I gotta get one of these, I haven't had portable tunes since my iPod got stolen a few months ago, and I seem to have terrible luck with expensive MP3 players. (The iPod is not sorely missed though because I really disliked that thing)

i got a 4gb one awhile ago for my gf and it has worked perfect for her. she's not to gentle with it either. i think it's time i get on for me to use for workouts.

kogaku wrote:It's unbelievably good -- definitely not too small to see, and great for those boring stretches of time when you really tire of reading the diplomas, motivational posters, OSHA-mandated sillykoi, and other assorted wall-noise.

I regularly watch classic TV shows on mine, and the occasional full length movie, and it's NOT too small.

I find that videos do look better when running Rockbox -- higher frame rate (smoother action) and, thanks to the optional "dithering" setting, smoother color rendition. But, with the stock firmware, the "video4fuze" program makes it really easy to convert videos for the Fuze (for Rockbox, nothing beats "WinFF") -- both are free/open source apps, no adware or other garbage -- do a websearch for the URLs, or, wait for someone else who has them handy to post them (I'm fighting a migraine at the moment, sorry 'bout that).

I just bought another one tonight, was hoping Woot would list them one more time, and was hoping for another 8GB. WHY? Because the rocket scientists at Sansa DISCONTINUED the Fuze, and "replaced" it with the "Fuze+" which has approximately NOTHING in common with the Fuze. (The consensus on the enthusiast sites seems to be that it's a revamped "Sansa View" that was given the "Fuze+" name because the Fuze is so popular, the the View is so unpopular.

The Fuze is in the minds of many the best player Sansa has ever made, and the loss is already lamented. I've read many posts by people scouring the stores trying to buy remaining stock, and generally finding one of two situations -- either the shelves already cleaned out of stock, or, what few Fuzes remain, priced well into the nosebleed section (well over twice what THIS Woot is going for!)

The Fuze is unrivaled in its class, pretty much because it's the only player IN its class. There isn't any other player of this size with the features the Fuze contains.

I own MANY Sansas -- many models (as well as a few Zunes), but if I could only own ONE player, it'd be the Fuze.

Great post (I wanted to quote it again here for the info).

This is one device that delivers the goods.

Re: video

I think that the video is genuinely solid for small clips (0-15 minutes). I use video4Fuze and and more than happy with the picture.

I've even watched full length movies (that I'm familiar with) without undue eyestrain.

This does great video when you consider size and pricepoint. If I'm on a plane, I bring the netbook. Idle moment, otherwise: more than satisfying. Good menu too.

Hell: if Sansa is indeed putting these out on the scrapheap of history (thx for the word!), I may well buy another. Cheers.

neovenator wrote:Regarding the SDHC card slot, does the device consider the added memory a part of the total memory, or does it keep it separate?

If you browse by database, it's all together. If you browse by folders, they're separate, both in the SanDisk firmware and in Rockbox. (The latter's filebrowser is still much, much better in other ways, of course.)

neovenator wrote:Regarding the SDHC card slot, does the device consider the added memory a part of the total memory, or does it keep it separate?

I ask because my Creative Zen has an SD slot, but if you put anything on an SD card and want to play it, you have to navigate to a separate menu to access it. You can't add items on the SD card to a playlist that includes items on the device's internal memory, and it doesn't remember where you stopped playing a file on the SD card when you turn it off. The card, essentially, becomes a separate media player inside the Zen, and since it only accepts cards up to 2gb, it's pretty pointless.

To put it simply, the Zen is crap and I'd like to avoid a repeat if possible.

Items on the sd card are in the same media library as the internal memory, not like your zen. So go ahead pull the trigger.

I don't really see the appeal of adding rockbox to your sansa. I personally find the Sansa menu really easy to use. It has a custom equalizer and plays MP3s. MP3 is the only thing I rip to as it is the universal music codec.

well maybe games, but that would be about it. And if you play alot of games on it, won't it where out your wheel prematurely. I can't imagine it was designed for gaming use.

LEM- wrote:I always wondered, is there a principal difference between these and the infamous E-series (such as E280)? Other than the form factor that is?

Is there anything this one does better than E280? Or maybe the other way around?

