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Yeah, the iPod isn't perfect, but it definitely gets a lot of things right... near seamless integration and ease of use are up on the list.

How do you think the Sansa compares to the current iteration of the iPod nano?

Interesting Question.

The Nano, all iPods, really, are intuitive to the point of fault They set the Standard for usablity. When someone picks the Sansa up and the play button is at the top of the ring and not at the bottom, Apple wins. With an iPod, I just get how the scroll wheel works, so when I see the scroll wheel on the Sansa, I'm continually disappointed with how the spinning wheel doesn't act like an iPods. On the Sansa it's frustratingly difficult to turn the volume down if you're in the middle of doing something else. Also, it's something like five clicks to change the position within a song with your Sansa and you will probably screw it up at least once while you're trying to fast forward.
Regarding Video: I've not used the new iPod Nano, but I assume that if you click "Convert for Ipod" it actually does convert the image into a format that the iPod can use, whereas with the Sansa, there's about a 50-50 chance that it won't be encoded in a way that the media converter can use, and a 50-50 chance that the media converter will freeze and you'll have to use the task manager to kill the process and hope you don't have to do a restore from bios on the player.

That being said, the pretty pretty interface knocks the socks of the Ipod's but the animation is not as soothe as I'd expect. Neither player of them are user customizable which sucks. I don't want a blue select bar on my awesome [project] red nano! Why not let us pick some colors? (Typical Apple.) The Sansa doesn't let you change the skin either, though. Talk about a missed revenue opportunity!

The Nano 3 + iTunes is the superior Mp3 player across the board. Better support for Podcasting, video and audio, better database management (sort of, if you count creating play lists and sync lists as database management). Again, however, with the Sansa, right now, as it stands today, I've yet to figure out how to make a play list appear on the device.
Without iTunes the Nano 3 is useless at the moment, isn't it? Or do they have third-party patches now? However, since the Sansa does some undisclosed things with the file's tags to create it's own database-- which can be maddeningly slow whilst you're waiting to listen to music-- you pretty much need a client to manage your media library as well.

Sansa wins for the the ability to record audio and fm radio.

Here's what I love about it, though: Are you listening Apple? I CAN TAKE SONGS I HAVE OBTAINED AND AM ALLOWED TO MAKE COPIES LEGALLY OFF OF THE DEVICE!

Wow, quite a bit there...

Just one note, I copy files I have obtained off of my iPod all the time. I've shown others how to do it as well. I use Senuti, which I believe is open source (though Mac-only.)

I suppose with an iPod and Linux, YMMV. :(

I've used something Similar to Senuti with my fourth-gen iPod and it worked well. I should have clarified. My files are stored intact with all their relevant meta-data and can be easily dragged-and-dropped from any standard desktop.

My sansa e280 has worked well for the most part, however it refuses to display some files (albums, artists, songs) completely, although my computer can read them on the device. I have tried erasing all the music and syncing them again and the same files are there, yet won't be displayed on the devices screen, as though they aren't there at all. Has anybody else experienced this?

Same problem, I got alot of unknown files on my mp3 no matter what I try, he can't play / read them ...

I have tried erasing all the music and syncing them again and the same files are there, yet won't be displayed on the devices screen, as though they aren't there at all. Has anybody else experienced this?

Hey Dan.... Just open the unit as a drive on your computer and look at all the folders and check to see if they have the album or artist you want. I cleaned out mine and removed all of the generic stuff they put in when you get it new. I even removed the pictures. It is kind of confusing when you have doubles of the stuff you rip. Also there is a USB setting on the unit .. go to settings / USB mode/ the next screen shows 2 settings , and I use the MSC mode.
Steve

I've got the same issue...can't for the life of me figure out how to get playlist names to transfer...