sansa c250 2GB - Thoughts?

[the Puck]

In case there is a better forum for asking what to buy, I seem to suck at finding it.

Anyways, I wanted to get me a c250 2gb for several reasons. First I thought it's usable like a normal USB stick, because that's a plus for how I want to use it (should be easily transportable and I want to be able to recharge it on the go), but then I discovered it uses a "special" data cable.

.) Can I buy this cable in a shorter version? Is it hard to shorten it myself (or get my neighbour to do it, he's a lot better at soldering). Or differently: does anybody know what's inside that cable?

.) I like the ability to upgrade that thing with a micro SD card. How big can that one be? Will I need to choose whether the player gets the music from the card or the internal memory or can I just "merge" it somehow and seamlessly play tunes from both parts of the memory? - alright I answered that one myself with the sansa FAQ, I guess. Using Rockbox I can put in up to 32Gb and I could create a playlist that contains songs from internal and SD and then I could listen to them seamlessly. Did I get that all right?

.) will rockbox improve the audio of the player a bit? even just the volume? because... vanilla edition didnt quite blow me away.

[AlexP]

1)  You could shorten the cable I guess - chop it up and splice it back together.

2)  Rockbox allow you to use (micro) SDHC cards, so up to 32 GB theoretically (I think) although only up to 16 GB (I think) are currently available).  If you use the file browser the SD card will appear as another directory, if you use the database it will be merged.

3)  There isn't anything Rockbox can do about the hardware.

[the Puck]

3)  There isn't anything Rockbox can do about the hardware.

I just dont know how much that is a hardware limitation - that's why I ask. My old iPod got a LOT louder with rockbox, which was hella convenient when riding in the city.

[epithetless]

Regarding a shorter data/charge cable: This retractable cable from Monoprice is one I use quite happily with my c250, e280, and Fuze.

[saratoga]

3)  There isn't anything Rockbox can do about the hardware.

I just dont know how much that is a hardware limitation - that's why I ask. My old iPod got a LOT louder with rockbox, which was hella convenient when riding in the city.

Your ipod got louder probably because you're living in an EU country or bought an Ipod from one.  The EU requires Ipods sold there to have volume limiters in their software.

For what its worth, most MP3 players have volume within 5 dB or so of each other.