Sandisk Sansa Fuze Player Black Survey Having bought an original Fuze for myself and one for my wife and having convinced two co-workers to buy the original Fuze, you could say I am a fan. I wanted to buy my father one as a Christmas present and thought it would be nice to pre-load it with old time radio shows (my main use of the original Fuze). I thought that the new Fuze+ would be an improvement, but I was badly mistaken. First off, the new Fuze+ does not have folders. If you have 1,000 episodes you have to scroll through all of them, as opposed to scrolling through folders that list them by show (i. e. , if you have Jack Benny, Fred Allen, and Henry Morgan you do not see folders, but rather all of the individual files). The start up is cruelly slow now. The user interface is unwieldy and the buttons are overly sensitive. Yes, it looks more like an Apple product, but it does not work as well as a Sansa Fuze (original). I expected there to be some issues in figuring out a new machine, but the problem with this one is that once you figure it out it is still inferior to the older model. Perhaps I am missing something and it is a wonderful player, but having read the directions (something I did not need to do on the original Fuze) I still found it awful to use. Do yourself a favor and either wait until they have provided better software for this dog or buy something else. . . anything else. I sent mine back and ordered an original Fuze, which is a brilliant product. As humans, we sometimes tend to personify our gadgets. Having witnessed the phenomenon in others, I'm happy to see I'm not the only one (a psychologist could explain it better, but it probably stems from our post-toddler, invisible friend/stuffed animal days, but no matter). So if this little MP3 player could speak, I reckon it would probably say something like, "Hi there! I know I'm not as full-blooded as an iPod Touch or as sleekly designed as an iPod Nano, but I'll work real hard to make you happy. Honest!" First, a bit of history: I've owned iPods since late 2003 when I bought a spanking new 15 GB third generation iPod. Back then, smart phones had yet to come of age and if you wanted a high-capacity MP3 player, Apple were just about the only game in town. It helped matters immensely that my iPod was so well constructed since I used it day in, day out for five years until it finally died and I replaced it with a fourth generation iPod Nano. That Nano sure *seemed* solid enough (what with its sleek, anodized aluminum body and all) but a mere year-and-a-half later it fell apart faster than Joan Crawford in a wire hanger factory (see " Hello All I am posting a review of the new Sandisk Sansa Fuze+. I have the 8gb model in black. I am going to go into some depth, so if you are looking for a quick opinion, here it is: Excellent player, great price, highly recommended. If you are willing to read on, I will offer my data and reasoning for the above recommendation. Background: I have taught computer science for 15 years so I am not a technology novice. I started my experience with MP3 many years ago with a couple of iRiver MP3-CD players because I wanted to be able to rip audio books on multiple cd's down to a single disk. I also made a few music collection disk. When I moved into the mp3 player world I went with an iRiver because I liked their products, and they offered a waterproof case and headphones for wearing while swimming laps. Eventually it wore out and I was on the brink of going with an Ipod Nano when I read a review of the Sansa E200 series here. I bought one and absolutely loved it. I bought Sansa Clips for my kids and have loved them. I accidentally destroyed my E270 by spilling pickle juice on it. I took it apart and discovered that the pickle juice had reacted with something on the circuit board and eaten away the power ribbon cable to the video screen. I could still access the player via computer. Despite my best efforts I could not fix the solder joint. So, I was in the market for a new player and while leaning toward Sansa I read reviews on all kinds of players. I spend 66% of my time listening to Audiobooks and 33% to music. I definitely wanted at least 8gb, a MicroSd slot and upgradeable firmware and support for Audible and other audiobooks. This quickly winnowed down the field. Basically my choice came down to the new Fuze+ with touch controls, or the older Fuze with tactile controls. I agonized and went back and forth. Eventually after reading
