SanDisk Sansa Fuze 8 GB MP3 Player (Silver)Reviews: SanDisk Sansa Fuze 8 GB MP3 Player (Silver)
Binding: Electronics Brand: SanDisk Color: Silver Display Size: 1.9 inches EAN: 0619659049652 Item Dimensions: Label: SanDisk Manufacturer: SanDisk Model: SDMX14R-008GS-A57 MPN: SDMX14R-008GS-A57 Publisher: SanDisk Studio: SanDisk Warranty: 1 year warranty Features:
Rating:  - to Sansa E260 owners . . .I recently upgraded from Sansa's 4GB E260 player to the 8GB Sansa Fuze, and have a few observations regarding the two units. The Fuze is slightly shorter, thinner, and lighter than the E260. The Fuze is slightly wider, allowing for a slightly larger landscape display (1.5"W x 1.2"H). Color rendition is excellent. Photos and videos seem to have greater impact when viewed in landscape, making this an effective improvement. The E260 display is slightly smaller (1.4" x 1.15"), and set in portrait orientation, landscape photos appear tiny. Presently, the 8GB Fuze is available in just one color, which is more of a metallic gray, rather than the whitish silver color it appears in some photos. Like the E260, the Fuze's housing appears to be heavy duty and quite sturdy. The selector dial on the Fuze is full sized, and easy to spin, but the layered finish on the wheel is already starting to peel off. The response is not particularly sensitive, as it can take up to five full revolutions of the wheel, to go from zero to full volume. The E260 has a tuning ring, which has a tendency to slip when turned, but it takes less than one and a half turns to reach full volume. The E260 has four selector buttons outside of the tuning ring, while the Fuze's selector dial operates similar to the ipod's control ring, though Sandisk appears to still be behind the technology that ipods had years ago. The Fuze's controls are nowhere near as smooth, sophisticated, or as sensitive. Moving the locking switch to the right side, and combining it with the on/off function seems to be a positive change for the Fuze. The same can't be said for relocating the headphone jack from the top of the player to the bottom. Most earphones, including those that come with the Fuze, have a straight pin jack, and if you carry the player in a pocket, it will usually end up upside down so the jack will be on top. Retraining your brain to operate the controls when the player is upside down, may prove to be an annoyance for some. Same goes for having to turn the player right side up to read the display. Why not just provide an earphone with an "L" shaped jack? Sound quality of the two players appears equivalent. Memory is expandable, via micro SD cards, though unlike the E260, the Fuze is compatible with cards larger than 2GB. Like the E260, the Fuze also goes into the irritating refresh memory mode, but at least the down time is shorter. `Recently Added', a longtime standard item on the ipod's menu, is available on the Fuze, with the newest 50 entries being noted. Also `Audio Books' and `Podcasts' are in separate categories, instead of being a subcategory of `Genres'. Audio, image, or video files located either in the internal flash memory or on micro SD card, can be deleted via the menu. A useful feature, though very slow to execute. Like the E260, a media converter program is typically used to transfer photos and videos to the player. The Fuze uses a different program than E260. The latest version, can be downloaded from Sandisk's website. The new converter seems to work about twice as fast as the older one. The FM radio on the E260 wasn't impressive, but the reception and sound on the Fuze seems to be an improvement. Hopefully the long term battery life for the Fuze will match or better the E260, which can easily last for several years. With either player, getting a tight-fitting silicone protector sleeve or hard case, and a screen protector, is recommended. Overall, the new features and increased memory capacity, plus getting the Fuze on sale, made the upgrade from the E260 a positive experience. Though it lacks some of the ipod's refinements, the Fuze is reliable, rugged, easy to use, has long battery life, expandable SD memory, and is less expensive. Rating: - Pretty good MP3 player, (4.5 stars)No issues with the seller. Product was delivered as promised. Great value. Only about $40 more than the Shuffle I purchased last year but holds about 8 times as much with a lot more features. Easy to use interface. The Fuze holds all my CDs with about 4 Gig left. The Rhapsody software easily converted my Itunes songs in a reasonable timeframe. I am planning to convert all my albums too and should have ample space. There are only a couple of issues I have seen thus far and may be user error. One is when charging the unit, you need to be in a mode, (like settings), to prevent the unit from continuing to play and running the battery down. The second issue is, I have not seen a way to download movies to the player. I assume you need additional software to copy movies to your PC in MP4 format then copy to the Fuze. Rating:  - An all around winnerI won't go into great technical detail, as there are already plenty of reviews here that do that. I will say that at the price point you can find this, especially when it's on sale, you won't find a better deal. Some people have said it's an iPod Nano rip-off. Okay that's fair. But for around half the price of the Nano, you get the same functionality, plus FM radio, voice recording, FM recording, and expandable microSDHC memory (it has 8gb built in, you'll soon be able to buy 32gb SDHC cards, right now it's about $15 for 8gb or $50+ for 16gb). The video playback is great, though it can take a while - depending on your pc hardware - to convert the video and load it on the fuze. The audio great, as it should, and the interface for podcasts and audio books is great as well. For the best features, make sure you update the firmware when you get it. Rating:  - It's a Love/Hate RelationshipFirst off, I love the features of this product. Great radio reception, built in mic to record, expandable memory and love the tactile scroll wheel. I chose this over the ipod for these features. The first and most important issue: these units have been known to have problems with the headphone jack. There is static and especially if you turn the volume up all the way, the song skips. I would buy these units at a store so exchange for a new one is much easier. Just a minor gripe, but the color is not silver at all. It is gray and does not look at all like the same material as the 4gb and 2gb fuze. Sandisk has released the 8gb black in the UK but not the US for some reason. Am willing to buy again but definitely from a store and a in a different color. Rating: - FantasticThe Player is fantastic!! Extremely cheap for the features, and the sound is vibrant, clear, stunning. I was mesmerize to heard the difference from the previous mp3 player and this.. it's like having completely new songs in my playlists.. The sound is rich and THICK. I use Creative earbus (20bucks) in the previos mp3 player and I can hear the wind wispering in my ears as I ride my bike, but not anymore! With the same Earbuds. SanDisk Sansa Fuze 8 GB MP3 Player (Silver) ReviewsMore reviews:Buy SanDisk Sansa Fuze 8 GB MP3 Player (Silver) Sale Reviews Deals
SanDisk Sansa Fuze 8 GB MP3 Player (Silver)
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