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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?"
The wax cylinders I listened to as a kid sound so much better than anything today.
Then again, it could just be my hearing is shot from all that fighting in the Great War.
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.
Does it have the bright white "please rob me" earbuds?
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Rather than an iPod rival, they should have released an iPod killer. Doomed to failure.
I'll leave the "no wifi, meh" quotes to others!
Yes, it is truly amazing that major electronics manufacturers haven't taken the time to adopt a format that a minuscule percentage of their target audience uses to encode their music. I also cant believe no one make a wheel chair accessible treadmill. Bastards.
It's a Zune killer! 8^)
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
hmm. let's look at the manual.
The documentation claims that you need the software, but... I doubt it. They're not Apple :) SanDisk is a (the?) leading manufacturer of consumer-targeted flash products. I think they're unlikely to make that mistake.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
I highly recommend it. :D
.:bleaked
...expansion slot. Less capacity and more expensive at the moment.
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If you buy this for your girlfriend, she'll just look at you funny. (yes, i know, its /., bear with me) If you buy her an ipod, though, she'll pretty much have to (tm).
stuff |
The Sansa e200 is MSC compliant it will work with any OS. There are plenty of users using it on Ubuntu and OSX! Here is an example of a Ubuntu user posted in the ABi Sansa Forums. So maybe you need to educate yourlesf before posting.
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.
almost, but the ipod still has a scroll wheel.
Exactly. Price, Size and Capacity. Pick Two. There aren't any rivals the compete with ipods on all three.
-- these are only opinions and they might not be mine.
I welcome any MP3 player for Windows that doesn't (a) hijack my file associations (b) install at least two services that launch on startup (c) freeze my entire system if the device is unexpectedly unplugged (d) try to re-invent my GUI to look like another OS using non-accessible controls (e) allow me to easily access the device itself without crazy hacks and (f) uninstall cleanly.
:-)
Works better on Mac, I know
Hmmmm, as there is no official iPod software for Linux users at all, I'd say all Linux software to use iPods would fall under "stupid third party addons" and "weird hacks", no?
iTunes doesn't DRM ripped music. You can take an iTunes ripped AAC and play it on anything that supports the industry standard AAC. The ONLY files that are DRMed are the ones from the iTunes music store.
I went to the additonal information and downloaded the user guide..
The player has two modes. One mode is like an external USB drive and supports MP3's. That should work just fine for Linux. Two drives will show. One is the internal memory and the other is the SD card.
The other mode the player supports if for subscription services and uses Windows DRM. For Linux users this is a useless feature along with the Windows requirement and anything secure WMA files.
Thought you should know.
The section in the manual covers some FAQ's including why some DRM WMA files won't play and some stuff of expiration of files by the copyright holders.. Funny these are features of the Microsoft Plays for Sure stuff.
I think I'll stick to MP3's as they play for sure.
I'm not so sure about the Microsoft's Plays for Sure content. It sounds like it might not play for sure.
The truth shall set you free!
I have had a 6GB Sansa e260 for a month+ and really really like it.
i ew.aspx
I think it blows the ipod away
Here is a short review I wrote up last month:
http://www.chrismay.org/2006/07/15/MySansaE200Rev
I've got one as well, but a word of warning to other's considering the T30. Models sold in America and Europe (generally) do not "function like a USB device" - i.e. as a UMS - USB Mass Storage device, though the version sold elsewhere in the world apparently does. Instead, they use MTP (Microsoft's Terrible Protocol ;) making it generally a pig to get working with Linux. (I'm sure google or wikipedia will give you the real definition ;-)
Models sold elsewhere (Asia, etc.) apparently are shipped as proper UMS devices.
It's possible to flash it's firmware to "fix" this, and making it a proper UMS device, but in doing so, I believe you lose the ability to play DRMd music. (That's what I've done with mine.) Google will give you a link.
I've also got a T20 - same issues, though not tried flashing it yet.
I own a Sansa e250, which is the 2GB version of this player. The only major problem I have with it is that I didn't get the 4gb or 6gb version that were out at the time!
I can mount it as a drive in Linux, drag and drop music to it, viola!
The video playback may be a gimmick, but it isn't bad. Also, the FM reception leaves much to be desired... the sound is decent, but the range isn't very good.
All in all, this is a great line of players. The design was well thought out, menus are very attractive, the wheel is somewhat clunky but I think it is easier to use than the "touch" wheel that everyone goes ga-ga over (including my fiance, she loves her iPod). It's mechanical, and I feel like I have more control over it.
Hope my own testimonial can help someone decide if they like this player.
Starmen.net
Yes, there is a Rockbox port. Daniel is the one working on it. In fact, Sandisk has contacted Rockbox developers about the port, and even mailed them a "development" version of the player, with a JTAG flashing cable attached. It's pretty cool- hopefully it will work well. The sandisk player is based on the PortalPlayer chip, which is very similar to iPod.. this is a slightly upgraded chip, and I believe it has two ARM cores. So effectively you have a dual-core MP3 player.
Consumers don't want vorbis or mp3, they want music.
I'm pretty sure they want mp3. Depending on which server you hit at that link, you'll get anywhere from 785,000,000 to 1,085,000,000 results.
Vorbis, on the other hand, has only around 12,000,000 results.
I think in this case, it's wrong to assume that customers don't know or care what format they're using. In order to even *have* mp3's, most people would have had to make a conscious decision to either rip or acquire them that way - because none of the major label-supported download services offer that format (I know, Emusic does), and the two biggest library/ripping apps (iTunes and WMP) rip to other formats by default.
In fact, the "industry" has been actively trying to kill off mp3 for years now, because of the DRM issue. Windows Media 8 or 9 didn't even include mp3 ripping as an option at all until people complained, and then the initial "fix" only let you rip at up to 64kbps. Apple and MS have both been hyping their own formats as sounding better than mp3 (which is, on average, bullshit). And the record industry won't put any of their music on the market in the format.
Device manufacturers, though, have learned the hard way that not supporting mp3 is a death knell. Sony was forced to support it after their non-mp3 DAPs failed to even make a dent in the market. And this was back when it still wasn't clear who was going to win the DAP war; Apple was the early leader but it still seemed like anyone's game. Sony threw their chance away by not supporting mp3 from the start; they've never recovered from that blunder. The lead Apple built while Sony's early players languished on the market is now pretty much insurmountable.
Meanwhile, MS is about to dump their unsuccessful Windows Media format with the Zune; or at least, they haven't committed to it one way or another. They will be supporting mp3, however, because you don't beat the iPod by refusing to support the biggest format out there.
All of this shows that consumers sure do know what format they want their music in and that format is mp3. In fact, most people still buy CD's and rip their own music to mp3 themselves.
Device manufacturers will start to support vorbis I'd imagine when the public decides that's what it wants to use... which means never.
I know some people have some sort of philosophical/political attachment to ogg vorbis as a non-proprietary codec. But you should take your victories where you can, and you should look at the popularity of mp3 in that light. It may be a proprietary format but for users, it is also an unencumbered, universally-supported format. Users are choosing it over the even more tightly controlled formats favored by Microsoft, Apple and the RIAA. And they're bucking predictions of mp3's demise that have been made by analysts for years and continue to be made today. It's just never going to happen.