That means the new Sansa e280 digital music player offers twice the storage of Apple's popular flash-based Nano at the same cost, and gives SanDisk a compelling product for those in the market for an affordable MP3 player.

The e200 product line, officially launched earlier this year with 2, 4, and 6GB models, now includes the largest capacity flash-based player available, noted Eric Bone, director of audio/video product marketing at SanDisk.

Versatile Memory

Born cited the microSD expansion slot as a key feature of the e280 player, pointing out that the small memory cards also can be used in compatible devices such as mobile phones and smartphones like the Palm Treo. "We have created a memory product that is both small in size and provides very high capacity," said Bone.

Other cool features of e280 are an open digital rights management system so that you can buy songs or sign up for subscription download services in formats including both WMA and MP3 from a broad array of music stores. Photo and video viewing capabilities are included, as is an FM radio tuner and recorder.

It carries the Microsoft PlaysForSure emblem, which means it's compatible with downloadable music and videos brandishing the same logo. The e280 also has a 1.8-inch color screen and a replaceable Lithium Ion battery that delivers up to 20 hours of power . "That's about twice as long as the Nano," said Bone.

Price Chopping

"The pricing by SanDisk is certainly attractive, and could help them gain ground in the flash player competition," Forrester Research analyst Ted Schadler said. "This is a company that is doing very well and offers some compelling products even though they only recently entered the market."

He suggested that the company will most likely will put the pressure on companies such as Phillips, Dell, Toshiba and others selling flash music players rather than give Apple a serious run for its money.

At the same time, SanDisk has cut the prices on its other Sansa e200 players, with the e250 (2GB) falling to $139 from $179, the e260 (4GB) dropping to $179 from $229, and the e270 (6GB) reduced to $219 from $279.

"The most costly ingredient in a flash-based MP3 player is the flash memory," Bone said. "Since we make the flash memory, we essentially remove the middleman and pass those savings directly to the consumer." SanDisk is the inventor and world's largest supplier of flash storage cards.