20 out of 20 people found this review helpful.
A fantastic deal, if it's not an ipod killer, it's close
Date of Review: Sep 27, 2006
The Bottom Line: A great player for the money. Feature packed for a fraction of big apple's price.
This is my third MP3 player, plus a second Gen ipod that I bought for my wife. This is a fantastic player, incorporating video, photo, mp3, fmradio and voice recording. The model I purchased was the 6gb flash model (e270), but it comes in a 2,4 and 8GB size as well.
The case has a scratch resistant "liquid metal" back and plastic front which shows no wear after a few weeks of use.
the battery life is awesome, over 10 hours of play on a charge.
The player doesn't come bundled with proprietary software like the pod, so one can use Windows media player (on virtually every machine you come across), this makes transferring music a snap. Just highlight the songs you like and drag them over. Or have the unit sych to new music with a couple of clicks. no proprietary format like the pod, so you can share whatever music you like. It works with subsription services too, so hook up to napster, imusic etc.
Controls are simple, forwards and backwards buttons, play/stop and menu buttons are arranged around a control wheel and a large select button. The design is a ripoff of ipod, the mechanical wheel feels cheap at first, but in use it gives real feedback. Buttons, for me, are easier to use than the ipods, when you're wearing it on your belt etc. When you're working out, you can feel the wheel, then find the button with ease.
The unit will accept micro-sd cards for expansion, at 6gb adding another 2gb(current max)for $100 doesn't make too much sense, but the option is there for future expansion.
***update*** you can now(2/07) get 2gb transflash cards for under $50...a reasonable upgrade path.
Video, not much use for video(this DOES require conversion software, which is bundled with the player) but it is pretty impressive, load it with movie clips and impress your pals. videos over 15min long are cut into smaller bits. The unit displays, as I recall, 15fps, but it looks pretty good on the 1.8" display. Looks much better than the video on your phone.
Photos- Again, not a great photo viewer, but it's nice to load a bunch of photos to thumb through.
FM-wow, what a great idea, and well implemented. simple to set up your presets then click through them with the button. Reception is actually pretty good, I was surprised I could pick up a few local talk stations. Record from the radio with a button click. Hear a song you like, record a bit, add a voice memo and remember to download it later!
Sound is very good, but the sound has been excellent on every mp3 player I've had. The bundled earphones are typical, minimal, quality and the shure ec-2's I have bring out the best in the player!
The price, I picked this up for about 75% of the cost of a 4-gig nano. Apples product life seems to be about three months. 1800 songs in a flash player, plus video, FM, photos, with a bigger display, for a fraction of the cost.
The cons! and there are cons!
The wheel, it is cheap feeling. It works and works well, but I think the next gen will feel more positive.
The buttons should have some kind of tactile identifiers on them. I can still find them easily without looking, but it's on my wish list.
Currently there are few accessories available, so cases are hard to come by. If sandisk sticks with a design for a year or two then manufacturers will jump on board. I have found a good belt-clip/armband case and it should be all I need for awhile.
Freeze! Similar to the ipod second gen I have, the e270 has frozen twice and required a restart. not a big deal, probably less frequent than the ipod.
Random doesn't seem so random, some songs seem to come up more frequently, probably just my imagination.
It's not an ipod! People ask "oh is that the new ipod?" no, it's the new sansa, by sandisk. Not a name that makes you go "ooooh". Let someone play with it for a moment and they're convinced!
***update*** things that make you crazy part 1. You cannot use the interface while the unit is charging, you cannot play while the unit is charging! When connected to the computer, you get a "connected" or "writing" screen. Still a great unit, fantastic battery life.
