Should I keep this Connect?

[Ghengis]

We got a Connect almost 2 weeks ago. It kept us up half the night trying to get file transfers working -- the Internet radio was fine, but every time we tried to transfer files (WMP, Yahoo, or Windows Explorer) it would behave very strangely. The software would hang, or give some sort of error. Finally, we tried a cable we had lying around from a e-series player, and it worked. We exchanged the cable, figuring it was faulty, but the replacement had the same problem! At this point (and after the problems we had with the refurb e-series we got before Christmas), we're thinking of steering clear of Sandisk players altogether. Is that a good idea?

We're looking at maybe getting a Creative or Sony or Toshiba player instead. We don't want to spend a lot -- the Connect was a hundred bucks, which we can't exceed by much -- but I also don't want to cheap out and get total garbage. Capacity should be at least 2 gigs, preferably 4 or more, and hopefully expandable (though with big enough capacity that wouldn't be an issue). It's for my wife, and she doesn't care about photos or video or whatever, just music and audio books. Neither of us are "audiophiles", so interface and design are more important than perfect SQ.

EDIT: I forgot to mention: we were considering a Creative Zen (the new flash ones) 2GB for 80 shipped or 4GB for about 105-120 (shipped or from a store). Alternately, the Gigabeat T400 looks like we can get it for around 100, and gets good reviews, and the Sony player looks good but isn't (as far as I can tell) expandable. I think that goes for around 100 as well for the 2GB model.

Did we make a bad choice? The player has to go back by Friday if we want to get rid of it.

[sumx4182]

If interface/design is your biggest priority...i would say a Sandisk player isn't the way to go. Their interface is extremely simplistic and hasn't really changed in the last three iterations of their players from e200 -> Connect -> View...I have a Zune and a Sansa, so I can't really recommend much from the other brands. I have used the Zen Z+ player a bit and i liked it except the screen wasn't all that sharp in my opinion...i thought it was "pixely" for lack of a better word. But it may be an option for you to check out.

[PromisedPlanet]

I would first try exchanging the player. Yes, I know it worked with an e200 series cable, but there's still a possibility that there's something wrong with the player itself.

I haven't heard of anyone complaining about having problems transferring songs to the Connect, unless they had some problems with the MTP installation on their PC, which I don't think is the situation in your case.