The e200 V2 is essentially a Fuze V1 in e200 clothing, minus some of the Fuze's firmware features (but, it DOES use the same video format as the Fuze, which means that you can use video4fuze for the e200 V2 series -- for the e200 V1, you're pretty much dead in the water for USABLE video UNLESS you Rockbox the player).

The Fuze (native firmware) has more features than the e200 (native firmware) -- stuff like folder browsing option (not as full-featured as Rockbox's file browser, but better than nothing).

The Fuze, versus the e200 (this is based on my evaluation of the several players I have of both versions of both series), has a higher quality LCD -- the size is identical or close to it, as is the resolution, but, the Fuze has better image quality (better color saturation and clarity), and, better angle of view (the e200 is much more sensitive to the image going wonky if you're not looking straight at it, even more of an issue if you have two people looking at it at the same time).

One other consideration is that the Fuze is normally in landscape mode. When you are playing a video in the e200, you have to turn it sideways, which isn't that big a deal, however, when you are NOT playing a video, the Fuze's screen is wider, meaning that it's easier to read stuff in the menus, since things aren't so scrunched up to fit into the narrow vertical screen.

And, the Fuze is smaller and lighter.

Both models use the same connector, meaning that docking adapters and chargers can be used with both players.

The e200 series has a user-replaceable battery, whereas the Fuze's battery is officially "not replaceable" (I haven't read of any wearing out, and I expect that there will be (or already are) replacements available on the aftermarket, just as is the case for the "officially not replaceable" batteries in the various Ipod models).

jumped in for 1!

spacemart wrote:Items on the sd card are in the same media library as the internal memory, not like your zen. So go ahead pull the trigger.

Done, thanks! :D

neovenator wrote:Regarding the SDHC card slot, does the device consider the added memory a part of the total memory, or does it keep it separate?

I ask because my Creative Zen has an SD slot, but if you put anything on an SD card and want to play it, you have to navigate to a separate menu to access it. You can't add items on the SD card to a playlist that includes items on the device's internal memory, and it doesn't remember where you stopped playing a file on the SD card when you turn it off. The card, essentially, becomes a separate media player inside the Zen, and since it only accepts cards up to 2gb, it's pretty pointless.

To put it simply, the Zen is crap and I'd like to avoid a repeat if possible.

The device recognizes the SD card and the internal memory as one. However my computer treat them as separate devices, as does windows media player.

jimmoffitt wrote:I wouldn't get this is you are planning on using it as a video player. The Sansa conversion software is a bit of a joke.

Only other drawback, IMHO, is that making playlists is painful.

I disagree -- jokes are FUNNY, and make you laugh. The Sansa conversion program is more likely to make you cry.

Fortunately, the free video4fuze program not only does great work, and is easy to use, but, it can also be used to create playlists (and from what I've read, it's the only program that lets you create a playlist that includes tracks from both the built-in memory AND a plugged-in Micro SD card at the same time).

My first "woot" EVER!..yippee for me!

MrD3a7h wrote:Zune Pass work with the WMP sync?

This may just hold me over for the Zune HD2.

I do not use Zune Pass, but from what I've read, yes, it does work, but is undocumented. (The Fuze supports "PlaysForSure" which is not documented as working with Zune Pass -- but, plenty of people report that it does work without any problems -- apparently any "PFS" player can work with the Zune Pass.)

auctionsaver wrote:I don't really see the appeal of adding rockbox to your sansa. I personally find the Sansa menu really easy to use. It has a custom equalizer... and plays MP3s. MP3 is the only thing I rip to as it is the universal music codec.

From everything I've read, Rockbox's equalizer does a much better job.
Also, even with ease of use off the table, Rockbox's menu system allows for a lot more functionality. For example, its on-the-go playlisting makes the OF's go list look utterly laughable. True, this comes at the price of higher complexity when accessing the advanced features, but I for one think it's well worth the tradeoff, especially when the basic stuff is roughly the same.

kogaku wrote:And, the Fuze is smaller and lighter [than the e200].

And don't forget that you can actually use the Fuze single-handedly without contorting your thumb to hit the almost-recessed buttons and that Fuze's scrollwheel is much smoother and less headache-inducing than the e200's finicky ring.

