SanDisk Sansa e260 4 GB Flash Portable Media Player

Get use to saying

Strengths: Light weight, 65k color screen, video playback, FM radio, WMA DRM, MTS + UMS.

Weakness: Front Face is fingerprint magnet. Scroll wheel has mechanical feel. Buttons are hard to press with no tactile response. Headphones suck (to be expected). Video file size is huge.

battery life so far is great... I have recharge only twice, going about 16+ hours per charge. I listen to audio books all day during work, with the exception of the normal bathroom break and lunch. The video playback is OK. Big problem is that a 30 meg DIVX file turns in to 300 meg in files. The scroll wheel is "ok". It isn't a touch pad like an ipod, but it is much better for tactile feel, i...
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battery life so far is great... I have recharge only twice, going about 16+ hours per charge. I listen to audio books all day during work, with the exception of the normal bathroom break and lunch.

The video playback is OK. Big problem is that a 30 meg DIVX file turns in to 300 meg in files.

The scroll wheel is "ok". It isn't a touch pad like an ipod, but it is much better for tactile feel, i think. It is hard to press the side buttons, but once you realize you don't need to use your entire fat finger, rather just the tip, it isn't so bad.

It is thicker than the Ipod Nano, but feels better in hand I think. I don't need to have the world's smallest MP3 player, it is nice to be able to handle it.

Everyone will ask "Is that an Ipod"? I have been asked 1000000 times already. It is better than Ipod mainly because you don't need to use ITunes exclusively. You can go to ANY Windows USB (and many macs too) and just connect and download. No software required for normal MP3.

I bought for $130 AR from OD. I think this is a good deal, and would say this product is worth up to $200, IF you are in the market for a $200 player.

I have seen the new iRiver Clix, and that looks AWESOME. However that is more expensive and less memory. It is a trade off..

Don't get excited about the mini-SD expansion slot. It is great and works fine, but I never actually plan to expand my mp3, since I don't have spare mini-sd's lying around.

It is durable (so far). My cat like to bat things around the house and decided it would be cool to bat my e260 around and pounce on it while I sleep. It survived, but sadly the "free" included soft case did not.

this unit has a "volume" high and low setting which basically is a 10db limiter in Low mode. Still, in high mode, I wish it would get louder. Yea i know, hearing damage blah blah blah, but still, sometimes I want to feel the music. It is always nice to have the option of going louder.

I bought this thinking the MIC record would be awesome. I quickly realized that my cell phone has the same feature, both which I have NEVER productively used.

another thing I noticed, is that there aren't all the fancy accessories for the e260 that you can buy for the Ipod. Do I care? not really, I would buy them anyways.

FM radio is a great addition. Nothing amazing here, its just FM.

I have never used an Ipod, so a comparison between the two for me is impossible. I actually am one of those people that still feel that paying 99 cents for a song, is still too much. I mean, I like to listen to some musicians, but I wont pay that kind of money for there song. SO I use virgin Direct music service (similar to yahoo music). Unlimited downloads, connected to a monthly service plan. Everybody is happy.

USB charge only. This to me SUCKS. If I travel, I don't want to bring my laptop to charge my MP3 player. Nuff said.

I really like my e260. Granted I paid only $130+tax. (minus $5 if pricegrabber rebate comes in) But I want an Mp3 player, and this satisfies all my needs. I am not one to follow the hip trends. I don't want a Toyota Prius, I don't want a Razr. I don't drink Pimp Juice, I don't drink Cafe Mocca Latte Grande. I don't want an Ipod just because everyone else seems to have one.


UPDATE:6/21/06

I wanted to update with some further experience. one thing that i noticed that I am not very happy about is when I am listening to a track at a ~high~ volume and I press and hold the "left button" to fast forward, the volume of the track "increases" so you can hear the "fast-forwarding music" but if you are a high volume already, it HURTS my ears! Just be careful.

I have been using virgin digital and WMP 11 to load my e260 with DRM protected music... So far it is a very pleasurable experience. Playlist management through WMP11 is EXCELLENT, and since i have it set to auto sync, it is as simple as plugging in the sansa for a charge overnight, and the wma's are loaded automatically.

