Customer Reviews
Should have heeded reviews 
2008-04-17
The concept and application of the direct USB conncection (cordless) seemed like a dream (with 4 kids and 3 or 4 devices per kid, USB cords and chargers are taking over our lives!), as did the elongated rectangular shape (I could tuck it anywhere for transportation) and sleek design; indeed, these factors WERE a dream, for a week. Spontaneously, the device failed to power up, even though fully charged, and failed, as well, to be recognized by my computer. Before purchase, I read at least one review whose writer had the precise problem, but I did not pay much attention; now I wish I would have taken it to heart. The disappointment didn't stop there: the most frustrating part of the deal was SanDisk customer/technical support. After spending literally hours on the phone with non-English speaking tech representatives who spilled out worthless memorized solutions, applying all their suggested updates and other fixes with no success, and losing every bit of data on the device, their final offer was this: try to get a reimbursement from Amazon. SanDisk, even after admitting its product was faulty, will reimburse and/or replace the product ONLY after the retailer (in this case, Amazon) refuses to replace. Even though I anticipate no trouble acquiring an Amazon solution, I will not be purchasing another SanDisk product--WOULD YOU?!??! Resist the "too good to be true" qualities of this Sansa Express; go for one of the tried and true brands, like Apple--if that one fails, at least you'll have customer service to back you.
Use for music and files! 
2008-04-07
I used a 2GB MicroSD card with my 2GB Lil Monsta for a total of 4GB storage -- absolutely perfect for this graphic designer who wants to keep his favorite tunes and files on one storage unit. I use it in my car with a third-party FM converter also.
The Radio feature is okay - it can sometimes get static, but for the most part it's fine. I haven't used the recorder as of yet.
I recommend this for those who feel 4GB is plenty of space and wants a compact alternative to the iPod or Zune.
fragile, have not come to terms with the consumer 2008-04-02
This is my third. Customer Service is thorny and not too helpful.
Each exchange took several calls, 3 submissions and plenty of time before received.
Sandisk is trying to expand their horizon of products to include more than flash memory, but has not incorporated the design team to go along with it. They fired their last CEO, and I think the current new product CEO is going as well.
c'est a dire, They haven't come to terms with the consumer.
Sounds Great, Micro SD is a Headache 
2008-03-31
I really want to love the Sansa Express. It sounds great, is ultra-portable, has an excellent EQ feature (which is essential to me when listening to anything but CD or DVD audio), and the price is right.
I use it mostly for working out, so I don't need a full-color screen, and the navigation is bare bones but efficient. The Griffin clear case is a must as well, not just for protecting the Express, but for keeping the Micro SD card from popping out every time you touch it!
And that's where this player hits its limit. The Micro SD card slot supports 2GB without a problem, but when I tried an 8GB, it froze, and it only recognized the card as having 4GB, even though I formatted it within the player. My guess is this is a firmware issue that has not been resolved yet.
I could be the only one with this problem, but I eventually just took the 8GB card out completely, and started using a 2GB. Had I known that, I never would have purchased an 8GB Micro SD card. I haven't tried a 4GB or 6GB card yet.
Other that that huge issue, everything else works great. The FM radio sounds good with good signal pickup, and the recorder is adequate for putting thoughts down or recording the radio.
Finally, this works seamlessly with Napster, and comes with a free 30-day trial. It's great for me because I'm constantly switching my music out in batches.
Unless you are a Napster user, forget it. 2008-03-25
Even though it worked well with Napster, everything else about this product was bad. Go to their own support page and you can see why.
I gave up on the Sansa and bought a competing product for less money which works great.
Works great here 
2008-06-26
Had one for about 6 weeks and am pleased. It does what was expected; play MP3/WMA/WAV and audio books with the FM radio and recorder being sauce for the goose.
Contrary to others I've found the menus adequate and easy to navigate even with my size 12 ham-hands. Of course our 10 year old son can fly through them. Not exactly feature-rich menus, but good enough at this price point. As for the OLED: of course it washes out a bit in the sun....but then so does every digital cameras LCD I've seen, but the OLED doesn't wash out as much.
The only cons so far are that MicroSD's are too easy to eject (not uncommon with many devices) and the neck rope was too stiff.
