FM Radio on EU Version

[Nick_K]

Just interested to know where your E270 came from - I am in the UK & I'm really impressed with the spec, but can't stand the thought of shelling out hard-earned cash for an 'incomplete' unit....
Failing that, has anybody any other recommendations for a similar spec player?

[mfenetre]

Hi guys,

Here is some kind of solution to the problem of the missing tuner fm on the radio version.

After having bought an EU version on a french website claiming this model has the radio (which was not the case), i've started to ask questions here and there to french web sellers.

It turned out that one of them imports the US version (with no extra fee, in fact you don't know it's this version based on the specs of the product on their website.). It's one website already mentioned here : www.nomatica.fr. Nomatica has been bought by expansys, and expansys has some websites in many countries in Europe (just go to www.expansys.com to see the countries available on top on the screen).

On the page of the e270, it's written " This product is at our central warehouse and should be shipped in 3 jour ouvrable". I've been in contact with expansys (or nomatica) support and they told me that this central warehouse is in the US.

So I've bought a e270 on the french website and it has the radio ! The model has inded some identification code from expansys and it's the same in the US and in France (130220 for e270, it can be seen on the webpage from expansys). I can confirm that this model has the radio.

Last precision : I'm not a shareholder of expansys )

So let's enjoy the radio right now

Cheers,

[Nick_K]

Hmmmm, interesting.
I note that the UK Expansys site lists the same code - I wonder if all their products are shipped worldwide from the US warehouse? I'm tempted to order one to see whether it is indeed the genuine article.....even though it's not the cheapest place to buy....

[Dom]

Hi all,

Another frustrated UK-er here. After quite a bit of searching I finally found a US shop that does sell the e260 at a reasonable rate and ship internationally. According to the currency conversion on their site it works out at £122 delivered, which is exactly £3 less than Amazon UK are charging for the FM-less version.

My only concern is the warranty side of things - does anyone know whether SanDisk would be willing to solve any problems through their UK people, or would it have to go back to the US if it had a fault?

The other issue is...

Duties, Taxes and Customs. The order total does not include import duties or taxes which may be assessed by some destination countries. Any such additional fee is the responsibility of the customer. All shipments go through a customs clearance procedure, which can affect transit time.

.. and I'm wondering if it's really worth the hassle. :S

I'd love to know where the European guys who have the FM version picked there's up from.

Cheers,
Dom

[TomNext]

Originally Posted by Dom

.. and I'm wondering if it's really worth the hassle. :S

No, it's really not worth the hassle and extra expense. DHL will automatically pay the 17.5% VAT and duty for you and then bill you this amount plus an extra £15 processing fee

[Nick_K]

If I've got my facts right these goods attract 10% duty, and VAT at std rate, which would put the total price of the E270 at around £184.
I got these figures on the hmrc.gov.uk site, http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsP...HMCE_CL_001454
where there is a whole load of information about this.
It looks like this supplier will take back faulty units, and will pay the shipping in this case. I ordered a musical instrument accessory from a USA supplier, and it went smoothly (sent promptly by UPS - paid the delivery driver the duty) Obviously with an electronic item of more value this is a bit different, so I really can't decide whether to risk it................
I just wish Sandisk would answer my emails regarding whether a software update may be available in the future to UK buyers who have the raw deal getting the 'radio-less' units......

[adscorp]

Just a little note; if anyone is interested in buying a player in australia, they have the US version, not the EU version. Just thought you should know.

[Dom]

Originally Posted by TomNext

No, it's really not worth the hassle and extra expense. DHL will automatically pay the 17.5% VAT and duty for you and then bill you this amount plus an extra £15 processing fee

Thanks for the info (thanks Nick, too). I've decided to give up on having the FM radio and just buy one from Amazon.co.uk for £120. I never really wanted to spend any more than that anyway and since their availability now says dispatched in 24 hours rather than 1-2 weeks that was all the prompting I needed.

