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SanDisk Releases New iPod rival
codemachine writes "SanDisk has released its new iPod rival: the new Sansa e280 music player. It has twice the capacity of the iPod nano at a similar price. Even better, it can be expanded through its mini-SD slot, and comes with an FM tuner. The device is said to work well with both Windows and Linux, without adding any drivers. Some work on reverse engineering this product line has already begun. Might this be a great alternative MP3 player for Linux users?"
There is so much to comment on here - I have no idea where to start!
First - FTFA:
Includes the Sansa Media Converter to support all picture and video formats
All video formats? (raises eyebrow?) I f#cking doubt it. How about DRMd WMV9? I doubt it can handle HD content too!
Minimum System Requirements
* Windows XP
* Windows Media Player 10+
Uh-huh. Good linux support there!
Lastly, FTFS:
Might this be a great alternative MP3 player for Linux users?
Linux users have better support for iPods than windows itunes users do - they can copy songs off the iPod to another computer (without stupid third party addons, weird hacks, or scary warnings). They can also use iPods that with HFS filesystems. All seamlessly.
I guess it could be argued that most linux users would prefer a music player from a company that doesn't push DRM heavily (but sandisk pushes DRM as much as Apple does.
Still, twice the space & lighter than the equivilant ipod. Sounds if not good, then less crap. Let's hope their rockbox strategy works - that would really make a difference.
There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
...Interestingly, the battery is user-replacable. Apple, please take note!
Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains.
I highly recommend it. :D
.:bleaked
the COWON iAudio 6 outstrips both iPod and Scandisk products (imo). It's bound to be a bit more pricy but word has it that it's better than my iAudio X5 and the extra price there seems well worth it to me.
Pros of this player over a nano:
Cons:
- a little thicker
- not as slick (ie the mechanical scroll wheel)
- not as many accessories (just try to find an arm strap and case!)
- I'm told the video compression it uses when stored on the player isn't that good.
- can only store music on the microSD card, not pictures or movies
All the user reviews I've read seem positive on the whole and a lot of people like it better then nano's they've owned or bought for the wife/girlfriend, etc.Looks worth a look though.
You make a good point, but because it would be royalty free, you would think manufactures would start including it in an attempt to begin replacing mp3. Since the change wouldn't cost the users anything, it would be in the manufacturers best interest to do this together.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
I just bought an iRiver T30. It's tiny and light; much of its weight is the replacable AAA battery (up to 24 hours per charge). One reason to choose iRiver: Ogg Vorbis support. I don't think it does FLAC, but might (I don't have any files to test it) and it should support WMA Lossless. Don't know about AAC or M4A. Many iRiver players have FM tuners too.
I also like the audio quality, not that I'm any kind of audiophile. Pretty good equalizer options, including SRS WOW support and user-customizable EQ. I have not yet tested its microphone (built in audio recording, automatically compressed to MP3 I think) but that's another nice feature.
Cost me $38 for 1GB. No SD expansion port, but it works as a simple USB device (like most DAPs). WMP is an easy way to organize, make playlists, and sync (well, WMP11 is) but completely unneeded. I haven't hooked it up to my Linux box yet (JUST got it) but I would be very surprised if I couldn't copy audio on and off. Windows identifies its partition as standard FAT 16.
There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
Here's a picture of it with headphones plugged in. Gives a pretty good idea of scale.
I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it.
If it had an AM tuner, I might look into it.
Where were you when the voynix came?
Video review of its immeadiate predecessor
:-P
DISCLAIMER : I will not claim at any point that this is the best player out there. I do wish to point out some of its features though to people who criticize players that have interfaces that aren't the same as the iPod.
Nice iPodish menu, yes it has software hich is as simple as drag and drop. You cant complain about the player interface. What about the software? My karma has gone through the wringer before because of Apple fanboys who complain that players don't work with iTunes.
No it doesn't work with iTunes because iTMS is DRMed so nothing is going to work with iTMS except iPod unless Apple gets bashed for anti-competetive practices. Seriously people how do you expect anything to work with iTunes when Apple prevents anything from working with iTMS. if you are going to compare electronics compare them on features that both devices can reasonably implement. You might as well complain that square pegs do not fit in round holes. You are entirely allowed to have iTunes compatability be your killer feature. Just recognize that this does lock you into Apple. And that you'd whine if it was Microsoft instead of Apple.
Yes it has pretty decent video - Nano does not have video and its screen is smaller. No it doesn't support every video/audio codec out there but it gives you good variety. Other things it beats the Nano at, user replaceable battery, FM and voice recording, plus the micro SD card to take the e280 from 8 to 10 gb. No rob me headphones but you can buy some lovely white headphones to work with it if you really want. So if you want a player that has a lot more features and you happen a non-DRMed music library then this is easily as good as the iPod.
If you don't mind the interface and I for one don't mind a slightly more clunky interface for more features then there are several other players out there. Might I recommend the Cowon iAudio line. I've already lost some karma arguing that the interface isn't the be all and end all so I'm not claiming that these features will make something an iPod killer. If the iTMS compatability is that important to you stick with iPod. Your call and you are entirely entitled to it. Good for you. I'll chuckle as I record my next semesters lectures and recall that I paid less for a player for a player with more storage, and a bigger battery that has already lasted longer than a couple of my friends iPods
Reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.
