I wouldn’t worry too much. We’re going to keep getting these incremental updates and it is possible to use it now at full capacities of content (16 gig internal + 32 gig SD card). So it’s well worth keeping it around and remember: keep your eye on the prize! This is a great combination of hardware and potential and soon it is going to switch from a problematic device to the best platform out there when the Rockbox port is ready in the next couple months or so. Certainly we guinea pigs who shelled out roughly $250 for a 16 GB Fuze+ with an 32 GB SD card as soon as it came out have a right to be ticked off. After all, these first devices went out of warranty back in early September; out of warranty before they ever became usable!!! Worse yet, we have wasted over a year and paid $100 over what we would pay now for the same device and 32 GB SD card. That’s a hundred bucks to pay for the privlege of hauling an unusable device out of the desk drawer every few months to be an unpaid beta tester of a new firmware update.
The sad thing is that we wouldn’t buy it now, becasue now there are 64 GB iPhones out there with the iOS embedded iPod app which is infinitely better than the Sansa Fuze+ interface. I have to believe that any servicable mp3 player on an Android phone beats the Fuze+ as well, but the iPod app in a solid state phone with large capacity is significant because it is the iPod that clearly served as the UI design goal for the failed Sansa Fuze+ project. But now, with most everybody carrying a smart phone, it’s really not clear that devices such as the Fuze+ are even needed. This is why Apple is now phasing out the entire iPod line.
But Rockbox either equals or exceeds the iPod design depending upon your perspective and in the near future we will have Rockboxed Sansa Fuze+ devices. The Rockboxed Fuze+ will almost certainly be the best and most full featured solid state dedicated media player available. This is mostly because it is unlikely that any competitor is going to release new devices to compete in that disappearing niche market.
These Rockboxed Fuze+ devices will only be of value to very limited classes of users:
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Folks who do not carry smart phones because of the cost of a data plan
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Folks like me who do carry a smart phone with a lot of music and/or media but do not want to expose it to harsh conditions.
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Systems Folks who put in long hours & all nighters maintaining servers and choose to carry a Fuze+ as their USB drive of choice because of the addition of the music and radio.
When the Rockbox port is ready there will be a surge in Sansa Fuze+ sales. I wonder if the Product Managers at Sansa will understand the reason. Probably not, but Sansa will have at least earned it to some degree for putting out a decent selection of components. Too bad the software never really arrived.
