SanDisk Sansa e140 (1G) MP3 player

I have been interested in MP3 players for quite some time, and even received an iPOD mini for Christmas. But, actually returned it because I felt it was too much to spend on a "novelty". I also didn't feel like spending more time (than I already do) sitting at my computer ripping all my CD's to my hard drive.
Fast forward to last week, I figured that I could get into a smaller 512mb player because they were a less expensive "novelty". I did a little research, and, off I went to Best Buy. I bought a Samsung yp-mt-somethinerother, AND OF COURSE two days later when the weekend circulars came out, there was the Sansa e130, and e140 at Office Depot. I did a little research, and, off I went to Office Depot. There was one each of the two Sansa's. I bought the 140, 1G. $169.99-$10 instant savings + $12 sales tax = 171.99 - $20 mail in rebate = $151.99. About 23 bucks more than the Samsung. I kicked around the idea of getting the 512m e130, but said "just get the 1G". They're both expandable up to 2G. So, I think that means I can put a 2G card in the slot and have 3 total Gig. Now, I know those cards cost money, but they are getting less and less expensive everyday. Which means that they won't be as expensive when it comes time to need one. Right? Plus, as you'll see, I probably won't need one any time soon.

OK, The player itself is extremely light, which may put it on the fragile side. Even with the AAA battery, the thing weighs next to less than nothing. The fact that those batteries are so small, makes it acceptable (to me) to bring an extra, for when the old one dies. Just keep an eye on the display's battery level icon. There's something to be said for, when your portable electronics battery goes, you can just pop in a fresh battery and go. You don't have to be strapped to an electrical outlet.

The ear bud phones are decent, they are the type that you can pull up and back on your ear then stick 'em in. Kinda like a swimming ear plug. They come with 3 different "gasket" sizes to customize the fit. They stay when you put them in, and remain pretty comfortable. The other ear buds just kinda sit in your ear.

There's plastic covers for the USB connection and the SD (Secure Digital) memory card slot. The card slot cover, won't get lost as easily as the USB cover. I just set the USB one aside in the box, and use a small piece of address label to stick over the USB slot, to keep dust out. You WILL lose that cover.

The volume "wheel" is (at first) cheesy. But further inspection shows that it is more reliable. It takes more to turn than it looks, and it won't move on it's own. Not bad.

The blue lit screen display shows 5 lines of info. Artist; Title; Album; song time; & Battery level and track #/track total, and comes on when you press any button.

Menu function is concise. What you need is there. The SRS WOW thing, seems to be an amplifier. Personal preference there. User defined EQ, lets you customize a 5 band graphic EQ. Not bad. There's a "hold" switch that prevents accidental menu/keypad operations. Play modes include...All, genre, album, songs, new music, year, spoken word (audio books), and audio feast. Which is a subscription music service. There's even an FM tuner. Can't comment on the tuner, sorry.

An information tab in the menu allows you to see how much space you have left and how many songs you have already. I've got 494 tunes, (so Far) that were ripped at a bit rate of 48kbps, and are in the WMA (windows media) format. They are supposed to be smaller than mp3. The 48 kbps, sounds fine to me. Lower bit rate, smaller file, more songs. Those settings are done in your ripping software. I still have 89 mb left...494 songs???? NICE.

The software comes on a mini cd. Since I used Windows Media player to rip my cd's, and then used "drag and drop" to load them, that cd never came out of it's sleeve. The USB cable is about 9inches long, which I liked because I have two USB slots on the front of my tower. No need for two feet of cable lying around an already cluttered desk! Nice.

The only thing I had a problem with (though, no fault of the player), was, I had difficulty loading files to it at first. While sync-ing the player to a song list in Windows Media Player 9, It wouldn't allow more than 177 or so tracks. A quick contact to tech support, solved that issue. Seems the Player was not formatted to FAT32 (whatever that is). So format it by plugging it into a USB slot, when explorer recognizes it, right click it, choose format, then in format menu chose FAT32, and click ok. A second or two later you will be ready to load a TON of music!!!! Kudos to SanDisk tech support. They replied to my question in less time than it took to get my 4 year old from pre-school. 24 minutes to be exact.

Kudos also to Best Buy's satisfaction guarantee, for refunding my money on an open box item. Without fees.

Lastly, I bought my wife a 1g iPOD shuffle for her birthday. That was a month and a half ago. She would be getting one of these if it wasn't past the 30 day period for returns. For a slight bit more price as the shuffle, with the same memory, the features here can't be beat. The screen alone should point you to the Sansa. Not to mention the expandability.

This thing is great, take a look into one.





UPDATE: It's been almost a year now that I have been using this Sansa. It has held up very well as far as durability goes. The earphones didn't work out for me as I had originally thought. Although they sound good, they just didn't stay put as well as I thought they would. About a month ot two after writing the original review, I bought a pair of Sony earbuds that were relatively inexpensive (somewhere around 20 bucks). They sound just as good, and sit a little better in the ear. Battery life is more than acceptable. And like I said, in the original review, the AAA format is small enough to keep an extra in the small pouch I got. Basically, with what I paid for this thing a year ago, and what they are going for now, you can not go wrong.