There's not a whole lot to say about the Sansa Express, and that's the point. People shopping for cheap portable media players often default to the Apple iPod shuffle just because they've seen it in ads and, hey, it works with iTunes. SanDisk throws a monkeywrench into that simple process with its new Sansa Express. Although it costs less, SanDisk's new 1GB player device boasts features that the shuffle can't match, such as an a OLED screen for menu navigation, a digital FM tuner, FM and voice recording, and upgradable storage capacity via a microSD expansion slot. (A 2GB model is now available for $80.) If you are looking for the perfect cheap flash player for the gym or, perhaps, to give to the technophobe in your life, it doesn't get much simpler or affordable than this.

I really like the design of the 1.1-ounce Express. It's a 3-inch-long, half-inch-thick black rectangle with a silver-color plastic backing. The tiny 1.1-inch OLED screen shines through a translucent surface, displaying menu options and song information. Also, the left side of the player houses a USB connector that can be covered by a removable cap. This means the player can plug directly into your PC without any cables, which is nice—it's pretty much a pocket USB drive that doubles as an MP3 player. The power button doubles as the menu button, and it's located next to the hold button on the top right-hand side of the player. On the bottom right-hand side are the volume control buttons, and to the right of the screen, on the face of the player, sits a click wheel–esque set of buttons for play/pause, skip, and navigation. The headphone jack and expansion card slot are on the right-hand side.

Sadly, the Express comes with crappy earbuds that fall out easily and don't produce great sound, but this is nothing new. As always, my advice is to replace them with a decent pair, such as the Shure SE210. Once you do that, the audio quality is perfectly acceptable. Also included are a CD-ROM manual, a lanyard, a USB "extender" cable (that is inexplicably short), and some Sansa monster stickers that are not very useful (at least to me). The player only plays MP3s, WMA, WAV, and protected WMA files, and it's easily loadable with Windows Media Player. The players 1GB capacity can store about 250 MP3s or about 500 WMA files.

The Music menu lets you search for artist, album, genre, song, playlist, recordings (FM or voice recordings you've made on the machine), or audiobooks, just as a good player should, and it also offers a standard array of music options (shuffle, repeat, and customizable EQ that I recommend keeping flat).

Clicking on Radio immediately brings you to a digital FM tuner screen. Tuning is done, naturally, with the navigational arrows. Pressing the "submenu" button on the main control panel pulls up the FM recording screen, which is self-explanatory and works like a charm. All recordings, including voice, are grouped together in the music library under "recordings," but you can also play them from the submenu section. On the submenu, you can designate the current station as a preset, as well as choose from previous presets.

The Voice section of the menu lets you make recordings via a built-in mic and is operated with the play/pause button. Pressing the center button on the control panel—the "enter" button—will save your recordings when you've finished.

A Settings screen offers to reset all settings, format your player, and tells you how much space is left in your flash memory. This is also where you can change EQ settings and customize the power-off, sleep, and screen-saver modes.

My battery test yielded a fairly modest life of 14 hours, playing a mix of MP3s and WMA on a continuous loop.

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

Obviously, the Sansa Express is a budget purchase. It doesn't do much, nor does it claim to, but what it does it does perfectly. I didn't have one annoying experience with the device, and I will forever cast a look of pity upon iPod shuffle owners when they glance my way. If they had only known that for about $20 less they could have so much more! Without a doubt, this is the new cheap MP3 player to beat.

Compare the Sansa Express and the iPod Shuffle side by side