CNET Editor's rating: 8.0 out of 10
Reviewed by
James Kim
Review date: 03/10/06
Release date: 01/06/06
The good: The SanDisk Sansa e200 series combines copious features such as subscription compatibility, an FM tuner/recorder, voice recording, and photo and video playback into a compact and durable device. We like the tactile navigation wheel, as well as the well-designed software interface. The user-removable battery and the Micro SD slot are nice touches, and the device has decent sound quality, processor performance, and battery life. Finally, the Sansa e200 series has a maximum base capacity of 8GB, and it offers a competitive price in the high-stakes world of high-capacity flash players.
The bad: No AC adapter in package; the buttons surrounding the SanDisk Sansa e200's scrollwheel can be difficult to press; the mechanical scrollwheel can tire out some thumbs; photos and video must go through conversion with bundled software; the expansion slot can be used with music only, not photos or other media or data; and recordings are made only in WAV. The scrollwheel is not as easy to use as the iPod Click Wheel. Low levels of system noise can heard through headphones at low or zero volume.
The bottom line: The SanDisk Sansa e200 series offers a boatload of features for a reasonable price, in a package that is much nicer than that of past SanDisk models. For those looking for a high-capacity, compact, skip-free MP3/WMA player, start with the e200 series.
Editors' note: 10/10/06 CNET has adjusted the score of the Sansa e200 series from 8.3 to 8.0 in light of the arrival of the Sansa e200R Rhapsody, which scores slightly higher (8.3) than the e200.
Editors' note: This review has been updated to reflect the addition of the 8GB version of the e200, the lower prices of each model, and the latest firmware update.
Memory goliath SanDisk continues its assault on the flash-based MP3 player market with the CES launch of the flagship Sansa e200 series, along with the budget-class Sansa c100 series. The SanDisk Sansa e200 series represents a departure from previous Sansa players, thanks to a higher-quality form factor and a bushel of cutting-edge features such as photo and video support, music-subscription compatibility, a user-removable battery, a MicroSD expansion slot, and a tactile Click Wheel-type controller system.
The e200 comes in 6GB ($220), 4GB ($180) and 2GB ($140) varieties, as well as the new 8GB version ($250), the last of which is known currently as the highest-capacity flash-based player in the world. Prices have shifted downward, as well, with all previous models reduced $40 to $50. While the e200 still doesn't match the iPod Nano in design flair and simplicity, it is definitely a premium choice when it comes to a compact flash-based MP3 player, with more features and a better price point than its main competitor. Currently, the 4GB iPod Nano costs as much as the 8GB Sansa e280. The e200 does have a few negative points, but its primary hurdle will be convincing consumers that the 8GB version, just $50 less than bulkier 30GB players like the iPod and Zen Vision:M, is still a good value.
3 out of 10 - Poor Everythings great except for 1 major software problem
Cnet says the Samsung E250 has everything, and I couldn't agree more, except for one major factor. Some songs ...
Cnet says the Samsung E250 has everything, and I couldn't agree more, except for one major factor. Some songs that are loaded onto the system are later self deleted or unrecognizable. For example, songs that are loaded and recognizable from windows platform, are nonexistent when accessing from the mp3 player. I've own 3 Creatives, an earlier sandisk, and a ipod and never ran across this. This is extremely horrible and I'm most definitely going to return this.
Updated At first I thought this was a great player. I soon caught on to the fact mp3s loaded on the sandisk are not always present while accessing the music list. I loaded 56 songs on there through the pc transfering process, then later listen to the sandisk player and noticed many of the songs were completely missing! no where to be found whatsoever, in whatever folder, unknown artist, etc etc, "Missing in action."
The first one I returned and the second one had the same problem. Also, the songs are random, and I tested by reloaded the same songs that were missing the first time, without changing anything, and they would show up. So this is completely random, which makes the software worst.
