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First impressions count, but not necessarily last. This applies to SanDisk's Sansa c240 (1GB) player. So, I wasn't particularly excited about trying out this product; but eventually, I was pleasantly surprised by its performance due to an added element that tilted the player's fate a bit on the right side in my books. Well, do not make any presumptions yet, as we'll talk about that ahead. First things first. 
What's in it for you? SanDisk's Sansa c240 comes bundled with a proprietary USB charger (which also works as its data transfer cable), a pair of standard earphones and a lanyard - a useful loop to flaunt the player around your neck or wrist. 
With this 1 GB player, you can: Listen to audio files, FM tuner, record voice, and even view photos. Sansa c240 has a glossy black finish on its face and is matte smooth on the rear. With average looks and dimensions of 3.1 x 1.4 x 0.6 inches, the player is a little shorter than Nano in height. It isn't as slim, but is quite small and comfy to hold; you can also stuff it in your pocket without much of a bulge. Specifications Storage capacity: 1 GB (Flash based) Expansion slot: MicroSD Dimensions and weight: 3.1 x 1.4 x 0.6 inches; 45 gm Screen: 1.4" color screen Audio playback formats: MP3, WMA, WAV (can read ID3 tags) Photos: Thumbnail size (requires format conversion) Radio: Digital FM tuner Record: Voice and FM USB: High speed transfer with USB 2.0 Battery: Rechargeable and replaceable Lithium Ion battery 
As you can see, the primary function keys are on the right-side, shaped like a broken curvy square. Not the most ideal type, but fine. You can see the placement of the other keys in the descriptive picture below. 
Using the player for the very first time isn't complicated; you just get used to it, and then surfing through options becomes mechanical. Next up are C240's features. Menu The player takes about 4 seconds to kick-start, as well as to switch off - both these functions are performed by the Power/Menu button. There are separate menus for each function that the player is capable of. Here is the nitty-gritty. Music: It gives you the option to Play All songs, Play Previous (the last song you were listening to), view and select songs to listen to according to Artists, Albums, Songs, Playlist (includes Go List), and listen to Recordings. There is also a Music Options feature which lets you Shuffle and Repeat (All, One or No) Songs. The Go List is nothing but another name for a playlist. While you're listening to a song, you have an option to go back to the Music List, Add Songs to Go List, Shuffle, Repeat (All, One, None), and Music Equalizer. The equalizer has the following presets: Normal, Rock, Pop, Jazz, and Custom. The only recommended preset is 'Normal', if you are too lazy to use a custom equalizer. The fast-forward and rewind function exists in combination with next/previous track button; but it's quite stiff and you'll most likely reach the next or previous track when trying it out. You'd be better off without using it. FM Radio: The FM radio of Sansa c240 is standard. It works just the way you want it, but after a little adjustment. You can manually add, delete and view presets, and even opt for auto-scanning for up to 20 stations. The quality of the radio depends on the reception. The silver square button between the primary function keys can be used to change frequencies. A cool feature included is the FM Recorder. Quite self explanatory, you can record anything that fancies your ears on the radio. Voice Recorder: You can record up to 2 hours of sound in one session. The recorded sound quality is quite decent. 
To listen to your recorded file, you need to go to the menu: FM - play FM - Down/Option menu - play recordings - Voice - select the file you want to play. Phew. Photo: You can view thumbnail size pictures on this player. The picture quality is granular; in spite of the option of adjusting the screen's brightness, pictures are low in resolution and contrast. In short, poor picture quality thanks to the low-res screen. Settings: This has the core settings for all the functions of c240. You can customize the following: * The equalizer. * Power :Auto Power (up to 60 minutes), Sleep (up to 120 minutes) * Adjust the back-light and brightness. * A whole lot of languages to select from. * FM settings: Select FM region - USA/rest of the world; FM Mode - stereo/mono. * Volume: Normal or High * System Info: This displays the player's version, total and free memory, Total number of songs and recordings. * Reset everything. * USB: Set it to auto-detect, or MSC mode. * Format - delete everything that you ever stored on it. Menu Evaluation: Playing around with the player is quite boring! It is satisfactory to just add some nice music and listen to it without touching the player to change any settings. It has all the basic functions one would need in a music player, minus the fun-factor. And yes, you cannot delete any singular file through the menu - the only option is complete wash-out (formatting it); or you can do so when the player is connected to a PC. The FM player scores well. Interface The light blue back-light gives the player a very old feel. Although the menu images are inspiring, surfing though the options in them is not. The options get highlighted with a dim pale-blue color, which often makes you miss what you actually want to activate. Overall, the interface is quite basic, you will not crave surfing around much with the menu. Sound Quality, Earphones Keeping in mind SanDisk's above-average sound quality reputation, this SanDisk player has unexceptional sound. The earphones bundled along are standard and make music of any genre seem flat at any volume level. The highs and mids are just about acceptable, but lack sting. Whereas, the lows seem suppressed and have negligible bass. Not good. File Transfer Sansa C240 charges itself whenever connected to a USB port. If it doesn't get detected automatically, you would need to change USB settings to MSC. Through a USB 1.0, PC to the player transfer of 400 MB of music folder takes around 15 minutes. The copying process zips when connected to USB 2.0. The Added Element The added element that can revive C240 from the grave is a set of quality earphones. In this case, I added the 'Creative EP 630 in-ear headphones' to add spunk. The results were better than I expected, as it was a complete turn-around of the original bundled earphones. As it appears, the sound quality would be superior with any better quality earphones. I have seen a lot of companies making the same mistake of bundling average quality headphones when their player is capable of delivering a lot more. Here's yet another example. Battery 
The battery is re-chargeable and user-replaceable too. It claims to give you 15 hours of playback. In reality, without much of menu-surfing, a one-time full charge lasted me approximately 13 hours which is pretty good. Conclusion After rigorous usage, the SanDisk Sansa C240 appears to be very average (with the bundled earphones). It comes with an MRP of Rs.4975, but you can own it for a few hundreds less. Only if you plan to invest an extra set of quality earphones along, it makes sense (add a minimum 850 bucks for the EP-630 that I used). The things that go in favor of this player are the FM reception and expandable memory. If those things top your priority list, go for it. But if you want the best possible deal for an entry-level 1 GB player, I don't see good enough reasons to go for this when there are other value-options available in the market, namely Mobiblu and Transcend. Of course, you'll have to give up on some fancies like 'photo-viewing' and 'radio recording,' but trust me when I say, you're better off without them if they're not good quality. Test Unit sourced from: Rashi Peripherals Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai.
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