Awesome MP3 Player for the Price
Written: Jan 01 '07
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Pros: Aesthetics, Ease of Use, Sound Quality, Price, Value, Everything!
Cons: Headphones that come with it are cheap
The Bottom Line: Go for it! It's the best you'll find for the price!
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| jstergis's Full Review: SanDisk Sansa m230 (512 MB) MP3 Player |
I Saw this on sale at Best Buy on Black Friday 2005 for 30$.
UNPACKING IT
As I unpacked the box I found rather cheap headphones, a USB cable, a AAA battery, A business card CD, and a plastic cover with a black flexible velcro strap.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS…
The player looks very nice aesthetically. It has several buttons that are large enough to push located in areas that make perfect sense. Within a few minutes, I knew where they were without looking. The screen is large enough so it can easily be read, even better so with the blue backlight. I set that to remain on all the time, even though it eats a bit more battery life I think it’s worth it. So far I didn’t have a problem
COMPATABILITY
There are a lot of misconceptions based on this. Sure, it SAYS it only works on Windows XP. The reality is that if you plan to use it with Windows Media Player 10 this is true. Otherwise, it works on Windows 2000 and Mac OS 9 or later as well. It shows up as a removable disk that you can easily transfer files to. I run Windows 2000 on my machines and it works fine this way for me.
USING THE PLAYER
I don’t see a problem with anyone using the player. It doesn’t even really take any technical expertise to operate it (my 78 year old computer-illiterate grandmother got one and is using it just fine). The menus are intuitive, and just make sense. I don’t think I would change them a bit if I could. When you turn it on for the first time, it’s all set to play your music. Nothing to it. If that’s all you want to do, you’re set.
SOUND
The sound of the player is pretty good, only complaint is it doesn’t get all that loud on some sets of headphones, certainly loud enough. I guess I’m just used to my good old Pioneer receiver that I wouldn’t dare put past ¼ way. It’s pretty good after you mess with the equalizer, nowhere near a home stereo system, sure, but not bad at all.
HEADPHONES
I replaced them immediately. I personally can’t stand earbuds, but this may not be the same for other people. I can’t vouch for their quality since they don’t fit my ears, but I did plug them into my Pioneer system and jacked it up a bit. They get very loud on that, but I figure if I jacked it up enough I could blow them. They’re really cheap.
RADIO
The radio included gets poor reception where I live, but the closest radio station is 20 miles away, and that’s got a weak antenna. I can get 100 mile away stations in Albany, NY fairly well, on the other hand. Probably most suited for someone in a populated area. I use it frequently even though I only pick up a few stations.
BATTERY LIFE
I have had it over a year, listen to it around a half hour a day on my bike trails, and have only gone through 8 AAA batteries. Based on that, I say it’s pretty good on that aspect. I replace it maybe once every two months. In addition, I leave the backlight on all the time. Can’t complain.
BOTTOM LINE
I would highly recommend this player, I have absolutely no complaints with it and it beats the Ipod shuffle from what I can see. Go for it!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 30.00
Recommended for: Beginners - Easy Enough for Tech Newbies
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Epinions.com ID:
jstergis
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Reviews written: 8
Trusted by: 1 member
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