More after the jump.

RockBox, for those of you who are unaware, is an open-source, third-party firmware for a number of older DAPs ranging from high-quality players from iriver and Archos to the first few generations of Apple's iPods.  In most cases, it will act as a substitute for the original firmware (with my player, it has a bootloader, but I'm not sure if this is the case for others) and vastly improve the functionality of whatever it's being applied to.  Think Midas touch, except instead of Midas, we have RockBox, and instead of gold, everything it touches turns to awesome.

With the release of 3.0 (finally), a lot of bugs and compatibility issues have been ironed out, or at least enough to come out with a proper release.  Having never been able to get previous builds of RockBox to work with my iriver H10; the H10's basic firmware was decent enough that I never bothered myself with figuring out why it wouldn't boot RockBox.  Now, though, I have an iriver H320, which despite being the H10's predecessor, gave me unimaginable firmware related headaches.

RockBox's installation procedure is fairly straightforward.  A non-US firmware version needs to be loaded on the iriver*, as well as the system files for RockBox itself.  The bootloader then patches a vendor provided firmware upgrade so that RockBox can be booted into.  If that all seems too much for you, the fine programmers over at RockBox provide a pretty simple GUI-based installation utility to make everything a whole lot easier.  On the H320, I can still get into the original firmware by holding the record button as I turn it on, and that also means that I can always flash the player back to a firmware version that RockBox hasn't latched itself to.

*Note that flashing to a non-US firmware version on iriver players will disable the ability to play DRM protected music files, i.e. music files that you don't want in the first place.

The first thing I noticed upon booting into RockBox was the sleek, minimalist menu system.  The firmware's visual design is top-notch, and if it doesn't suit your needs even then, more themes can be downloaded right on to the player; same thing goes for fonts.  The menu layout is intuitive, and does what you'd expect it to do when a given button on the player is pressed.

The settings menus can be slightly overwhelming, but I had my player set up the way I wanted it within a few minutes of buggering.  In particular, there are display settings, more display settings, sound settings, equalizer settings, settings that tell your player how to react, settings that tell your player when to react, settings that tell your player to react when you tell it to react, and settings for the sandwich you can tell it to have your wife make you.  Okay, I lied about the last one, but it's not perfect.

I only have two quips with it right now, the first that it is often slow to respond to input.  Under some circumstances, the player will simply take a few extra seconds to do what you tell it to do, but I'll count that as one of the trade-offs of having firmware that actually does what I want it to do.  My second complaint is that the player often doesn't know just how much battery life it has.  On a full charge (or what I'm assuming is a full charge), RockBox thinks it only has roughly half of it's battery life left.  Between 9% and 8% battery life remaining will also give me the better part of two hours of play time.  Though I'm pretty sure there's a setting I can change for that.

All in all, if you have an older DAP lying around and don't want to get rid of it just yet, I would strongly recommend checking out whether or not RockBox has an offering for you.  It will more than likely breathe some new life back into that old, fossilizing player of yours.  Speaking of which, I have an old iPod Nano lying around here somewhere that I have to get around to making functional.

Mike

L'associazione Italia Nostra sezione di Savona ha organizzato, con la partecipazione della libreria Ubik di Corso Italia, per giovedì 9 ottobre dalle ore 20,30 alle 23,00 presso la Sala Rossa del Comune di Savona (Piazza Sisto IV) un incontro dal titolo "Il partito del Cemento: e adesso che lo abbiamo letto?". Filo conduttore della serata, com'è evidente dal titolo, sarà il noto libro inchiesta (Milano, Chiarelettere, 2008) scritto da Ferruccio Sansa e Marco Preve (vedi anche nel blog il post Liguria, "Trenette e mattoni": nasce il blog di Marco Preve, coautore de "Il partito del cemento"). Animeranno la discussione Bruno Lugaro e Roberto Cuneo.

Qui sotto le video interviste sul libro rilasciate da Ferruccio Sansa e Marco Preve al Meetup Il Grillo di Genova (luglio 2008):

Vrei sa angajezi pe cineva, sau iti cauti tu de lucru, ori pentru altcineva? Atunci descopera noul site-portal de joburi.

