I really know next-to-nothing about mp3 players so I need some advice.

My daughter really wants an IPOD. I'd love to find something with the same nifty features she craves (really slim/sleek with a display screen) but, don't ask me why, I don't really want to buy an IPOD. On ebay I found Sandisk e250 that looks pretty neat to this old gal ............. but will it make a smart & savvy, about to be 15 yo, girl happy? (birthday is coming up, I would like to surprise her, which is precisely why I don't ask her 16 yo brother for an opinion - and dad doesn't really appreciate mp3's to begin with, so his opinion doesn't count right now)

Better yet, what do y'all recommend and what features do you like best? I do need to be very mindful of the budget. I like the $75-ish after s/h that I was seeing on ebay but would love less ........ I have Fry's nearby, as well as the usual b & m stores.

Thanks for your help.

Pat

My son has an e250 and absolutely loves it. It is quite a high powered machine for the money. His friends who have iPods actually say they like his gizmo better. He likes to make goofy home movies and put them on there and take it to school to show his friends over lunch. Some of them are big enough to hold full-length movies, which is very cool. iPod capabilities without the iPod price or the requirement that you use iTunes is a good thing.

If you are really interested in one, I highly suggest going through Buy.com. If you have never used google checkout, you'll get an extra $10 off. S/H is free. If you use a points program like MyPoints, you'll get points. Plus, you'll get a warranty that you might not get on eBay.

If you sign up for buy.com's email list, chances are pretty good that within a week, you'll see a Sansa deal for under $50.

Thank you for your input and advice! I will sign up now.......

They do have the 2GB refurbs for $49.99 right now, so with 1st time Google checkout, they'd be $39.99 shipped. Their refurbs usually look brand new and do come with warranties.

They had the 4GB refurbs for under $80 the other day, I believe. The 8GB's are around $119, if I recall correctly.

I have the 8GB Sansa e280 and love it!

Zune is the other brand I was considering but I found a deal on the Sansa first and I bought it.

__________________
TLJ ~ Women United in Spirit

I have one of the 8G too, and I love it...I also have an 80G ipod and a 30G Creative Zen W, and they just sit in cupboard......I love my Sansa, and I really like it's ease of use, plus if they are really into music you can join a subscription music service, and they can have unlimited download onto their player(cannot be burned) for a monthly fee.......

Another good thing about the Sansa is the expansion slots for the mini SD card. Allows you to keep exanding what you have on it.....For me I use the cards for movies that I switch out for the little ones when shopping trips go too long.....

__________________
"You can never really pay back. You can only pay forward."

Wayne Woodrow “Woody” Hayes

O-H-I-O

Looks like buy has the 8GB on sale for $112 today.
Buy.com - SanDisk Sansa e280 8GB Digital Multimedia MP3 Player - SDMX4-8192-A70

My kids have Ipods. DH has the E250. If you do MyPoints, Circuit City has a good price.

Buy the SanDisk Sansa e250 2GB Digital MP3 Player (SDMX4-2048-A70) and other Other MP3 players at circuitcity.com

Free shipping or if you have a local store, order online for the points (4 pts. per $) and pick up in the store.

I have looked at the E250 at Buy.com and have a few observations.
No manual or software included. Refurb is stenciled on the back of the unit. No serial number so no registering the unit.

That's interesting, genichols. I wonder if that's a "cover ourselves" statement. Our younger son has a refurb 1GB Sansa (not the e250) from buy, and none of those things are true with his. It came in complete and sealed manufacturer's packaging with a warranty card and everything. I don't see "refurb" anywhere on it.

For the 2GB e250, the refurb is $49.49, and the non-refurb is $77.49 both w/free s/h and no sales tax. Using google check-out for the first time would make the refurb $39.49 and the non-refurb $67.49.

The description doesn't say anything about the refurb, however, the customer reviews have several comments about the refurb stamp and lack of manual and software. Plus, I was looking only at the E250.

Interesting. Regardless... they do sell both the refurb and the brand new, and have excellent prices on both.

Thank u so much for this deal.

Really thank u.

Dang, looks like buy.com only has the refurbished units left ............ and I had read the reviews too about the possibility of "refurb" being stamped on the back and the lack of software, etc. So I hesitated and now I cannot find the new units.

