Lurker1999
Feb 24, 08, 8:57 pm
I purchased a Sansa m240 1GB mp3 player (http://www.sandisk.com/Products/Item(1205)-SDMX3-1024-A18-Sansa_m240_1GB_MP3_Player.aspx) via Woot recently. It was a refurbished unit and with shipping cost me $15 (actually $25 for two). The MSRP is listed at $39.99. I bought two, one for myself for use at the gym (although I plan to take it instead of my iPod on the next trip) and one as a gift.
The things I find really nice about it is the ability to load the player with no special software. All you need to do is attach it via the included USB cable after switching it in the Configuration menu into the MCP mode which allows it to act as a USB drive.
Running off a single AAA battery is great. I've had it running over 10 hours on a new alkaline so far with the screen contrast set to a very low setting and the battery bar has not even reached the 3/4 point. I expect it to last well beyond the length of any long-haul flight and if you happen to drain the battery no worries, simply put in another AAA battery and you're all set. Given the ubiquitous nature of AAAs you can keep yourself supplied anywhere in the world really.
Sound quality is good although I did swap out the included headphones for the ones I normally use which are slightly higher quality. The controls are very intuitive and the ridged surface allows you to manipulate the forward/back and play/pause buttons without looking at the unit. The backlight and variable contrast settings should provide for visibility in whatever lighting conditions you're encountering. Volume produced is also quite good.
It allows you to mark songs as favorites or scroll through them quickly by holding down the arrows. Scrolling while playing does produce a slight decrease in sound quality but overall it's solid. Plus it's not like you'll be using this under optimal acoustic conditions.
It has settings for audiobooks as well as a stopwatch and voice recorder plus an FM tuner. I haven't played around with the FM tuner much to see whether it would speed the battery drain up more but so far I'm quite impressed with the form factor, weight (very light) and price point.
So if you're in the market for a cheap mp3 player consider picking one up from somewhere or simply wait until Woot offers them in a Woot-Off. I don't think they sold out so they should still have some in the warehouse somewhere waiting to be sold off.
The things I find really nice about it is the ability to load the player with no special software. All you need to do is attach it via the included USB cable after switching it in the Configuration menu into the MCP mode which allows it to act as a USB drive.
Running off a single AAA battery is great. I've had it running over 10 hours on a new alkaline so far with the screen contrast set to a very low setting and the battery bar has not even reached the 3/4 point. I expect it to last well beyond the length of any long-haul flight and if you happen to drain the battery no worries, simply put in another AAA battery and you're all set. Given the ubiquitous nature of AAAs you can keep yourself supplied anywhere in the world really.
Sound quality is good although I did swap out the included headphones for the ones I normally use which are slightly higher quality. The controls are very intuitive and the ridged surface allows you to manipulate the forward/back and play/pause buttons without looking at the unit. The backlight and variable contrast settings should provide for visibility in whatever lighting conditions you're encountering. Volume produced is also quite good.
It allows you to mark songs as favorites or scroll through them quickly by holding down the arrows. Scrolling while playing does produce a slight decrease in sound quality but overall it's solid. Plus it's not like you'll be using this under optimal acoustic conditions.
It has settings for audiobooks as well as a stopwatch and voice recorder plus an FM tuner. I haven't played around with the FM tuner much to see whether it would speed the battery drain up more but so far I'm quite impressed with the form factor, weight (very light) and price point.
So if you're in the market for a cheap mp3 player consider picking one up from somewhere or simply wait until Woot offers them in a Woot-Off. I don't think they sold out so they should still have some in the warehouse somewhere waiting to be sold off.