About two weeks ago I posted that I was looking into possibly purchasing a portable music player.  I also mentioned that I was looking at several different models.  I didn’t put in as much research into this as I would have for the purchase of a new car, but I do like to think I did my homework.  I used Amazon, NewEgg, and Epinions as my major sources of feedback and reviews for these machines.  After much review and research, I finally purchased the SanDisk Sansa e280.  As I implied in that previous post, I was leaning towards a flash-based device.  I decided that I didn’t care that much about video, so the smaller capacity and smaller screen offered by the Sansa was not a big issue for me.   I picked up the Sansa for $159.00 at Amazon, it was hard to beat that price.  With the purchase, I also went ahead and bought a travel case and the iTrip FM transmitter so that I could use the device in my car. 

After a few days of use, I am extremely happy with this little electronic marvel.  Even though I have never owned one, the Sansa just seems to be a much better value than the equivalent iPod Nano.  Let’s look at some of the pros and cons that I have found in the few days I have been a Sansa owner.

Pros

• Playback has sounded great.  My mp3 files were ripped at 256 kbps, and I haven’t been able to discern any differences between the compressed files and a CD.
• The integrated FM tuner works pretty well.  Even in my basement, the player was able to pick up clear signals for all of the stations that I listen to.
• The scroll wheel was easy to use from the beginning, although I found the buttons a bit clumsy to use at first.  I suppose they just weren’t as sensitive as I would have liked, but after I got used to pushing them "the right way", I have been able to use them with ease. 
• The software interface is intuitive, and I have found it easy to get to the music files I want to playback.  I haven’t used the playlist features yet, so I’ll have to hold off on comment about them.
• The available accessories more than meet my needs.  I know there aren’t as many accessories available as you might find with the iPod, but there still were plenty.  I really only wanted a decent case and an FM transmitter.  I found both and have been happy with both.
• The size of the Sansa is perfect.  It isn’t so small that it feels like I will lose it easily, but I also don’t feel like I’m hauling around a brick.  I have used it for working out already, and the size was a perfect compromise of form and function.
• The Sansa looks good.  This is entirely subjective and does not matter to the overall utility of the device, but the aesthetics are appealing.
• The FM transmitter feature has worked almost flawlessly in my car.  Granted, this is more of a Pro for the iTrip, but it is good to know that I can listen to encoded music in the car without having to haul my CDs around anymore. 

Cons

• 8 GB is not as great of capacity as I would have liked.  I knew going in that I wouldn’t be able to fit my entire music collection onto the machine with only 8 GB of storage, but I would have liked to have been able to store more.  Unfortunately, 8 GB is the upper limit on flash-based portable music players right now.  Because of this, I am going to reevaluate the need to have 256 kbps on my mp3 files.  I am going to examine sampling at a lower bit rate, perhaps even using a variable bit rate to rip the files.
• The supplied ear buds are not great, and do get a little uncomfortable after extended use.  I read about this all over the place, so this was no surprise.  I just was able to affirm this fact.
• The screen size is too small for video.  Again, I didn’t really care about video, and I may never even use this feature.  I just didn’t realize how ridiculously small the screen would be until I got the machine.  If you care a lot about video, I will tell you now that the Sansa is probably not for you.

Overall, I am very pleased with my purchase.  I think the value has been much higher than if I had gone with an iPod (or any other brand, for that matter).  This is the first mp3 player I have ever owned, so perhaps my expectations weren’t very high, but this player has exceeded the expectations that I did have.  And so far I have only used the Sansa to play my own ripped mp3 files.  The player may not be as great for purchased music online, but it certainly has met my needs thus far.