For these reasons alone I'd take the Fuze over the e200 (even though SanDisk could've made the select button on the Fuze a tad bigger. oh well...)

Can anyone confirm this!!!
Can anyone access technical details, specifications, features, and photos of previous items wooted?

I used to be able to access everything that was posted in the original woot but not anymore. It looks like now I can only access the narrative, comments and main photo posted in the description.

zcx wrote:Will freeze when searching through larger (30 min and longer) clips but there are other devices better suited for that kind of playback.

Video vagaries: Older versions of video4fuze had a bug -- fast-forwarding for more than a few minutes would freeze the video. The current version is completely stable.

The Fuze V1, when using most types of MicroSD cards AND the native firmware, will freeze when playing video (video stored on the card). SOME types of cards don't do that. The Fuze V2 does not do that (chances are very good that this will be a V2 -- most of the Fuzes that I've bought at Woot have been V2, and very few of the 8GB Fuze were made before they changed to the V2 design).

And in any case, Rockbox video playback is rock solid, with the V1, the V2, with either internal memory or the Micro SD card.

Well, I've loved my e-series Sansas, so based on all of the above comments (and the news about the fuze being replaced by the fuze+) it must be time to go in for three...

Otterrific? Are we stil saying otterrific? So cute...
Check this out!

Florida Otter Attack

I was visiting my Dad in Venice about a half a mile away!

As someone who has used one for nine hours a day for the past year, I can't recommend these players enough. I get one every time they come up. I work in a machine shop, so durability and price are important to me, and these things always work like champs even though I beat them to hell on a daily basis. Sound quality and battery life are excellent as well. Display is excellent, although mine is always scratched or cracked. If you want a cheap, quality player, you seriously cannot go wrong with these bad boys.

kogaku wrote:And in any case, Rockbox video playback is rock solid, with the V1, the V2, with either internal memory or the Micro SD card.

Just for the sake of full disclosure, however, Rockbox only does mpeg1 and mpeg2, not mpeg4/divx like the OF (although Rockbox is a lot less finicky about exact encoder and muxer settings than the OF is).

Dhraakellian wrote:If you browse by database, it's all together. If you browse by folders, they're separate, both in the SanDisk firmware and in Rockbox. (The latter's filebrowser is still much, much better in other ways, of course.)

And, the latter (Rockbox) is the ONLY way you can use the PictureFlow interface on a Sansa!

rcbutchko wrote:Anyone know how large a sd card this would take? I'd hate to have to type search terms into Google myself...

I have the 4gb unit and tried to put in an 8gb sd card. It reads as only 4gb, I am guessing thats the cap.

I have always liked these. I use it with a Rhapsody subscription. Never had an issue.

Dhraakellian wrote:From everything I've read, Rockbox's equalizer does a much better job.
Also, even with ease of use off the table, Rockbox's menu system allows for a lot more functionality. For example, its on-the-go playlisting makes the OF's go list look utterly laughable. True, this comes at the price of higher complexity when accessing the advanced features, but I for one think it's well worth the tradeoff, especially when the basic stuff is roughly the same.

I've become quite enamored of the PictureFlow feature now integrated with recent versions of Rockbox (starts up automatically when I power up the Fuze, and when I exit the WPS ("While Playing" Screen) it instantly takes me back to the album's image in the PictureFlow interface. It is so much smoother and easier to use than the stock Sansa firmware. (And pressing the menu button takes you out of PictureFlow into the main Rockbox menu.)

Dhraakellian wrote:Just for the sake of full disclosure, however, Rockbox only does mpeg1 and mpeg2, not mpeg4/divx like the OF (although Rockbox is a lot less finicky about exact encoder and muxer settings than the OF is).

Wellll.... if we're going for FULL disclosure, I challenge you to find ANY "normal" file transcoder that can support the NATIVE Sansa firmware.

BTW, I think you meant "AVI" rather than MP4, n'est ce pas?

In any case, the AVI files that Sansa firmware supports are NOT normal AVI files! Unless you're using the wretched Sansa Media Converter (during a phase of the moon and original file that will ALLOW it to "work"), OR, a SPECIAL converter, like video4fuze, I think you are going to be very frustrated trying to play normal AVI files on a Sansa.

