SanDisk Sansa m250 2 GB MP3 Player (Black)

The Sansa m200 Series MP3 players offer great sound, ease of use, and high quality sound with virtually no weight. Created by the leaders in flash memory, this flash-based model provides high-quality digital music playback at an affordable price. As a replacement to our original Digital Audio Player line, this improved look also includes Sansa's excellent navigation: songs sorted by title, artist, album, genre and more. The Sansa m200 Series MP3 players are the first to provide Microsoft PlaysForSure Subscription Service for unlimited downloads. Choose to play your favorite track repeatedly, in random sequence, or play all the songs continuously Hi-speed USB 2.0 connects to almost any computer for hi-speed music transfer (backwards compatible to USB 1.1 ports) Comes with sleek carrying case and armband to protect your player and keep your hands free Easy to use - plug and play, no drivers required (except Win98SE requires driver) Indigo backlit LCD provides ID3 Tag information (v.1 and 2)

Weighing not much more than its power source (a single AAA battery), the Sansa m250 2 GB flash memory digital audio player is a full-featured, ultra-portable MP3 player. The m250 includes FM radio and voice recording, a backlit LCD screen that displays ID3 tag information, support for multiple file formats, and full compatibility with most subscription services.

The Sansa M250 can hold 32 hours of CD-quality MP3 tracks on its 2 GB memory. Detailed view of the basic controls.

The Music LCD screen.

The FM Radio LCD screen.

Top Level Menu.

Take Your Music With You
The 2 GB Sansa m250 will hold approximately 32 hours of CD-quality MP3 tracks (encoded at 128kps) or 64 hours of WMA tracks (at 64kbps). It's compatible with MP3, WMA, secure WMA, and Audible audio file formats. The backlit LCD screen shows ID3 tag information for the currently playing track (song title, artist and album). Navigate the music on your player with ease, sorting by artist, album, song title, playlist or other criteria. With five equalizer types, you can optimize your sound for your favorite style of music, such as, Rock, Jazz, Classical, Pop, and Custom (user-defined). Keep the music coming with up to 19 hours continuous playback using one AAA Battery.

FM Radio
The m250 includes a digital FM radio tuner for portable radio listening. Easily access your favorite stations by adding them to one of the 20 presets.

Voice Recording Included
Use the built-in microphone to capture interviews, classes, short notes to yourself, or anything else you might feel inspired to record.

Peace of Mind With PlaysForSure
The SanDisk Sansa m250 digital audio player uses PlaysForSure technology. Look for the PlaysForSure logo if you want to make sure the digital music and video you purchase will play back on it every time. Match the PlaysForSure logo on a large selection of leading devices and online music stores. If you see the logo, you'll know your digital music will play for sure. Choose from a large number of digital music and video stores, including MTV's Urge, Rhapsody, Yahoo!, MSN Music, MusicMatch, MusicNow, Napster, Wal-Mart Music Downloads, and many more.

Ease of Operation
To transfer songs to the Sansa, simply connect the device to your PC via the included USB 2.0 cable. The device will appear as a drive in the Windows Explorer. Just drag and drop your compatible music files and be on your way. Additionally, use a variety of music software to move licensed music to the device. Works with Windows XP and Windows Media Player 9 or later.

What's in the Box
Sansa m250 MP3 Player, Earphones, Armband and Case, AAA battery, and USB 2.0 travel cable.

I didn't know if I'd use an MP3 player much when I bought this device and I didn't want to spend too much. I've now owned it for over a year and I cannot live without it. I use it for listening to audio books, news and podcasts. I used to read about 12 - 15 books a year, but now -- because I can take this on walks, listen to it while I'm driving and traveling and doing errands -- I "read" about 50 books a year and have a more active lifestyle. It is easy to download books from Audible, or using the Playfor Sure technology I can download books from my local library. I chose this device over the more expensive iPod and other MP3 devices both for the Play for Sure feature (which means free books from my local library) but also because it uses a single AAA battery so I don't have to lug another charging device when I travel or try to remember to charge it before I go somewhere. I just have to carry a very small extra battery.

It has excellent quality and features for downloading and listening to books including the ability to flip through chapters, easily rewind or fast forward or hook up to speakers when I want to free myself from the earbuds.

I don't worry about damaging it or losing it becaue it's so inexpensive to replace. I don't worry about it getting stolen either. I have dropped it, banged it, gotten it wet, accidentally smeared lotions and cosmetics on it and I just throw it in my purse whereever I go. It's scratched and worn, but it still works like a charm. If I did lose it or break it, I'd probably get one just like it as a replacement because it works so well and 2 megs is plenty to carry 5 or 6 books, a few newscasts and podcasts, even some music.

There are two features I'd like to see on this device and I'd pay extra for them. 1) Bookmark feature so you can save a place (or preferrably multiple places) in a story electronically, and: 2) Sleep timer so the device goes off in a preset time - say 10 - 15 minutes. Given the reliability of this device, I'm confident those features will be available on this device or a similar one by the time I need a replacement.

This unit has worked woderfully well. I got may wife a 2GB SansaClip and she loves it, but said she like the lrger screen in this play. The clip is a bit handier. I also like that this unit has replaceable battery AAA size. I'm using a rechargabe. It is easy to operate even for clutses like me.

I got this player after my Creative Nano Plus got stolen. I need a player which allows me to pop in battery. Those players with built-in battery do not appeal to me, as many a times these battery flat out when you are outdoors.

There are reviews to say that there are noises in the music. This is not true, as music in 128 kb bitrate sounds good to my ears without noises as some people claim.

This player cannot play directly from folders but can playback by categories such as artistes, genre, album, year etc. I am using Windows Media to manage the songs in the player, did not install any software. Making playlist is cumbersome, unlike the Creative Mediasource which is easier.

On the whole, I recommend this player for its low cost and decent sound quality comparable with Creative Nano Plus. I am listening music in custom mode with all settings set at neutral (zero) with a pair of Crossroads Bijou 3, happy with the music so far.
This type of player will soon go extinct as players nowadays come with built-in battery. Grab it now or never.

Bought this item for the grand kids for their birthday.They arrived fairly fast and in bulk packaging(as i knew I had ordered them).No instructions and no disc, but again I knew that going in.The grand kids got them and from what they have told me there are no problems with them.The FM radio works fine and they are able to download music in the plug and play format.There is the ability to go SanDisk web site for downloads of the instruction manual and I believe there is a download for the disc as well.So as far as I know these items were a slam dunk!!And at a great price!!

i was very excited when i got the player but the battery wasnt included like they said it would be (not a big deal). it arrived sooner than expected. my biggest and only problem with it is that it has a playlist option but without the book for it I cant use this at all. i need to scan through all my songs to find ones that i want. also unless you look at the last pic on the site you dont realize how thick it really is. overall i wanted a good cheap mp3 player and i am very happy with it