~Sweet Music - Sweet Price~

Now that the holiday season is over, I have had some time to play with the newest MP3 Player to join our family. My son had asked for an iPod for Christmas, and while I did my comparison shopping, I found that the SanDisk Sansa e260 was a better deal. You're getting more for your money here. The SanDisk Sansa is a flash based player, and with a manufacturer like SanDisk you are definitely getting good quality. My husband and I have chosen the SanDisk brand for memory cards etc, in the past and found that they are every bit as good as your top of the line name brand items. So when I started to do my research for my Son's Christmas gift, the SanDisk Sansa was one of the few chosen MP3 Players at the top of my list.

The Sansa e260 is comparable to the 4MB iPod Nano. I have found that the Sansa has extra features that the iPod didn't have. Is it all REALLY about the "Brand"? To some people it might be, but when it comes to features and extras, then I went for what would give me (my son) more for my money.

The LOOK

The Sansa is small and sleek, very much like the iPod Nano, maybe just a tad bit thicker, but not so much that it makes a big difference. As I stated a minute ago, the Sansa resembles the iPod from the glossy black finish to the scroll wheel.

The front of the MP3 player is a glossy black, while the back is a suitable gray finish. I do have to say that every mark, including fingerprints will show up on the face of this MP3 player, therefore causing my son to CONSTANTLY be wiping the face of the player on his shirt sleeve. (My cell phone is the same way, and I find myself CONSTANTLY wiping it) Sure the shiny black surface is attractive, but it's a magnet for scratches and fingerprints.

The Sansa's scroll wheel actually IS a WHEEL, that moves, the iPod is motion censored. The Sansa's wheel lights up a bright blue, and rolls smoothly making your movement through the menus a snap. There is a total of six buttons on the front of this MP3 Player. Surrounding the Scroll Wheel, you have your buttons. - Play/Pause - Forward/Right - Down/Submenu of course the center button is your "Select" button. This is pretty much standard on many electronic items. Aside from these buttons just mentioned you have your Menu button, which I find a little awkward. Several times I found myself pressing the Menu button to back up one screen, but instead of backing up one screen, it brings you to the main screen again, and then you have to "Select" your way back through to where you wish to be. No matter what I try, I can't seem to get beyond this. The other problem that I've found with this "Menu" button, is that if you press it a little too long, you'll shut the power off. That kind of stinks. On the top of the MP3 Player, you have your outlet for your headphones along with a button for voice recording. You can either slide it to mic or hold. Voice recording is easy with this feature, and my son has found new ways to add funny sounds using it.

Features

Image quality is sharp, crisp, and easy to read. The viewing screen is slightly bigger than the iPod Nano, which was just another one of the features I liked about it. My son hates having to look closely, so I thought the bigger display would be better suited for him. The menus are great and easy to follow. When going into the menu, you are seeing icons as opposed to just simple word listing categories. Pretty cool - Technology has come a long way - that's for sure! The categories that you have with the Sansa e260 are:
Music - which you will see an icon showing a CD and headphones.
FM Radio - This shows you an icon that looks like the "boom box" style from the 80's
Photo - The icon is a chunky style camera with a picture next to it
Settings - This icon shows you what appears to be a stereo's balance adjustment bars
Voice - This one is simple, it shows you a microphone as an icon
Video - This was a cute idea for an icon, it shows you an old fashion movie reel with tape in it.
Navigating through the menu using the scroll wheel is very easy. I would say even a 5 year old could use this feature. When selecting a category, there is no lag in time, the Sansa is quick, and acts on your command. As with most MP3 players, you have the option to Shuffle your music, etc. This player also allows you to choose to sort your music by Artists, Albums, Songs, Genres, Playlists, Your own top rated, and your recordings. If you choose to play them by "Play All" then it will start playing the first song on the MP3 Player, you can then skim through them, OR you can choose another method for searching for what you are looking for. My Sony Bean only HAS this "Play All" feature, so these other features were impressive to me.

The photo setting is kinda cool, because you can add your own photos to your Sansa - why not? It's fun? My son has already found ways to take his digital pictures to show his friends at school, but since he's 12 years old, it's kind of hard to just let him hang out at my computer taking pictures off my computer and loading them on his Sansa, he hogs my computer, and I always panic that he's going to delete something. So therefore, it's usually ME who has to do all of this for him. I end up saying, "Okay, you've got enough" LOL

What about Battery Life? The SanDisk Sansa has a battery life of 20 hours of playback time as opposed to the iPod Nano only having about 14 hours of playback time. Another reason I decided to go with the Sansa over the iPod.

Syncing

This has got to be the absolute MOST important part of the MP3 player! I was shocked when my son came back to the room within 5 minutes already listening to his new Sansa MP3 Player. I asked him HOW he got the songs he wanted on the player already. I was quite shocked when he said all he did was plug it into his computer, and the music transferred there pretty much by itself. I couldn't believe this, of course he had gotten EVERY SOUND or MP3 File imaginable on the thing, because after all, he's a kid and doesn't want to take the time to read directions. He hadn't even installed any of the SanDisk software that came with it, he did it all through the Windows Media Player. Go figure! You are able to just drag and drop your media files onto the player, and it's quick and easy. So far that's the option I've gone with. I have since Christmas actually installed the SanDisk software to see what it allows, and I found that my son's absent minded way was a lot faster and efficient. We have not tried to use any of the Music Store type of subscriptions, but it does support "Playsforsure, Napster To Go, Rapsody To Go, and Yahoo Music Unlimited"

Over all, I think I'd have to say that I definitely got my son MORE for my MONEY with the SanDisk Sansa. With the average price of the 4GB iPod Nano I found that the 4 GB Sansa e260 had more to offer at a more affordable price. No, it's not a PERFECT MP3 Player, but then again, I don't think there are any out there that ARE PERFECT. So far my son has used this MP3 player to death and is still enjoying it today. For the price I paid, I don't think I could have gotten a better deal. I bought the Sansa e260 in Walmart for $169 and then paid for a 2 yr warranty on it, which was another $20.00. When it comes to kids, I guess it's bettery safe than sorry, right? But even at that price it was STILL cheaper than buying the 4GB iPod Nano, which at the that point in time, was selling for $197.00 So even with the 2 year Warranty I still got a better deal than if I had bought the Nano.