SanDisk Sansa Fuze 4 GB Video MP3 Player (Black)
by SanDisk
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List Price: Our Price: $62.95 You Save: $17.04 (21%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $32.95 (click here) Category: Network Media Player See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of SanDisk Sansa Fuze 4 GB Video MP3 Player (Black)
Customer Review: BEST PURCHASE EVER!
Summary: 5 Stars
After having troubles with my iPod and iTunes for the last three years, I decided it was time to break away from apple and try the world of MP3! And let me tell you, it was a great decision. I was still wavering about whether I still wanted to stick with apple or try something new. I wanted something that was good quality, easy to use, lots of space, and long battery life. I wasn't concerned on the cost, So I did some research on which Mp3 I should invest in, and it juestkept coming back to the Sansa Fuze. So I bought it. It's the best Mp3 player I have ever had! It exceaded my expectations. I thought It was going to be a piece of crap that would break down in a couple months, but it turned out to be so amazing! I will never go back to an iPod after this. There is really nothing I don't like about the Fuze.
Pro's:
-Really Long battery life
-Cheap
-Video Capability
-Radio
-Voice Recorder (great for recording passing thoughts and music at live cocerts!)
-Easy to use
-Easy to upload music
-Slick looking
-Good sized screen (and has good color)
-Controls are easy to use
-External memory (best invention ever, Ill tell you about it in the nest paragraph)
-Can have audiobooks on there
Con's:
-The sound quality could be a little better.
-Can't take photo's
-Can't play games
-Can't shuffle by album (you can shuffle by song though)
-Screen scratches easily (investing in a cover is a easy fix)
Overall, I am extreemly happy with my player. I am so happy I bought it. As you can see, it has many many pros. I never though I could be anything else besides an apple person, but this player proved me wrong. And the Extermal memory is awesome. So if you have 4gb Fuze like I bought and filled that up with in second of first uploading songs, you can buy a Micro SD HC card (like the ones you put in your cell phones and cameras) and put in in the slot in the Sansa Fuze, and WhaLa! You can have as many gb's as you want. I bought a 16gb and just plugged it in the player. Now I have an amazing player with amazing storage.
So, if you are having any doubts about this player, I hope I relieved them for you. Iv'e had it for a couple of months now, and I still love is as much as the day I bought it.
Customer Review: Another Customer Jumping OFF the Apple Bandwagon
Summary: 5 Stars
I got the Sansa Fuze a few days ago and loved it. I had an iPod since 2004, and was skeptical at first about getting a non-Apple MP3 player. I am glad I made the jump.
Strengths:
1. Small, compact, but loaded with features.
2. Great sound quality.
3. Good earphones, better than the one I got when I got the iPod. I don't need to buy another one.
4. The FM radio is great! I can save and scroll through the stations very easily.
5. I especially love the microphone feature. I was about to buy a separate digital microphone, as I want to record spontaneous thoughts as I backpack abroad. When I found out the MP3 comes with it, I decided to give this a try. The microphone works beautifully. I have been taking voice lessons and my voice coach encouraged me to record myself often so that I am familiar with my voice. With this tool, I can record and hear myself instantaneously.
6. Nice velvet black pouch - it's a small thing, but I can carry around the MP3 immediately without having to go and buy a cover.
7. Bright screen.
8. Competitive price.
Weaknesses:
1. It's not a sleek looking at the iPod nano. The wheel is more plastic-like and doesn't sink in seamlessly into the player. It took some time to get used to this wheel, but after a while, I did get used to it and hardly noticed the difference with my old iPod.
2. It was a pain converting my iTunes music into a format I can add to MediaPlayer. I searched the Internet for directions and found some. Depending on the DRMs you have on your music, the process can take time. Fortunately, I don't plan to transfer all my songs into the Fuze (I have over 10,000). So I focus on converting the playlists that I like. I think I will have to recreate my playlist on Media Player, so that will also take more time.
3. I haven't checked the video and photo feature, so cannot comment at this time.
4. I miss the clicking sound when I turned the wheel, as in the iPod. Wheel turning is silent, unless I'm missing the instruction on turning it on. Having the clicking sound would be nice.
Overall, it will be unlikely that I will buy expensive iPods, when competing MP3 players offer similar products, with heavier features and lower prices.
Customer Review: BETTER THAN MICROSOFT'S ZUNE
Summary: 5 Stars
After dealing with Microsoft's Zune MP3 Player, I found that there are several disadvantages:
1. Pay $45 every 3 months for the privilege to LISTEN ONLY to music and NOT be able to burn music. This is a stupid quarterly expense especially when we are minding our budgets.
2. Zune freezes a lot and takes time to trouble shoot; very frustrating.
3. Zune does NOT have a re-set button when it freezes; unlike the Sansa Fuze.
4. Zune is bulky.
5. I went on a cruise and took our Zune. All of a sudden it does not work because it wants me to sync with Microsoft's website in order to confirm that I am still a valid paying customer. How in the world am I going to do that when I am in the middle of the ocean?! Even if I can access the Microsoft website on the ship, the internet quality on cruise ships are as bad, if not worse, as dial-up connection. Consequently, I was not able to use my Zune during my cruise. As a result, my search to replace my Zune started and I was glad to discover all the great Amazon reviews regarding the SanDisk Sansa Fuze.
