The Sandisk - Sansa e250R Rhapsody is a great product for any Rhapsody To Go subscriber. The configuration is not that easy but the player does deliver on the rhapsody integration. I had to try several times to finally get the whole thing to work.
This is all I had to do
1) Install the Rhapsody player ( I have the comcast Rhapsody which is free for every comcast.net user). I purchased the Rhapsody To Go subscription. This model allows you to download songs from Rhapsody ( you can’t burn them to a CD) and transfer them to Rhapsody compatible devices.
2) Plug in the player and the Rhapsody software will automatically detect it and display it in the left panel. You have to then authorize the device to transfer the songs.
3) You can configure the player to either automatically sync the songs or manually transfer them.
4) You can only transfer songs which are part of the “subscription” . The player has difficulty with purchased tracks.
The good news is that you don’t have to buy Audio CD’s anymore . You can download any song you like and transfer them to the Sandisk player or allow streaming and play it using the Roku Soundbridge anywhere in the house.
The Rhapsody software as such sucks big time. It does not work in vista and it crashes a lot in XP . The most weird behavior is the sign out issue , the player just signs you out for no reason.
You can connect the device to your car audio if it supports auxiliary inputs (Acura MDX 2007 with the entertainment package supports Auxiliary inputs). You can also buy the charger so the device is charged for the entire trip.
Personally I think the subscription mode for music is the way to go for the future. This will also help avoid piracy.
The major issue is with the Rhapsody software , it is too clunky and Real should really work on creating a more reliable experience for the user.