Click aici.

prima oara nu am dat atentie, apoi am inceput sa citesc eticheta din spate, eram curios sa aflu ce inseamna Sansa; si am aflat (dar nu din eticheta) Sansa este ceea ce ramane dupa extragerea uleiului de masline, cel extra-virgin, acesta care se poate numi corect Ulei de masline.

Uleiul din Sansa, nu contine decat in proportie foarte mica ulei de masline, si pentru extragerea sa se folosesc tot felul de substante chimice.

Acum concluzia: Cumparati numai ulei care este Extra-Virgin, si pe spate trebuie sa scrie ca este extras numai din masline, prin metode mecanice sau la rece.

Pofta buna...

Am observat ca de ceva timp a aparut o noua campanie ce lupta impotriva cancerului. Este  vorba de cancerul la san. Mai multe detalii despre aceasta campanie gasiti aici.

Daca vrei sa asculti si tu KissFm o poti face si pe internet apasand click aici ( salveaza fisierul si nu il deschide direct, risti sa iti stergi lista pe care o aveai in winamp de exemplu).

Un început de săptămână fain să aveţi !

Lho, jadi apa yang membuat hari itu begitu membahagiakan? Pertanyaan yang saya ajukan untuk diri saya sendiri, dasar wong edan... Emang edan eling. Tapi bukankah setiap orang itu edan. (ieu deui ieu deui)

Ya, boleh saya review lagi dah.

Hari itu hari Jumat. Hari kamis malamnya saya *kebetulan* ga bisa tidur. Hari Jumat jam 00.15 sms masuk. Ucapan selamat pertama, dari Arrin. Beberapa menit kemudian datang sms lagi. Ucapan selamat lagi. Dari temen baik saya, Fuad. Akhirnya saya tertidur, kira2 jam 1 pagi.

Bangun sahur karena dibangunkan babeh. Nuhun pah (dibanguninnya harus dua kali lho~ hehehe..). Nggak seperti biasanya badan ini langsung segar. Abis makan sahur terus sholat subuh (mungkin, lupa euy) dan tidur lagi.

Terbangun jam 08.00 langsung mandi dan pergi ke kampus. Nunggu kuliah PLBB hingga jam 09.30 (seharusnya kuliah dimulai pada 09.00). Tidur di kelas saat kuliah PLBB dan dibangunkan oleh Pak Dosen. Hahaha... kapan lagi lah... Sms2 berdatangan. Yang kurang ajar dari INDOSAT, ngirim sampe beberapa kali. Wong edan. Satu kali aja cukup lah kk...

11.30 selesai kuliah. Jumatan di masjid PDAM. Hujan sedikit menyapa, namun hanya sekedar lewat. Untung kebagian tempat *agak* di dalam masjid. Jadi cuma basah dikit banget.

12.30 ke studio, buka rileks, periksa FJB, ternyata VGA udah ada yang nawar ampe 400rb. Noviandi menyapa dan memberi selamat dalam perjalanannya menuju lift (haduh sempet2nya... nuhun, Ndi).

13.30 ke LFM, ada kuliah PDI. Tidur lagi di sini sambil mendengarkan *dongeng* dari Bu Dosen.

15.00 kuliah diinterupsi karena ruangannya akan dipakai ujian (kalkulus, ceunah). Nya alus we lah. Hehehe. Namun hati ini kurang tenang, karena pengalaman tahun kemaren saya berhasil dibanjur air es oleh kawan2 angkatan. Moga-moga hari ini nggak lagi, pikir saya.

Sorenya saya ke BEC mencari Sansa Clip 2GB. Nemu dengan harga 515rb. Langsung embat.

Pulang ke rumah, ngecas Clip, buka bersama hidangan dan ucapan selamat dari orangtua.

Setelah tarawih saya langsung mengetes Sandisk Sansa Clip yang baru aja dibeli. Wow~ suaranya jernih bro!! Padahal masih pake earphone bawaan Sansa, yang kata orang-orang jelek. Emang sih staging-nya sempit. Namun detailnya udah lebih bagus ketimbang earphone abal2. Nggak tau karena di-drive oleh si Clip nya. Setelah itu saya makin penasaran. Langsung tes Clip pake cans yang baru dibeli minggu kemaren, Sennheiser HD202. ALAMAK~!!! Gila kali suaranya!!! Staging lumayan luas. Separasi sangat terasa.Bass sangat detail. Detail lainnya mantap (walaupun agak ketutup oleh bass-nya). Pokoknya intinya: gadget terbaik yang pernah saya punya deh!!!

