I like MSC mode for everything. It’s transparent and logical. The more you can use it the better.
If you take Audiobooks from CDs, rip them with whatever you want and run them through mp3tag with the (Tools/Options/Tags/Mpeg) Write default as ID2.3 ISO-8859-1. You can highlight all the files in the folder and put Artist (author) Album (book) etc. to be whatever you want, all at once. You might check to see if ripping them with iTunes will tag them automatically, which would save you some typing time–but iTunes does ID3v2.2. Sigh.
One thing I do with mp3tag is go to Tools/Auto-Numbering Wizard/ and choose the Leading Zeroes option. This makes the tags 01, 02, etc. The reason to do that is that Sansa is stupid: it will play 1, 11, 12, 13…etc…before 2. Using that option also makes everying ID3v2.3 ISO-9959-1 because I set that as the default.
I don’t use Overdrive, though I’ve looked up a lot of stuff about it. Call me old-school, I prefer reading (ebooks included).
But if you can get books from Overdrive, put them on your computer, send them to the Sansa via MSC and still have them play without expiring…go for it. The codes I’m talking about are hidden from the user and sent via MTP. You can’t touch them (and neither can MC Hammer.) But if your books are not expiring on the Sansa, great. If they are, you’ll need to do MTP for those.
I suspect the Unknowns are ID3v2.4, which has been around for some time now despite SanDisk’s indifference. Changing them to ID3v2.3 ISO-8859-1 should make them visible.