reviews I decide to go with the older player, but they were only available online. Also, Amazon, my normal online vendor kept changing the price, one day $89. 99, the next day $149, then $79. 00, then $135. On impulse I walked into our local Radio Shack (franchise, not company owned) and they had the Fuze+ on sale for $79. 99. I asked if I could return it if I did not like the touch controls. They said yes, and I bought it. First Impressions: It looks beautiful, and feels appropriately weighty. It is slightly bigger than my E270, but maybe a hair thinner. I disagree with those reviewers who say it looked and felt cheap and plasticky. It does pick up fingerprints and smudges easily. I almost decided to return it immediately, however. Every time I plugged it into my computer (at work) it shut down and the computer would not recognize it. (I wanted to to upgrade firmware immediately). Instead, I went online and went to support chat. There was akmost no wait before someone joined the chat. The person (Marie G) was helpful and knowledgeable, and in short order we determined that the problem was that I was not an Administrator user in Windows XP. When I connected to my laptop, where I was an Admin user, everything worked perfectly, and I upgraded the firmware manually (no net on laptop at work). I was quite pleased and impressed with support. Sound Quality/ Ear Buds: I am not an audio snob, but I do recognize the difference between cheap crappy head phones and decent ones. The included buds are perfectly satisfactory for me, much better than some of the cheap ones I have used, and they are the first ear buds I have owned that stay in my ears while walking around. Normally I have to use over the head type phones. I do have an expensive set of noise canceling phones to use when I want extra quality. Touch Controls: This was the deal breaker for me, and I had read a number of reviews where people hated it and I was apprehensive, especially since I have never used a touch screen device. Bottom line is that it works fine for me. Yes, occasionally I overshoot, but its not a huge problem. Sometimes I hit near the dividing line between two functions and get the wrong one, but I am getting the feel for it. I did upgrade to firmware 1. 3 right away, and that may have fixed problems from earlier versions. I am perfectly happy with the controls. YMMV. I do miss the ability to pause or next the device while in my pocket, but feel that, for me at least, the other benefits make up for it. I am still getting used to sensitivity, but for having never used a touch device before, I am not having trouble. Video: I only ever watched one short video on my E270, and may never really use this feature, but I watched the sample video and the picture quality and colors were excellent. I did not notice the viewing angle problem some reviewers mentioned. The screen is a decent size, and if I have a long bus trip with my chess team (I'm a high school coach) I would consider watching a movie on it. Also, it supports several formats natively, including H. 264 which my camcorder uses, so I may end up using it. Audio Formats: I got this MP3 player to help get me thru frequent traveling, and lots of running. I found it to be just about everything I wanted. Intuitive when transferring files, good price, nice size, and good features (I especially like the radio). On my most recent trip, I rolled my ankle while running over some broken ground, and the Fuze. . . took the full force of my fall. If I could change it, I'd make the SCREEN touch-sensitive (and give it a steel-reinforced case?). Sometimes, the touch pad doesn't scroll the way you'd expect. Also, it was sometimes difficult to make it scroll a little (selecting the NEXT song, for example, instead of two songs down on the list). That's the reason for 4 stars, as opposed to 5. But all in all, I was happy with it. I guess the strongest endorsement I could make is that I'm going to replace my broken one with the same model! After reading through all of the positive and negative reviews for the Fuze+, and noting that most complaints were "navigation-oriented", and seeing recommendations to simply update the firmware to solve the problems, I went ahead and ordered. I'd gotten an original Fuze for my daughter a couple years ago, and she's still happy with it, so "go with what you know". I don't regret my decision at all. The player has excellent sound, is very solid and sturdy in feel, a convenient size. . . I honestly don't have any complaints. I updated the firmware immediately, and find navigation to be simple and reliable. The firmware upgrade appears to have solved any issues with funky navigation using the faux-touchpad controls. I'm having no problems at all getting around, and find the menu system very easy to maneuver. One note, which also seems to have addressed a few complaints
about using the play/pause control to lock the player: the firmware update changes that feature. You now lock and unlock the player via the power button, very easy to do and it seems to be more intuitive. Even with the included earbuds, the sound quality of this player is outstanding. I am probably going to upgrade to a better set of buds (if anyone reads this and would like to leave recommendations in the comments. . . ?) Actually, the earbuds that come with the unit are my only complaint, and a minor one. My ears must be smaller than the average bear's, as I find them uncomfortable -- they're a bit too large to fit properly, and one ear is actually painful when wearing them. For someone with average-sized ears, though, I'm sure they would be fine, and the sound is, as stated, surprisingly good. One aspect of the player I've yet to put to the test is battery life. As of writing this review, so far so good. All told, I don't regret purchasing the Fuze+ at all. For anyone reading reviews to help make their decision, a simple (and it is simple, "easy peasy", in fact) update of the firmware solves the primary issue people have mentioned in the negative reviews.
http://gradebit.com/41093