I've also ordered a USB charger which is supposedly the 5v/500mA that is needed, so we'll see if that does the job or breaks my MP3 player within a day of me buying it. :S

[StretchArm]

Originally Posted by Dom

Thanks for the info (thanks Nick, too). I've decided to give up on having the FM radio and just buy one from Amazon.co.uk for £120. I never really wanted to spend any more than that anyway and since their availability now says dispatched in 24 hours rather than 1-2 weeks that was all the prompting I needed.

I've also ordered a USB charger which is supposedly the 5v/500mA that is needed, so we'll see if that does the job or breaks my MP3 player within a day of me buying it. :S

I too decided not to worry about the radio. I used to have one on my zen micro and hardly ever used it.

Which charger have you ordered? Let us know how well it works.

[Dom]

Amazon were quick as usual and my e260 arrived earlier this morning. I haven't had a chance to do anything other than plug it in to charge it and start transferring files yet, but first impressions are it looks like a nice bit of kit. No FM menu, unsurprisingly.

I was having a quick look for info on the charge time a minute ago and stumbled on this review. On the FM tuner it says:

The e260's hardware contains an FM tuner, but access to it has been disabled in Europe (EMEA region) on a software level due to the increased tax radio-capable devices attract.

We're confident that the US release of the player's firmware will be a hot commodity among European owners.

Which might be a slither of hope, but then again may not. Obviously the firmware alone doesn't do the job.

@StretchArm: I ordered a Hama MP3 charger which will hopefully arrive tomorrow. If anyone in the know thinks it's likely to blow up my player then please let me know before hand.

[StretchArm]

Its worth posting that review to the e200 Review Directory sticky.

Yeah, I hope it doesn't blow up.

[shaun]

I've been following this thread for a while now since I bought my e270 and thought i'd mail the sansa support team to see what was happeing with the FM tuner.

Your Question/Problem:
Hi,

I recently bought a SandDisk Sansa E270 and was a little surprised to find that the FM tuner was not accessable from any of the menus. I was wondering if this was a problem with the unit and whether or not it was something which would be addressed with a future firmware upgrade. Failing that should this unit be returned for an exchange with a working FM tuner?

Regards
Shaun

The reply is rather strange as from the pictures posted earlier on this thread and the rockbox twiki, the FM tuner is missing. Wonder how they are going to get the FM tuner working with a firmware update.

[Mirko]

Hi, I'm an italian boy
Please someone, send me the version files from an e260 with fm working =) Would be really nice!

[EnzoTen]

The e250 files are in this thread already. Still it wont do you much good since the FM chip doesnt exist in the EU version.

[Bumbletron]

can anyone tell me why in the world you folks have a "media" tax? I mean, you get taxed for having radio-capabilities on your mp3 players?!

Wow! And I thought we were taxed over here in the States!!

Oh well... at least your government doesn't orchestrate tragic catastrophies of large-scale proportions and pawn them off as "terrorist attacks" to up their ability to spy on you...

[schnupi]

haha well said

[tcharge]

As a British user I wonder just how much the tax would be. This is probably just another example of EU crap getting in the way!

BTW the US govn't has been spying on you US guys for years (or actually us Brits have been doing it on behalf of the US government via the Echelon program) - its just now that they've been forced to admit it! I wouldn't worry - I'm not really interested in which brew of Bud. you're drinking anyway!

[matti20]

Today, I received the e260 (US version) and I can say: the FM tuner works absolutely well in Germany. I receive all main radio stations in town.

[Bumbletron]

Originally Posted by tcharge

I wouldn't worry - I'm not really interested in which brew of Bud. you're drinking anyway!

Newcastle Brown Ale

[Andromeda]

I live in the Netherlands.

Last night I ordered the e270 at the local airport, they have a special offer for 219 Euro. The specs on the website mentions that it has FM radio. However, because the Sandisk website says: no FM radio in Europe, I ordered the player, provided it has FM radio... Guess what: today I received a message from the airport shop that there's no FM radio
So I canceled the order rightaway.

But now I read that it might be possible to use the US firmware.... Sounds a bit tricky... What if it doesn't?

I'm rather hesitant to order again since I definitely want the FM radio feature. Perhaps I'd rather wait for the e280 model. Hopefully this one will have FM radio