I'm returning this and never buying a Sandisk again. One word. Abysmal
Updated I finally contacted Sandisk by phone and was able to fix the problem by simply updating the firmware. So all the files are here and everything's fine. I'm estatic! I now bump this player up to a rating of 9
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Hot new Sansa Squashes Ipod Nano for $189.!!!!
I just picked up the E250 2 gig model. I love it!! Walked into Best Buy to look at other ...
I just picked up the E250 2 gig model. I love it!! Walked into Best Buy to look at other players....to my surprise they had 1 instock. Bought it, downloaded some music and WOW! No stalling as reported by others. Working perfectly. Only weak feature is the Equilizer, it just seems to muffel the entire sound range. Normal setting is perfect. Screen is beautiful, Video smooth. I downloaded pics and they were beautiful. So far a Sandisk Victory! No Ipods for me! Let the Sheep/Jones buy the Ipods. Get the Sandisk.
Updated My previous Rio player was a hard act to follow. Sorry they are gone. After owning the Sansa now a couple of weeks, I love it even more!
The fm radio is a plus. I recorded a broadcast and listened to it and it was perfect. I was able to review an interesting program.
The voice recorder works well. I recorded a meeting and reviewed it to take better notes.
Now for the most inportant. Music. It just sounds wonderful.
Been bulletproof, no issues at all.
I'm so glad I didn't fall prey to the mass marketing of Ipod.
Updated My previous Rio player was a hard act to follow. Sorry they are gone. After owning the Sansa now a couple of weeks, I love it even more!
The fm radio is a plus. I recorded a broadcast and listened to it and it was perfect. I was able to review an interesting program.
The voice recorder works well. I recorded a meeting and reviewed it to take better notes.
Now for the most inportant. Music. It just sounds wonderful.
Been bulletproof, no issues at all.
I'm so glad I didn't fall prey to the mass marketing of Ipod.
Updated My previous Rio player was a hard act to follow. Sorry they are gone. After owning the Sansa now a couple of weeks, I love it even more!
The fm radio is a plus. I recorded a broadcast and listened to it and it was perfect. I was able to review an interesting program.
The voice recorder works well. I recorded a meeting and reviewed it to take better notes.
Now for the most inportant. Music. It just sounds wonderful. The play list is fast to navigate. The center wheel is not a problem to use. I think previous comments on that subject are somewhat picky and just being critical. This is a very well designed product.
It has also been bulletproof, no issues at all. Like a rock!
I'm so glad I didn't fall prey to the mass marketing of Ipod.
Updated My previous Rio player was a hard act to follow. Sorry they are gone. After owning the Sansa now a couple of weeks, I love it even more!
The fm radio is a plus. I recorded a broadcast and listened to it and it was perfect. I was able to review an interesting program.
The voice recorder works well. I recorded a meeting and reviewed it to take better notes.
Now for the most inportant. Music. It just sounds wonderful. The play list is fast to navigate. The center wheel is not a problem to use. I think previous comments on that subject are somewhat picky and just being critical. This is a very well designed product.
It has also been bulletproof, no issues at all. Like a rock!
I'm so glad I didn't fall prey to the mass marketing of Ipod.
This is a great unit. With all its foibles I'd buy it again ...
Sansa e250 - A customer Review
This is a great unit. With all its foibles I'd buy it again just because it does so much more than other similar machines at the same price break. Menu setup is easy to figure out without a manual. Please understand that while what I say below sounds negative, it's still an excellent machine. These are things you'll want to consider before you buy it. I'm betting other machines aren't nearly as advanced. I'm hoping Sandisk will see this review and attempt to make changes in future firmware updates.
Sound is clear. Between tracks you can hear a high-pitched chirping noise that sounds "charmingly" like a CD player deciding what song it will play next. Albums do not play through directly, but leave gaps between each song along with that lovely "cd chirp."
It takes about 30 seconds for the unit to boot.