On the other hand, Rockbox's .MPG implementation is pure vanilla. Run any ol' file though WinFF (or, FFMpeg for the stout of heart) and it'll play just fine.

The NEW player that they call the Fuze+ DOES support MP4 video (from what I've read), but it's in no way similar to THIS player, and the complaints are really starting to pile up on the forums dedicated to these devices. Apparently the touch-control is more than a bit touchy.

How large of a sd card will it accept? They never state what size they will reconize just sd. I bought an 8gb mini/micro SD for my rockchip player and it wouldn't read it.

robatack wrote:I have the 4gb unit and tried to put in an 8gb sd card. It reads as only 4gb, I am guessing thats the cap.

I'm guessing that you got that "8" GB card via an online auction site famous for so-and-so's selling mocked-up high capacity memory cards. (Or, a street vendor in Shanghai.)

I regularly use 4GB, 8GB and 16GB cards in my Fuzes with no problems at all.

I'd suggest that you try to get some kind of resolution from the vendor, your credit card provider, or, the venue that handled the sale.

Or, if you are truly convinced that the card is NOT a mislabled or fraudulent card, contact the manufacturer for warranty replacement (and, for giggles, try it is a device that you KNOW will accept 8GB cards, and see if THAT device likewise reports a 4GB card. I'd bet it will!)

frugalfreak wrote:How large of a sd card will it accept? They never state what size they will reconize just sd. I bought an 8gb mini/micro SD for my rockchip player and it wouldn't read it.

It depends on which micro SD brand card you bought. If I recall correctly, the fuze does not play well with Kingston micro SD cards, but works fine for most other brands. I haven't done my research in a while, so I may not be completely accurate.

I got one of these and the previous e260 or e280?
Anyhow the unit is slick , turns on fast, nice sound quality.. BUT.. there is no replaceable battery unlike the e260 battery I replaced for $7

.. disappointing ...

I just have to say, the last time I bought a "refurbished" Sansa Fuze here, it was in perfect condition and looked brand new.

I was able to rockbox it with version 1 and have been using it everyday since. The battery lasts a couple of hours, maybe 8-12, but I tend to charge it before it empties completely. The click wheel is great, but I will say the on/off/hold switch feel pretty cheap. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another if i needed one. Simply, a great buy!

I got 2 of these last time after my E260 suffered an unfortunate gravity-related incident. Both are Rockboxed and work great.

Please don't laugh too hard at me, but when it says "USB 2.0 high power port required for Hi-Speed transfer and charging" how do I know if I have one?

sjperry wrote:Please don't laugh too hard at me, but when it says "USB 2.0 high power port required for Hi-Speed transfer and charging" how do I know if I have one?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

sjperry wrote:Please don't laugh too hard at me, but when it says "USB 2.0 high power port required for Hi-Speed transfer and charging" how do I know if I have one?

Check device manager or accessories-system tools- system information and you should find "USB2 Enhanced" listed under usb ports.

I have a sansa e250 from a while back with rockbox installed
Is this a worthwhile upgrade?
I would only use it for music

tesla33 wrote:Got a 4 gig refurb last year. It lasted until the warranty was up, then froze.

Try re-flashing the firmware. I have had to do this to each of the sanzas I have owned. The only ones not working were damaged in the wash

can you record the FM stations?

Oldknave wrote:Can it play AAC songs from iTunes?

it only plays mp3

In for 1. Being a Sansa Junkie, how could I pass!

I got all these from woot:
1 e260 - rockboxed
1 e270 - rockboxed and gave it out as a gift
2 2GB Clips - one gave out, one still unused
1 fuze 4GB - still unused.
1 Timex Clock Radio with Sansa dock.
Now 1 fuze 8GB - will try to keep it in the
car.

All of them are still working.....

mike968 wrote:it only plays mp3

Actually the updated firmware also plays FLAC and OGG (thouth I don't know about AAC)...

See this fore more info:
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-12519_7-10109128-49.html

buddy1997 wrote:can you record the FM stations?

Yes you can. I've found the recording feature is very useful and decent quality with the mic too.