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Pretty Hot: 8gb Sandisk Sansa for $174.48

Kaido

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Amazon linkage

Your basic iPod Nano clone - 8 gigs plus photos, videos, FM tuner/recorder, voice recorder. Customer-replaceable battery (~20 hours), memory upgradeable via MicroSD card. Thicker than a Nano by about double (which I like, easier to hold); supposedly scratch-resistant casing. Works with Rhapsody and PlaysForSure. This is going for $215+ at most places

I tried this out in person at Best Buy the other day. The scrollwheel is an actual wheel, which I really liked. I have some trouble selecting the song I want on my wife's Nano with the touchwheel sometimes. It has a real nice feel to it and a great screen. I'm in for one! 😀

Edit: Sorry, I just copied and pasted the link, didn't know it had a referral code!
 
yeah i really like the sansa too. my main gripe about it is the materials qualitiy feels a little cheap. the UI might actually be better than the ipod (especially the real wheel).

sandisk is supposedly announcing new players at ces jan 8th so maybe they are discounting the older ones.
 
Originally posted by: hans007
yeah i really like the sansa too. my main gripe about it is the materials qualitiy feels a little cheap. the UI might actually be better than the ipod (especially the real wheel).

sandisk is supposedly announcing new players at ces jan 8th so maybe they are discounting the older ones.
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Ah, that makes sense. I liked the display model, so I should be happy with the current generation of players. Plus, 8 gigs for $175 is a steal 🙂
 
Originally posted by: BIGFOOTPI
not to burst any bubbles but just FYI- this unit was on sale last week for $149 at amazon...
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haha, bummer! 😛
 
Originally posted by: RaiderJ
Originally posted by: Kaido
Originally posted by: BIGFOOTPI
not to burst any bubbles but just FYI- this unit was on sale last week for $149 at amazon...
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haha, bummer! 😛
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For a 1/2 hour the 6GB was $99. I picked up two! 🙂
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Haha man! I really missed the boat on this deal...the 8 gig is currently $249 at Rhapsody, so I was all excited to get it for $175 from Amazon...dangit! 😀
 
Wish I had seen one at $149... I'm on the prowl for these guys! Cool little players - my friend has an e270 - it's neat!
 
I had one of these, then I sold it when I got the 8gb Nano. Dumb.

The Nano is a beautiful and elegant piece of engineering, but it's dumbed down to the Nth degree. And the Nano has proprietary everything, and music file scrambling and hiding... And it doesn't have FM, a voice recorder, drag and drop music loading, video playback, etc. But this does. Sure, it's twice as thick (which honestly isn't bad, the Nano is almost too thin), but I almost never use my Nano because I don't want to go through the hassle of loading it up with music (i.e. Open Itunes, import, make playlists, sync, etc).

Drag and drop is the only way to go. If only Creative would get back in the game with a good player, they have always drawn me with their non-proprietary mini-usb sync/charge cable, but their Zen V feels cheap and is difficult to operate.
 
these are great,i got the e260 damn cant believe it was avaiable for 99$ 110$ less than i bought it damn! but i must say that this device isnt as flexible or convenient as the Nano in usability
 
Anybody who owns one of these - how is the video quality? I'm not expecting anything earth-shattering on such a tiny screen, but will it get me through episodes of Family Guy or Lost while at the gym?
 
Originally posted by: kyzen
Anybody who owns one of these - how is the video quality? I'm not expecting anything earth-shattering on such a tiny screen, but will it get me through episodes of Family Guy or Lost while at the gym?
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Haven't tried video yet, but FM Radio is suprisingly good for such a small device. It buzzes out if you angle it sometimes, but I'm sitting in my basement listening to a pretty dang clear broadcast right now. Awesome :thumbsup:
 
Played around with it some more last night. Initial impressions:

Pros:
1. FM Radio feature is actually really nice - easy to use and fairly clear. Worked all the way down into my basement just fine. Didn't sound so great when I was driving in my car.
2. Love the "real" scrollwheel. Much easier for me to use than an iPod touchwheel (more accurate when selecting menu items and songs).
3. I like the thickness, it's a lot easier to hold than my wife's Nano.
4. Great price vs. features - under $200 for 8 gigs plus radio, video/photo, voice & radio recording, etc.
5. Tons of space - 8 gigs plus MicroSD expansion, it's nuts!
6. Fairly fast transfer - about 150 songs in less than 8 minutes.
7. Fits perfectly in that mini-pocket on the right side of my jeans, easy to carry to my car or wherever.

Cons:
1. Video and photos are somewhat blurry, but I only tried the included demo media. I didn't buy the Sansa for those functions so I'm not too concerned about it.
2. Big gripe - buttons are hard to punch, sometimes requiring 2-handed operation. Then are very slim and almost require your fingernail to push in. They are also fairly flush with the case, making them harder to push.
3. Button layout could be better, plus a few of the menu sub-systems. The menu button is in the lower left-hand corner, which is kind of a weird place to have it for jumping back to the main menu. Not quite as intuitive as the iPod. The iPod takes the cake for simplicity to use.
4. Proprietary connector - no Mini-USB cable. With all the other nice non-Apple features it has, why not add a standard USB cable?
5. Fewer and more expensive accessories. Their dock (available separately) is like $60. There's like one exercise armband available.

Aside from the skinny, hard-to-push buttons, I like it. I'm currently using it with the Rhapsody music service, which gives me access to 2 or 3 million songs for $15 a month. Pretty nice deal. Previously I was a heavy iTunes user, but the bills really added up. I decided to move to a subscription-based service and debated between Sirius and Rhapsody. I decided to go with Rhapsody since I could use my existing MP3s and get any songs that I want using the music service. I'm not ruling out a satellite-based service in the future, but Rhapsody and a Sansa was just a better fit for me right now.
 
I'm still irrated Sandisk doesn't let you navigate by folder structure, but otherwise it's a great player. I've encoded a couple movies to watch - but have found that anything over 1/2 hour starts to be difficult to watch on the small screen.
 
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