Malemnya tidur setelah dapet beberapa tambahan sms lagi.

Menyenangkan bukan?

Sunt mulţi cărora li se acordă o a 2'a şansă, însă majoritatea nu au norocul din păcate!

...Acum sunt trist şi supărat pe Filip. Acum nu-l mai înţeleg. Oare este supărat pe mine..? Oare nu mai sunt prietenul său ? Cu fiecare an bifat pe calendar am simţit că relaţia noastră, în loc să se limpezească, mai mult se tulbură . Am simţit cum încet, încet am devenit un fel de slugă a sa. Până şi promisiunile au încetat, a încetat orice fel de comunicare. Iar eu am continuat să-i adun mizeria, care era din ce în ce mai multă. Am suportat, am strâns din dinţi (mă rog, aşa cum pot eu...), am plâns, am implorat. Zi de zi acelaşi lucru. Zi de zi aceeaşi mocirlă. S-a terminat cu distracţia. Of, mă doare...Chiar mă doare...Şi simt că cedez. Până când să tot fac asta..? Am şi eu limite, nu-s din metal. Nu mai suport ! Vreau să plec. Nu ştiu unde şi cum dar vreau să plec. Gata, m-am hotărât ! Nu-l mai ajut. Protestez. Filip, descurcă-te !...Revino-ţi sau o să mă pierzi. Spune-mi, eşti sigur că vrei să mă pierzi?...Eu îţi mai dau o şansă, să ştii...Vrei ?..Filip !!..Iar ai făcut mizerie...

Czytaj dalej

Czytaj dalej

Czytaj całość

Rockbox takes the whole conecpt of "linux-ifying" to a new level!! I could do nothing with my Sansa e280's ol' firmware (not that it is obsolete) but once i tried RockBox on a 20 Mbyte partition, i found it amazing!! THE BEST feature was that RockBox could access and archive songs from the other partition in the memory even though it was formatted with a different file system!! This is the same as "mounting" a windows drive on PCs running linux.

With RockBox installed, I could play CHESS WITH THE PLAYER (came with inbuilt AI) and use the player as a stopwatch, text reader and even make it play file formats which were not supported by the player's original firmware!! (codecs did the job). :)

I highly recommend that ppl shift to RockBox not just because it suits my craving for "linux-ifying" things, but because IT IS WONDERFUL!! :P

Auf den ersten Blick ist er einfach nur eine der vielen iPod-Alternativen, wohl auch eine der besseren: 4GB, Video-Support (Quicktime), Bilder (JPEG), Album-Art-Anzeige. Auf den zweiten Blick - dank der kostenlosen Firmware-Alternative Rockbox -bietet der e260 jedoch eine ganze Menge mehr. "Entdecke die Möglichkeiten", wie der Schwede sagen würde...

Rockbox, das ist eine Open-Source-Firmware, die es auch für iPod und einige andere MP3-Player (siehe Übersicht) gibt. Firmware, das ist mal ganz grob untechnisch beschrieben die Software die von Haus aus auf einem Gerät ist, damit dieses überhaupt funktioniert. Beim MP3-Player ermöglicht diese Software also, dass man Musik anhören kann oder durch Verzeichnisse navigieren kann.

