Which version of the e280 comes in the black and blue packaging?

[Teklord]

Wanted to know which is most likely to come in the newer black and blue SanDisk Sansa packaging. I am referring to the black background with blue colored circle with Sansa in the middle. Is it version 1 or 2 you are most likely to get? I want to Rockbox a v1 hence my question. Thank you all for reading this.

[CrowdAds]

[dfkt]

It is very unlikely that you get a v1 anywhere nowadays. Maybe refurbished, but not new in stores.

[stasher1]

Originally Posted by dfkt

It is very unlikely that you get a v1 anywhere nowadays. Maybe refurbished, but not new in stores.

I bought three brand new e250's in the newer blue/black packaging from Amazon and all three are v1.

The packaging looked just like this:



This is the item I bought: http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Sansa-...1529484&sr=1-3 , but I paid less than $40 each when I ordered them back in May.

[JSP62]

Originally Posted by Teklord

Wanted to know which is most likely to come in the newer black and blue SanDisk Sansa packaging. I am referring to the black background with blue colored circle with Sansa in the middle. Is it version 1 or 2 you are most likely to get? I want to Rockbox a v1 hence my question. Thank you all for reading this.

What is so special about the v1?

[epithetless]

Originally Posted by JSP62

What is so special about the v1?

Full and mature Rockbox support.

[JSP62]

Originally Posted by epithetless

Full and mature Rockbox support.

I did not realize that. Hmmm, can you help direct me to any lnks or posts that discusses v1 / v2 comparison? I'd like to know more of what 'full and mature' support is about.

Thanks

[epithetless]

Presently, any link in the main sections of the Rockbox site pertaining to the "Sansa e200 series" applies only to the v1. You can read the Rockbox manual for the e200 (v1) here, and details on the general Rockbox feature set here. At this stage, Rockbox runs nearly flawlessly on the v1 players, with pretty much any issue/bug that crops up being a general Rockbox issue, rather than an e200-specific one.

In contrast, the v2 (aka AMS) players -- given their very different internal hardware -- are still in the testing and bug-fixing phase of development. Rockbox has been successfully run on them, and you can even try out test builds for yourself (available in the Rockbox forums here), but many optimizations have yet to be discovered and made (which affects, among other things, battery life), and error messages, lockups, microSD problems, and filesystem corruption are all possible occurrences. The players' recording capabilities have not been implemented at all yet, and I believe there are issues with radio functionality as well. There is also a chance, stated plainly in the test build thread, of bricking the device completely.

[JSP62]

Originally Posted by epithetless

Presently, any link in the main sections of the Rockbox site pertaining to the "Sansa e200 series" applies ......

Thanks for taking some time to explain epitheless.
I haven't experienced much issues with my v2 e280 8gb, but then again I have not been using/tinkered with all the options. . . I guess I am lucky.

How do you feel about Rockbox development? Would you believe that the dev team is still very active with Sansas (specifically e280s), that the issues will be resolved with an updated firmware of RB for the Sansa? It was only 1 month ago that I installed Rockbox, so I am still very green with it.

[epithetless]

Originally Posted by JSP62

Thanks for taking some time to explain epitheless.
I haven't experienced much issues with my v2 e280 8gb, but then again I have not been using/tinkered with all the options. . . I guess I am lucky.

How do you feel about Rockbox development? Would you believe that the dev team is still very active with Sansas (specifically e280s), that the issues will be resolved with an updated firmware of RB for the Sansa? It was only 1 month ago that I installed Rockbox, so I am still very green with it.

I'm optimistic about Rockbox development for the e200v2 and Fuze. I've been happily using current builds on both devices with very few quirks for several weeks now, and my experience with Rockbox on the AMS devices compares favorably to that with my old v1 e280 (I haven't encountered many of the bugs I listed, either -- I just know that they're possible).

As far as updates go, Rockbox isn't like your typical DAP manufacturer who releases a few discrete updates over great lengths of time; Rockbox is being updated constantly. While this means the occasional bug can sneak into the code, such things are usually quickly rectified. I personally prefer this method to the "wait several months for a single bulk update" approach of manufacturers, but I understand they're in a very different position from a bunch of coders volunteering their time on an open source project. Which leads me to one last thing: As optimistic as I am about Rockbox development for the AMS Sansas, there's absolutely no guarantee it will progress any further than it has today. Since everyone involved is operating for the sheer love of it, in his or her free time, any one of them can elect to abandon the project whenever he or she pleases. I actually like that, too. People work on it because they care, not because they have to.

If you haven't updated to a current build lately, I'd recommend it, just to stay up-to-date...but, then again, if your e280v2 is doing everything you want it to do without complaint, perhaps there's no need.

[dfkt]

Technically speaking, that's not Amazon you bought it from, but some 3rd-party store on Amazon Marketplace. Lucky find, nevertheless.