SanDisk Sansa m250 2 GB MP3 Player (Black)
From SanDisk
The Sansa m200 Series MP3 players add to SanDisk's growing line of products for the audio market. Created by the leaders in flash memory, this flash-based model provides high-quality digital music playback at an affordable price. As a replacement to SanDisk original Digital Audio Player line, this improved look also includes Sansa's excellent navigation: songs sorted by title, artist, album, genre as well as play list support. The Sansa m200 Series MP3 players are one of the first to provide Microsoft PlaysForSure Subscription support.
- Amazon Sales Rank: #1683 in Consumer Electronics
- Brand: SanDisk
- Model: SDMX3-2048-A18
- Platform: Not Machine Specific
- Original language: English
- Dimensions: 5.30" h x 1.70" w x 5.50" l, 2.00 pounds
Weighing not much more than its power source (a single AAA battery), the Sansa m250 2 GB flash memory digital audio player is a full-featured, ultra-portable MP3 player. The m250 includes FM radio and voice recording, a backlit LCD screen that displays ID3 tag information, support for multiple file formats, and full compatibility with most subscription services.
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| The Sansa M250 can hold 32 hours of CD-quality MP3 tracks on its 2 GB memory. Detailed view of the basic controls. |
 The Music LCD screen. |
 The FM Radio LCD screen. |
 Top Level Menu. |
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Take Your Music With You
The 2 GB Sansa m250 will hold approximately 32 hours of CD-quality MP3 tracks (encoded at 128kps) or 64 hours of WMA tracks (at 64kbps). It's compatible with MP3, WMA, secure WMA, and Audible audio file formats. The backlit LCD screen shows ID3 tag information for the currently playing track (song title, artist and album). Navigate the music on your player with ease, sorting by artist, album, song title, playlist or other criteria. With five equalizer types, you can optimize your sound for your favorite style of music, such as, Rock, Jazz, Classical, Pop, and Custom (user-defined). Keep the music coming with up to 19 hours continuous playback using one AAA Battery.
FM Radio
The m250 includes a digital FM radio tuner for portable radio listening. Easily access your favorite stations by adding them to one of the 20 presets.
Voice Recording Included
Use the built-in microphone to capture interviews, classes, short notes to yourself, or anything else you might feel inspired to record.
Peace of Mind With PlaysForSure
The SanDisk Sansa m250 digital audio player uses PlaysForSure technology. Look for the PlaysForSure logo if you want to make sure the digital music and video you purchase will play back on it every time. Match the PlaysForSure logo on a large selection of leading devices and online music stores. If you see the logo, you'll know your digital music will play for sure. Choose from a large number of digital music and video stores, including MTV's Urge, Rhapsody, Yahoo!, MSN Music, MusicMatch, MusicNow, Napster, Wal-Mart Music Downloads, and many more.
Ease of Operation
To transfer songs to the Sansa, simply connect the device to your PC via the included USB 2.0 cable. The device will appear as a drive in the Windows Explorer. Just drag and drop your compatible music files and be on your way. Additionally, use a variety of music software to move licensed music to the device. Works with Windows XP and Windows Media Player 9 or later.
What's in the Box
Sansa m250 MP3 Player, Earphones, Armband and Case, AAA battery, and USB 2.0 travel cable.
Perfect for what I need
I've seen several reviews for this player (a couple comments here, but mostly on other review sites) that have basically stated that it's "just not an iPod". Well, yeah..it's NOT an iPod. I don't think SanDisk is trying to be an iPod with this player, and I'm thankful they're not.
I wanted an MP3 player so I could listen to music while running. I needed something small, lightweight, easy to operate without having to break pace - especially when on the treadmill - and something that could take the bounces and jostles associated with running. I didn't care about the iPod brand, being able to watch TV/video, color screens, or having double-digits worth of GB memory.
This little SanDisk player is great for me. Within hours of it being delivered to my front porch, I had several CD's worth of music loaded on and I was listening with no problems. It was super easy to load music on it using Windows Media Player. It did take some reading to figure out how to work all aspects of it, but that rings true for almost any electronic device. I did the various functions while reading the instruction manual - the one on the included disk, not the super brief quick start guide - and was able to figure things out the next time with no problems. And with 2 GB of memory, I have plenty of room for my music. I've loaded probably 10 CD's on it already, and I have plenty of room to spare.
As for using it for my intended purpose - while running - it's wonderful! I used the included plastic cover and armband and off I went. I'm able to skip songs and change music while maintaining pace. The sound is great - even with the little foam earbud covers, even despite the noise of the treadmill. It's definitely much easier than trying to deal with a discman and one single CD. I've used it for probably 3-4 hours already, and the battery indicator has dropped just one section.
A tip for the instruction manual - pop in the little disk and use Windows Explorer to find the pdf file, then copy it to your computer. This makes it much easier to come back and look something up, rather than having to wade through the disk's contents.
If you want a very nice and perfectly functional MP3 player - and don't need/want the iPod brand and price - then this player will easily meet your needs. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone.
Feature-filled MP3 player
I recently got the Sandisk M250 MP3 player for a present, and I absolutely love it! It's really simple, yet it's full of features that I have come to appreciate a lot. I'll give you my pros and cons on this player, starting with the cons, because there's not very many of em.
Cons:
--included USB cable is only 6 inches long, and can pose a problem for those who have USB ports in the back of their computer.
--included case is adequate, but it's a pain to put in and take out the player. The case is made of a soft plastic that sticks to the player, making it a pain to use. I got the silicon case, and itis soo much better; it is very easy to take off and put on, and also provides better protection for the player. I found it easier to press the buttons on the player with the silicon case on.
