Sandisk Sansa e270 review

Sandisk's Sansa e270 looks a lot like the old iPod Nano, though it is slightly bigger than the latest version of Apple's mid-range MP3 player. It's a smart device, with a grey metal alloy back and a glossy black plastic front.

The e270 has a small colour screen that can display photographs. This is quite bright and crisp, but is best viewed straight-on. Unlike the iPod Nano, the Sansa can playback videos transferred using the supplied Media Converter application. You simply drop files onto the software, which makes a suitably low-resolution copy and transfers it to the player. The image quality is fine, but sound clarity suffers a little in the process. Using the Sansa is easy thanks to the distinctive white control ring that lights up blue with each use, but its ridged surface feels a little abrasive to the fingertips.

Like most modern mid-range players, the e270 stores songs, pictures and videos in flash memory rather than on a tiny hard disk. Such memory is more resistant to being dropped or shaken, so it's particularly suitable if you listen to music while you jog or work out. Flash memory used to be expensive, but the e270 has 6GB, which should be enough for around 1,500 songs. Even if you do run short of space for your extensive collection there's a MicroSD card slot for adding more storage.

If you have Windows Media Player 10, you can connect and synchronise the player in its default Media Transfer Protocol mode, or manually choose the songs you want to transfer. Alternatively, you can set the e270 to work as a simple storage device and copy files across in Windows Explorer. This is great if you don't have Windows Media Player 10, or if you just need to carry some files between a home and work computer.

The e270's headphones don't look too special and they lack bass, but otherwise they sound clear and detailed. Using some higher quality headphones, the player itself sounds excellent. At 17 hours and 32 minutes, its battery life is also very good.