Sandisk Sansa e280 - 8Gb MP3 & Video Player

Finally, I took the plunge and decided to buy an MP3 player: and after a lot of deliberation and reading reviews of various makes and models, I bought the E280 and so far I've not been disappointed. I wanted to steer clear of the higher capacity players that use miniature hard drives because in my experience hard drives and physical shocks don't mix!! So the E280, being a flash memory player, took my eye.

The unit is sturdy, small and compact and fairly easy to use. I do agree up to a point with other reviewers regarding the menu system not being the easiest to navigate, but hey! if a fifty-something duffer like me can master it, then I reckon anyone can!

The sound quality is really good - even with the "bud" earphones supplied. I've read conflicting reviews regarding the sound being either too loud or too soft with this player and I think I've worked out why this could be happening! I think it all depends on the shape of the ear canal which to an extent will determine how well the "buds" fit into your ears. If they fit well, the sound can be on the loud side, but if they're a poor fit then the sound can be quiet. I've not had any problems with the sound being either too loud or soft so I guess I'm lucky! I'm going to buy a set of noise-cancelling headphones to use with this unit, and I guess it's the only accurate way to measure the sound level.

Having said that, there are two independent means of adjusting the sound levels: 1) with the thumbwheel while the song is playing, and 2) further increase/decrease can be obtained by selecting the "custom" equaliser option and increasing or decreasing all 5 sliders by equal amounts.

The E280 has played everything I've thrown at it so far - including speech MP3 files encoded at 24kbit/16kHz (the manual says the E280 will only go down to 32kbit). The lithium-ion battery is supposed to be easily replaced if necessary, and it looks like you have to simply unscrew 4 small screws on the back and remove it to get at the battery. The battery life when fully charged is supposed to be around 20 hours, but I haven't used it that much yet, but reviews reckon the average is around 18-19 hours from a full charge.

One important thing that isn't listed in the user guide are some of the minor specifications such as the maximum size of Micro SD card that the E280 will work with, but I've found out the unit won't work with the 64mB size or lower as these sizes use the FAT12 filesystem and the E280 will only work with FAT16 or FAT32 file systems. I do know it will work with a 1gB Micro SD (formerly known as Transflash) card though.

I haven't tried using photos or videos yet, but this looks a little less straightforward than simply dragging and dropping the MP3 files into the MUSIC folder on the player using Windows Explorer (with the E280 in MSC mode) as the images & video must be converted with the supplied software to a proprietary format and then downloaded to the E280.

The E280 relies heavily on Windows Media Player to create playlists which is probably why it needs V10 or higher, and it's not a complicated process, but has to be done in MTP mode not MSC mode. And as no mains charger is supplied, a USB port on the PC capable of supplying the full 500mA of power is a must (preferably via a USB hub with its own power unit) in order to charge the battery from the USB port. This also means you need to power up your PC to charge the battery AND you can't listen to any music whilst the E280 is attached to the PC. So a mains charger is strongly recommended. Amazon sell at least one type of charger suitable for the E280.

So to sum up:

The Pros:-

Versatile navigation buttons.

Well-featured menu system.

Excellent sound quality.

Sturdy build quality.

To date the largest solid state memory MP3 player.

Memory expandable with a Micro SD card. (to at least 9gB)

Small size.

Has both MSC and MTP USB modes (selectable via settings menu).

User replaceable Li-ion rechargeable battery.

The Cons:-

Menu system can be somewhat confusing at first.

Proprietary video/photo format.

Somewhat limited range of audio formats supported (i.e. no FLAC,APE,AAC or OGG support) although MP3, WAV, and WMA (incuding the DRM version) are supported.

Limited operating system support (only Windows XP SP1 or higher at present).

Limited processor support (must be Intel Pentium or higher)

Needs Windows Media Player 10 or higher (or some similar software) needed for MTP transfer mode for creating playlists.

No mains charger supplied.

The FM radio is only present in the US version.

Comclusion:-

Whilst there are as many cons as pros, if it's solid-state capacity and sound quality you're looking for in an MP3 player, the E280 is about as good as it gets!

After my large 20GB iRiver H10 MP3 player literally fell apart I decided to look at some new MP3 players so that I would have one before moving away from home for university. In my search I looked at the ubiquitous iPod, Samsung's latest offering and the newest product range from iRiver. I stumbled upon the Sansa whilst looking through review sites and because of the nearly overwhelming positivity of the reviews that I read and the attractive price I decided to go for the Sansa e280. Another benefit to the Sansa was that it was based on flash memory meaning that it should survive everyday use that little bit better than an HDD (Hard Disk drive) based device. I decided that I really only listened to about 8GB of music and having the MicroSD slot would allow me to expand on this if needed.