Vorteil: Installiert man Rockbox auf seinem MP3-Player, erweitert sich der Funktionsumfang enorm. Aus meinem e260 wurde dank Rockbox ein richtiges Entertainment-Monster. Hier einige der Features:

• Kinderleichte Installation dank Installations-Tool "Rockbox Utility"

Einfache Installation per Rockbox Utility

• Dual-Boot-Option: Das heißt, man bei installiertem Rockbox auf Wunsch auch noch die Original-Firmware laden!
• Leichte Auswahl verschiedener Anzeige-Themen, wer mag kann sich alles selbst einstellen und modden
• Unterstützung zahlreicher Audio-Formate, neben MP3 und WMA etwa auch FLAC, OGG oder MPC
• Verschiedene Audio-Features wie Crossfading, Equalizer, Crossfeed, ReplayGain etc.
• 30 Sprachen
• Unzählige Plugins mit denen sich kleine Programme und ein Haufen Spiele (dazu später noch mehr) nachrüsten lassen
• Ständige Weiterentwicklung: Rockbox wird immer noch besser :-)

Beeindruckt? Ja, ich auf jeden Fall. Ein großer Beweggrund für mich als last.fm-Fan außerdem: Mit Rockbox kann man Scrobbeln! Auf Wunsch wird eine Log-Datei erstellt, die sich dann mit einem Scrobble-Uploader leicht an last.fm übermitteln lässt. Hier kann ich den QT Scrobbler weiterempfehlen, der sich bei mir bis jetzt prima bewährt hat. Das heißt, in Zukunft kann ich auch von unterwegs scrobbeln :-) Yeah! Wie in meinem "40.000-Songs bei last.fm"-Artikel vor einigen Tagen angedeutet, wird sich meine Scrobble-Statistik dadurch in Zukunft garantiert ändern.

Als letzten Punkt jetzt noch einmal zu den Spielen, die sich alle bequem per Installer installieren lassen. Was es hier gibt ist echt unglaublich. Ersteinmal gibt es zahlreiche eigens entwickelte Spiele-Klone, zum Beispiel Sudoku, Asteroids, Solitär, MineSweeper, Jewels, Schach oder das großartige Bubbles. Der absolute Hammer ist jedoch: Doom läuft auf Rockbox! Da klappte mir dann doch die Kinnlade runter.

Und als wäre das nicht genug, kann man den Sansa e260 mit Rockbox als Gameboy-Emulator nutzen. Das heißt man kann auf dem Sansa Super Mario, Zelda und Co. daddeln. Ich selbst habs noch nicht ausprobiert, aber schaut euch doch einfach mal dieses YouTube-Video an (zu sehen unter anderem Super Mario Brothers, Doom in einer Counter-Strike-Edition, Pacman):

Fazit: Es muss nicht immer iPod sein ;-) Und falls doch - für den iPod gibt es ebenfalls Rockbox-Firmware, mit der ihr den Apple-Geräten noch einmal ordentlich Feuer unterm Hintern machen könnt! Durch meinen Glückskauf habe ich mit dem Sansa e260 dank Rockbox auf jeden Fall einen tollen Multimedia-Begleiter für unterwegs gefunden.

Wer noch Fragen zum Thema hat, kann einen Blick in Wiki, FAQs oder die ausführliche Anleitung zu seinem Gerät werfen. Ich stehe natürlich für Fragen gerne zur Verfügung - kenn mich mittlerweile einigermaßen aus mit Rockbox ;-) Ab in die Comments damit!

Esto... queria aprovechar que Saku esta por ahi haciendo el gilipollas con su vestido nuevo (Saku: Wiii vestidito sexiiii x3 chiiiii) para actualizar yo por mi cuenta... Bueno solo queria decir que... que...

Que por muy bueno que este vais a tener que cortaros un poco porque yo... ya estoy cazado y encerrado... ¬////¬....

Yo también te quiero Sansa... ///

Adios.

Need an example? Listen to "Groovin (on a Sunday afternoon)," the Young Rascals' version. Every time I have ever listened to this song, from childhood to now, the song puts me in just the best mood. It reminds me of summer Sunday afternoons, spent in my hometown of Hillsborough, NC, when I had no worries, no responsibilities, and plenty of family and good friends around me at all times. If you don't have those same remembrances, just the beat should get your toe tappin.'

This summer wasn't so hot. It wasn't bad; it just wasn't "Groovin (on a Sunday Afternoon). Last night, at midnight, listening to my Sansa MP3 player, pleading with myself to go to sleep, I found my song of summer 2008! About time, as summer is over in 2 weeks as the calendar goes.

The song is Ryan Adams' "I Taught Myself How to Grow Old," from his album, "Easy Tiger." Should have known that troubled young tarheel would provide my summer soundtrack.

