SanDisk hits up Rockbox for some firmware
By Paul Miller 
posted Jun 2nd 2006 12:50PM
posted Jun 2nd 2006 12:50PM
You already know how we feel about SanDisk's new 4GB Sansa e260, but apparently SanDisk isn't averse to a little help on the firmware side of things. They've just pinged the Rockbox community for a port of the open source Rockbox firmware to the e200 series, which at least should give them some serious nerd cred in a time when most everyone else is locking down their hardware. Rockbox has been ported to plenty of music players over the years -- including quite similar iPod hardware to that of the Sansa -- and its codec support, gapless playback, equalizer and numerous plugins make it an often preferable option to standard firmware. So there a lots of opportunities, but so far there's no word on if or how SanDisk is going to aid Rockbox in this endeavor, or if they have any plans for the Rockbox firmware other than as a nerdy alternative to theirs.
whats the maximum sd card the e250 v2 can accept?
Don't know about the v2, but the v1 can only accept a 2gb card on stock firmware. Funny enough I discovered Rockbox right after I bought an 8gb card for my v1 which is actually compatible with any size card.
I WANT THIS ON MY SANSA PLEASE SANDISK !!!!!!!!!!
Rockbox has a bit more of a learning curve than the original firmware and if you think you can just be proficient with it right outta the box--think again. It takes some work at reading the instructions and getting comfortable with it. The payoff is it's way better and you have soooo much more freedom. It also has some handy plugins like video games and a stopwatch. Most importantly, it'll play FLAC files, which is a lossless codec that plays the music with a lot more _mojo_ than MP3. It's not something you can really put your finger on, and I've had computer geek friends tell me that FLAC is a waste of space, but I don't believe them. The difference between FLAC and MP3 is like the difference between vinyl and CD.
Don't forget that the tiny MP3 player is in actuality a computer--more powerful than the most powerful computer in the world a few decades ago. With some programming know-how there's no limit to what you could program an MP3 player to do.
Also, I want it to me OK to call any MP3 player an iPod even if it's not that brand. We do it with a lot of other things like Kleenex, Xerox and other brands that don't end with X. My college girlfriend's mom called a refrigerator a Frigidaire.