Dimensions: .75" h x
1.50" w x
3.00" l,
2.00 pounds
Features
Lightweight flash memory digital audio player--weighs just 1.5 ounces
512 MB memory holds 8 hours of MP3 and 16 hours of WMA audio
Microsoft PlaysForSure support for compatibility with wide range of online stores and subscription services
Integrated FM radio with 20 presets; built-in microphone and voice recorder
Powered by single AAA battery, for up to 19 hours of usage
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Product Description
Weighing not much more than its power source (a single AAA battery), the Sansa m230 512 MB flash memory digital audio player is a full-featured, ultra-portable MP3 player. The m230 includes FM radio and voice recording, a backlit LCD screen that displays ID3 tag information, support for multiple file formats, and full compatibility with most subscription services.
The Sansa M230 can hold eight hours of CD-quality MP3 tracks on its 512 MB memory.
Detailed view of the basic controls.
The Music LCD screen.
The FM Radio LCD screen.
Top Level Menu.
Take Your Music With You The 512 MB Sansa M230 will hold approximately eight hours of CD-quality MP3 tracks (encoded at 128kps) or 16 hours of WMA tracks (at 64kbps). It's compatible with MP3, WMA, secure WMA, and Audible audio file formats. The backlit LCD screen shows ID3 tag information for the currently playing track (song title, artist and album). Navigate the music on your player with ease, sorting by artist, album, song title, playlist or other criteria. With five equalizer types, you can optimize your sound for your favorite style of music, such as, Rock, Jazz, Classical, Pop, and Custom (user-defined). Keep the music coming with up to 19 hours continuous playback using one AAA Battery.
FM Radio The M230 includes a digital FM radio tuner for portable radio listening. Easily access your favorite stations by adding them to one of the 20 presets.
Voice Recording Included Use the built-in microphone to capture interviews, classes, short notes to yourself, or anything else you might feel inspired to record.
Peace of Mind With PlaysForSure The SanDisk Sansa M230 digital audio player uses PlaysForSure technology. Look for the PlaysForSure logo if you want to make sure the digital music and video you purchase will play back on it every time. Match the PlaysForSure logo on a large selection of leading devices and online music stores. If you see the logo, you'll know your digital music will play for sure. Choose from a large number of digital music and video stores, including MTV's Urge, Rhapsody, Yahoo!, MSN Music, MusicMatch, MusicNow, Napster, Wal-Mart Music Downloads, and many more.
Ease of Operation To transfer songs to the Sansa, simply connect the device to your PC via the included USB 2.0 cable. The device will appear as a drive in the Windows Explorer. Just drag and drop your compatible music files and be on your way. Additionally, use a variety of music software to move licensed music to the device. Works with Windows XP and Windows Media Player 9 or later.
What's in the Box Sansa m230 MP3 Player, Earphones, Armband and Case, AAA battery, USB 2.0 travel cable, CD with User Manual, and Quick Start Guide.
Customer Reviews
One of the best little players for it's price Alright, so mp3 players, yeah there's so many to choose from, it gets really annoyin, especially when all of your trendy friends are telling you to get an ipod. Don't get me wrong, ipods are great, i have one in fact, and i love it. But i rollerblade (not recreational, like the kind where you go to skateparks and grind handrails and various other things). So the the ipod's size makes it more prone to be broken, which is why I love this thing. I'm going to skip all the candy coating and get straight to the tootsie roll filling:
pros:
-Most other mp3 players are a little bit thinner, but the sansa has a flat control panel and the back is round to fit in your hand, i know, i know, you're going to put it in your pocket, well just put the interface on the inside of the pocket and none of the buttons have a chance of breaking, or the screen.
-The sansa has an extremely long battery life for one little AAA, around 20 hours, which is awesome since i hate buying batteries, but that's not a problem because i have rechargable AAA, but it's gets extremely aggrivating having to recharge batteries everytime you go out.
- The buttons are perfect, they're big, they're bold, what more do you want, and i noticed most mp3 players put these tiny little pin size buttons on their players, what's the point of that.
