So far, every time I turn it off it forgets absolutely every setting I’ve made including:
FM presets
EQ settings
The last MP3 file I was playing
I find it hard to believe that this does not support remembering at least some settings. I was also hoping that it would allow me to continue (resume) playing an MP3 where I left off. This would be good for books on tape type MP3s and in particular the 3 hour MP3 radio recordings I often listen to.
I bought this at Buy.com and received it yesterday. It says “refurb” but it’s actually new, just a “factory overstock” or so they say. It came with a very short USB cable and earbuds, no armband, documentation or software. I downloaded and printed the manual today.
Forgetting all settings isn’t normal for these players–what’s the firmware currently loaded on your player? It sounds like Buy.com sold you a refurbed player but are trying to convince you otherwise. I don’t think you can sell something stamped as ‘refurbed’ then claim it’s overstock…
That’s exactly what Buy.com has done. Thanks for the reply. I got an email from buy.com on Dec. 26, 2008 with a bunch of offers, one of them being this Sansa m250. I bought mine 5 hours later. By that time, they were OOS, but the order went through and I was to get the unit when they had procurred more. It took nearly a month for me to get the unit.
The serial number of my particular unit is BE0708SS009847. This morning, my OP had been read 35 times but noone had replied, and I called Sansa Support: 1-866-726-3475. Navigated the automated menu system and got a live person, unfortunately a bad connection. It wasn’t so bad we couldn’t communicate, but it was somewhat difficult.
We finally arrived at the fact that my unit was among a batch that will not retain settings when turned off. She said my options are:
RMA
Live with the problem
I said I’d RMA. She gave me a case number and said I must fax them my proof of purchase and then call them back and they will move forward with the RMA. This is good news to me. I have to go to buy.com’s website and hopefully find a way to get my proof of purchase there. I think I can. I don’t believe they included anything in the box in terms of documentation, nothing.
I wish the m250 supported resuming where you were in a selection when restarting the unit, but AFAIK it is not supported. Anyone? Thanks.
BTW, the firmware running right now is 4.1.08A. I don’t know what it was initially. The current firmware was probably auto-loaded by virtue of the fact that I installed the firmware updater yesterday.
I spent much of yesterday working with Sandisk, trying to RMA my unit. A support person said mine was one of a bad batch and I should fax them my proof of purchase. I did that and it showed that buy.com represented it as being marked “refurbished” but being new factory overstock. Sandisk finally responded that they do not warrant refurbished merchandise and I will have to deal with the seller. I initiated the RMA process with buy.com, and will send today if my local UPS store is open. I have a prepaid mailing label off buy.com’s site. Buy.com’s policy is that defective merchandise cannot be credited to the buyer but can only be replaced. I just hope the replacement doesn’t have the same problem.
In preparing to send back the unit I thought I should delete the files I’d copied to the flash memory. I had copied two large (~170 MB) MP3s, and also created one or two directories. Last night, however, I found that I could not connect to the m250 with either of my XP computers. It did not show up in Explorer. The m250 said it was connected by USB using MTP. I figure I’ll just have to send it back as is, not that it matters.
I wonder if creating those directories effectively made it impossible to connect. That’s the only thing I can think of. With the next one (unless I’m assured that I should be able to create directories), I will just put all my MP3s in the default directory (called Audible, IIRC). I presume that the m250 uses ID3 tags to sort and find files. I create most of my own MP3s without tags, only file names so I guess I may have to look into creating tags for them with information that helps me manage (i.e. find) the files. Presently, when I start the player one of my 2 MP3s is automatically queued up.
Again, I regret the evident fact that the m250 doesn’t support resume.
Edit : Actually, I believe the player does support resume, it’s just that mine was faulty. I’m RMAing my player and expect I’ll have much better feelings about the m250 when I get its replacement.
