[SWabc]

I just tried to upgrade my memory on my Sansa e260 using a microSD card and found that 1) you cannot store protected content on it, 2) cannot store playlists on it, 3) cannot store videos or photos. Ok, I give up - what good is it? Seems like they use this as advertisement (expandable) but its not really. The manual doesn't quite mention these points (only #3). Are all "expandable" mp3 players like this?

[mphenterprises]

Hi SWabc. Welcome to PCWorld. :-)




I am not sure what you mean by "expandable" mp3 player. Do you mean a mp3 player with a flash drive slot instead of a hard drive? I have a 30GB Microsoft Zune that is "expandable" to 100GBs if I switch the hard drive. I would advise not grouping all mp3 players into one category. Instead, do a bit of research.

- Is the majority of your collection protected music?

- Do you really want playlists or is shuffle sufficient for you?

- How many videos or photos do you have?




If you find that your answers fall outside of the range of a flash mp3 player, then buy a hard drive player from manufacturers like Microsoft, Creative, or Apple.

[SWabc]

The Sansa e260 has 6 GB internal memory and a microSD slot for exanding its memory capacity. As I use the player for teaching group exercise classes, I have a LOT of playlists - I've filled the base internal memory (so yes, I need playlists). So I installed a 2 GB card expecting it to directly add to the internal memory and allow me to store more songs and more playlists. But alas, no. Only unprotected music files can be stored on it (I have several hundred protected songs).

[RastaMon]

Can you put all your protected songs on the 6 GB "partition," and use the add on cards for DRM free tunes?

Alternately, you can burn protected songs to music disc, then reimport them and recompress them. (Be sure to use the same or higher bit rate, and the same sampling rate.) That should leave you with MP3s without DRM, with only minimal loss in quality.

It's issues like these that keep me from buying music with DRM.