Best MP3 Player I've had yet (and I've tried a lot)

I'm not an MP3 player newbie by any stretch of the imagination, I've tried many and owned several (from Rio, Samsung, Sandisk, and Apple, among others). When my Samsung YH-925 died again (I'll never purchase another Samsung MP3 player), they offered me their YPZ5AB 4GB player as a replacement. Rather than go that far down on capacity, I opted for my money back and shopped around. Having three iPods (various models owned by the kids), I knew I didn't want to go that route (battery problems, cosmetic issues, don't like iTunes, etc.), but finding alternatives for a reasonable price was difficult. So, I was thrilled when I found the Sansa e270. More features and capacity than the Samsung or Apple, but at a better price. We have another smaller, older Sansa in the house that is working fine, so I thought I'd give the e270 a try -- and I have not been disappointed!

To begin with, I really like the size/form factor. It's small, but still feels sturdy -- not like it's so thin it will snap. The thumbwheel (or whatever you call it) is raised and gives a better feel for movement than, say, iPods. Plus, when I have it on my motorcycle, I can feel the controls through my gloves -- a major thumbs up. Let's face it, the main reason I purchased this was to get the bulk of my library onto a player that was easy to use and wouldn't fail quickly (hard drive players just turned out to be prone to failures). This player met that with ease. Drag-and-drop loading (no special software to install), easy to use controls, great battery life, crisp color display, no problems.

This is the easiest player to load music on that I've owned (Rio's were easy too, but not this easy). It's truly drag-and-drop or copying folders (my preference). You can also sync using Windows Media Player 10 with ease. No software is required for loading music, and it uses straight MP3 or MWA formats -- no proprietary formats. Very nice. You can also use it as an external hard drive -- just plug it in and move data to it. Quick and easy small backups, or move pictures between your PC and a friends, or whatever. Works great right out of the box.

But, aside from the main function as an MP3 player, it has some other features -- some of which surprised me how well they worked. The FM tuner is adequate (reception isn't all that great), though I haven't bothered trying to record songs directly from FM (just doesn't seem like it would be good quality). It also has a microphone that works okay as a voice recorder, though I occasionally hit the record button and accidentally record stuff I didn't mean to. More fun than those features, however, are the pictures and video capabilities. While you have to load their media converting software (simple installation), it is very easy to use, intuitive, and sizes the media perfectly to fit on the screen on the player. The only thing you might want to remember is to rotate your pictures first to the fit best on the screen. Other than that, it was a real kick to quickly move pictures to the device, or to view my videos on the screen (with sound). I really thought the pictures and video were a cute gimmick that I wouldn't use much, but I find I really appreciate it now.

The 1.8" screen is clear, crisp and bright (I was really surprised how good videos looked on it -- even at that size), battery life is very good (I haven't pushed it to 20 hours yet, but it wouldn't surprise me). It's nice that I can add memory (via micro SD cards) if I want, and I really like that the battery is user replaceable (not a small thing after going through replacement issues on one of my kids' iPods).

All-in-all, I really like this player and it's suiting my needs just fine (and then some). The only nits I've come up with so far are that you can't download playlists to the device itself (at least I haven't found a way) -- you can only build one playlist on the player, and it uses a proprietary USB cable -- so if you want to move data or pictures to another PC, you need to have the cable with you (which also charges the device). Not a big deal though. I don't really use playlists, so that lack of feature doesn't bother me, and if I think I'll need to transfer data, the cable isn't a big deal either.

Bottom line, if you don't require more than 6 GB of storage, this device does it all. It doesn't scratch easily, is small but still feels sturdy, and is very easy to use. I wouldn't mind more accessories (like belt-clip carrying pouch or something), but that doesn't take away from the device itself. I'm very happy with it so far.

Update (12/31/2007): With the latest release of firmware for the Sansa e2xx series players, the device finally has reasonable playlist support! I haven't tried a variety of players or music managers, but loading playlists from Windows Media Player 11 to the Sansa is straightforward and easy. We have three Sansa e2xx players in the family now, and with over 18 months of use on mine in particular, we can still enthusiastically recommend the product.