-The menu is really straightforward and simple. You just press the menu button on top of the player, and then use the 4 buttons (play/pause, previous track, next track, and stop) as the directional buttons on the menu.
-I used to have the older version of the SanDisk mp3 players (256mb) and it was never loud enough, like i would be on the bus or in a busy area and not even be able to hear my music! Thankfully they enabled it to become louder and have a better sound quality.
-It's very inexpensive, i payed 40$ for mine from a seller on amazon. And that's about how much it goes for retail everywhere else.
Cons:
-The only problem i have is that the earbuds that they come with aren't the best in the world, but i still use them, they're the only earbuds i have ever found that have fit my ears without a 2 billion dollar price tag. Or i would get new ones.
-The fm tuner that comes with this is junk, i get a good signal every once in a while, but it really shouldn't be used as a marketing gimmick, considering most flash mp3 players have one now.
Ok, well thanks for reading my review of the SanDisk sansa 512mb. I forgot to mention that it has a decent voice recorder for notes and such, but i always have mine filled to the the rim with music, so i've never really had the oppurtunity to really try it out.
A great first MP3 player! Cool features and a great price too! SanDisk's MP3 players have really come into their own. Not only are they packed with features, but the price is reasonable. SanDisk has come a long way from their original Digital Audio Player.
This model has tons of things going for it.
- great sound, nothing not to like there
- light-weight
- FM tuner
- voice recording
- ergonomic design
- great navigation and sorting features
- Microsoft PlaysForSure compatible (for those who are into that)
- USB 2.0 connectivity
- replaceable battery!!!
The cons are minor in my opinion
- limited shuffle features
- built-in microphone could have been improved
- mediocre backlight
- slower transfer speed on older computers
For those needing more space, the Sansa M240 and M250 offer more space in the same form factor. This unit is not ideal for those who primarily want to use it for recording. Sony's various models are all superior in that regard.
One thing I have to wonder is why SanDisk didn't include an SD slot in this bad boy. I've already seen a few similar players with them.
I took a test drive and I liked it so much, I bought it as a holiday gift for a friend. I would definitely recommend it. I wanted to keep it myself, but I'm gonna get my own instead. :)
Enjoy!
No problems; significant advantages over iPod The SanDisk Sansa is a small flash-based mp3 player that runs for many hours on a single AAA battery available wherever. It is so easy to use I did not and have not even looked at the instruction manual. The sound quality is really good and the price can't be beat.
As others have noted, the array of mp3 devices is really bewildering. Basically, there is iPod and everything else. Ultimately, this product seems to be the best of the "everything else" category - and there are some significant reasons why I think people are better off with this than with iPods. Firstly, and most importantly for me, the SanDisk player functions as a drag and drop drive into which you can just put your music files and they play right away. There is no proprietary interface such as iTunes required. This is a huge advantage for anyone who does not use or like iTunes, as I do not. Loading and unloading files can be done easily and seamlessly through the regular windows desktop interface. This results in a device that is considerably more useful and robust than iPods which require the use of the stupid and childlike, yet strangely frusterating, iTunes software - one of the biggest problems of which is that you can only use one computer at a time to sync to your music library. This is really not cool. If, however, you want to use a designated piece of software to sync to the SanDisk, you can use musicmatch or a number of others and it works without any of the hassle of iTunes. In fact, with one click, you can sync whatever is playing on your Musicmatch playlist to the player... something that I never really figured out how to do with iTunes. Furthermore, you can easily use the flash memory to hold any other kind of file just like a pen drive.
In the end, I can only attribute the success of iPods to their marketing blitz and to their kind of catchy designs. But these are not really good reasons to buy a music player. I had an iPod for a while before I spilled coffee all over it and I don't miss it one bit. I only wish I had gotten one of these sooner and had given away my iPod to someone who likes them instead of the unfortunate end that it met. I think if you buy one of these you won't regret it. It's not quite as tiny as the iPod shuffle and it does require AAA batteries but it is a much more useful piece of equipment.
