Reasons I love my Fuze-

1) The sound quality is high like the Clip
2) The navigation wheel is very easy to use
3) The micro SDHC slot for memory expansion
4) The way Windows sees the internal and expansion memory as separate but the player sees it as all one
5) Don't need bloated music management to load the thing (except for playlists)
6) The power switch with the "hold" position means that it won't turn on accidentally (very unlikely anyway) and makes it easy to lock in "hold". Great design.
7) Support for DRM music and audiobooks including Audible.com
8) Placing any audio file in the "Audiobooks" folder enables bookmarking by the Fuze
9) Bookmarking of audiobooks (awesome)
10) Equalizer
11) FM radio
12) Video, though the small screen makes this my last "pro" on the list. I have watched several movies while on the plane with my Fuze

Things I would like changed on the Fuze:

1) Proprietary cable, though since I own 4 other Sansa's I have spares. Only the Clip got this right with the standard mini-B connector.
2) Some of the menus will "go around" from the last item to the first with the navigation wheel while others don't. May seem like a small thing but why get it right only part of the time?
3) Converting video to use on the Fuze is quite time consuming. See my next post for a freeware DVD-to-Fuze video procedure that has worked 100% of the time for me.
4) Non-replaceable battery. I suppose making it replaceable would make this player bulkier (it is glued closed), but when mine dies I will be forced to toss the whole thing out.
5) Many people have complained about the headphone jack going bad on this and other Sansas. The only bad experience I have had is that sometimes I don't have the headphones plugged all the way in (it's surprisingly easy to do this) and this makes the player skip for some strange reason. Seems like a poor design.

Here's how I convert DVDs to watch on the Fuze. Works every time for me, though it is a fairly lengthy process, and watching video on the Fuze is not my top reason for owning one. The screen is a bit small for this purpose, forcing me to hold the Fuze within 12-18 inches from my face to do so. Someone once asked if watching video on the Fuze while on the treadmill was possible, and I don't think it would be. But, watching a movie on the Fuze while on the plane works great for me.

This is modified from the Sansa Forums, thanks to Tapeworm for the post:

1) Rip .vob files from DVD with DVDFab HD Decrypter freeware.

2) Merge .vob files with VOBMerge freeware. The primary reason for this step is to only do the next steps once instead of many times.

3) Convert merged .vob files to .avi with WinFF freeware. AVI is definitely the best when it comes to success with Step 4.

4) Final conversion & transfer to player or memory card with Sansa Media Converter (this is a long process).

Every so often while watching a video on my Fuze, the sound gets out of sync with the video. I just stop and switch off, then power up and start again and it cures it. Videos, like audiobooks, are bookmarked so it's easy to pick up where you left off.

Does anyone know if the port on the bottom is the same as on the e260? I have an altec lansing dock for my e260 and am wondering if this could dock there, too.

This is my third Sansa. I've got the e280, my first one and use the heck out of it. Got the wife a Fuze and she's fallen in love. Buying this one as a backup and for use in my studio. These are the best deal going for the money in MP3 players. Wanna watch a movie? Get a TV. But for ease of use, battery life, and a great price, get the Sansa.

amyfgibson wrote:Does anyone know if the port on the bottom is the same as on the e260? I have an altec lansing dock for my e260 and am wondering if this could dock there, too.

Same port as the other Fuzes and same port as the e280 so I'm sure its the same as the e260.

I've been wanting one of these for a while. Price is better or equal to what I can find out there. I'm in for one. Haven't heard anything negative about this yet. What the heck, it's only $37.99.

what is the condition of the refurbished models, do they look new?

I ended up receiving a (Red) Fuze v2 last time. It can't be Rockbox'ed. Most people seemed to have received v1.

My other Fuze v1 was Rockbox'ed, and it was very stable and sounded great.

Howler81 wrote:ROCKBOX - This hasn't come up yet, so I'll go ahead and tell you. For the Fuze v1, rockbox has made a lot of progress. It's currently an unstable but kind-of usable port. For the Fuze v2, that's likely a LONG way off. I don't know which version these will be. http://www.rockbox.org/wiki/SansaAMS

MindlessAutomata wrote:If you're debating on whether to buy this or hold out for an Ipod, don't wait. The Fuze is, in my opinion, the best sub-$100 media player on the market, far superior to the Nano especially for V1s that have Rockbox working on them.

Does Rockbox work on the Fuze? I have it on my e260 and love it but didn't think there was a fuze version.

Edit - Doh... nevermind, didn't read far enough.

Well it's about time, woot! Three weeks ago I lost my old refurbed Sansa Fuze that I bought here last year. That's right: THREE WEEKS OF HELL!

Don't ever do that again.

BVX wrote: or to show the wife that she snores too, etc.

Ok so I am not the only person to do this.....

How many people have a recording of their wife snoring?

I don't recommend, the thumb-wheel locks up this is a known problem. Mine locked up.

Purchased 3 the last time you offered...best buy 4 the ging!! the voice recorder is handy.

Ok without being snotty ......

