Great for runners and No-Frills playback

Wow! In short, I own a 30 GB hard-drive MP3 Player to store all my music - it was before I had a large enough computer. Now that I'm back into running, I wanted to get a smaller one to use at the gym or on the road. I'm 6'1", 220 pounds and my hands are a size 5.

First I got an Ilo only to find it only played WMA files. Most of mine are, but I've got some MP3's, too. That got returned. Then I got a Sandisk Sansa E260. Nice, but the volume dial got in the way when I wanted to navigate the menu, or I'd inadvertantly adjust the volume when trying to press a button. That went back, too. Next was a Creative Zen V Plus 4 GB model. Nice and small, comfortable, sleek, but lots of lock-up errors that caused you to push the reset button. A recurring theme with this model if you look at other reviews. Plus at nearly $200, it was just too much. I don't need video and picture viewing while I'm jogging so I reset my criteria and the search began.

I kept finding this Sandisk on ebay, at radio shack, circuit city, et... The price was dropping because it had been discontinued so I took a chance and bought one. I had to purchase the belt clip case separately which is a drawback, but well overshadowed by the positives.

Technical review:
The most beautiful thing happened when I opened the box - there was no CD with special software needed for my computer to read the player. I literally just plugged the player into the USB drive and dragged & dropped my music. I had premade a folder with the desired music and the whole folder transferred - I know some players won't play music in a folder but no problems here. I've got 411 songs in mostly WMA format and I only used 1.5 GB. The menu was easy to navigate as well. I even did the preset scan for the FM stations without needing the manual. A warning though is that only a quick-start guide is included. The actual manual comes in a disk in the package and must be viewed on the computer or printed. I did not use the earbuds so no comment on that aspect.


Actual Usage Review (player with silicon case & belt clip attached):
The player is about as big as a large pack of Double Mint gum. It easily fits into my hand and I found it easy to operate with either hand - it reminds me of the WII controller that I've seen on TV. The display was hard to read while running fast, but when I run, I don't look at the display - if I don't want to hear that song, I just skip it; no need to look at the player for that. It's even very easy to switch from FM radio to file music without looking - only three clicks either way. The powering on-off button is smart: hold it for three seconds or so to get it on or off. Nicely avoids accidental on / off.

There are only two bad things I've noticed:
1) The battery cover slides around like a cheap toy piece, even with the battery inserted. But with the silicon case on or off, the battery seems secure - it's more a quirk than a concern.
2) The included armband / case would probably work, but it's so thin (1") it may feel to some like a tourniquet. I will probably never use the armband, but you should know going in.

I would recommend this player to anyone who will be on the move while using it. I heard that the screen gets scratched easily, but no experience with that yet. Since this is a discontinued item, I'm going to buy a couple extra on Ebay as backups. Hopefully smart no-nonsense players like this will not become a thing of the past.