Electronics : SanDisk Sansa e250 - 2GB MP3 Player - with Music & Video Playback

Rating: - Perfect - great for runners! 1 star short of top marks down to "Go List" only.
I've had this player now for a week. I have owned one other mp3 player but play music through many different devices, like computer and xbox and garmin gps (plays music as superb hi fidelity mp3 player). Now the the sound on this little device is amazing! No matter what mp3 you have, it will sound great. You can adjust the audio perfectly to your taste using the EQ but out the box the sound at factory default setttings is second to none.

Design and build make this feel like you are holding a tablet that will last a thousand years in your palm. For me the headphone jack is extremely sturdy so far - it grips the jack very tighly and is the best one i've had - so many other devices i have returned for the can't hear sound in one side of headphone in the past (makes me wonder why they don't replace the mini jack with a more robust system across all audio devices given the grief i've had with them over the years).

You will need to download the latest firmware from the sansa website otherwise you won't have half the features available and the volume will as some people point out be too low - you need the upgrade to gain access to the menu option which allows you to set volume level to high. And it then is high! Like 75% volume then is way high - i've not yet put any song up to 100% as it is too loud.

As for the headphones well i have bought some portable sony noise cancelling headphones for £50 but i now prefer the ones that come with this device. I go running everyday and i find these little headphones are perfect as they just sit in your lower ear lobe and they are quite big (relatively speaking) so they don't fall out easily. They stay perfectly gripped. They sound great too. At first they were uncomfortable - actually hurt my ears - but if you just let these things sit and don't try to push them into your ear (even the slighest push hurts like hell) then they sound great and don't hurt at all. Every sportsman dreams of low hastle earphones like these! They are really good for outdoor running! Shame the device itself has no clip on the back of it as for me it would then (apart from go list selection (read on)) be perfect.


So what i don't like:

Well i have not had an ipod so i can't speak to usability in terms of software but - the software is very klunky to build a list of songs. I still don't get the menu navigation - its like i select a song and i can't select another one to queue up without going through 10 more navigation steps. The "Go List" as it is called is ridiculous to build as you have to actually select the song to start it playing to add it to the list, which then means to add more you have to go all the way back through the menus. Its a real ball ache. Go list adding and removing should be one touch operations in my book. Enqueing a song is the point of these devices - i should easily be able to build a list of what i want to listen to and continue to build that list while it plays the current song. Not so with this device - annoying to say the least. Even building a Go List would interrupts your current song playing as yo uhave to start listening to the song you want to add as pointed out. The time taken to build a 50 song Go list would keep you from going anywhere. You might as well die on the spot than take your chances compiling a list of any size before you reach the age of 80.

One other point i found today is that the random selection seemed to stay only within the confines of two albums i had on my device - out of say 20 to choose from. The same two albums had songs repeat in them for 2 hours whilst i was out running. Luckily it chose two good ones - but after 2 hours - i was ready for a change.

I'd also like to actually see a menu option to show the currently queued items. It seems it only shows you the next song - with no indication of how to get to the one after that or indeed what it is.

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Rating: - Wow, so amazing!! but some little problems!! ONLY little
Well...
This product is the best that i have bought out of all my mp3 players!
This product is basically an ipod but in an mp3 player, but without games and maybe other few things!
I am gonna tell you the good points and then the bad points :D
Good points:
1. The quality of the sound is great!
2. The mp3 player isn't TOO big or TOO small
3. It has the scroll just like an ipod!!
4. The volume doesn't seem as loud at first at full volume, BUT you go on sttings then volume and go on high and instantly the sound goes extremely high i have 2 have it on half way or 3 quarters because it's so loud!!
5. it has a hold button at the top so if the buttons press by mistake then your safe!
6. it's very easy to use when ur listening 2 songs!
7. It's simple to turn of and on and the time and date is easy to change!

Bad Points:
1. The headphones provided arn't very good, but use your old ones or just buy some quality ones for £10 - £15
2. Transferring the songs is not as simple as you think!, but don't read this bit and say i'm not buying it because you should!. Anyway... the transferring songs means you have to do complitcated stuff, but if you read all the info then it's okay, you just have to concentrate then the first time you've done it it's pretty simple to keep doing it :D
3. It says 2GB but it's 1.75GB and it says ONLY 500 songs but you can buy another little memory stick thing 2 put in so u have more memory so it isn't that bad!
That's all the bad points really!

Although i only got this product today it has been very successful! BUT maybe in a couple of weeks or months something might happen but hopefully that won't happen!
I will come and change this review if anyting has happened but so far i would reccommend this and for the price it's good :D bye have fun if you buy this!

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Rating: - 3 1/2 star. not a bad machine but has its problems
this is a good little machine but it would have to be the most unreliable machine on the planet. They are tempremental but as long as you dont sneeze near it, it will work fine.

i have rated certain aspects of the machine.

sound 9/10 fantastic certainly keeps me happy. and other reviews say its quiet ITS NOT in settings it has a high volume setting.

video 5/10 file format is huge (motion jpg in a mov casing) but if you install an alternate firmware called rockbox on the device it allows the player to play ordinary mpg 1/2 videos. the picture is slightly grainy also

Menus/ ease of use 10/10 apart from the first graphical screen its an ipod.

battery 7/10 the battery only lasts about 9 to 10 hours of music and i dont use the video function enough to give an accurte readout but i would say aroun 2 and a half hours.

Overall value for money 8/10 although it comes with its problems its not a bad machine. You Get what you pay for

I would not recommend this product. (im sure youve herd this a 100 times) BUY AN IPOD i found that the reason they are so expensive is because they are perfect there are no problems at all.

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Rating: - I've never been inspired to bother reviewing a product before but...
I'm very annoyed since this my second player and the second time it has broken. The title screen is stuck on the words SanDisk and won't move. I really can't explain what I might have done to it as both times the fault occured during everyday use. Also although their is a reset function(hold the power button) their isn't a reset button and little I can do to fix it myself. While I would agree with the other (positive) reviews about the product while it is working, I can't help but feel I cant have been the only one with a faulty players. While the first one was in fairness replaced quickly it's annoying to be without music while they replace it. Good luck if you do decide to buy this product

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Rating: - Better than I ever hoped.
I've had my Sansa e250 for a few weeks and I am massively impressed. Having never owned an ipod I can't compare but this certainly ticks all the boxes for me.
I have found it very easy to transfer both music and pictures, the 2gb memory is more than enough for my needs and best of all the battery life is incredible. It certainly lasts all day and holds enough music to last all day too. My only critisism is that the earphones are quite uncomfortable after a while but I'm going to go back to my old ones. I also find it quite hard to get the volume up enough to hear over the mower (I'm a gardner) but I guess that may be to do with the earphones and for normal use it's fine.
In summary I would highly recommend this and it seems to be very upgradable.