joekisonu wrote:Relatively speaking, in size:
Sansa Clip = small, 1" screen, no videos
Sansa Fuze = medium, 1.9" screen, videos
Sansa View = large, 2.4" screen, videos

View & Fuze are functionally the same, but if you really expect to watch video content, then you'll prefer the larger View screen.
If you're most interested in the music, then the Fuze is a great option. (the Clip does not have an expansion slot)

Thanks, I gave in and bought the Fuze again. Will retire the e260 which served me very well for the long time I had and used it. I'm sure someone will give me $$ towards the cost of this red Fuze.

maccrory wrote:Who gives a scaffolding about gapless playback...thats why the Itunes leaps into the vacuum - once u get ur library to a certain size - adding new songs takes forever because of that stupid gapless play.....

Many albums or musical works, such as symphonies, were designed with no gap in mind, and are only artificially segmented for either technological or practical reasons and the short pauses sometimes disrupt the listening experience.

Gapless playback may come in a later firmware update. When Rockbox works it will have it. As of now, however, it does not have it, but I wouldn't hold off on a Fuze purchase just because it's lacking that one feature, especially because we're likely to get it on some level, either through official firmware or Rockbox.

badcatstl wrote:Newegg had a 8GB refurb Fuze for 40$ w/ free shipping very recently. I already had a View but the Fuze was more portable. I like it. It now has refurb stamped on the back, can't pop off the "R" sticker anymore. This is still a decent price though. It is only a little thicker than my Nano and about 1/2" wider than it, and about 1/2" shorter. (Woot blessed me with the Nano in my one and only Boggy Old Creature)

From what I know the R mark on the back is actually for the Rhapsody version of the Sansa, not for "refurb".

Mescalero wrote:I have a sansa e260 and the original firmware works fine but doesn't allow a lot of options. I run rockbox on it now mainly because of the lack of bookmarking on the original FW. I wonder if anybody knows if firmware allows bookmarking. I don't think you can run rockbox on these.

http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/SansaFuze

agentandrew002 wrote:Actually I have 700 songs on my 4gb iPod.

The first player I ever got was a Creative Zune 4GB, still have it and the most I have fit on it was 1234 songs. Mostly 128kbps wma. I have just over 1000 on it right now.

DaHarder wrote:That's a matter of opinion... I too like all of my Sansa Clip players (though I do feel the sound quality is a bit over rated), but the plasticy build quality and generally mediocre ergonomics make it a poor choice for those with larger hands.

The Fuze is far more versatile over-all with similar-to-better sound quality, generally more powerful output (for more demanding earspeakers), and a much more capacious display that also supports photo/video viewing, all for a WOOT price that's very near Clip prices.

I'm pretty sure the Fuze and Clip have the same sound chip.

MindlessAutomata wrote:I'm pretty sure the Fuze and Clip have the same sound chip.

Yes they do, but there's more to sound quality than simply the 'sound chip'.

Having both players, I can't easily hear a difference between the two players, with the Fuze sounding brighter and more detailed on the high end, in addition to having the ability to drive more demanding earspeakers more effectively.

If left to choose between the two (based on sound quality/ergonomics/build quality), I choose the Fuze every time.

RavenPaul13 wrote:The first player I ever got was a Creative Zune 4GB, still have it and the most I have fit on it was 1234 songs. Mostly 128kbps wma. I have just over 1000 on it right now.

Hmmm? The Zune is made by Microsoft... Not Creative.

anyone use this at the gym? I used to have a Clip that worked awesome when I was jogging or lifting, but was left behind in the gym one day never to be seen again.

I would need to find a good case to use at the gym, I'm ssuming there are lots of those?

Any insight into this would be much apprciated.

DCno10 wrote:Just wanted to commend the writers on the open letter to Mr. Tarantino. Bravo. And go see Inglourious Basterds if you haven't already. Seriously.

Agreed!! Love the movie. I've been kind of thinking about getting a new player.. mine is a cheap one from about 3 years ago. No need to invest in an iPod Touch or a Zune, but the letter to Tarantino sealed the deal. Long live Woot.. mixing humor and shopping in a new and special way each and every day!!

I'm IN!... I still have my 4+1/2 year old Sansa e250 & it's still working great...but I'm ready to upgrade just cuz I love Sansa's. Why do the ithing when ya can go with a sansa? I'm SO tired of Apple's Marketing & how they make fun of microsoft as they continue to sucker in Mac & Pod users...GO SANSA!

will this work with the ipod dock in my car????

woot guys: can you please confirm if this is v1 or v2 fuze? this is important for rockbox firmware.

