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.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
sracer @ Jun 1st 2007 7:28PM
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.
scum1 @ Jun 1st 2007 8:21PM
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.
sracer @ Jun 2nd 2007 8:53PM
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.
millrat1030 @ Jun 17th 2007 8:14PM
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.