SanDisk Sansa Fuze 8 GB Video MP3 Player (Silver) by SanDisk
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Digital camera reviews of SanDisk Sansa Fuze 8 GB Video MP3 Player (Silver)
Digital camera Review: 4th one
Summary: 4 Stars
I return one that I brought as a gift but broke (the ear phone jack stopped working) and amazon would only refund the money because the price was too low. So I payed more and received this one. If you like to listen to mp3 and watch video this is a good player. The screen is small so check it out if you can before buying. But I do like this one and silver is better looking than the black ones.Digital camera Review: 8gb san disk sanza
Summary: 3 Stars
I purchased two of these as Christmas presents. Christmas day one of the two froze up. The tech's at San Disk tryed, but were unable to resolve the problem. It will be returned and replaced with a new one.Digital camera Review: 8gb sansa fuze
Summary: 5 Stars
I love the sansa fuze! The form factor is great (it's really slim/lightweight but has a nice heft to it unlike some lightweight players that just feel like a plastic toy), the battery life is great (got about 20hrs with little use of the backlight), the storage is great (also takes sd cards so you can expand it too), and the price is awesome ( I got the silver 8gb for under 60 bucks on here). I had been looking into the 16gb range. But then realized that my entire collection only runs about 2-4gb with music, audio books, and podcasts...so I settled on the fuze since it's more practical for my needs. Obviously I'm not using a lot of space for videos. First of all, I have a pmp for those purposes and second, the screen's only 1.9 inches. So...you'd have to be pretty desperate to watch anything on that when even hard drive pmp's don't weigh much more than a cell phone. This is only my second mp3 player and I'm really happy with it. You get a lot of features, nifty things to have like the ability to delete files from the player, voice and radio recording (which came out really clear), automatic bookmarking (so you can go from a bit of an audiobook or podcast, then to radio, mp3s, video, then switch back to your place without an interruption), support for audible as well as other audio books you can just dump in that folder, podcasts (I use media monkey and it syncs podcasts automatically to the fuze), radio with lots of presets, sd slot...all for an amazing price. So, for my needs the fuze is perfect. It comes with the usual things (you don't even need the software though), as well as a small velvety pouch. I like it. You can't access controls with it on, but if you're a set it and forget it type like me, the pouch is great as a buffer for jeans/jackets etc. as it fits the fuze pretty snugly. I still will probably get a real case, but the pouch is actually decent for right out of the box. A good idea might be to get a sdhc 8gb card from here and double your space for an additional 12 bucks.Digital camera Review: A Good buy!
Summary: 4 Stars
I found the price point on this product to be quite good. Also playback quality and recording quality are excellent. The only downsides I found in this product are the proprietary connection via usb and the fairly easily scratched screen. Otherwise, I highly recommend this product.Digital camera Review: A Nice iPod nano Alternative
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm a Mac person. Most of my computing is done on a MacBook, and I have owned almost every iPod since the 2nd generation of the device, so for my review to declare the Sansa Fuze 8GB media device a "Nice Alternative" for the iPod nano (which I consider probably the best player available), that means something.
Physically, the Fuze is about the same size as the previous "fat" nano, though it's a wee bit thicker. While you do gain a little size, you also gain a moving, mechanical selection wheel (not a touch-wheel) and a back side that is slightly rubberized, so it isn't as slippery or prone to scratching.
You also gain three features not available on iPods: Memory expansion by way of a mini SD port on the side, FM tuner for those times when you may need to tune into the airwaves, and a built in microphone with recording function for taking voice memos or recording whatever sounds you may desire to keep.
When used in OS X, I will admit that the Sansa is-- Shall we say, crippled? Yes, that's probably the best word. It's not much more than a drag-n-drop mp3 player in OS X. There are some scripts out there for iTunes that automate the process of moving a playlist to the Fuze, but really, OS X is not the ideal place to use the Sansa Fuze, because you have so many limitations! You can't get video into it in this mode (at least, I've found nobody who has had success in doing so), and you won't get your iTunes album art to show up on the Sansa when you deposit it from your OS X partition into the Fuze.
However, one of the handy things about a Mac is that it can run Windows, and in that world the Sansa is as full-featured as possible! If you use Windows Media Player 11, you get album art, you get playlists, and you also get compression.
Yes. Compression. Much like the iPod shuffle, the Sansa Fuze (and WMP 11) will convert your music into a smaller bitrate before transferring to the player. I have it set for 192kbps (the highest WMP will allow with the Fuze) and in this mode I manage to get well over 1000 songs on the built-in 8GB memory, and that still leaves me room for over a gigabyte of video, photos, or music.
Yes, the conversion process makes the sync slower than an iPod would be, but the trade-off for more content on the device is worth it.
This leads me to one of my pet peeves with this device: The Sansa Media Converter.
No, you can't just drop videos into the Sansa Fuze. You need to use the Sansa Media Converter, and it's a dumb, buggy program. It's chintzy and cheap. I absolutely hate it because it does everything as if it's a throwback to the early 90s technology. Yes, it handles many codecs, but it's slow, clunky, and converts to a specific format that the Sansa requires to play videos properly. This should not be necessary. If Sandisk has any sort of brainpower in their PMP division, they'll write some firmware upgrades that allow users to just pop in videos in their raw format, instead of needing to go through the filter of the SMC every time.
That being said, the SMC *does* get the job done, and I have to be fair: The iPod has very specific codec requirements, too, and iTunes is a LOT slower at converting files than the SMC is. It's just that iTunes is a lot more stable, while the SMC has a habit of locking up when it's done converting. It also gives very little in the way of options. You want it to be high quality, low quality, or something else? Tough. You get two choices: "converted" or "not converted".
The radio works just as it should. I never really use it (that's why I have a PMP) but it's nice to know it's there if I ever want news, weather, or something different.
The voice recorder is also fine. Nothing special, but a nice add-on.
The menu display is rather dull, but then, I'm not gazing at the menu all day. It does the job, and at least allows you to change its color scheme a bit. The iPod doesn't even do that.
The music sounds very good, even after the conversion. Of course, my entire iTunes library had to be ported over to my Boot Camp partition, and it is in MP3 format instead of AAC (I made this switch once I realized that no other devices- PSP, PS3, or other audio players- would use AAC). For me, the switch to Windows being my media center for my PMP was fairly easy. I still maintain an iTunes library in OS X, but I just make sure to drag over all my music whenever I get new stuff, and I avoid DRM'd music like the plague.
No, this won't play your iTunes purchased music, but it will play Audible formats, so that's kind of cool. It also supports subscription-based services like Rhapsody if that's your cup of tea (not mine. I like to OWN my music.)
All in all, its a good media player with more features than an iPod, but less versatility than one. Considering the price is at least 25% less than the 8GB iPod nano (and often closer to 50% less when on sale) this is an excellent purchase if you're a Windows user, don't have a lot of protected music, or don't mind switching to Windows Media Player for your management needs.
If you're a Mac user, you'll probably have to weigh the limitations and heavy preference for Windows Media Player on the Sansa in your purchase decision. If you're up to the change, it's just as capable as an iPod (even moreso in some ways), but it is of course not going to be as polished an experience as the familiar iPod interface and connection with iTunes.
PMPs have come a long way. My first one was a 32MB device that could hold very few songs, and had no display whatsoever. Apple revolutionize the industry with the iPod, but SanDisk has done an admirable job of borrowing the iPod's innovations and making them work in different ways-- Some better, some worse, but all comparable to the original and for a lower price.
If what you want is value, then you'll be happy with the Fuze.