By poorazn - Jun 14, 2006

SanDisk Sansa e260 4GB MP3 Player Review

Strengths: FM tuner/recorder, voice recording, photo and video playback, navigation wheel, micro SD slot, attractive, competitive pricing

Weakness: Buttons sometimes difficult to press, expansion slot for music only, system noise heard at low volumes

I needed an MP3 with video/photo features, and was looking into the e260 vs. the video ipod. The SanDisk Sansa e200 series offers just as many features for a must more reasonable price than other players in this range. If you're looking for a compact 4GB music/video player than you should really look into getting one of these sansa's. You can't beat the price and overall it's a great player with...
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I needed an MP3 with video/photo features, and was looking into the e260 vs. the video ipod. The SanDisk Sansa e200 series offers just as many features for a must more reasonable price than other players in this range. If you're looking for a compact 4GB music/video player than you should really look into getting one of these sansa's. You can't beat the price and overall it's a great player with a nice touch of style. The picture is nice and vibrant compared to other players as well. Ease of use can be just a little better though. However, I'd recommend this product.

By xoxinfamusxox - Jun 14, 2006

Too Many Bugs

Strengths: fairly easy to navigate controls

Weakness: hard to add music, EQ settings don't work; locks up.

This is my first MP3 player. I should have shopped wisely. After a little practice, I found it fairly easy to work the controls. But even after getting firmware upgrades, it still doesn't work correctly.

Songs entered without genre info default to "Dance"
The EQ settings work only sometimes. Usually not.
It has already locked up on me once.

I feel like a beta tester.

By dejapete - Sep 2, 2006

My first MP3 player

Strengths: Clear pictures, great sound, easy to navigate and use, good battery life (replacable), FM tuner works well, expandable memory,

Weakness: The headphones! Limited video formats supported (but the Sansa Media converter is really easy to use). Can't use while charging the battery.

This is my first MP3 player so I have nothing to compare it to, but so far it has been working really well and is very easy to use. Other people have had problems with the software or with it freezing, but I have not experienced this in the 2 weeks I have had it (I have the latest firmware 01.00.12A). Adding music was really easy- just drag and drop. Pictures and videos were also easy via the...
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This is my first MP3 player so I have nothing to compare it to, but so far it has been working really well and is very easy to use. Other people have had problems with the software or with it freezing, but I have not experienced this in the 2 weeks I have had it (I have the latest firmware 01.00.12A).

Adding music was really easy- just drag and drop. Pictures and videos were also easy via the Media Converter. I did have to rotate any horizontal pictures before I added them so that they would fill the screen instead of being shrunk into a vertical screen. I also had to manually add the Album Art for each album, but I think this is because I ripped my music into WMA files since I haven't heard of this problem with MP3 files.

The sound is really good, but the equalizer seems to mute it. I leave it on 'Normal' and it sounds better. There is a little noise before a songs starts, like the sound of a cd player going to the next song. It is really small and I got used to it. The radio works well, better if you're outside. I've recorded a couple of things from the radio and it sounds perfect. I think it only records as a .wav file so it is a larger file until you convert it.

I like that it has the SD slot in case I need more storage space, but I have put 835 songs, lots of pictures, and a few videos on and I still have almost a gig free.

The lanyard it comes with is inconvenient if you are working out or moving around. I bought a DLO Action Jacket made for the iPod Mini and it fits well (it was on clearance for $4.99 at CC versus $30 for the AJ made for the E200 series).

The headphones suck! They are really large and hurt your ears. If I turn my head or yawn, they fall out.

The price was good for the E260 4gb player- $180 at Buy.com (with a $15 coupon) with no tax and free shipping. Thanks to pricegrabber.com for helping me find the best overall price.

I would definitely recommend this MP3 player to anyone who wants a nice looking, easy to use device that plays music, pictures, videos, has a radio and is expandable.

By corrielinn - Jun 12, 2006

Amazing Mp3 player

Strengths: Small, Excellent sound quality.Fm Reception,photo and video playback into a compact device

Weakness: Scrool wheel is not user friendly,small buttons

This player is a great alternative to ipod. it's about the same size as a nano, but a tiny bit thicker, and a little heavier. the scroll wheel has a nice tactile feel to it, and contrary to other reviewers i like the way it feels (although i concede the buttons are a little hard to press without adjusting my hand). the screen is impressive-- bigger, brighter, and clearer than nano. the menus are...
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This player is a great alternative to ipod. it's about the same size as a nano, but a tiny bit thicker, and a little heavier. the scroll wheel has a nice tactile feel to it, and contrary to other reviewers i like the way it feels (although i concede the buttons are a little hard to press without adjusting my hand). the screen is impressive-- bigger, brighter, and clearer than nano. the menus are well thought out, though this is my first tag-based player (vs. folder-based) so there is a slight learning curve for me.

By deep_karan - Jun 16, 2006