While the unit feels substantial in the hand, the plastic of the display face is very delicate. Think of it like a cd crystal case only smaller. I bought the silicone holder to protect it, and was taking it off to get a closer look at the microSD slot, when it fell about six inches to a hard surface. It didn't fall on the front side, but that's what ended up cracking - right in front of the display. Don't put this unit in your jeans pocket. Just sitting could crack the front. They can make a cellphone that doesn't break when you drop it from desk height to the floor. They should do likewise with mp3 players. Mine only dropped six inches.
The voice recorder is okay. Don't expect to do much more than keep audio notes. I recorded full conversations on a class trip to a forest with some success, but it's unlikely that you will be able to prove that you heard the endangered Ivory-billed Woodpecker with this unit.
The video conversion tool is ultimately useless. It doesn't recognize some mp4 docs. Bulk conversion can only be achieved with whatever space you have left on the unit. You can't just designate a place on your computer hard-drive for converted movies. A 100MB PhotoshopTV podcast (higher resolution, better quality sound) got tranlated into FIVE files that were directly uploaded to the machine. You would think with the resultant video being less than half the original pixel dimensions, you'd get a 20MB to 50MB file. Instead it balloons into 5 segmented files, 4 of which were 127MB. Sound was seriously downgraded to boot. Files would not play consecutively and froze during and between segments. Find another tool to convert your files because this one is more than entirely lame. Sandisk should be embarrassed for having even included it.
The ear buds are very uncomfortable and don't fit at all ergonomically - and I don't have small ear canals, but they emit superb quality sound. If you don't want sore ears, be prepared to buy another pair of ear buds.
There should be a 'stop' button. I don't want to just mute the radio. I don't want to just pause the mp3. I like that you can pause mid-song, turn off the unit, turn it back on, unpause the song and continue from where you were. I don't like that it doesn't remember the volume you were listening at. Volume returns to the default center setting every time you turn off the unit. There is a 'normal' and 'high' volume setting in the 'Settings' mode. The unit comes at default setting 'high.' I'm not sure this really does anything. It might have been better to include a default volume bar setting. The volume bar is controlled by the dial with thirty distinct volume levels. With the bar all the way to the left it's mute, but still playing. They've wasted the next setting level on the bar because it also is mute. The next tick on the bar is too loud for listening in a very quiet room or if you want to listen to music while you sleep. I left the volume set to the default center position for several hours yesterday evening, and my ears are ringing this morning. While it may seem okay to raise the volume when you're in loud room or out in a breezy forest, you're actually stealing your hearing from when you're much older. The ipod generation is growing up deaf. If you want to hear your grandchildren laugh, keep the volume low. If you can't hear it, turn it off or hook it to external speakers.
I can selectively delete voice recordings on the unit. I should be able to selectively delete mp3's and mov's when I need to make room for more voice recordings without having to sync up to my computer. After all, they are just copies of what's on my computer anyway, right?
Time and date should be showing at all times somewhere on screen. Right now, all you can glimpse is time, and that's when nothing is playing. Why include the setting if you aren't going to display it?
While an mp3 is playing, you can toggle between the song duration bar, a live equalizer reading, and a peek at the name of the next song. You can't leave the toggle set to either of the last two. In about 7 seconds, it goes back to the duration bar. For songs that are in long folder names, you will never get to know what the name of the next song is because 7 seconds isn't long enough for the entire name to scroll by. Sansa, unless you're going to include manual equalizer settings drop the equalizer reading bar.
You can only edit the 'Go List' on the playlists from the unit. You have to actually listen to a song to add it to the Go List. Playlists are only created in Windows Media Player and can only be brought over via Sync. I want to be able to edit the play order, add, and delete items from playlists from the unit without having to do it from WMP10. I'd like to be able to rename my playlists, reorder them and play my playlists consecutively.
This unit comes with a flimsy velvet sleeve that - you guessed it - doesn't let you see the display or use the controls. Why did they even bother? Something this fragile should come with a sturdy flip-top protective arm band or a belt clip. A wall charger should also have been included with the unit.
I'd like to see this unit synced with Winamp as well as WMP10.