Down for two. No more pink and one is for my daughter. Drat!! I bought one of these new at the local shack last black Friday for fifty bucks. I use it all the time and absolutely love it. I added an 8gb micro card and have everything I want on it. I do use it for short videos too, like cartoons for the kids (okay cartoons for me too).

For what it is, inexpensive and excellent features (has an FM radio which I don't really use because it doesn't seem to pull in stations very well--I know the headphones are the antenna), it is a slam-dunk buy. I can still hold off on getting the 8G I-Touch, which I'd still love to have. Heck, at this price I can buy about eight of these, play the same video on all eight at once and have quite the media event.

I feel like it scratches kind of easily, but I don't have a lot of mp3 players to compare it to.

dirtybert wrote:will this work with the ipod dock in my car????

No, since iPod connectors are exclusive to iPod branded devices.

If your car has a standard 3.5mm input jack, then it'll work just fine.

I have owned a Sansa Fuze for over a year and it works great with Rhapsody.

djbowyer wrote:Down for two. No more pink and one is for my daughter. Drat!! I bought one of these new at the local shack last black Friday for fifty bucks. I use it all the time and absolutely love it. I added an 8gb micro card and have everything I want on it. I do use it for short videos too, like cartoons for the kids (okay cartoons for me too).

For what it is, inexpensive and excellent features (has an FM radio which I don't really use because it doesn't seem to pull in stations very well--I know the headphones are the antenna), it is a slam-dunk buy. I can still hold off on getting the 8G I-Touch, which I'd still love to have. Heck, at this price I can buy about eight of these, play the same video on all eight at once and have quite the media event.

I feel like it scratches kind of easily, but I don't have a lot of mp3 players to compare it to.

Unfortunately they all scratch rather easily (comparatively speaking) when placed into pockets along with other items such as coins and keys. Buying some kind of case (I highly recommend the rubberized type) is always a good investment for media players.

This really is a solid WOOT, and the more of these that get sold, the fewer of those exorbitantly expensive, sonically/feature inferior players people will have to suffer with.

I've never had one of these before so I'm clueless. I hope it works . I will be using it with laptop running MS Vista. What issuses do I need to know about? I have ordered the charging kit that has 3 different chargers also. Any advice or instructions would be appreciated, Can I charge it via computer using USB cable that comes with it, or is it best to charge with the AC charger that comes in that charge kit? Will this product be hard for and older person to set up and use? help!

Paula52648 wrote:I've never had one of these before so I'm clueless. I hope it works . I will be using it with laptop running MS Vista. What issuses do I need to know about? I have ordered the charging kit that has 3 different chargers also. Any advice or instructions would be appreciated, Can I charge it via computer using USB cable that comes with it, or is it best to charge with the AC charger that comes in that charge kit? Will this product be hard for and older person to set up and use? help!

Vista: No problems or issues.

Charging: Since it uses a USB cable to charge and transfer files to it, whenever it's plugged into this cable and to your computer, it's charging. When you are in the car, plug the same cable into the lighter adapter that came with the kit from Sellout and you're charging. If your computer's not on, use the same cable but with the AC adapter that came with the kit. It's very easy to see how they all connect.

My wife is a technophobe, and actually cried when I got her a Sansa Clip and a new car radio with a 3.5mm plug so she could listen to audiobooks without me burning them to CD for her. Once she got over her anxiety, she roams the house listening to her books!

The Fuze is really easy to use, but you gotta look at the screen (like most electronic gizmos). Once you are used to the menus and the navigation wheel, you'll be fine. If you (or the "older person") are not comfortable with computers, ask a friend to help you load the thing with music or audiobooks.

djbowyer wrote:I feel like it scratches kind of easily, but I don't have a lot of mp3 players to compare it to.

I highly recommend the protectors at www.bestskinsever.com
They have a full body cover for the fuze for 6.99
It takes about an hour to do a really good job of apply the pieces, but when you're done, nothing will scratch your Fuze, and you won't even be able to tell its on there.

You can find a video clip on the product and download and follow the directions for applying the skin.

Prior to this cover I had one of those silicone covers on it, and a different screen protector. Since the silicone cover is flexible, it kept lifting up the edges of the screen protector and since I use it while doing yardwork, often found sand and dust between the cover and the player.

tgoosey wrote:what capacity micro SD can this accept?

16GB with eventual 32GB support

I've been pricing and comparing these things for weeks. I've had my c200 for about 2 years now and it's starting to show a little wear. I have been seeing mixed reviews on the Fuze over and over. People like it, it broke for others, it never freezes, it freezes all the time, etc. So I haven't taken the plunge yet. However, in my extensive search I've found a few things that I know I care about.

