ScanDisk E260 Review If the iPod Nano was a contestant in the Big Brother house it would find itself in the final week with the Sandisk Sansa e260 4GB media player. They may look very similar, with the central click wheel and black design, but the large array of features keep the Sansa e260 a head and shoulders above all its competitors. As part of Sandisk’s e200 series, the 4GB has two siblings including the 2GB and 6GB models. Design | The Sansa e200 is twice as thick and heavy as the Nano but it remains pocketable with a slightly safer feel when it sits in your hand. The front has a high gloss piano black design and when flipped over you’ll see the unscratchable metal alloy panel which is removable, giving you the option of replacing your own battery. Beating the Nano by just 0.3in, the Sansa’s screen is 1.8in in portrait mode and needs to be turned onto it’s side to watch video in landscape. Sandisk have gone as close as they could to copying the Nano’s signature click wheel with their raised navigation wheel. It works well giving a precise performance, but the raised design does become uncomfortable on your digits after a while. It is also mechanical and not touch-sensitive which means we have to work that extra little bit harder. The dial controls browsing through the menus and the volume, the rest is left up to the four buttons located around the navigation wheel. We’re not sure of the reason why - but the wheel also lights up blue and we noticed a horrible electronic noise when it powers up the lights. In the bottom left-hand corner you’ll find a power / menu button which obviously takes you to the menu. We liked how if you press the button twice it routes you back to your original place prior to pressing the menu button. On the right-hand edge you’ll find the microSD slot and on the left you’ll find a record button for instant voice recording. Down at the bottom there is a docking connector and you’ll find a hold button, microphone connection and a headphone jack at the top too. | | Features | As you know, the e260 is competing well due to the amount features it can boast. Saying that, the screen has a small resolution of 220x176 but this doesn’t impair its performance by any means. It offers 65 colours which again isn’t huge but it is certainly enough to provide a good picture. The menu is very well designed with colourful icon-based options in a circular lay-out including options such as music, video, photo, FM Radio, setting and voice.The e260 plays MP3, WMA DRM 10, WAV files making it extremely compatible. It comes with a voice recorder which is clear and easy accessible for quick, instant recording when required. The FM tuner has 12 presets with an autoscanner or manual management options. You can also display photos and play back video. The only negative that we would point out, is that it lacks a USB-on-the-go feature for saving RAW photos without the use of a computer. | | Performance | In our opinion, features are only powerful when reinforced by excellent performance. In this case, the Sandisk Sansa e260 has got everything spot on. The main build is sturdy, surrounding a nice big screen which is bright and colourful. The audio is superb, very clear with the ability to get very loud - great news for those noisy train journeys. Even the radio is surprisingly clear. The processor is awesome, it didn’t freeze or delay once in the whole week of playing around with it. So that’s the good stuff, now for the… how should I put it? Lets say the not so good stuff - some viewing angles provided a slightly impaired picture and the quality of videos and photos isn’t particularly impressive. We noticed some system noise at certain times too, maybe we were being a bit picky. You can get 20 hours play out of the battery, this is great compared to the 13 you’ll get out of the Nano. | | What's In The Box? | Player
EarPhones
Black slip-on case
USB cable
Software CD | | Overall Opinion | The SanDisk Sansa e260 MP3 player is selling itself on looks and features which are followed up by a superb performance. Learning about what this bit of kit could do was fun and an absolute pleasure to use. | | By Lisa Malyon | |
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Strong Liquidmetal®
Casing
Thin design with large
1.8” TFT color screen
Microsoft PlaysForSure
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