This is by far the most helpful webpage for anyone buying this product: http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archives/2006/03/sandisk-sansa-e200-series-review.php This page gives lots of information about firmware updates. You will probably need to do one.
With that said, Sandisk seems committed to getting it right. I hope future firmware updates will include the ability to play ogg and mp4 files, as well as the above suggested changes in the display interface.
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by gr33nman (see profile) -
May 20, 2006
5 out of 10 - Average e250 - Sorry I can't agree with the editors rating
Sorry Guys! I don't see the 8.3 rating here at all. I've had mine for about 6 ...
Sorry Guys! I don't see the 8.3 rating here at all. I've had mine for about 6 days at this writing. I'm happy with the size - truly a shirtpocket's dream. The controls aren't that bad and the buttons are a mite difficult to "find" as they're below the profile of the wheel. But it takes some getting used to. The audio level is about perfect - some good "punch" in there.
Where this unit goes south is the management of the system itself, loading of songs and playlist controls. I hope Sansa gets someone to write some software for it because using WMP 10 is a frustrating experience. Users will find that turning on a fully loaded unit will take on average as much as 45 secs or more to "Refresh Database". A pain - When I use mine now I just leave it play knowing I'll miss some songs as I'm in and out of the car a lot (Note you have to buy the cassette adapter separately). Now without specially written software handlers you're forced into using something like WMP. I'm sure Microsoft didn't know exactly what flash players were going to look and feel like so let's not be too harsh. Buyers should note that just adding songs to the e250 can be a trial and error extravaganza. You have to know for example, that if your already existing WMP playlists have duplicate songs in them which is not unusual, the e250/WMP combination will let you accrete duplicates to the memory with no warning (a potential waste of space). OK, not a big issue for most except the big drawback with this is that there is no on-board deletion facility on the e250 - meaning that in order to merely remove one or two songs, you have to connect the thing up and yes, wait another 45 seconds for "Refresh Database". After the deletion takes place, disconnecting often invokes another "Refresh Database" as well. So all this makes you think seriously about going through this torture just to erase something. You cannot move a song from one playlist to another playlist either nor can you add songs to playlists solely by the e250. When it's connected to the USB port for any purpose, play will stop and you'll have no e250 until you disconnect it. It has something called a "Go" playlist where you can quickly poke in songs from the overall list or a playlist but you have to play the song first before moving it. This takes more time again and interrupts what listening you are doing when setting up a Go. A Go list also clears completely when a synch is performed - so don't spend a lot of effort setting up a nice list there. I wish I understood why the e250 puts each artist in his/her own Windows folder. When you "explore" the '250 you find a bewildering supply of folders that you have to individually open sometimes 2-3 layers deep to see what songs are contained therein. Oh, don't forget you have to set it to MSC mode before you use the explore interface 'cause you'll wind up having to disconnect it which will cause a "Refresh Database". Isn't this fun? Small item - Right now my e250 tells me there are 583 songs on board - WMP can only find 109 of them. And synching with WMP can be a real headscratcher - especially if you turn on automatic synch. I had playlist A, B and C on my computer and chose to synch A - this went OK. So I went back in to synch B and C only to find that when I'd deselected A in WMP, it in fact automatically took A completely out. You have to remember to keep the ones you want synched checked on all the time. I've disabled auto-sych now so I have more control. Would have been nice to know that beforehand but the lack of instructions for the whole system just adds to the steepness of the learning curve. Buyers will find that after a pause which exceeds the auto-shut down threshold (which is settable) the e250 has to be turned back on and... yes, wait another 45 seconds plus to "Refresh Database". With all this synching, I've had numerous occasions where I select a song out of the overall list only to find the e250 playing the selection just above or below the target. When this happens, the only out is to turn it off and on and, well, you probably guessed it... I inserting a 1 gB MicroSD and haven't yet figured out how to populate it with song material. Once I reach the 2 gB limit on board I'm told no more songs can be added. No documentation, no instructions. The e250 is married to the USB port. If you don't have one on your machine don't get this one! I don't know why they couldn't have sprung for a "wall wart" power supply either.