I read all the Sansa Fuze review on Amazon and purchased a Sana Fuze 4 GB MP3. It is a great MP3 player. For the amount I was paying Microsoft, I was able to BUY AND OWN music by downloading directly from Amazon. My Sansa only cost $59, the Zune is $199.
My only suggestion is to NOT use the Rhapsody software that came with the Sansa. I read from other reviews that the Rhapsody software is like a virus in that it is hard to get rid of the Rhapsody software once you download it into your PC. Plus, it puts you in a "membership" status in that you must pay periodically for the use of the software.
Amazon did a great job in delivering the Fuze in a timely manner. I got it in 4 days even though I selected the Free Shipping.
I use Windows Media Player to organize my songs and buy music from Amazon. I had a bit of a learning curve when I downloaded Amazon's software that enabled me to download MP3 music. I bought one song for 99cents and somehow failed to download it properly in my PC. I e-mailed Amazon and they allowed me to download the same song again at no charge. Indeed, I am happy with the SanDisk Sansa Fuze and I tossed my Zune in the trash.
Customer Review: Exceeded my expectations
Summary: 5 Stars
Before buying this device, I was a bit concerned about the following things:
1. CNET mentioned that the screen has a bit of a dim view, due to the screen's protective layer. I thought I might be annoyed by this.
In fact, if they had not mentioned it, I would not have noticed it. It is very subtle in even the worst case (when viewing the interface) and essentially un-noticeable when watching videos.
2. Video compatibility. I have a rather large library of video files, converted for use with my Creative Zen Vision W. These files can play without conversion on my Cowon O2 but I was not sure if they would play on the Sansa Fuze. I expected them not to play and I expected it to be difficult to convert them. Many people have complained about such difficulty here on Amazon.
In fact, the files do NOT play. However, Sandisk's converter software is very easy to use and converts the files (.avi files) pretty quickly.
3. Size of screen for video viewing. I thought it might be just too small.
In fact, it is small, of course. You will not be able to see alot of detail in more complicated scenes. Also, if you use subtitles, some videos have subtitles that are too small to see. Some videos have subtitles which are perfectly readable. It depends on the video.
I have found that Big Bang Theory has scenes which are a bit to busy for really satisfying viewing. I still watch them because I practically know everyone's facial expression by heart hahaha! The subtitles were useless.
Deep Space Nine, on the other hand, was a bit better. There are more close-ups and the subtitles were easily readable. Nice.
Cartoons, specifically Looney Tunes, are excellent on this device. In fact, a bigger screen would almost be pointless. The level of detail in these cartoons suits the screen perfectly. The subtitles are just barely readable.
So, I can get my videos onto it. They look good, especially the simpler scenes, and even the subtitles are readable on a case-by-case basis. Excellent.
This is a beautiful, little device. Feels high quality, does more than I expected BETTER than I expected.
Buy it now. Buy two! I will.
Customer Review: A great everyday "Beater" machine
Summary: 5 Stars
Those of us who invested so heavily in our iPod Classic 160 gig behemoths just might be a little leary in packing it around with us all the time, in fears we may be ripped off, or that we might drop our "Precious." What we really need is an everyday "Beater" machine we can pack with us all the time. The Sandisk Fuze fits the bill perfectly!
Pros:
4 gig internal memory plus a memory expansion slot that we can pop a 16 gig Sandisk microcard in, giving us a nice 20 gig to play around with!
Crystal clear and bright display with excellent resolution
Easily navigatable interface which we can graphicly select what features and functions we want to navigate through
Small size, not much bigger than the 3rd generation iPod nano
Price: Excellent!
Built in FM tuner PLUS a built in microphone so we have a dictation machine and speech recorder right there handy! Plus the ability to record on the fly from FM stations.
Nice operational controls and a easily spun thumbwheel to navigate through our songs.
Both Windows and Mac compatible, finally, Sandisk gets friendly with us Mac users!
With the included Sandisk Media Converter software, we can incorporate all our collections of .WMP Death Metal videos we collected online with the Fuze, something that the iPod cannot do :)
Cons:
A easily scratchable plastic face. One should pack this unit around in a little felt or leather purselet, or soon it will look hammered.
A one speed thumbwheel, it gets tiresome to keep spinning that wheel around to find the song you are after, especially if you have 20 gig of music on it.
A Non-iPod standard connection jack. Which is fine until you lose the Sandisc patchcord. Although this unit offers video and ausio outpus on the connection jack, I have yet to find the patchcord that will do that.
No gasket or protection from the elements or dust. If you pack it in a dusty environment, you risk dust getting into it and between the internal display and plastic window, clouding your view of the display.
For an everyday "beater" player, for the price, it can't be beat!