Is iPod Nano cheap enough? Yes, before Sandisk introduce their Sansa m200. The new Sansa m200 also come with 4GB of storage capacity. Yet, it is US$50 cheaper than an iPod Nano.

As we knew that Samsung provides Apple their 40% of their NAND flash memory at special rate. Other manufacturers are striving to get sufficient NAND supply.But how does Sandisk manage to offer this low price?

With own NAND chips production, Sandisk is able to get sufficient NAND supply at lowest possible cost. Moreover, Sansa m200 is designed to fit basic needs and without color display. However, it has something that iPod Nano left out. It supports support WMA 10 DRM that works with various music subscription services such as Rhapsody To Go, Napster To Go and Yahoo! Music Unlimited.

Sandisk Sansa m200 has features such as:

• Microsoft PlaysForSure support to ensure proper playback of digital music
• Up to 4GB of flash storage capacity
• Digital FM radio with 20-presets
• Voice recorder with built-in microphone
• Hi-Speed USB 2.0 interface and cable for fast music transfers
• Support for MP3, WMA, WMA (included DRM) and Audible audio file formats
• Easy to read LCD that displays album, artist and song title information

Suggested retail prices of a Sansa m200 series are:

• Sansa m230 (512MB) US$79.99
• Sansa m240 (1GB) US$119.99
• Sansa m250 (2GB) US$159.99
• Sansa m260 (4GB) US$199.99

If you just need something that can play your favourite music, it is definitely a good buy. It’s maybe a good choice for a Christmas gift!

{ Sandisk via DAPreview }