In sum, I was very happy with it at first because it was cool and now that I've used it some, I'm seriously thinking of taking it back before my 30 day trial is up. Sorry Guys - I give it a 5.
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by whftherb (see profile) -
September 19, 2006
8 out of 10 - Excellent Pretty darn good little player
I am a 50 yr old woman, and this is my first player. I'm pretty techy (30 years of ...
I am a 50 yr old woman, and this is my first player. I'm pretty techy (30 years of PCs)--which is good, because the out of box instructions neglect to tell you you need to unlock the player! Once that hurdle is jumped, the rest is pretty much a self-explanatory breeze. Dumped the shipped content, and added my own content manually--never into top 40, so mostly it isn't available as downloads. Works fine for this, since I don't care about keeping albums together, or song order. Audio quality of furnished buds is OK, but they are physically too big, and hurt my ears. Navigation ring and side buttons are really neat once you get used to it. Full-sized guy might find them difficult.
Still looking for a good quality *single* earphone to use at work--we cannot have both ears blocked--have a kludge going with a 1/8 to 1/8 stereo to mono plug with a cheapie radio earplug--audio quality is pretty pitzy. Unit ran 10 hours straight with power to spare. Probably will run longer--this was not end of power.
Unit runs the car cassette converter to car speakers fine.
There is no dedicated AC to USB charger available. Asked Sandisk for Voltage/amperage of battery--was told 3.7V and amperage was 'proprietary'. They insist you have to charge the unit through the XP computer; however my 98SE box (which detects it as new hardware but there is no suitable driver) will charge the battery thru USB, so likely the charger regulator is in the player. Found out that most USB connectors are 5V 500mA-- Disney (of all people) has a 5V 500mA Disney Mix Stick AC to USB converter which I am using.
With the silicone jacket, everyone mistakes it for an iPod. Even though it comes with an ad for Rhapsody, it's doing just fine with Walmart downloads of a few songs I didn't own .
The FM radio isn't so hot--tends to pull in Rock/Rap stations much better than country/eclectic. Cannot get a couple of 5KW stations I listen to easily on other tiny radios.
5 out of 10 - Average Wonderful item, but has a major problem
I love how it integrates into Rhapsody. The playback is excellent, and I always use the random song features which ...
I love how it integrates into Rhapsody. The playback is excellent, and I always use the random song features which works well. HOWEVER, if you hit something, it displays "No Files" and goes dead until you again sync it up with where you got the music (Rhapsody for me). As soon as "No Files" shows up it's gone for the duration!! I've tried emailing Sandisk support and received no answer. And I'm so disappointed since I love it otherwise.
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by srshemin (see profile) -
May 18, 2006
6 out of 10 - Good Mixed review.....
I bought my Sansa e250 about three weeks ago (May 9). I charged it up and was uploading music in ...
I bought my Sansa e250 about three weeks ago (May 9). I charged it up and was uploading music in no time--my computer found the player and it was very easy to upload tunes from Windows Media Player.
I listen to the radio quite a bit and the reception and sound quality are much better than my Rio. Loading photo and video was easy too, after installing the software, just drag the file into the window and it converts and uploads in one step.
I didn't find the click wheel to be bothersome, it's easy to change the volume when I'm running. The menus could be more intuitive, but they're still pretty good.
I bought a silicone case for it and even with a number of trips to the gym and going to work with me every day I still don't have any scratches on it, though the screen is a fingerprint-magnet.
Where I did run into trouble is that in between the gym and work one day (May 20), after I powered it down, it would not power back up. I wrote tech support, they responded to do a soft boot (hold power button 20 seconds) and then connect it to the computer and reformat it. The problem was, the computer wouldn't recognize the player without any power, thus no reformatting. I sent a response to tech support asking what to do next.
