SanDisk launches 8GB music player

Flash memory maker SanDisk has released a new MP3 player in its Sansa line and has reduced prices for its players across the board to compete with Apple's flash-based iPod nano.

Credit: SanDisk

SanDisk on Monday released the Sansa e280, an 8GB digital-music device that can be expanded to store 10GB of data with a SanDisk 2GB microSD card. The device is being offered in the US for $249.99 (£132), UK pricing is not available at this time.

That marks a significant difference in price-to-storage ratio when compared to Apple's 4GB iPod nano, which retails for also sells for $249 in the US, or £169 in the UK, according to the online Apple Store. (There is currently no 8GB or 10GB iPod. Apple's player with the next-highest capacity, the 30GB iPod, runs on a hard drive rather than flash and sells for £219.)

The Sansa players enable users to increase storage capacity and change which songs are kept on the device by inserting different MicroSD cards. SanDisk is a leading manufacturer of flash memory. Its expansion cards currently hold about 500 songs, but greater-capacity cards are planned, according to SanDisk.

While the Sansa line supports Microsoft PlaysForSure and Rhapsody To Go, the device has an nonproprietary digital rights management system and allows any songs in the MP3 and WMA formats to be uploaded to the device.

SanDisk, which holds the second-largest market share in digital-music players behind Apple, also announced significant price changes on its 2GB, 4GB and 6GB digital-music players that undercut their iPod capacity equivalents.

Other features on SanDisk's MP3 players include a digital FM tuner from which users can record and a built-in microphone that enables the device to act as a voice recorder.