The whole, slow, almost acoustic, song is just brilliant; lyrics and music, but the middle of the song, it sums up my feelings, or lack thereof, the past few months. Listening is like looking into a mirror. I hope that mirror leaves me soon, autumn is always such a great, "look to the future, not to the past" kind of time for me.

The "middle" of "I taught myself" is:

"Most of the time I got nothing to say
When I do it's nothing and nobody's there to listen anyway
I know I'm probably better off this way
I just listen to the voices on the TV 'til I'm tired
My eyes grow heavy and I fade away…"

4. Een must: onthouden waar je gebleven bent
Wanneer je een hoorspel beluistert dat een uur duurt, en je moet onderbreken, dan is het absoluut noodzakelijk dat je toestel onthoudt waar je gebleven was. Sommige players onthouden dat, en wanneer je de player terug opzet dan zal hij terug starten op exact de juiste plek waar je gestopt was. Sommige players echter onthouden dat niet, en beginnen gewoon terug aan het begin van het hoorspel. Maar zelfs als de player dit onthoudt, dan moet je daarna, wanneer je de player terug aanzet, onmiddellijk met het hoorspel verder gaan, en niet bijvoorbeeld andere muziek beluisteren.
5. Aangeraden: bookmarks
Daarom is het, als je toch kiezen kan, beter om te gaan voor een player waar je bookmarks kan leggen. Daarbij markeer je een punt in het MP3-bestand, dat later door de player terug gevonden kan worden. Players die bookmarks ondersteunen zijn bijvoorbeeld de Creative Zen Micro, en ook de Archos player. Een uitvoerige lijst vind je in dit artikel
6. Absoluut afgeraden: enkel synchroniseren via de eigen software
Hoorspelen zijn nu eenmaal anders dan gewone muziek. Muziek zal je vaker willen beluisteren, maar een hoorspel beluister je, en dan misschien over een jaar of 2, 3 nogmaals. Wat je voor je gewone muziek doet (synchroniseren tussen computer en player) is dus niet de ideale methode om de hoorspelen op de player te krijgen. Helaas zijn er verschillende players die enkel synchroniseren toelaten via de eigen muziekmanager. Probeer dit zoveel mogelijk te vermijden, en te kiezen voor en player waarbij je met klikken en verslepen bestanden kan overzetten.

Helaas zijn de meeste verkopers van MP3 players niet op de hoogte van alle eigenschappen van de player - er zijn er ook zoveel, en players zijn maar één van de artikels die zo'n elektronicawinkel verkoopt, naast wasmachines, ijskasten en tv's. Wij raden je daarom aan om eerst te kijken wat het aanbod en prijs is, en daarna op het internet de eigenschappen van de player te controleren, aan de hand van de gebruiksaanwijzing van de player. Omslachtig, wij weten het, maar dit is de enige manier om te voorkomen dat je een player koopt, en het je achteraf beklaagt.

Daarom ook een oproep aan de lezers van dit blog: kan je ons in de commentaren op dit blog vermelden welke player je gebruikt, of hij aan de voornoemde vereisten voldoet, de plus- en minpunten te vermelden, en uiteraard de prijs. Alvast bedankt!

Onze keuze? De Archos 104 en 204. Die beantwoordt aan alle vereisten - scherm, bookmarks, mappen, overzetten met klikken en verslepen. De geluidskwaliteit is ok, en je hebt een equalizer om eventueel het geluid aan te passen.

Essential live shows to get:

Live Trax 7.  (12-31-96 Hampton Coliseum).  An excellent pick from the DMB archive.  This show is HOT.  I have listened to this show probably about 100 times since I picked it up.  The Bela Fleck addition to the lineup for a guest appearance is probably my favorite part.  Even the weaker Tripping Billies takes on a new sound. 

The Central Park Show-9-24-2003 This was if I am not mistaken a FREE show in Central park.  It benefited the NYC Public Schools system, and I can remember listening to it live via AOL on DIAL UP!!  I was sitting there at my old pc with Aby and we were just JAMMING!!  She loved it!  When I picked up the disc I found the beauty that is Warren Haynes.  That man can FRIGGIN SHRED!!  They team up and do Cortez the Killer (Neil Young tune) and wake up the ghosts of Central Park.  I think the monster in Cloverfield was awoken from this monster jam. 

The real treat of the past week came Wednesday (8-20-08) when I was on my favorite message board and found out that LivePhish radio would be playing the entire Walnut Creek performance from 7-22-97.  I wasn’t able to listen to the show due to being at work, but no worries.  I have it and have wore out the MP3’s on my Sansa playing it.  The songs that followed the performance were what I was excited about.  Kevin Shapiro, the Phish Archivist was doing a live broadcast called, From the Archives.  This is where they play the best cuts from the vault of Phish.  Does it get any better?  (Can you imagine going into the Phish vault?  I picture a Matrix-esque warehouse filled with masters from floor to ceiling.  Pictures of the band everywhere.  Mementos cluttered throughout.)

Description of Walnut Creek show

From livephish.com: On July 22, 1997 Phish performed the second show of their United States summer tour at Walnut Creek Amphitheatre in Raleigh, NC. During the show, a thunderstorm of biblical proportion passed directly over the venue letting loose a torrential downpour of rain, thunder and lightning that accentuated the electric nature of the event. The fearsome peaks of the storm synchronized with the peaks of the music, blurring the lines between band and storm. The most sensible course of action was to cancel the gig for safety's sake, but instead the band played through the Appalachian tempest in a thrilling confluence of art and nature. PHISH - WALNUT CREEK documents the collision between a force as imaginative and powerful as Phish in the summer of 1997 and the supreme forces of Creation. This show was hazardous and soaked to the bone but fortunately the tapes - captured from the multi-camera lawn feed and 5.1 audio - remained dry enough to provide the masters for this release, which showcases some of the most potent jamming and scintillating transitions of Phish's career.

Here is a run-Down of the compilation from what Shapiro shared.  Every Single Song on this compilation is AMAZING.  You won’t find much better jamming anywhere. 

Download Link: http://www.sendspace.com/file/wvrz5x

1 Kevin
2 Limb by Limb 7/22/97 Soundcheck
3 Reba 8/16/93
4 Gumbo 7/29/97
5 Bathtub Gin 6/28/00
6 Kevin
7 AC/DC Bag 12-30-97
8 Brother 5/17/92

9 Halley's Comet -> 11/26/94
10 David Bowie 11/26/94
11 Kevin
12 Ghost -> 7/4/99
13 Slave to the Traffic Light 7/4/99

There are currently 5 of these From the Archives sets.  I have 2.  I am still looking for the other 3. 

As an added treat, here is the 12-20-07 From The Archives, celebrating the 5 year anniversary of Livephish.com

Archives 12-20-07 1 Download Link: http://www.sendspace.com/file/26280b

Archives 12-20-07 2 Download Link: http://www.sendspace.com/file/mwfi7i

From the Archives with Kevin Shapiro

LivePhish.com Stream

December 20, 2007

Source: 128 kbps mp3 streaming audio > Mac G5 > Avid XpressPro @ 44.1 kHz AIFF > FLAC

Tracking, minor edits, level adjustments done in XpressPro.

01. Kevin 1

02. Sanity - 8/5/88—A Nice starter!! 

03. Funky Bitch - 12/6/96 soundcheck

04. My Friend, My Friend - 11/30/94

05. Runaway Jim - 12/31/95

06. Kevin 2

07. Halley's Comet - 11/22/97

08. Stash - 4/2/98

09. Kevin 3

10. Bathtub Gin>Real Me>Gin - 12/29/95—This one had my jaw dropped! 

11. Tube - 12/7/97—DAYTON!!! 

12. Tube Jam - 12/7/97

13. Kevin 4

14. ACDC Bag - 9/14/99

15. Mike's Song - 5/8/93

16. I Am Hydrogen - 5/8/93

17. Weekapaug Groove - 5/8/93

18. Kevin 5

19. Contact - 1/3/03

20. The Curtain With - June 1987—Look @ the Year!!

21. Kevin 6

22. Tweezer - 11/28/94

23. Audience Chess Move - Fall 1995

Kevin knows his stuff.  He has an amazing wealth of knowledge of the band, and I love his snippets inbetween songs. 

