What’s with all them negative waves, gentlemen?
The Clip Zip is marketed worldwide. There have been some misconceptions about the FM and RDS capabilities of the new Sansa. The Clip Zip and Fuze+ have RM RDS capability, using a new version of the FM receiver chip used in the Clip / Clip+.
For RDS to work properly, a clean signal is required. Remember, the headphone cable functions as the antenna.
With the earlier build of firmware, the Clip ZIp could lose RDS display during playback. The latest build (01.01.18) addresses this issue. At least, it does as tested with local RDS signal on my devices. The situation in other signal areas may be different.
The RDS informaton is fed from the FM receiver chip. Displaying the information involves a clean signal, the receiver chip and its control, plus the Sansa’s interpreting of that data. No developer laziness required, there are several links in the chain- and checking these links takes a little time to isolate any issues. Fixing one issue may inevitably uncover another, it happens.
The FM receiver is capable of reception in the North American and worldwide areas (including EU of course). Testing in various regions is simple enough, as all we need is a device physically within a region, a few minutes, and an internet connection. I’m sure it will get sorted out very soon.
As for the hubbub, and ruffled feathers, the forum doesn’t operate in a vacuum. With the huge base of users giving feedback here, it makes sense that issues will be found and reported among the information here. And yes, SanDisk does listen to your feedback.
I’d love to test it myself, I would bring some Clip Zips, the laptop, and warm clothes of course. Much better to visit outside of tourist season.
Bob :smileyvery-happy:
