SanDisk Sansa m240 (1GB, silver)
Manufacturer: SanDisk Corp. Part number: SDMX3-1024-A18
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Product series
- Accessories
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- With its many features as well as its compatibility with audiobooks and subscription-based music, the SanDisk Sansa m200 series is an overall great value.
Read more
Where to buy
| store | customer rating | inventory | tax & shipping | price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon.com Marketplace |  | In stock | Enter zip code to get total price: Price +Tax +Shipping =Total price | as of 12/08/2009 |
CNET editors' review
SanDisk Sansa m240 (1GB, silver) price range: $19.99
- Reviewed by: James Kim
- Edited by: Jasmine France
- Reviewed on: 10/31/2005
- Updated on:11/04/2005
- Released on: 10/04/2005
The good: Available in up to 4GB capacity; solid value; includes FM tuner and voice recorder; compatible with WMA DRM 10 (Janus) and Audible files; decent controllers; on-the-go playlists.
The bad: Bulky (but lightweight); no line-in recording; poorly backlit display; only one quality option for voice recording.
The bottom line: With its many features as well as its compatibility with audiobooks and subscription-based music, the SanDisk Sansa m200 series is an overall great value.
At 3.1 by 1.7 by 1 inches, the SanDisk Sansa m200 isn't the sleekest flash player around, but it's feathery light at 1.3 ounces with a AAA battery installed. Though the buttons are made of cheap-looking plastic, and the body feels flimsy, the overall presentation is solid. The Sansa m200 series has an ergonomically correct shape that flares in; you want to clutch it so that your thumb is on top of the five-way player controls, which include an A/B-repeat button and a center Select key. These buttons are big and tactile. Holding the Sansa m200 horizontally, you'll find the dedicated volume and power/menu buttons on the top and the hold switch and built-in pinhole microphone on the bottom. The headphone and standard USB jacks appear on the m200's true topside. Bundled accessories include passable earbuds, a carrying case, an armband, a battery, a USB cable, and software.
The only noticeable difference between models is the color. The 512MB SanDisk Sansa m230 ($80) comes in blue, the 1GB Sansa m240 ($120) in silver, the 2GB m250 ($160) in black, and the big daddy 4GB m260 ($200) in slate blue. As you can see, list prices are extremely attractive, with the 4GB version costing less than the 4GB iPod Nano. Street prices will be even less. While the Nano is clearly more attractive and can display photos, it lacks the Sansa m200's FM tuner, subscription compatibility and voice recorder.
The m200 plays MP3, WMA, DRM WMA (including subscription-based music), and Audible file formats. The only major feature missing is line-in recording, and you can make voice recordings in only one mediocre quality setting. The FM tuner has 20 preset stations and an autoscan feature. You can browse the m200's music library by title, artist, album, genre, spoken word, and recordings, and it supports playlists as well as an on-the-go Favorites playlist of up to 30 songs. The main menu includes Play Music, FM Radio, Recorder, and Settings, and overall navigation is logical and easy, thanks in part to the big controller buttons. The blue-backlit LCD shows artist, song, and album info as well as file format, bit rate, and elapsed time, but the blue backlight could be a bit brighter and provide more contrast. We'd also like to see a bookmarking feature for audiobooks. You also get a stopwatch, though.
Sound quality is similar to that of past SanDisk players and definitely not the best we've heard, but most people will be satisfied. The equalizer settings (Pop, Classical, Jazz, Rock, and a custom five-band EQ) help shape the sound to your liking. The SanDisk Sansa m200 cooperates well with Windows Media Player 10 and subscription-based applications such as Napster To Go; it works without a hitch via drag and drop in Windows Explorer, even automatically organizing your files. Though there are other low-cost flash options for subscription services, the m200 series offers the best deal so far. Also, the m200 series shows up as a drive in Mac OS X. Battery life from a single AAA battery is rated for 19 hours, which is decent but not great for a flash player; remember to stock extra batteries. CNET Labs was able to coax only 18.5 hours out of the m200 series. Transfer time over USB 2.0 was on the poor side at 1.1MB per second.
User reviews
-
-
Needs some work, but I'd still recommend
by romans5n1- on January 1, 2006
Pros: Price, Size/Look, Features, Ease of Use, Storage Capacity, Support
Cons: Could have better carrying options, playlist feature incomplete
Summary: I love this player. It plays both MP3 and WMA, has digital FM, and voice recording. The box says that it gets 17 hours or playtime off of one AAA ...
Summary: I love this player. It plays both MP3 and WMA, has digital FM, and voice recording. The box says that it gets 17 hours or playtime off of one AAA battery, but I think that number is actually low. The 1GB storage capacity is plenty for my needs, and the price versus comparable players is very reasonable ($119 retail).
That said I do have two minor complaints. First, a better carrying option could've have been provided. Out of box, the player comes with a clear protective case and an arm band. Other players in this class come with belt clips or keyrings, which would have worked better for me. I improvised a bit and attached a caribinger style belt clip to the loop on the case meant for the arm band to go through.
Second, I was able to figure out virtually all the features on the player without instruction. But adding playlists escaped me. I checked the documentation, both the quickstart booklet and the more extensive user guide (only on the included CD or from the Sandisk website). Both of which seemed to curiously lack any documentation on playlist functionality. I eventually ended up calling support. The initial tech I talked to was unfamiliar with the m240, but he made a glowing effort, asking many other techs and suggesting ideas. When nothing worked, he referred me to corporate. I had to leave a message with the Application Development Group there, but I got a call back the next day. The person I talked to was very knowledgeable, and was able to provide me with a couple of workable, though not very intuitive solutions. It appears that the playlist functionality of this device is not fully developed yet. You can however sort of get around it by either using Real's Rhapsody player or dragging .m3u (Winamp-style playlists) onto the device in MSC mode (won't work in MTP).
With Rhapsody, create a playlist in Rhapsody, add all the files you would like to the playlist and then drag the playlist onto the sansa m240 player icon in the folder-tree on the left. This is important. Rhapsody will ONLY transfer the playlist itself when it is physically dragged onto the device icon. Simply dragging the playlist to the transfer box will not work. The only problem with this approach is that once you've added the playlists, it's difficult to remove them. The only way I was able to remove playlists added in this way was to physically delete the Playlist folder that gets created, but this deletes all the playlists on the device. So basically you can't remove an individual playlist.
With .m3u files, you first need to make sure that the device is in MSC mode. Go to the menu, scroll and select Settings, scroll and select USB, and choose MSC. Create a playlist in Winamp and save it, but not to the device yet. Before adding it to the device, you must edit the .m3u file in a text editor and remove all the absolute paths, leaving just the filenames. Leave everything else in the .m3u file as it is. Save and then move to the root directory of the device. The problem with this method is that all the media files must be transferred in MSC mode as well. So no automatic synching. This also rules out subscription music (which must be transferred in MTP). This is only for playlists though. The player itself reads both modes (MSC and MTP) at the same time, so any files added in either mode can be played on the device without have to switch between modes.
This might sound like a bad problem, but it's really not. I've found that playlists aren't really that necessary. The device automatically sorts your music by artist, album, and genre. So you can easily play everything by a single artist, only items from a particular album or just rock, rap, or whatever. Plus, there is a special playlist called favorites that does work, and lets you add up to 30 songs at a time. Additionally, the beauty about a flash memory device like this is that the firmware can be updated any time adding new features or fixing problems. So a month from now, playlist functionality may work perfectly via a firmware update. The word from the development group is that an XML-based playlist functionality is being worked on.15 out of 15 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Good value but buggy firmware
by bobpenn on October 31, 2005
Pros: price, subscription support, lightgweight
Cons: won't play some files, could be a little louder
Summary: A great value for the price. Only the second flash based player to work with subscription services and much cheaper than the iRiver T series. A little flimsy to the ...
Summary: A great value for the price. Only the second flash based player to work with subscription services and much cheaper than the iRiver T series. A little flimsy to the touch, but it is more solid than it might appear. But ... it failed to play five files I loaded onto it properly. On four of the files, the music simply jumped to the next track in the middle of the song, always at the same point. On the 5th track, the music went into an endless 3 second loop which played out for the remainder of the track's time. Very strange.
The five tracks have little in common: one was a Yahoo to Go WMA Janus track, two were mp3s (one VBR one CBR), and the other two were 160K WMAs version 9. The remaining tracks I loaded played fine and sounded good with a custom EQ (it sounds horrible at the default setting). The FM radio was sensitive and it was nice to have 20 presets.
A nice player but seriously at the moment by some flawed firmware.13 out of 13 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Great Bargain Player
by pputong on November 22, 2005
Pros: Easy of use, great sound, solid feel
Cons: none so far
Summary: I just bought this player, so I don't have much experience yet. Here's my first cut: First I found this little 1 gb flash player on sale for $...
Summary: I just bought this player, so I don't have much experience yet. Here's my first cut: First I found this little 1 gb flash player on sale for $80. I couldn't pass it up. Plenty of storage, great sound. I use it on the commute so it's comfortable to hold and operate. No joystick or sensitive buttons, just a solid feel. No special software, when using XP. Simply drag and drop. Subscription compatible. Can be used to transport data. Play lists are supported. Arm band and belt carrier included. Uses AAA battery. Highly recommend to gym rats, commuters, parents purchasing for kids, non-techies. Understand what you're getting here, shop around and you'll see a lot of expensive features and names, no knock against those, but I was looking for something basic, solid, and inexpensive. This player does what it's intended to do. $ for $ you won't beat this one.
8 out of 8 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
This is it.
by rbronson on November 21, 2005
Pros: Music Service-Fast Copying-Menu System
Cons: Small but still a little bulky
Summary: I spent weeks looking for an Mp3 player after signing up with the Yahoo Music Unlimited Service. The Sandisk line seemed to bring the most value. When Best Buy put ...
Summary: I spent weeks looking for an Mp3 player after signing up with the Yahoo Music Unlimited Service. The Sandisk line seemed to bring the most value. When Best Buy put the m240 1GB version on sale for $79 yesterday it became a no brainer.
It was very easy to setup and use with the Yahoo Music Engine software. It is a device that show up on the left and I can drag and drop Subscription music along with any mp3/wma songs that I have.
I had one error copying and I was just able to recopy and it worked fine. People that report alot of problems must have computer problems unrelated to the Yahoo software or to this unit. I copied over 400 songs to this device with only that one error.
I am not sure how long the included armband and platic enclosure will last, but at least they were free accessories. Also the item is best used with the armband or on a belt, it is a little bulky just to put in your pants pocket.4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Great Value - Has A Radio !!
by elijah_baley on November 5, 2005
Pros: Has FM Radio for listening to the TVs in the Gym.
Cons: No Neck Strap in the Package.
Summary: Great value just for the FM radio alone, which is essential for listening to the TVs in the gym. The unit has a hole for a lanyard to be attached, ...
Summary: Great value just for the FM radio alone, which is essential for listening to the TVs in the gym. The unit has a hole for a lanyard to be attached, and I finally found one to use, and I wear it around my neck. A neck strap should have been included in the package. Otherwise a nice MP3 / WMA playing unit with the bounus FM Radio.
4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Great Value
by jmalone1 on December 11, 2005
Pros: Works with Rhapsody has FM Tuner
Cons: dim backlight
Summary: Great player. I picked it up at Circuit City for under $80 on sale. I am a fan of the Real Rhapsody music service and this device works well with ...
Summary: Great player. I picked it up at Circuit City for under $80 on sale. I am a fan of the Real Rhapsody music service and this device works well with Rhapsody. I own and I-Pod mini and I like this Sansa better than the I-Pod, the I-Pod line is overpriced in my opinion. The FM tuner works great and it is nice to have the option for listening to the radio.
The custom equalizer works well and the menu is easy to use. Really nice to only need one AAA battery, I always have a spare AAA battery around and it lasts a long time in this player. The backlight is a little dim and only stays on a few seconds, that is they only negative thing about the device. I would highly recommend this player for the value.2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
doesn't play all files
by jody27b on December 30, 2005
Pros: lightweight, custom equalizer, big buttons
Cons: incompatibilty with files etc
Summary: I received this as a Christmas gift, and although the person should have checked the PC requirements, it only works with Windows XP. It does say that the MTP will ...
Summary: I received this as a Christmas gift, and although the person should have checked the PC requirements, it only works with Windows XP. It does say that the MTP will work with windows 2000 (SP4), but after updating to SP4, still can not play the majority of my songs and/or sync. I have a rio player that is a few years old, and wanted more storage space for my longer workouts. The rio plays all my files, from walmart, yahoo, etc. Since I have all these purchased downloads, it upsets my nerves that I can not play them. The booklet that comes with it is basic quick install with no troubleshooting, etc. You have to use the disk I guess, which can not do without windows xp. I am surprised a company would mass market a MP3 player with such a limited compatibility. With all the problems windows xp had in the beginning, I know many people stayed away from it. I read other reviews saying it is no good for audio books either. My opinion, leave it in the store...the sandisk troubleshooting website was not very helpful, either. Rather than saying the player has issues, they say you must not have purchaed the rights to play that music on anything but Windows Media Player. Hmmmm... my cheap old RIO plays them all fine, and seeing how I paid wlamart and yahoo for the downloads, doesn't seem to be the case.
3 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
A little too bulky and non-aesthetic, but still VERY affordable and easy to use.
by birdpiercefan3334 on June 23, 2008
Pros: Price, sync ability to subscription services, no need of software or direction, earbuds, sound quality.
Cons: Size, battery power, prone to error during sync.
Summary: I was pretty impressed as this model. I was given this as a present, and I took to it straight away. Plugged ti in with the compact wire, my XP ...
Summary: I was pretty impressed as this model. I was given this as a present, and I took to it straight away. Plugged ti in with the compact wire, my XP immediately saw, installed, and sync-ed my Sansa m240 to Win Media Player. Amazing. Just dragged and dropped, sync-ed 60 songs at once in a minute. All I could say was, wow. The sound quality of the earbuds was also very good, if not for the bass, which was OK, nothing BAD about it.
This is a product I have had for a while, I wouldn't give it up for anything. I highly recommend you buy this product if you like the SanDisk Sansa mp3 players line, and don't want an Apple iPod.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
value for money
by emilykatherine on March 13, 2007
Pros: small, light, easy to drag and drop or synch from media player
Cons: buggy firmware
Summary: I purchased the 1gig Sansa m240 player for $50 on boxing day after doing some research and am fairly happy with my decision.
I use my Sansa in the car (...Summary: I purchased the 1gig Sansa m240 player for $50 on boxing day after doing some research and am fairly happy with my decision.
I use my Sansa in the car (with an FM transmitter) as an alternative to burning a new CD every time my musical fancy changes, and occasionally around the house or campus.
Extended Pros:
Choice of software to upload music (as opposed to having to use Sony or Apple's software), transfers are reasonably fast.
Reasonable battery life, but no built in battery (no worry about replacing a built in battery, no need to charge batteries on long trips ... just pop in a new one).
1gig is an adequate amount of storage for me; I would rather organize my music on my PC and only carry around the songs I favor at a particular time.
Design wise, it has one fat end, which makes it super easy to figure out which button is which in the car. Also, it's small - not impressively small like the Ipod - but a comfortable fit in my palm.
Lastly, price: Compared to players with comparable features, the Sansa was the most inexpensive.
Cons:
I was going to type "the little bugger is buggy as hell", before I realized what a horrible pun that would be. I found that using a combination of drag and drop and windows media syncing lead to problems... for example, not being able to delete files from the player. A simple format of the player from my computer left it empty and ready to go again though; so this is the method I use to wipe it clean. Firmware updates from Sandisk do seem to help performance some, so definitely check for those.
Playlists are a bit of a pain to add... sometimes they work straight from windows media, sometimes not. At least one other user has expanded on how to make playlists so I wont go into detail.
Overall, this is a nice, inexpensive little player. It does what I need it to with minimal fuss.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
you better rwad more user review before you buy this product
by vangogh323 on February 21, 2007
Pros: cheaper price
Cons: quanlity is not good
Summary: I brought this m240 last christmas.
Not even two month it is do nothing but just diaplay Sansa logo.
no songs, no radio, no voice recording.
I have checked the ...Summary: I brought this m240 last christmas.
Not even two month it is do nothing but just diaplay Sansa logo.
no songs, no radio, no voice recording.
I have checked the following site and found same problem with no solution:
http://www.fixya.com/support/p454528-sandisk_sansa_m240_1_gb_mp3_player1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: SanDisk Corp.
- Part number: SDMX3-1024-A18
- Description: The Sansa m200 Series MP3 players add to SanDisk's growing line of products for the audio market. Created by the leaders in flash memory, this flash-based model provides high-quality digital music playback at an affordable price. As a replacement to SanDisk original Digital Audio Player line, this improved look also includes Sansa's excellent navigation: songs sorted by title, artist, album, genre as well as play list support. The Sansa m200 Series MP3 players are one of the first to provide Microsoft PlaysForSure Subscription support.
General
- Product type Digital player / radio
- PC interface(s) supported Hi-Speed USB
- Flash memory installed 1 GB Integrated
- Color Silver
- Included accessories Arm band, Carrying case
Digital Player / Recorder
- Supported digital audio standards MP3, WMA, Audible, Protected WMA (DRM)
- Playback modes A-B repeat, Repeat all, Random play / shuffle
- ID3 tags support Yes
Built-in Display
- Audio system built-in display LCD
- Backlight display Yes
- Display illumination color Indigo
Audio Features
- Sound output mode Stereo
- Additional features Voice recording, FM radio recording capability
Equalizer
- Equalizer factory preset qty 4
- Equalizer factory presets Pop, Jazz, Rock, Classic
- Equalizer user preset qty 1
Radio
- Tuner type Digital Radio tuner
- Station preset qty 20
- FM station preset qty 20
- Tuner bands FM
- Tuning display LCD display
Microphone
- Microphone type Built-in
Headphones
- Headphones type Binaural Ear-bud
- Sound output mode Stereo
- Connectivity technology Wired
Connectivity
- Cable(s) included 1 x USB cable -
- Connector type 1 x USB, 1 x Headphones Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm
Battery / Power
- Battery 1 x Alkaline AAA type Standard battery
- Mfr estimated battery life 19 hour(s)
System Requirements
- Operating system Microsoft Windows XP
Product series
-
SanDisk Sansa m240 (1GB, silver)
Manufacturer: SanDisk Corp.
Specs: Digital player / radio, 1 GB, MP3, WMA, Audible, Protected WMA (DRM), 1 x Alkaline AAA type Standard battery
-
Manufacturer: SanDisk Corp.
Specs: Digital player / radio, 512 MB, MP3, WMA, Audible, Protected WMA (DRM), 1 x Alkaline AAA type Standard battery
-
Manufacturer: SanDisk Corp.
Specs: Digital player / radio, 2 GB, MP3, WMA, Audible, Protected WMA (DRM), 1 x Alkaline AAA type Standard battery
-
SanDisk Sansa m260 (4GB, slate blue)
Manufacturer: SanDisk Corp.
Specs: Digital player / radio, 4 GB, MP3, WMA, Audible, Protected WMA (DRM), 1 x Alkaline AAA type Standard battery
Accessories
Manufacturer info
- SanDisk Corp.
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse SanDisk Corp. products on Shopper.com
-
- Website: http://www.sandisk.com/consumer-products/
- Address:
601 McCarthy Boulevard, Milpitas, CA 95035 - Phone: 1-866-726-3475
- Email: support@sandisk.com
%20-%20Compare%20prices,%20reviews,%20user%20opinions%20-%20Shopper.com&srcUrl=http://shopper.cnet.com/mp3-players/sandisk-sansa-m240-1gb/4014-6490_9-31563923.html){kind=small}