Let me know what you think, or if any of the links don’t work. 

First lets start with the I POD by Apple.  The Ipod comes in four main formarts.  The Ipod Shuffle which has very little storage capacity (4GB more or less) and can only play Music Files. The other three; Nano, Clasic and Touch-Used for Cell Phones, is your Regular Ipod which plays music and videos and has a bigger storage capacity (from 30GB to a 160GB or more).  The Ipod was one of the first main stream Digital Audio Players out there.

Next we have the Zune by Microsoft.  It only has one format which allows you listen to digital music, view videos and listen to FM Radio right out of the box.  The Zune is the Ipods main competitor.  So if you use a PC with Microsoft you might want to get a Zune.  It reads WMA formats which Windows Media Player Records most of your CD's, and Mp3.  It comes in many colors and disk sizes like 30GB and 80GB (and I think i saw one with 150GB).

Now what about the Sansa?  The Sansa is a cheap version of a Video and Audio Player.  They are just as good as the Ipods and Zune's (for listening to music) but they recently started using Video, so they aren so good yet.

So what is the difference between most Digital Audidio Players?  I would have to say just what each one of them can do.  Some play Audio, others play Audio and Video.  Some read Mp3 formats while other read Mp3 and WMA, and Mp4.  It is very important to just look for logos on the AudioPlayers like "MP3" or "WMA" so you know how to download your music or record them to your PC.  Buy what you need!

IPOD                        ZUNE                        Other Audio Players

Listen to Music      X                                    X                                  X

Listen to Radio                                             X                                  X

Watch Videos        X                                     X                                  X

After my large 20GB iRiver H10 MP3 player literally fell apart I decided to look at some new MP3 players so that I would have one before moving away from home for university. In my search I looked at the ubiquitous iPod, Samsung's latest offering and the newest product range from iRiver. I stumbled upon the Sansa whilst looking through review sites and because of the nearly overwhelming positivity of the reviews that I read and the attractive price I decided to go for the Sansa e280. Another benefit to the Sansa was that it was based on flash memory meaning that it should survive everyday use that little bit better than an HDD (Hard Disk drive) based device. I decided that I really only listened to about 8GB of music and having the MicroSD slot would allow me to expand on this if needed.

I received the player two days after ordering it via the express delivery option along with a pair of Sennheiser CX300s just before I was about to head out to work. A quick fire up of the device on my Vista based laptop showed a worrying sign - the device wasn't recognized and as a result no drivers were installed. A quick google for "Sansa e280" and "Vista incompatibility" hastily showed up a remedy. I'll post it here in the hope to avoid any unnecessary frustration or returns.

On Vista open "Computer" from the start menu and open your hard disk drive with Vista installed on it. You will need to have administrator privileges or UAC turned off for this next part. Open the "Windows" folder then go into the "inf" folder. Scroll down until you find "INFCACHE.1" Right click and choose "Properties". On the security tab, make sure that all listed groups and users have full control. If any of them don't, select them, choose "edit" and allow "full control" for the required profiles. After I had performed this tweak the device was able to sync up perfectly happily.

The device itself is easy to use and the interface is self-explanatory. Its easy to use the player straight out the box without even a glance at the manual. Contrary to the post below it is possible to browse through all the music by one artist - after choosing "play all", pulling up the sub-menu and selecting "back to music list" will allow you to see all songs by one artist. Transferring music is also simple due to compatibility with Windows Media Player 11 and its synchronize option whilst photos and video can be added very quickly with the included converter software. Sound quality during playback through my CX300s is clear with good distinction of mid-range and bass. The player seems durable enough as well but only time will tell on this part.

Overall a 5 star rating due to high quality playback of music and video, easy and intuitive navigation of the player and transfer of files and great aesthetic appeal. Plus the price is fantastic! I don't feel as though points should be detracted for lack of radio as a version with this feature is available (at extra cost since due to EU laws all radio receiving devices are taxed) on a different version of the Sansa and the initial hook up issue is more concerning Vista than the e280.

Congratulations on an excellent player SanDisk and I apologize for the long review!