Also thank you for directing me to circuit city. It's more expensive, but cheaper than elsewhere. The warranty is lots more tho .......... bummer.

And thank you for telling me about Zune. I looked it up. Pretty slick ....... but a bit out of my league, I suppose. There is so much out there and I have no clue.

Looks like I'll be getting some mypoints later this week .......... unless something else comes up.

Thanks for all your insight. Y'all are awesome.

Pat

we purchased our both our daughters' san disks at radio shack for $89 - $10 off $40 coupon found in the Entertainment books. and I too like their's better than my IPod. We love to load movies on them for the airplane!

Before you buy one, talk to your daughter and see if she will be happy with any MP3 player or if it *has* to be an iPod. If she really feels strongly about an iPod, then I would get her an iPod rather than another brand. Otherwise, she may be disappointed, even if the MP3 player you choose has more features or is considered better than an iPod.

Sarah..............mom to Jason & Devin

Evidently it is really expensive to replace the battery in an ipod. Might want to check into
that before deciding.

Sorry, Sarah, my kids don't really get to tell me what to do. They're more than welcome to have wants, express true desires, but when it comes down to it, the purchaser has final decision ... hissy-fits don't get you very far in my house.

I'm really leaning to picking up an e250 with the recharger thru circuit city. Thanks for ALL the help!

There's good things and bad things about iPods as well as all the other players. It depends on what you (or, in the case of the original poster, your daughter) is interested in doing with the player. iPods don't come with FM tuners, for example. But, for everything that I've seen, iPods have the best user interface. They are very easy and intuitive to use. You are not required to use iTunes with your iPod. There are a variety of other music players you can use on your computer that work great with the iPod. It's a matter of preference. And, for teenagers, it may be a matter of status. Depends on peer groups and all that.

For me, I have a 30gb iPhoto (color screen but no video capability). I use it to keep all of my music and podcasts all in one place and I love it. The user interface and the fact that it's an apple product and like most apple products it just works is what really sold me on the iPod over other music players. I use my iPod at work, at the gym, while doing housework, mowing the lawn, walking outside, in the car (although not as much here, because of FM transmitter issues, but that's more a problem with the car and the pirate Mexican radio station broadcasting on the last, best, otherwise unused frequency in the metroplex). Take away just about all of my electronic devices, but leave me my iPod (and my computer so I can run my iPod, and my internet connection so that I can download my podcasts....but I can live without the rest). When my iPod dies (two years old and still going strong) I will probably upgrade to something with a larger hard drive (I'm relatively close to filling mine up, mostly due to podcasts that I've gotten behind on) and will probably have video capability. I don't need the video very much, but, especially for shorter trips when I don't want to take the laptop or DVD player, it would be nice to have that option....or nice to be able to watch what I want to while I work out in the hotel gyms (especially on a trip when I'm caught up on podcasts).

Thank you GT. You actually covered two of my issues with the ipod ......... and cleared up one of my misunderstandings. I do have an issue with the peer pressure portion and the fact that ipods are one of the (if not THE) most often stolen items at her high school.

However I did end up buying the e260 at Circuit City for the same price as the e250 - so 4gb instead of 2 gb. She is really, really happy with it ............. so far. She's currently at the computer reading/loading/whatever it is that needs to be done. I think she really does like it and I know she isn't disappointed in the slightest. Like WowItsDark's son, I'm pretty sure she'll be sharing pics Monday at lunch. Right now I'm just hoping she doesn't have a boatload of homework this weekend so that she does have the free time to play all she wants!

So, again, thank you for all the help/insight and the deals that were available. I definitely got to take advantage of a sale plus mypoints because of your help!

LOL, after reading all these posts I want a SANSA for myself.

I love my Zune..was worth the money to me.

__________________
"Cast upon this globe without physical strength or innate ideas, incapable in himself of obeying fundamental laws of this nature which call him to the supreme place in the universe, it is only in the heart of society that man can attain the pre-eminent position which is his natural destiny. Without the aide of civilization he would be one of the feeblest and least intelligent of animals.."
Jean-Marc-Gaspard Itard