SanDisk Sansa Express 1 GB MP3 Player (Black)

I bought the 1GB Sansa Express for my wife for Christmas. My wife wanted an mp3 player for the gym. The requirements were these:- had to be small and light with the ability to fit in a pocket- had to have an FM tuner for the video screens at the gym- had to be able to play a variety of audio formats without additional softwareI can say that the Sansa Express is just the ticket. You don't need any additional software other than what is already on Windows XP and Vista. The device is about as long as a USB jump drive, but a bit thicker. It plugs into any USB port, even the slower 1.0 USB ports (if you happen to have an older computer). When you plug it in, Windows recognizes the player without fuss. Now here is where most people get themselves into trouble. They just start dragging and dropping, not really understanding how the Sansa Express works. That's a sure way to lock the thing up and create frustrations.The first thing I did was let the device charge for 2 hours. At that point the battery meter indicated a full charge status. I then used the Sansa screen menu to "format" the device. Finally, I went to the Sansa website and got the latest firmware for the device. Firmware updates are incredibly easy, and the Sansa website has a forum with many beginner and advanced participants. A short read of the forums, and you'll learn some great tricks. In fact, I would say that reading the forums on the Sansa website will give you a much better understanding than the included manual, which is not that great.The sound quality on this device is astounding. Playback of a recording on the Sansa Express is audibly superior to that same recording on an iPod Nano 1st generation. You can also choose from some equalizer presets and even create your own custom equalizer setting. I showed my wife how to use Windows Media Player (already installed with Windows products) to one-click sync music to her new Sansa. Windows Media Player lets you create playlists and shuffle as you sync, and that's quite handy. FM reception is excellent and sound quality in that mode is also nice.All in all, the Sansa Express is a great media player. It supports many more formats than the iPod, manages power effectively, sounds great, and offers probably the best pricing of any media player on the market. If you need to add capacity later, you can always insert a micro SD card for even more capacity. Nice!

Really impressed when I recieved this. I bought it as a gift for my husbands 60th birthday. He loved it, but we have trouble navigating through the function list. At times I get stuck on recording and can't get it back to the music I want to listen to. So, programming ease of use is lacking. I will continue to try and work with it but I recommend a larger unit with a bigger screen, navigation may be easier.

My Creative Zen Nano just died after five or six years of loyal, hard service, so I went looking for another compact MP3 player to replace it. I weighed my options, decided I didn't want to upgrade to more than a gig (I can only listen to so much music at a time) and settled on the Sansa Express. I'm also all about simple electronics - I don't need anything resembling an iPod or the current Zen.Anyway, I got the Express just a few days after my Zen Nano's demise (woooo Prime!), plugged it into my laptop to charge, loaded it up to the brim with music, plugged it into my car's Rockford Fosgate system, and was blown away by how much better the sound quality was over the Zen Nano. I accidentally turned the volume all the way up trying to turn it off (design flaw there) and it was a glorious acoustic moment. I love that it charges via USB (my Zen Nano chewed through AAAs like it was candied bacon), the display is nice and bright, the controls are pretty intuitive. It was a nice replacement for the Zen Nano.Until it died three days later.I'd plugged it in for its second lifetime recharge - after half an hour or so the software that came with it said it was at 96% charge, so I disconnected it. After that, I tried playing a song. My playback options had reset (which it had done on its own several times in the short time I had it) so I set it on Shuffle and hit play. It selected the first track uploaded (like it normally does) and attempted to play - the clock remained at 0:00 for about a minute, no sound emerged, then it crashed (no button response) and shut down. Haven't been able to turn it back on since (and for what it's worth, mine appears to be a V2 - the packaging states it supports Audible files).So here I am, stuck another weekend without car tunes. I bought it because I trusted the Sandisk name, and reading the other negative reviews for the Express I'm not sure if I want to exchange it for another yet. I got it for $25, and in the time I had it I think the quality of sound earned its price tag, so I think I can say I got what I paid for and it was nice while I had it, but I wish it would have lasted a few magnitudes longer.

This product has great potential, but it just doesn't cut it. The most annoying problem is that it doesn't remember where you left off when you pause or when you skip songs (yes, I upgraded the firmware). If you're 30 minutes into a 1 hour podcast and you accidentally advance, forget it. Game over. Avoiding Pause and using the off button actually maintains your place, but what a hassle. Finally, the whole thing kicked the bucket after about 6 months. I loved the fact that it had an FM transmitter. Sad, definitely sad.I've found a better solution to this piece of junk: stick with the iPod shuffle and use Media Monkey. Works great.