Two days later (May 22), I tried again, and it powered up. A day after that, same problem--powered down at lunchtime, and haven't been able to get it back up. I still haven't heard back from tech support again about reformatting it when it's dead, and I'm not going to wait any longer.
I will be returning the Sansa to the store from which I bought it. I loved it, but I'm not willing to put up it.
Updated Before anybody asks, I did buy the Sansa with the most up-to-date firmware already installed on it.
I also haven't dropped or mistreated it, and the battery had a full charge both times that it refused to power back up. If it was just the battery, I assume that the computer would have been able to power it up like it typically does when I plug it in to charge.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular an awesome ipod nano replacement
this thing is pretty tight. i got mine just last thursday (april 6, 2006) right out of the box you ...
this thing is pretty tight. i got mine just last thursday (april 6, 2006) right out of the box you notice how nicely it fits into the palms of your hands.
the pro's video- i only got 1 family guy episode on it, buh it loads fast maybe like 10 seconds and plays through radio- kind of fuzzy in some areas buh for the most part clear recording- able to record off the radio or voice record 20 hour playback- outstanding battery life expandable memory- havent got a memoryu card ofr this yet, buh im sure i can boost up the song max
the con's froze- min froze once already when trying to play a song. im still wondering about the freezing, buh i think the cause for it was because of a corrupted song loaded reason being is that it was the first time i played it and it froze. to make it unfroze i hada wait 20 hours for the batter to die then recharged it. =[ buttons- the buttons surrounding the spin wheel are hard to press at times. my fingers are a little it smaller then normal size so that maybe a reson for it.
overall i really like this player and i applaud sandisk for making this as great as it is.
Updated i think i may have a deffective product because the weekend right after i purchased it, it broke.. the screen keeps repeating itself when it sauy that its refreshing database.. im going to send it to warrenty soon..
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Great mp3 player great tech support
Before this mp3 player I had a mpio fl-100 and before that I had a diamond rio 32mb. The previous ...
Before this mp3 player I had a mpio fl-100 and before that I had a diamond rio 32mb. The previous two I had went through batteries like no other. So I looked for something inexpensive that played mp3s and had a rechargeable battery. I found this...I think its perfect. I don't want to watch videos or show off pictures I just want to listen to music when I study and run. This definitely gets the job done. I did have one issue. I corrupted the files on the drive some how and the player would continuously reboot and I couldn't use it at all. So I CALLED sandisk tech support (18667263475) and they walked me through going into recovery mode and reflashing it and its worked perfect ever since (about 10 minutes now)
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by jaflynn (see profile) -
July 1, 2006
3 out of 10 - Poor One Major Flaws... otherwise would have been perfect 10.
ONE MAJOR SOFTWARE FLAW, read first, then read-on if it doesn't bother you. CNET editors should have caught this ...
ONE MAJOR SOFTWARE FLAW, read first, then read-on if it doesn't bother you. CNET editors should have caught this one - if anyone from Sansa reads this and has some software patch for me to try, please contact me by email.
** While a track is playing, if you navigate the music list down about 5+ song titles beyond the current one and push ENTER to select the new song, the current song being played back starts distorting and slowing down in pitch for about 5 seconds until the new song gets loaded. This is pretty consistent regardless of title. It's as if the processor can't handle the decoding and loading at the same time. The same thing will happen on the tracks of your "Go List". My guess is moving beyond a number of songs after the current requires some buffering which overloads the processor.
The user interface on this device is smart, intuitive, easy to use and packs a lot of functionality at your fingertips.
Playback audio is good, however, however you'll find yourself maxing out the volume level when playing through larger headphones.
Haven't figured out or if you even can, create a playlist on the PC and transfer it to the unit. You can create a playlist on the unit and then rename the playlist in WMP. However, more tedious to do this. I-tunes is much better at playlisting. Probably the best software out there for doing so.
The blue dial, when lit is cool, however, when not lit, looks look cheap translucent PVC, as if you took a juice box straw and bent it around in a circle.
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by tkyvo (see profile) -
April 23, 2006
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