I'm one of those odd folks who uses a portable audio device almost solely for listening to podcasts and audiobooks. And it's clear that SanDisk has basically written us off.
I've owned two versions of SanDisk's Digital Audio Player, the original 256MB version and the version 2 1GB model. Ironically, audiobook support decreased between the two versions. Version 1 supported Audible formats 2 through 4 (4 being the highest quality), Version 2 supports only 2 and 3. Version 1 would save your place in a file when you switched to the radio and back, Version 2 doesn't. Version 1 let you increase playback speed up to 130%, version 2 has no speed options. In other words, all of the spoken-word-friendly features were dropped.
Now the e280 appears to have no support for Audible format (though it may be undocumented; I did check the full PDF User's Manual), no bookmarking or other features designed for long spoken-word files.
My next MP3 device purchase is going to be an iPod Nano. Sorry, SanDisk, you've lost me.
Regarding 4, you can replace the battery in an iPod by yourself in a few minutes if it is no longer holding a charge. My girlfriend replaced her iPod Mini battery for less than $20 on her own, and it's working as if it were new. Alternately, you can buy third-party battery packs to address any variety of power needs (including one that allows you to use AA batteries in a pinch). Regarding 5, it's my understanding that color screens allow a UI designer to fit more information in a smaller space, while keeping it readable (versus only having a few shades of grey to work with). I have a nano, and I have to agree with this after using the previous greyscale iPods, even if I can't fully explain the technical details of why this is true.
I've been eyeing this audio player for a while now. 30GiB HDD, MP3/FLAC/OGG/ playback, TXT/JPG display, works as a mass storage device under Linux. Also as an FM tuner and a voice recorder. X5 is 20GiB big, with a 14h battery, while the X5L is 30 or 40 (can't remember) GiB big with a 35h battery. Has had some firmware updates based on user input/requests. It's pretty cool, it also advertises some linux love on its tech specs' section. The problem is the price: 400Euros. Less know, yes, but it still got 3rd place (a couple of months ago) on the c|net reviews.
I've always wanted an IPod...but my wife has been talking about satellite radio - so I took a look at what was available.
Not only do they provide a satellite reciever, but the units also come with USB connectivity and an MP3 player capability - in additiona to docking stations for automobiles. You can upload your music to the machine and listen to it, and you can save satellite programming as MP3 for later download (reverse pod-cast?).
She is particularly interested in satellite radio because she doesn't care to sit down and find pod-casts, or music online --- she just wants to spin a dial and get a selection of music and talk radio on the fly. She also saw the benefit of being able to save what was currently playing to share with me - so she doesn't have to remember all the details to harange me by word-of-mouth later on - she can just put it on my multimedia server on my upload directory - so my player can automagically slirp it up (oh joy...).
At least I know what to get her for her birthday this year. I think I'll stick with an MP3 player myself - when I save enough money to get one.
Lodragan Draoidh
The more you explain it, the more I don't understand it. - Mark Twain
In the old tube days, manufacturers bought tube bases that had only the exact number of pins that were actually used by the tube in order to save a penny per radio. If a particular octal (8 pin) based tube only used 5 pins, only 5 of the 8 holes in the socket had pins. It adds up, 5 tube sockets per radio x 1 cents per socket x 1,000 radios = $50.00. Then there was the 5 cents saved by using cardboard on the back of the radio instead of masonite, which saved another $50.00 per radio. Pinch pennies, count beans, save money.
For what it's worth, I have a SanDisk SDMX1 MP3/WMA player (256M version) and it's really pretty nice. The physical design is no marvel of engineering, but it worked flawlessly with Linux with no effort. It appears as a standard USB mass storage device. It's got an FM tuner and voice recorder (only records WAV format, though), too. The best part is that I paid $15 (yes, fifteen dollars) for it on Woot a couple weeks ago. Hell of a deal. I bought one for my girlfriend, too (and only paid $5 shipping for the whole order).
I don't know, but I think the RoverTv is ultimately more compelling than getting this...
http://www.rovertv.net/
Granted, it only has a 2gb card included, but it's small form factor (almost all just screen) make up for that to me... If you haven't seen this device, you should definitely take a look.
Now that I think of it, my iRiver T30 DID come with a CD... amazing what you never notice when you connect the USB port, Windows loads the driver, asks me if I want to open Explorer to browse or WMP to sync, and doesn't even require me to explicitly unmount it before disconnecting. (I'm guessing it uses write-through, so no caching. Don't try unplugging during a write/sync, but it seemed to have no problems with unexpected unmounting.)
There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
Name one product that doesn't say requires MS Windows?
They all do because the manufactors dont want grandma calling in their tech support lines asking about rpm and kernel modules to work with their hardware.
Its fustrating. Especially if you purchase a wifi card. Some with the name linksys will work. Some with the same name wont and will be based on a different proprietary chipset but will carry the same product name. Its just impossible to know if any product will work with linux at all unless you do some research and write down serial numbers so you can differentiate the 5 different versions of linksys G wifi cards with the same box which only half work on Linux. You have to check serial numbers now to research the chipset. But none of htem mention Linux at all.
Until more people use Linux the manufactors will chose to ignore us
http://saveie6.com/