What is the difference in general usability of a Clip and a Fuze? I have a pocketful of e-series Sansa's. Love 'em. Thinking of gifts for 14 and 10 year old girls.

e-series, Fuze, Clip?

Suggestions?

Girls do not have their own pc but can get access to one at grandmother's. Will be used for music.

Insights regarding differences are greatly appreciated.

thanks, rusty

I bought one off the last Woot.com sale and I love it.. It's really good for the gym and my truck; especially good for my "iPod" dock at work that just connects through the headphone jack. Not to mention that I can fit my extra storage in it as well as the 4G.

Check pout the DH Gate - China Wholesale ad below!

FLAC in my pocket, expandable via cards, sealed it for me. Wish it had an iPod dock on the bottom so I could wake up to it via iHome but you can't have everything, not for 38 bucks anyway.

Jonas4321 wrote:Reasons I love my Fuze-
...
7) Support for DRM music and audiobooks including Audible.com
8) Placing any audio file in the "Audiobooks" folder enables bookmarking by the Fuze
...

Let me just slightly augment your great list, with these spoken word features.

7) ... and including OverDrive and NetLibrary audiobooks (the formats your local library supports)
8a) Similarly, for podcasts placed in the "Podcasts" folder (or alternatively, tagged as "Podcast") enables bookmarking (resume) by the Fuze
7&8b) Changeable playback speed (Fast, Normal, Slow) for podcasts and audiobooks (only one setting for all podcasts and audiobooks).

This last one is my favorite feature for spoken word, although it does not have pitch control (fast playback sounds higher pitched than normal). Although there's only one setting for all podcasts and audiobooks, it's reachable from any individual podcast or audiobook (press lower button on clickwheel).

Rustyh3 wrote:What is the difference in general usability of a Clip and a Fuze? I have a pocketful of e-series Sansa's. Love 'em. Thinking of gifts for 14 and 10 year old girls.

e-series, Fuze, Clip?

Suggestions?

Clip vs. Fuze
-------------
Clip: smaller, has a removable clip. (Clip+: adds a μSD slot, has non-removable clip.)

Fuze: adds μSD slot, 1.9" screen for video.



Fuze vs. e200-series
--------------------
screen: 1.9" portrait Fuze, 1.8" landscape e200.

Rockbox: soon for v1 Fuze, now for v1 e200.

Resume: Fuze properly resumes all podcasts and audiobooks. e200 only resumes properly the last played content (otherwise, it starts at the beginning). (Rockboxed player can be set to resume all content, but Rockbox can't play DRM'd content, like Audible, OverDrive, or NetLibrary audiobooks.)

Build: Fuze lighter, wider, shorter, thinner. e200 seems more rugged, though both reportedly are long lasting.

Battery: Fuze's is non-replaceable, e200's is replaceable.

Sound Quality: Fuze's superior to v1 e200, same as v2 e200. (But hard to find a retailer that can tell which e200 version you're getting.)

Controls: Headset jack on bottom of Fuze, top of e200.


Suggestion?: either is a good choice for music-listening young girls. I would probably buy the Fuze because of the slightly more cool factor (newer, thinner) that might sway young kids. Or the Clip if they really liked small and didn't want to show photos or videos.

Got this for my 11 year old the last time it listed a couple months back and it is amazing. If you download using Mozilla's plugins and convert with the free Sansa converter the videos are great quality.

I can't say enough good things about it, worth the buy if you are hesitant.

http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Sansa-Video-Player-Black/dp/B0015L0T68

get brand new with car charger and home charger for only $10 more

lydiamoody wrote:http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Sansa-Video-Player-Black/dp/B0015L0T68

get brand new with car charger and home charger for only $10 more

OR support our WOOT friends and get MORE extra accessories on Amazon for $8 including shipping

http://www.amazon.com/Durable-Flexible-Silicone-Armband-Charger/dp/B001C48HTO/ref=pd_cp_e_2/189-5370965-6569268

Just chipping in my love for this little player. Use it daily for audio books on my hour-long commute (each way...ugh). The resume will literally go back to the WORD I left off on if I switch out to music. Weighs nothing, long battery life. If you are at all on the fence...jump off! Great little player.

it's the same port.

amyfgibson wrote:Does anyone know if the port on the bottom is the same as on the e260? I have an altec lansing dock for my e260 and am wondering if this could dock there, too.

how many of these do you think woot has? think they'll sell out today?

sue_joy wrote:OR support our WOOT friends and get MORE extra accessories on Amazon for $8 including shipping

http://www.amazon.com/Durable-Flexible-Silicone-Armband-Charger/dp/B001C48HTO/ref=pd_cp_e_2/189-5370965-6569268

kgb24 wrote:how many of these do you think woot has? think they'll sell out today?

That's kinda how Woot works One day, one deal baby! I just bought two BTW...

