus are straightforward and easy to navigate, and the synching with your computer's media player software is a breeze. I simply rip all my music to my hard drive using media player, and then drag and drop playlists, albums and songs to the Sansa, and synch it using media player!
As the other reviews have noted, you'll need the latest Sansa firmware to get everything to work without a hitch. Once you've downloaded it, everything works perfectly. I've not yet tried the video (and may never), but the photos look good. However, my cell-phone takes photos, so this is not a feature I really use on the Sansa. This is all about the music.
Oh, sound is fantastic with buds (I like the Koss buds), through my stereo at home (Canton speakers) and through my car stereo plugged through a casette tape thingie. I prefer classic cars, so they're not solely restricted by CD players or satellite radio. It also sounds good on the cordless headphones that fit the Sansa.
Battery life is awesome. I just drop the Sansa in the charger when I get home. Also, HUGE advantage here, the battery is replaceable by removing a couple of screws.
Because the front is shiny black plastic and looks very sleek, I bought the protective system put out by Sansa - hard foam zipper case, simple black case for the Sansa with the peel and stick cover for the screen. The nice thing about this set up over the hard plastic cases that fit over the Sansa or the silicon cases is that this travels well protecting the Sansa from being crushed, the black leatherette case fits in the charger without taking it off, and all the nav buttons are easily accessible with this soft case, something that's been reported as a problem with the hard plastic shells. Finally, if for some reason I need to remove the leatherette case, the plastic film protecting the color screen remains in place and always provides protection. You can buy this protection system on Amazon for the best price.
Final wish - that a clock radio docking station with great speakers would come available for the Sansa so that I can wake up to my music.
Customer Review: Sansa e280, a convenient Mp3 player
Summary: 5 Stars
I just received my SanDisk Sansa e280 with 8 G of memory, and I am happy to say it is very convenient to use.
I at first read reviews about it, and was a little worried, but after having it in my hands, I have to say my worries were not needed. My worries were:
-The battery would not be easily replaceable
-The parts would be expensive and not available and most stores
-The player would not play when I was charging it
But after working with it for a while, I learned that these worries were not problems at all:
-The battery can be replaced by unscrewing the back and placing it in and replacing the crews (this takes maybe up to a minute at most).
-The parts for these players (for example, spare batteries or charging chords) are sold in most office supplies and electronics stores, so if I need another part while I am traveling, I can grab it right away and not wait for the part in the mail.
-The player can be charged almost anywhere, from your computer, your car, or a wall socket if you get the adapter set for it. When you charge it in your car or from the wall, you can still listen to music too! It is when you dock your player to the computer you cannot play music, but of course, when I have it docked to my computer, it is only to put more music on it.
Plus I found other convenient points with this Sansa e280:
-The Rhapsody program for putting my music onto the player is very quick. It only takes about a minute to two minutes to put a whole CD onto the player (and note that your files that you use with Windows Media Player program do transfer easily to Rhapsody).
-It's size is perfect. It is thick enough to feel like that it won't slip out of my hand (which is important to me because I have had problems with that with past Mp3 players). It is not heavy either, so it is convenient to carry around.
-The screen and the menus for using the player look great. The interface is very colorful and looks good. I learned very easily how to use the player. The light up wheel was also very useful and looked great on the player below the screen.
In summary, the Sansa e280 is convenient for anyone who wants to carry around their music on a Mp3 player, and for anyone who wants a Mp3 player that is usable almost anywhere and replaceable (with its parts) in almost any electronics/office store. For those looking for alternatives to Creative Labs or iPod Mp3 players, this may be your best alternative, not just in product quality, but in price as well.
Customer Review: Sandisk Sansa e280 8GB MP3 Player
Summary: 5 Stars
I had no wishes to join the iSheep crowd and worship at the altar of Apple, yet I wanted a capable music player that would allow *me* to choose what music service, earphones, type of music file etc. I wanted to use. Sandisk fits the bill in spades with this player, offering a few more features than the iPod and even having the audacity to list it cheaper. I've owned my player for five months now and the few problems I've had have been very minor.
For one, while there is a fast foward and rewind feature for videos, it's not particularly useful and can often stop playback. Different speeds of both would've been appreciated. Also, some lament the fact the screen is much smaller than the iPod - something I personally wouldn't have any other way. This fits way more comfortably in your pocket than an iPod, so naturally a smaller screen size is a tradeoff. Second, the pictures fuction works fine, but photos may take a bit of cropping so the player won't resize them awkwardly to fit the screen. The player displays the photos in very rich color though.
Admittedly, the Sansa is not the best option for those who wish to have the biggest and best picture or video playback on a player - mostly due to the small screen size. But for minimalists such as myself this couldn't be a more perfect player.
The voice recorder, FM radio, and radio recorder all work perfectly. I've no complaints with their function!
The most important aspect, the music, is perhaps the most flawless aspect of the player. I've about 1700 songs on the player and haven't had any problems with playback or tags not being read. I've manually added the artwork and tags to each of my files, and the player reads them with no problem.
The only other (again awfully minor) complaint I have it is I would've liked an option to resize the text. I personally prefer a smaller font than the player offers. But as far as I know there isn't any player on the market that offers this option.
Some have commented on the fragility of the buttons or the player itself, it's been my experience that the Sansa is extremely durable. Case in point - I accidentally dropped my player at least five feet to a very unforgiving concrete warehouse floor. While the player was certainly dazed (the screen went black for a moment and it "forgot" what song was playing) it had no permanent physical or internal damage. Clumsy owners have no fear!
Customer Review: Sturdy construction and lots of features!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have never owned an Ipod so I can't compare this player to one, but I can't imagine an Ipod being much better. This is my second MP3 player, the first being a cheap $20 Sandisk player, and I absolutely love the Sansa e280. I have put almost 1,000 songs on the thing and it sorts by album title, artist, song title and so on. For the price, you seem to get a lot of features and great functionality. It is also very durable. My wife wanted to help mow the lawn recently and she wanted to listen to music like I normally do so I let her use the Sansa and it fell out of her pocket and she ran over it with the riding lawn mower! After searching for a while, I found it buried in the ground with tire tracks across the back of it. Fearing the worst, I dug it out and it was still playing and didn't have a crack or anything on it. It was just a little dirty, but I haven't had any problems out of it even after that abuse!
Pros:
- Low Price
- Ability to hold thousands of songs, as well as, videos and pictures
- Very intuitive to load songs using Windows Media Player. I'm sure you can use other programs, but Media Player works great for me.
- Screen is large, bright and colorful.
Cons:
- There is no power indicator so if you hit the power button by accident, like when it's in your pocket, you have no way of knowing that it is on. I've done this a couple of times and only knew it was on because I hit the volume button causing the screen to "wake up".
- The volume control is kind of flimsy feeling and is very sensitive. I've been listening with the player in my pocket and when I pull it out of my pocket, I almost always cause the volume to go up or down. This can cause quite a shock to your ears when you turn the volume up full blast without meaning to.
- You can't delete pictures and video from the player. You have to connect it to your computer and go into the file menu on the computer to delete them. You can delete songs from the player though.
- The earphones that come with the player are really too short to be useful for me. If I tried to carry the player in my pocket the earphones would pull out of my ears so I bought another pair fairly quickly.
So, for me, the pros outweigh the few cons that this player has. I would easily recommend this player for anyone looking for a great MP3 player at a great price.