Facts:
With the newest firmware it plays OGG and FLAC
Decent battery life
No news on Rockbox for it yet
Supports 16 and eventually 32 GB MicroSD cards

And I've also found a rumor:
Rumor:
Sandisk is working on a hybrid of the Fuze and the Clip. The word is, the same way the Fuze is a hybrid of the Clip and the View, the new one (whatever they name it) will be a Clip with a MicroSD slot for high capacity MicroSD cards.

Just some things to think about.

nautilusNY wrote:Does rockbox allow recording via mic?

Not yet on the Fuze. I think there might be someone working on it.

pooptydoo wrote:bcuz rockbox for the Fuze is still a test build, it does NOT support voice recording. it will in the final build which is coming soon

"soon"? They very specifically do not give release dates and estimates. It'll be ready when it's ready.

pooptydoo wrote:i installed rockbox on my Fuze and had stability issues. i went back to the original firmware and all is well. and this is after a few installs of rockbox

Yeah, it's not the most stable yet, but being used to Rockbox on my old e260, I just couldn't stomach using the OF.

pooptydoo wrote:however....rockbox permanently "breaks" DRM on the Fuze. [...] so if you have a lot of music files ripped straight from CD, you may want to consider that, as some do have DRM.

If your CD ripping tool is adding DRM to your rips, you have a bad ripping tool. CDs aren't DRM-encumbered. It's the PlaysForSure files that won't be playable anymore.

pooptydoo wrote:although because of the proprietary charging cable i don't even think wall charging is possible :/

Just plug the USB end of the proprietary cable into the usb port on the wall adapter.

kogaku wrote:However, check this link for what appears to be a front end for mencoder (which means you can probably extrapolate for the relevant args for ffmpeg or WinFF):

http://forums.sandisk.com/sansa/board/message?board.id=sansafuse&thread.id=31437&jump=true

It uses mencoder for the transcoding step, but there's a second step to tweak the AVI container to exactly what the Fuze is expecting. The guy who did the research said that he couldn't find any Linux-native tool to do the remuxing. Fortunately, however, the Windows tool he chose is F/OSS and runs in Wine, unlike SMC

Heywired wrote:It does not work well with video clips longer than a few minutes. You can play a TV show or movie on it, but the audio and video will be out of synch and get more out of synch as play progresses. Sansa admitted the problem, said that they didn't know if a fix would ever come

The mencoder/avi-mux method apparently solves this.

jespensc wrote:Ubuntu Linux geek here, and though I love my Sansas -- bought many e2xx/clip/etc for myself/family/gifts -- I lament the sad state of video conversion. Sansa Media Converter is buggy as hell, barely works consistently under XP, doesn't work under Wine at all, and workarounds have been rather lacking.

Imagine my surprise when a little searching for Fuze-specific Linux video solutions turned up this gem:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=892971

ffmpeg -i INPUT -r 29.97 -vcodec xvid -b 700k -acodec aac -ab 128k -bufsize 4M -qmax 51 -mbd 2 -flags +4mv+trell -aic 2 -cmp 2 -subcmp 2 -ar 44100 -g 300 -s 320x240 -aspect 4:3 -ac 2 -f mp4 -y OUTPUT

Can haz video!

In for two!

Well you could just use WinFF for linux, it has presets for the e2XX series though I am not too sure about the Fuze here. You could just look up the video screen size and put it in anyway.

Regardless, this is a great deal, I love the whole Sansa line. Good sound, good battery, and decent video playback for a very very good price make them all worth it. IMO, a real ipod killer.

killerbunny2 wrote:well, it says they play WMA, OGG and many other formats.

File Support: MP3, OGG, FLAC, WMA, secure WMA, WAV, Audible, MPEG4

Sorry if this question has already been asked. Is it absolutely necessary to get the charging pack or can it be charged via my USB like the Flip Video? Anyone who knows, please help a girl out!

sh119408 wrote:Sorry if this question has already been asked. Is it absolutely necessary to get the charging pack or can it be charged via my USB like the Flip Video? Anyone who knows, please help a girl out!

No, its not necessary.
The Fuze comes with the usb cable.
The charging pack comes with an extra cable and the adaptors to plug it into a wall outlet and to the cigarette lighter in your car.

so would a rockboxed fuze sound better than a rockboxed e200?

