SanDisk puts Sansa View on ice
By Peter Rojas 
posted Jun 1st 2007 7:03PM
posted Jun 1st 2007 7:03PM
It's disappointing that we won't be seeing their take on a widescreen flash-based portable video player, but we'll give 'em points for at least being upfront about the sitch -- and for realizing that it's better not to release a product at all than to release one that offers a sub-standard experience. Usually when an electronics company kills a product before launch like this they just try and pretend like it never existed in the first place and hope that nobody notices that it never came out.
"we want to shift our efforts to develop a PMP that will meet the needs of the market versus pushing out the wrong product".
Uh... "duh?"
In other words, they're waiting for Apple to come out with the next iPod so they can see what they're up against.
Like something with wifi and skype like the nokia n800 would be killer.
Considering how poorly the Sansa e200 series has been designed, I'm not surprised that they shelved this. Sandisk makes some nice low-end players (like the SDMX1) but they just can't hang with the big boys on the mid and upper range players.
Poorly designed? Seems to work fine for me and others I know. Small, plays video, inexpensive, micro sd upgradeable ect. Sure you can complain about the controls not being exactly like the Ipod(surely they had a patent on the scroll wheel). On all fronts the e200 series blows the Nano out of the water. Not perfect but the best choice for a flash player for many. The only reason it did not do better is that 13 yr olds(and those with the same level of maturity) did not think it was "cool". Like owning an Ipod Nano was actually cool lol. I refused to buy my daughter a Nano and got her the e260 and now her friends all wish they had one. If you want a fashion accessory buy an Ipod nano. Want a smart useable mp3/video player then go with Sansa E200 series and save yourself some money in the process.
Yes poorly designed. First, the e200 only supports some bloated codec for video (MJPEG? I haven't had access to an e200 for a while). The blue light on the scroll wheel is enough to entirely light a 12'x10' room and no way to adjust it. There is no sleep timer. The buttons surrounding the wheel are difficult to press because of the raised wheel. Photos cannot be rotated on the device, you have to "pre-rotate" them to change the orientation. Images (JPGs) cannot simply be drag-n-dropped onto the device... they need to be converted to a proprietary BMP format.
The e200 is barely useable as a music player. Image and video support is an afterthought and not practical use.
The e200 has promise, but Sandisk doesn't appear to be interested in making a better product... just making one with more memory.
The sansa isn't perfect, but I have yet to find a mp3 player that is. I do have to say that it is far better than a Nano. FM tuner and video playback(yes it is a horrible .mov format but video none the less). The Nano has neither. Not to mention upgradable memory with the microsd slot. All this and it's still has a cheaper price tag than the Nano. Apple has done great at marketing their products, but many of use who own PMP or even just mp3 players know they are far from the best at making a quality player.
Clearly they know something about what Apple is up to. Wise of them to sit and wait.
I thought the View would not as a much a push for SanDisk as the e200s which has helped them stay in the game as 2nd to Apple in market share, but I didn't expect this.
it's good that SanDisk will rethink their first PMP but the market really is becoming furious and waiting too long might not be so smart. Maybe they could push for a product to compete with the likes of iRiver's Clix first before trying to make a flash atlernative to Archos and Cowon players
I agree. Although it would be nice to have a clix like device with wifi and such, I cant afford that. Some can though, and do not want to sacrifice performance. I belive SanDisk should release a basic PMP now and a enriched player latter, when they have designed this "re-scoping".
I figured something happened when their original March date came and went without any word. They probably realized you need some form of a touchscreen to compete now and didn't want to be made irrelevant with the iphone without the phone just around the corner.
I love my e280!
I hope Sandisk come out with something that makes US forget about this player (which I also liked)
Way to go SanDisk. Being honest about delays, and not sticking your foot out with something that's gonna be behind whatever comes out. Seriously, this is a good move I think although I was hoping to get one of these this coming Christmas... Ah well.
>> the market is changing fast and furious
Did they actually say this? lol.
I think they just cut their costs for the new player........when it comes to market their fabs will be even more cost efficient than today and the product will be SWEEEETTT!!!! My take....gl
My guess is that if they do re-release a video player like this it will also include WiFi capability (and possibly a Web browser) since the Sansa Connect seems to be doing well.
Apparently they're still committed to the portable media player market, but that, "the market is changing fast and furious and we want to shift our efforts to develop a PMP that will meet the needs of the market versus pushing out the wrong product. So we're taking another look."
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Yes, please take another look, especially at Meizu and Cowon and their xvid/ flac/ ogg vorbis support, Sandisk.
http://www.vorbis.com
http://flac.sourceforge.net
I'm sure SanDisk of all companies wouldn't be too dumb not to put Xvid/DivX support on a PMP
most companies do that with the exception of Apple and Microsoft
the only reason the Sansa e280 can't play Xvid is because it's primarly a flash audio player, the limited video playback is a nice added feature
Probably the development of multi-touchscreens could be a key element for the succes of such a devices in de coming 2-3 years.
I would like to see GPS on this device. Please.
If they add a gps then they might as well add a pda and a phone too.
Balderdash, sracer.
Yes, the video support on the e200 IS weak. If you really want to watch a few episodes of a TV show on the road, though, it's useable. It's more of an occassional bonus than a full feature.
Photos...I don't know. Never cared. If that's a major feature for you, you might be right. I'll concede.
The scroll wheel has been redesigned on the e200 series. The new version feels MUCH less cheap, is less prone to accidental nudges, and doesn't obstruct the side buttons nearly as much. In other news, Sandisk IS willing to improve the product (also evident by the firmware revisions which have offered major improvements).
As for the blue light -- you crazy. I'm actually a complete fascist about annoying LEDs (I've returned multiple set-top boxes for just that reason), but the e200's blue glow never once bothered me.
Playing music on the Sansa is not bad at all. While the SQ is slightly lower than some players, it's certainly adequate for most listeners. The e200R revision is even better, with extremely robust Rhapsody support. Very fun stuff, especially the Rhapsody Channels and the artist info.
I'm not even a Sansa fanboy by any stretch -- I bought an e200 and actually returned it. There were a very quirks about it's music browsing that I disliked, but it's clearly a very capable device.
Too bad, the View looked promising. That said, I was completely lost by the concept of a screen that big, that many features, but with small amounts of flash memory. That design begged for a hard drive.
WEll I like my Sansa, But my only problem is that I have the software that it came with to convert photos. I have dragged, dropped , Converted and the tried to load them to my Sansa and view them. But I can't even see the files or the photos or anything. What am I doing wrong? Also It keeps telling me after the files are converte that (( The device is not connected )) But it is connected the whole time. So I'm dumbfounded with that also. I think it would be a nice feature to be able to set a photo you like to a background or wallpaper on the Sansa.
There's an entire forum set up to take care of questions just like yours, Mia. They're located at: http://forums.sandisk.com/sansa/ . I just signed up 2 weeks ago and got some GREAT assistance, including a firmware update for my device. You can also communicate directly with SanDisk support by emailing them at support@sandisk.com . They always respond within 30 minutes and turn around files/software within 24 hours.
Getting back to the Sansa Viewer, I think this had more to do with the recent pact signed between SanDisk and Microsoft. Not only did the Sansa Viewer get shelved, but their new U3 technology, which would have allowed us to run entire applications directly on TransFlash devices, got shelved as well. It appears Microsoft has once again bought up the competition and put them on the shelf until they can find a way to monopolize the market. Very sad.