My wife and I shopped around and tested out 3 portable multimedia players and we have determined that the SanDisk Sansa e280 is the BEST devise of its type you can get, (current up to July 2007).  The FM radio and conversion-free loading of music and instant flash memory access were the main selling points as is the user changable battery.

This guide tells you what file types easily work on, or convert to, your SanDisk Sansa e200 series multimedia player, (I have a e280R but all the Sansa e200 series apply here).

WHAT IF I JUST WANT MUSIC?

The SanDisk Sansa e200 series MP3 players do not require you to set up any software on your computer to transfer music files to your portable Sansa MP3 player.  When your Sansa is connected to a computer, (any computer), through the supplied USB 2.0 cable, it will start recharging.  While charging you can use Windows Explorer to transfer MP3, WMA, AAC, and RAX files to, and from, your Sansa.  Do this as you would any other file movements you would normally make through Windows Explorer by COPY / PASTE actions or DRAG / DROP actions.  When your Sansa is plugged in via the USB cable it becomes another drive on your computer.
I believe Media Player 9.0 or more recent is recommended to transfer music files from and to your Sansa in the Synchronize tab of Media Player but I just use Windows Explorer to copy/paste and drag/drop files to and from the Sansa.  All the tags associated with your music files transfer as well so that your player can identify and search for a song, an artist, a music genre or an album.


WHAT IF I WANT TO SHOW OFF PICTURES / VIDEO OF MY PET?

You will need to install the Sansa Media Converter software onto your computer.  This software will let you pick the pictures and videos you want to transfer from your computer to your Sansa.  It copies the files into a much smaller size for use on your Sansa and drops them into the proper folders on your Sansa.  Your original files will not be affected but the pictures and movies on your Sansa will not transfer back to your computer in a desirable format.
JPEG, TIFF, PNG, BMP and GIF picture files will transfer to your Sansa using the Sansa Media Converter.
Video file types that will transfer using the Sansa Media Converter are AVI, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPG, DAT, ASF, MOV and WMV.


WHAT IF I WANT TO BUY DOWNLOADABLE MUSIC?

Go ahead and buy music on line, from any source you like as long as you get an MP3, AAC, RAX & WMA file type.  If a music file is on your computer, then it can be copy/pasted or drag/dropped to your Sansa.  There is included software with your SanDisk Sansa that will try to make this easier for you but you don't need it.  There isn't much out there that is easier than copy/paste & drag/drop using Windows Explorer.
If downloading pictures or video, then see the above section concerning pictures and video.

THE BOTTOM LINE
Your SanDisk Sansa e200 series multimedia player is one of the best and easiest to use media devices on the market.  There is no need to convert music to proprietary file extensions and the unit comes with an FM receiver.  The unit does not need to be sent in to the manufacturer for battery replacement, you can do this yourself should the battery stop recharging properly.  It has 2 to 8 GB of flash memory, not hard drive memory, so no clicking  or waiting between songs, (great for random play mode!).  It has great sound and a nice color display.  Get one - but skip the Rhapsody software package or any other software package not listed above.

SanDisk has a list posted on their website:  http://www.sandisk.com/sansa/faq/faq18.asp

Did you find any information helpful?