Okay. I really want this primarily to play music and to record notes (on occasion). Will this thing do that? Is there any magic involved?

off topic discussion:

anyone else notice a much longer delay in woot shipping as i have. i purchased the Energizer Hardcase Tactical Flashlight on 08/19/2009 and just today got the tracking number.

i mean, come on woot, step up the shipping. over a week before you even ship out AND expected deliver is out another week!!!!

Jonas4321 wrote:I use Skullcandy Ink'd earbuds for those of you that want to start an argument with me about sound quality. I won't respond, but do what you feel.

SkullCandy? Seriously? Try Shure SE210. I agree with you on your other points though.

tehooper wrote:Will it show in the devices under iTunes? If so, can you load it with iTunes playlists?

I know, I know, but I need it to get my 80gb ipod classic updated for the car. I'd like something small for running or killing time without having to get my fat ipod out of the glovebox.

i am pretty sure it will not but you can still get the music from iTunes on it but you will have to remake the playlists

erossman wrote:Has anyone used this product in conjunction with Rhapsody to go? What was your impression? It seems to me like a pretty good system, were there any drawbacks?

I don't have this particular player (yet - in for two), but my Clip and e260 both work beautifully with Rhapsody To Go. No fuss at all - just remember to sync your player once a month to make sure your "digital rights" are properly "managed", and you're good to go. With Rhapsody, I rarely bother to buy albums anymore. I can listen to (almost) whatever I want and change it up all the time.

This player works wonderfully with Rhapsody to Go service.

Only drawback is the Rhapsody Radio stations can only be put on the internal memory, not the expansion card.

But normal albums can go on the expansion card.

Schizophilia wrote:I don't have this particular player (yet - in for two), but my Clip and e260 both work beautifully with Rhapsody To Go. No fuss at all - just remember to sync your player once a month to make sure your "digital rights" are properly "managed", and you're good to go. With Rhapsody, I rarely bother to buy albums anymore. I can listen to (almost) whatever I want and change it up all the time.

Am I missing something on these Rhapsody questions? The Fuze product pages at http://www.sansa.com/players/sansa_fuze/features state that the Fuze comes with a 14/30 day trial to Rhapsody (seriously, it mentions both 14 and 30 day trials for the same product on the same page) so assumably it works just fine with Rhapsody - or is 'Rhapsody To Go' different than just 'Rhapsody'??

finch127 wrote:Well you could just use WinFF for linux, it has presets for the e2XX series though I am not too sure about the Fuze here. You could just look up the video screen size and put it in anyway.

The issue with video under the official SanDisk firmware isn't the video codec itself but with the AVI container. The problem is that the OF appears to have some specific requirements that are hard (or impossible?) to get with mencoder or ffmpeg alone.

That said, the Fuze and e200 have the same resolution, albeit rotated 90° (4:3 on the Fuze, 3:4 on the e200. Rockbox's mpegplayer plugin shows video sideways on the e200). If WinFF has any e200 presets for MPEG-2 in Rockbox, they should work on the Fuze too. I'm guessing that the Fuze could probably handle a higher bitrate and such, but I really haven't experimented.

joekisonu wrote:Am I missing something on these Rhapsody questions? The Fuze product pages at http://www.sansa.com/players/sansa_fuze/features state that the Fuze comes with a 14/30 day trial to Rhapsody (seriously, it mentions both 14 and 30 day trials for the same product on the same page) so assumably it works just fine with Rhapsody - or is 'Rhapsody To Go' different than just 'Rhapsody'??

The base Rhapsody service will let you listen to audio on your PC, but for a few extra dollars per month, you can get the "To Go" service, which uses Microsoft "Plays for Sure" DRM (I think) to transfer music to your mobile device on a subscription basis. So with the "To Go" service, you can load music you don't own onto your mobile player. If you buy tracks outright from Rhapsody, you get an MP3, and you can put it wherever you want.

designme wrote:Will retire the e260 which served me very well for the long time I had and used it. I'm sure someone will give me $$ towards the cost of this red Fuze.

PM sent.

Dhraakellian wrote:
If your CD ripping tool is adding DRM to your rips, you have a bad ripping tool. CDs aren't DRM-encumbered.

I wonder if he has some of those Sony CDs with the rootkits on them? IIRC, they had DRM'd "shadow" versions of the actual CD tracks, and once rooted, the computer would THINK it was doing an actual rip but was in reality just copying the lossy DRM'd files.

Am thinking of getting one for the gym; I love my 30 GB Zen but it's a little large for working out. I don't know if anyone asked before, but is this an extended warranty available? I'm used to seeing that on the home page for Woot sales but didn't see it today.