I bought one of these last time Woot had them for sale. I must say that it is a very nice unit. It's very cool that you can add memory. I had a spare 2GB card which increased capacity to 6GB, but could easily add more. I prefer the graphic equalizer over any settings available on my Nano - helps a great deal with a crappy car stereo. It works great for books - remembers where you left off even after visiting another book or music file. Display is brighter and easier to read than my Nano too. I thought at first that it was incapable of taking a full charge but found that my old computer just has insufficient USB power output. I can't say for sure how long the Fuze will last but the unit is one of high quality - great tactile feel - I like the way the wheel actually spins. I'm so tempted to buy another, but really don't need it. I would strongly encourage anyone who's interested to BUY!

I bought two of these the last time they were up on Woot. I've been very pleased with my purchase. Does anyone know what I need to buy in order to expand my memory? I'm at the limit.

Thanks for the comments.
Clip looses......Fuze wins!
In for 3.
Is there a good web site for all things Sansa other than the mfg site?

kgb24 wrote:how many of these do you think woot has? think they'll sell out today?

Woot seems to have an unlimited supply of Sansa players.......

amyfgibson wrote:Does anyone know if the port on the bottom is the same as on the e260? I have an altec lansing dock for my e260 and am wondering if this could dock there, too.

If it's the Altec Lansing im413, it only lists supporting the Sansa C series, E series, and connect. But others have reported using it with the Fuse:

http://forums.sandisk.com/sansa/board/message?board.id=sansafuse&thread.id=6680

jj2me wrote:either is a good choice for music-listening young girls.

Wait, what? Assuming you don't buy the pink one, what makes this not a guy's mp3 player?

ChuckMcKnight wrote:Wait, what? Assuming you don't buy the pink one, what makes this not a guy's mp3 player?

Actually nothing .... I got three....one for each girl and one for me! I love Christmas.

I was thinking, "Meh. Don't need this when I have my CD player at work." But then someone wrote "Podcast." *drool* How cool it would be to listen to CNet's Buzz Out Loud while picking orders?

I bought one of these a while back.

Pros - Crazy long battery life (sometimes I forget the last time I charged it). It's tiny, and you can't even tell you have it in your pocket. MicroSDHC is awesome. FLAC support is even awesomer.

Cons - Sometimes I seem to have slight difficulties getting the USB/charging cord connected on the bottom port, but this is potentially due to poor storage/bending of the cable end connection. Also, it will have "refurb" imprinted on the back. My solution? I bought a case/cover to protect the screen (as I'm an Dr. Clayton Forrester), and haven't seen it since.

The video screen is small, but in some scenarios it works for watching. I just use it for music though. I keep my same "core" set of tunes on the actual 4 gb player, and then I swap out new/different/unlistened via the microSD slot.

Its a good deal, Unless your looking to scour the net and save some stamp money for those pesky little christmas cards that have to go out in a couple weeks. C'mon naysayers, Its a 40 dollar MP3 player not a 5 grand gaming system LOL.

Don't buy this because you want to watch videos on it! It is EXTREMELY hard to get the videos into the right file format. There's a converter program that sometimes comes on a CD packaged with the MP3 player, but if you're not lucky enough to get the CD you have to go searching around for the program online. And even if you do manage to find, download, and install it, sometimes it just won't work for no apparent reason.

Rhapsody only or can I use I-tunes, Amazon, etc?

klinemic wrote:I bought two of these the last time they were up on Woot. I've been very pleased with my purchase. Does anyone know what I need to buy in order to expand my memory? I'm at the limit.

All it takes is a micro SD card. They're amazingly cheap and readily available.

MiCroStoogE wrote:Meh.

Aside from being compact, the Fuze is not a patch on the Zune. Tiny screen, can't convert video with anything but the converter software from Sandisk, and worst of all, can't listen to it while it's plugged in to charge.

I'll be a happy camper when I can afford a decent portable video player again and can return this one to the car. It's decently functional, but I've been spoiled by the Zune.

Download a copy of "video4fuze" from the google dev site (URL not handy but you ought to be able to find it in ten seconds via web search). Unlike the Sansa Media Converter, THIS program really DOES work, and, it works well.

You certainly CAN use the device while it's charging -- but NOT if it is being synched to a computer. If you ONLY charge it when synching to a computer, then no, you can't play it while charging, but that's not really a fair comparison.

Get a power-only USB cable (one without data lines), OR, better yet, a USB wall-wart/charger, and there ya go. Works like a charm.

I like my Zunes too, and that's saying something, considering how much I DESPISE the (mandatory) Zune software. With the Sansas, I can simply drag/drop from ANY computer, without needing to install a massive hawg of a program that really, really, really wants to take over my computer (and WILL take it over unless severely reigned in). Before I managed to reign in MY copy of the Zune software, that POS had succeeded in contaminating mass quantities of media files, and worse yet, DELETING hundreds of podcasts, that IT decided I no longer needed on my computer now that it had decided to install them on the player.

Very very evil, very very nasty piece of work that one is -- so, the fact that I still LIKE my Zunes IS saying quite a bit about the players.

No such grief with the Sansas. I will concede that Sansa's concept of "support" would be comical if not for the grief it inflicted on its subjects, but as to the players themselves, between Rockbox (for those versions that can take it, and video4fuze (for the Fuze and e200 V2 series), and the LACK of any MANDATORY uglyware, they're eminently usable.