While the iPod is the undisputed king of mp3 players, such dominance is actually good for consumers. In order for these companies to have any hope of competing, they must offer great value and features. Apple has done such an excellent job of presenting the iPod as a trendy and innovative audio device that many people assume it is the best player out there. That was true for a while. Now many other companies have caught up and are offering devices that are equal or better and usually sell at a much cheaper price.

The Sansa eSeries is a relatively new player that faces off with the iPod Nano in the gadget marketplace. Both the iPod Nano and the eSeries have different models based on memory size.
The smallest is the e250 with 2GB and the largest is the e280 with 8GB. In order to see how well the eSeries matches up with the more established iPod player, a nose to nose comparison is called for.

The Basics and the Sound

Both the Nano and the eSeries are very small and portable. Their dimensions are about the same although the Nano is a bit lighter. They both came with ear buds that I had trouble keeping in my ears. (It could just be me and my ears of course!) After testing the buds with both players, I switched to using my old portable CD player headphones on them.

Both of the players and their ear buds had excellent sound quality (though some music connoisseurs complain that all mp3 players aren’t up their standards).

The interface on the iPod Nano gets deserved praise for its ease of use and simple yet sleek design. Perhaps because it’s clear that Apple got it right on the first shot, the eSeries didn’t stray too far from that basic design. It is based around the wheel control with the select key in the middle. The rest of the controls are set around the wheel.

Sansa's Unique Look

One thing that is different is that the eSeries’s wheel has a blue glow to it. While it may not serve much of a purpose, it does look cool and gives the player a unique look and a simple elegance.

Missing on the Nano

The thing that most impressed me about the eSeries was its ability to record – something the Nano CAN’T do. You just select “record” from the menu and hit the button. When you are done you hit it again to stop recording. Now you have a ‘wav’ file that can be moved to a computer and be used like any other audio file.

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the recording. It sounded as full and clear as anythinig recorded with a high quality external microphone.

I can imagine using this feature for anything from recording classroom lectures, to interviews, to laying down some new song lyrics you want remember for later.

The eSeries is also equipped with a radio tuner which the iPod Nano is lacking. And, once again, I was surprised by the quality.

The radio reception was remarkable for a small device without an external antenna.

Now add these two features together: The record feature can be used with the radio. You can record the radio for up to five hours and the resulting audio file has great sound. Since you can also add storage using the a micro SD slot, the eSeries can create a library of great recorded music and radio shows for you.

Personally I don’t care about video capacities, since I’m not going to watch anything on a 2 inch screen. But I do want to mention that the eSeries has video capacity while the Nano does not. The iPod Nano may bestow some status in some quarters. But I think the eSeries offers enough innovations and cool-yet-functional features that it’s a better deal – even at the same price. And since the eSeries also gives you a break on the price, it’s clearly the way to go. Unless you have an overwhelming brand devotion to iPod that just won’t allow it.

Nose to Nose: The Sansa E-Series Wins