Stick with Sansa, or move on to something else?

While I work out a serious problem with my E280, I’ve reverted back to using my C250.  It has a 2GB MicroSD card added to it, making it a 4GB player.  To help matters, I’ve been experimenting with different formats and settings, and have been surprised by the quality and compact size offered by Windows Media Player 11 set to 50 to 95 kbps VBR; effectively allowing me to nearly halve the size of my music library without significant loss in sound quality.  I can get by with this for now, and plan to get as much mileage out of it as I can.  My question is, what about the future?

My wife has an E240, and we have the Sansa dock for the C and E series of players.  We also have the armband strap for the E series.  My son has his C240 also with a 2GB SD card, and he really enjoys it.  As such, I have these reasons for wanting to stick with Sansa.

On the other hand, the Zune is an excellent value, and seems to be picking up a lot of momentum.  I haven’t been seeing much marketing from Sansa lately.  Perhaps I should consider a different platform.  Does Sansa have a future?  Does that future include compatibility with my dock?  

I must admit, I am a little put off by the failure of my E280 and the lack of response from Sansa support (heck, even an exchange program for loyal customers would be something).  The MicroSD slot has always been a selling feature for me.

I would pick up a refurb e200 as a handy sidekick.  There are some great deals out there currently.  The advantage, in short, aside from compatibility with your existing dock and accessories, is that it has an identical battery as your broken v2 machine.

You can plop the battery from your v2 into the new machine, and see if the original battery module is OK.

There’s always the odd chance that your refurbed device will be a v2 machine, in which case you’ll have the requisite “organs” for transplant to the broken machine.

Bob  :smileyvery-happy:

The Zune is nice for a Microsoft product. lol

I just like how it has RDS for the radio. Nice feature…

It’s difficult to justify buying a refurbished unit, when the brand new 8GB Sansa players are on sale this week for $89.

In fact, now that I’m getting re-acquainted with my C250, I’m finding it difficult to justify replacing my E280 at all.  The new VBR settings with Windows Media player 11 leaves me with plenty of free space to play with in 4GB on the C250.  

Maybe I’ll just use the C250 and wait for a “Donor” E200 series.  Surely, someone must have an E200 series with a broken screen, case, button, or something?

@digitalquirk wrote:

 

Surely, someone must have an E200 series with a broken screen, case, button, or something?

 

There are tons of these on E-Bay. New & gently used ones too. :wink:

It’s been said that E-bay is evil.

Might be time to take a walk on the dark side.  :robotsurprised:

The logic behind a basic refurb e200 is simple.  It gives you a test platform for the existing battery.  Consider that a replacement battery alone is worth about $20, that makes a refurb a very cheap piece of test equipment.

Plus, you might get lucky and score a v2 device to cannibalize.  Before doing so, you can make a series of voltage measurements at the “donor” PCB, referenced to ground.  After soldering in the replacements, you have a reference for comparison.

If the memory were socketed, it would be great, but the v2 is different.  It’s nice to start with an e250 and upgrade the memory module.

There are plenty of machines available on eBay, it’s just a royal pain to discern whether they are v2 devices by contacting the seller. 

Bob  :wink:

How would the seller know it’s a V2 without opening it up?  This is starting to sound like a royal pain in the arse.  I don’t mind soldering surface mount components; I have the patience and the tools.  I just don’t want to need to do it more than once.  When new models are selling for $89 CAD, I have to ask myself; is it really worth my time to do that much experimenting, when a possible pre-existing defect may still need to be addressed?

@digitalquirk wrote:
How would the seller know it’s a V2 without opening it up?

The same way you can tell if yours is a v1 or v2: by checking the firmware version. A v1 has firmware beginning with “01”, a v2 has firmware beginning with “03”.

Settings>Info

That is good to know; I suppose I should have clarified in asking how one would identify with a “Donor” player; ie: one that isn’t working (ie; damaged display).  I don’t see myself cannibalizing a working E-series MP3 player.

@digitalquirk wrote:
That is good to know; I suppose I should have clarified in asking how one would identify with a “Donor” player; ie: one that isn’t working (ie; damaged display).  I don’t see myself cannibalizing a working E-series MP3 player.

THe only 2 reasons I can think of, already mentioned:

  1. see if the problem with your original is the battery
  1. If your original is a V1 you could get a V1 e250 (easier and cheaper to find) and move the 8G memory card over, making your new one into a 280.

Neither one is necessarily worth the effort for you since you will already have a new working player.