SanDisk is run by smart people. The Sansa View was announced back in January at the Consumer Electronics Show, but when it still hadn't hit stores by midyear, many came to the conclusion that SanDisk had scrapped plans for the device. What actually happened?

SanDisk designers took a cold, hard look at their widescreen, Archos-esque prototype and decided to scrap it, opting for a simpler design. Back to the drawing board they went, and the result is a new View that continues in the footsteps of the Sansa e200 line. But the main selling point here is price: At $200, this is the least expensive of the new 16GB players out there (there's also an 8GB model for $150). You get a standard array of features, like FM radio and recording, and voice recording. There's a crisp, good-looking 2.4-inch screen for video viewing. and a microSD expansion slot seals the deal. If you're looking to snag a 16GB flash player on the cheap, you have two good choices: the View and the $250 Creative ZEN. Both have plusses and minuses, but the View's lower price tag puts it ahead in this battle.

The View vaguely resembles the new Zune flash player—oblong, with minimal controls and a screen that takes up roughly half the player. At 4.3 by 2.0 by 0.4 inches, it's not exactly tiny (I'd compare it to an average-size cell phone), but it's still pocketable. The rubber navigation wheel is easy to turn and flies through the menus quickly, lighting up blue LEDs on the player's surface in the process. A small home button above the wheel is your quick ticket back to the main-menu screen. The player's side panels host a microSD memory expansion slot and power/hold switches. So-so earbuds (which should definitely be upgraded for maximum musical enjoyment) and a proprietary connection-to-USB cable are included.

The user interface is fast, but I'm not in love with the graphics, which seem to be stuck in a time warp. To some, this may seem nitpicky, but honestly, the View has boring menus and icons. Samsung, likewise, doesn't often update its player's graphics, but they also look pretty sweet—along with Apple's, they are by far the coolest on the market. SanDisk has endowed the View with simple, cartoonish icons that aren't bound to excite. But, hey, this player is a lot cheaper than the competition, so I'll stop whining.

The View, like more and more PMPs these days, includes AAC file support, so you can load it up with files ripped in iTunes, as well as iTunes Plus DRM-free tracks. The player also supports WAV, MP3 (all bit rates), WMA, and Audible audio codecs, and most subscription To Go files. The music menu is also where you'll find audiobooks and the FM or voice recordings you've made. Overall audio quality of the View is solid—provided you chuck the bundled earbuds. I like the simple, customizable EQ under the music settings menu: Tweaks to the low and high frequencies can coax a little life out of the included earbuds if an earphone upgrade is not in your future. As usual, however, I recommend avoiding the EQ presets in favor of flat settings if you've got a nice pair of earphones.

The View supports MPEG-4, WMV, and H.264 video files, but the Sansa Media Converter (available to registered users at sandisk.com) converts other formats, such as DivX. The display is bright and sharp, and only a smidge smaller than the Creative ZEN's screen (2.4 versus 2.5 inches). Conveniently, when playing videos, the player's screen and control orientation switches to horizontal mode, so you never have to operate the control wheel sideways.

The photo menu is about as standard as it gets: Images are organized by albums and browsable by thumbnail, and you have the ability to add music to slide shows. Like many flash players, the View handles only JPEG images. The FM tuner has up to 20 presets, and recording audio is a relatively simple process. The voice recorder isn't spectacular—there's no way to monitor levels, visually or aurally, because there's no meter.

SanDisk rates the battery life at 35 hours for audio and 7 hours for video. We're currently performing audio and video battery-rundown tests and will post our results here soon.

The SanDisk Sansa View will not elicit the "oohs" and "aahs" that the Samsung P2 or the Apple iPod touch will. Those eye-catching players, however, fetch a lot more cash. SanDisk has made a no-frills, high-capacity flash player with a quality screen, memory-expansion capabilities, and that all-important feature: a low price. Use the money you save to buy some quality earphones and laugh at the people with fancy players and lousy earbuds.

For tech support, call SanDisk at 1-866-SanDisk (1-866-726-3475) or fill out an online support request at www.sandisk.com/retail/support.asp. SanDisk offers a one-year warranty.

Compare the SanDisk Sansa View with several other mobile phones side by side.

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