I received the player two days after ordering it via the express delivery option along with a pair of Sennheiser CX300s just before I was about to head out to work. A quick fire up of the device on my Vista based laptop showed a worrying sign - the device wasn't recognized and as a result no drivers were installed. A quick google for "Sansa e280" and "Vista incompatibility" hastily showed up a remedy. I'll post it here in the hope to avoid any unnecessary frustration or returns.

On Vista open "Computer" from the start menu and open your hard disk drive with Vista installed on it. You will need to have administrator privileges or UAC turned off for this next part. Open the "Windows" folder then go into the "inf" folder. Scroll down until you find "INFCACHE.1" Right click and choose "Properties". On the security tab, make sure that all listed groups and users have full control. If any of them don't, select them, choose "edit" and allow "full control" for the required profiles. After I had performed this tweak the device was able to sync up perfectly happily.

The device itself is easy to use and the interface is self-explanatory. Its easy to use the player straight out the box without even a glance at the manual. Contrary to the post below it is possible to browse through all the music by one artist - after choosing "play all", pulling up the sub-menu and selecting "back to music list" will allow you to see all songs by one artist. Transferring music is also simple due to compatibility with Windows Media Player 11 and its synchronize option whilst photos and video can be added very quickly with the included converter software. Sound quality during playback through my CX300s is clear with good distinction of mid-range and bass. The player seems durable enough as well but only time will tell on this part.

Overall a 5 star rating due to high quality playback of music and video, easy and intuitive navigation of the player and transfer of files and great aesthetic appeal. Plus the price is fantastic! I don't feel as though points should be detracted for lack of radio as a version with this feature is available (at extra cost since due to EU laws all radio receiving devices are taxed) on a different version of the Sansa and the initial hook up issue is more concerning Vista than the e280.

Congratulations on an excellent player SanDisk and I apologize for the long review!

This is a great mp3 player, and some of the stuff said about it is unjustified, here's my breakdown of some things....

VOLUME - In settings there are two volume options, normal or high. For me, i rarely use it much beyond half way on the normal setting but if your in a noisy environment i could see you possibly needing the high setting. BUT - the max volume is immense and you would never want to listen to it that loud!!

SORE THUMBS r.e. SCROLL WHEEL - I don't get this one, its really easy to move around, no harder than the ipod, so don't worry about this!

BUTTONS AROUND THE SCROLL WHEEL - This criticism is justified, they are quite small and not easy to press, but they don't annoy me and i rarely have to try more than once to press the button.

BOOT UP TIME - It does take a while, but by the time i've fiddled around putting my headphones in its turned on, so no problem here.

SCROLL WHEEL - It is easy to use, and probably more accurate than using the scroll wheel on the Ipod Nano in my experience. However, from the pictures i was imagining it to be a solid silicon type circle, but its plastic and mine wobbles a bit in its casing. Not to the same build quality of the rest of the player, which is a shame, but it works perfectly, and it lights up blue - you can't argue with that!

RADIO - Yes, you won't get a radio unless you get one from america. But i don't really listen to the radio, so that wasn't a problem for me.

VIDEO PLAYBACK - I was pleasantly surprised about this. The size of the screen, although small, is large enough to get a decent picture, and the playback is surprisingly good. I've watched episodes of the Simpsons, South Park and Bottom (80's comedy) on it, and its great! I'll have to try a film at some point. In your face nano!

ITS NOT AN IPOD, AND IT WORKS - Yes!!!! Be different!

SOUND QUALITY - I found i had to change the EQ settings to my liking, but after that, the quality is VERY GOOD.

CHARGING THROUGH USB - You CAN charge it when your computer is TURNED OFF. YES! you can. As long as you don't turn your PC off at the wall, then the power still goes to the USB's. I'm not sure if you have to have the PC on when you start, but i don't think so. This was a nice surprise for me, and i'm glad i didn't buy a mains charger when i first got it.

BATTERY LIFE - Very long.... i think i've only had to charge it once in 2 1/2 months use. The times stated are accurate.

SCREEN - Lovely and bright and vibrant and big and woo!

BACKLIGHT TURNING OFF TOO QUICKLY- Another thing that can be changed in the settings.... duh.

TRANSFER OF SONGS/SOFTWARE - Its easy to put music across using media player, or by just dragging and dropping. And the software bundled converts videos in to the required format and transfers them across to the player quickly. Thumbs up.

That's all i can think of, i give it 5 stars, it exceeded my expectations.