--backlight is on the dim side, and could be lighter, but it's good enough for me.
--does not have a clock, like other Sandisk players. I would just like one for convinience.
Pros:
--large tactile buttons have excellent response, and are easy to press.
--4 line display gives a lot of info (track name, artist, album, battery life, time elapsed, and time left).
--text on the screen is very large, and easy to see.
--very good sound quality (to me)
--runs on AAA batteries, giving me the option to carry several batteries on long trips. I bought a pack of rechargeable NiMH batteries to cut down on costs.
--has a stopwatch, and it can run while you play music. It's ideal for me, because I can listen to music and time myself when I go running.
--has a info section that tells you how much memory you took up and how much you got left. It divides it down into your music memory and recording memory.
--FM radio has fairly good reception and you can preset 20 stations. Certain stations are as strong as I hear in my car's radio.
--lightweight, even though it is not really thin like other MP3 players.
--has custom EQ that you can mess around with along with several other set EG like Jazz, Pop and Rock.
--you can alter backlight timer from 3, 5, 10, 35, 45, 60 sec, and always on options.
--you can mess with screen contrast if you got weak eyes.
--supports languages Dutch, Spanish, English, French, Italian, Netherlands, and others.
--powers up or powers down in about 4 seconds; far better than my old Rio Carbon which took 10 seconds to boot up.
--navigation is soo darn simple; it's all done with the main buttons on the front.
--dedicated volume buttons prevent the inconvinience of having to go into the menu to change the volume like on other MP3 players.
--this player can get really loud; using my Philips surround sound earphones, I rarely listen to my music above 1/3 level, even in noisy places.
--voice recorder; I don't use it, but it's nice to have it as an option.
I hoped this review helped!
Solid Player with a few Idiosyncrasies
This is a four star player out of the box. However, with a free Mediamonkey download, you can make this a five star player. First, let me start off by saying that I have owned an Ipod and other popular mp3 players in the past. I have probably gone through four different music players in the three years. And in the course of dumping my money into both music and hardware, I found this Sansa player to be a diamond in the rough. Why? :
Pros:
1. Removable AAA battery - You can get the fanciest mp3 player but in about a year, expect to shell out another hundred bucks (or so) for a new battery. You can also do it yourself, but that's not the real problem. How about when you want to listen to your player all day at work, while commuting, or while camping? If you use your player on a regular basis or where a power is scarce, battery life is the limiting factor. It doesn't matter how many songs the player holds if it doesn't hold a full charge or the battery can't be changed on the go. This Sansa will have an excellent battery for the life of the player. Just buy another four pack of rechargeable AAA batteries. It only takes one to power this baby. No getting stuck with a player and only one battery. The people who review audio players on Amazon rarely do so six months later when their battery only holds half the charge. Do you really want to pay for a new player next year because of the battery?
2. No special adapters needed - Guess what? All you need is a USB cable (which is included) to transfer files. I lost my adapter for my IAudio player a few months ago and I couldn't charge it or transfer files for a week. I had to wait for a replacement to come in the mail. Yet another way some other companies make a killing off the consumer (you). They'll make you buy proprietary cables. Not here.
3. No DRM - I like my files to travel with me. No restrictions on what computer I can use my player on or what I want to do with my files. It also support subscription services and windows files. It also comes in handy as a flash drive for presentations and files. Apple forces you to use only ONE computer with your player.
4. Flash Based - No more waiting for an internal drive to find my song. I hated the lag with my Ipod and Iaudio player when selecting a song. Being flash based, it also helps the battery life if you like to skip through songs. Being a guy, I like to skip through my songs like I do my TV stations. With a hard drive based player, this type of skipping will drain the battery quickly.
Cons:
1. Poor software - This is why this player only receives four stars. Don't even waste your time using the installation disk or Windows Media player with this thing. It will cause you to lose your mind. Instead, download Mediamonkey for free. It will index your player and Windows will install your files for you. ***Important*** Even though the manual and Sansa website shows that playlists are supported, it may be a mystery as to why they don't appear on your player. Here's how you do it. Using Mediamonkey, Right click the Sansa Player --> go to Properties --> go to Synchronization Properties --> and ensure that copy playlists is checked with " \Playlists\ " in the destination directory. The player also needs to be in MTP mode while this is done. Settings --> USB --> Auto Detect. This will solve any headache that you may have in automatically entering playlists onto the player.
2. Clicking Sound - when scrolling through playlists, you will notice that the music breaks up slightly during playback.
3. No Alarm - I wrote to Sansa asking for an alarm feature in their next firmware update. It would be nice to wake up to some music.
Both good and bad:
1. Armband: The include armband is thin and functional. However, it's not that attractive. I spent an additional $[...] on the silicone liner. Now sexy's back.
2. Thick and light: This player is ideal for runners. The controls are strategically placed with large navigation buttons. It can also sustain much more wear and tear than an Ipod or a hard drive based player.
3. Monochrome screen - a color lcd screen would be nice but by having a simple interface with no frills, the battery lasts much longer and it lowers the production cost.
4. Small memory size - Even at 4 gigs, the largest Sansa m200 player can only store 5% of my music collection. However, I found that after buying this player (to hold me over until my 60 gig player was serviced) that I really don't need all of that music with me all the time. I began to discover my songs all over again with a smaller capacity player.
5. Backlight - I think the backlight is bright and the screen is very clear. However, when using rechargable batteries, about 15 hours into playback, the backlight turns off. This tells me that I only have a few more hours of playback left.