Many have complained about it dying or locking up, sometimes recovering with a hard reset and sometimes not. In my experience this is usually due to just removing it from a computers USB port without using Windows "Safely Remove Hardware" dialog. Not doing so can cause instabilities in MANY makers devices that show either immediately or later.
SanDisk Sansa Express 2Gb 2008-06-23
I bought this item with a little trepidation having read very mixed reviews of the product. In the end I decided to buy it on the basis that I was looking for an MP3 player that is easy to use, compact and doesn't require any additional leads etc (which can easily be lost/forgotten). This seemed to be the only unit that satisfied this for my budget range (<$50).
I've had the unit one month so far. I should point-out that I am not an intensive user of MP3s and perhaps use mine around 2 times per week.
So far I have found it to work pretty well. It looks nice and the battery life seems fine. I used it on several long-haul flights and it seemed to last fine (the ear-plugs feel a bit unconfortable after an hour or so).
The unit has crashed on me few times (poor software I guess) but was quick to re-boot after pressing the reset button, ie. it did't particularly bother me. I haven't upgraded the firmware.
The unit seems to work well with MS Media Player - it seemed to auto-detect and worked seamlessly. I haven't bought an expansion memory card yet so can't comment on that.
The pros and cons of this unit are:
Pros:
* Cheap
* Looks good
* Compact
* Simple to use - no leads to forget/lose
* Has a radio that works!
Cons:
* Sometimes stalls (but comes back to life after a reset)
* the wiring is a bit messy - a problem shared by other units
* sound sometimes a little hissy
* menu sometimes seems a little awkward to navigate (minor complaint)
* Earphones a little uncomfortable (probably best to buy nicer ones if you plan to use it a lot)
Overall, this unit works (so far) well for me, but I'm not a big user. Keep that in mind when reading this.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr... 2008-06-12
for some reason i could not submit this review without at least 1 star rating...this product deserves -5 stars...i would not recommend the sansa express mp3 player to anyone...i have had mine for less than 6 weeks and already it is unuseable...the menu/power button has become stuck so it cannot even be turned on...i only used it 3 times a week so it failed with only 15 uses...a google search showed that other people had the exact same problem so it is not user failure but product failure...
Stopped working after 3 days use 2008-05-22
Worked fine for 3 days although it was irritating that you can not add folders to the data directory for storing text files etc.
Then it would not power up at all. Tried to recharge but it was dead and I sent it back. Gonna try the Creative Muvo T200 next - similar music and radio features but is supposed to be recognized as a standard HD for data transfer. Hopefully I'll have better luck with that.
Fantastic little mp3 player 2008-05-02
I bought this little player to use in my car to listen to audiobooks. I used to use a 5th gen iPod which I gave to my husband after I got an iPhone. It quickly became apparent that it was dangerous to use the iPhone as an mp3 player in the car since you can't even pause w/o looking at the screen. This little player filled in nicely. I've had it for about 4 months now and I'm very satisfied.
Pros:
1. Very compact and lightweight.
2. Doesn't require any special cradles, it plugs into any USB port. I've never had any problems in picking it up from other computers. (Very convenient for charging as well)
3. I don't need to look at it in order to pause or forward when driving.
4. Good sound for audiobooks. (The few times I've used it to listen to music it sounded descent as well).
5. Inexpensive. My husband thought I should buy an iPod nano or shuffle. But, both would be a lot more expensive, and the shuffle doesn't even have a screen (so I wouldn't know where I left off in an audiobook).
6. When you pause playing, after a while (~0.5 min) it turns off to save power. Next time, it resumes from the beginning of the track where you left off. So this is quite useful for audiobooks.
7. Doesn't feel incredibly fragile. I wouldn't be afraid of leaving this in my car, unlike an iPod or iPhone (if the weather wasn't too extreme).
8. Radio tuner
9. Micro SD slot (I only just got a card & haven't used it yet, so I don't know how well/conveniently it works)
10. You can record voice notes
11. Menu system on device strait-forward & easy to use
Cons:
1. Windows media is not as easy to use as iTunes. So, syncing is a little harder.
2. Shuts off too quickly. I haven't seen any options for changing this.
All in all, this is a great, handy little player. I would definitely recommend!
