Imo this should be gotten rid of, and the Clip and the Fuze set to MTP by default, and having the first part of the instruction manual(and the printed instructions)explaining MTP and MSC in detail. With auto some people end up with part of their music in MTP and part in MSC.
@jk98 wrote:
Imo this should be gotten rid of, and the Clip and the Fuze set to MTP by default, and having the first part of the instruction manual(and the printed instructions)explaining MTP and MSC in detail. With auto some people end up with part of their music in MTP and part in MSC.
Auto should go away, but I believe the default should be MSC…but the option for either mode needs to remain.
Why MSC and not MTP? I like the MTP mode since I can see the battery status when the player is connected to the pc. Drag and drop or copy and paste works fine with either MTP or MSC. The difference is that in MTP the player will also sync with Windows Media Player and other media players. I guess the only real advantage to msc is editing tags or filenames of files on the player, although some have had issues after doing this. I prefer editing tags on the files on the pc, deleting them from the player, and copying the files to the player again. There is less chance for issues to arise.
I like the AutoConnect feature, I have PCs at home and Macs at school and work, Since one mode works better with PC and one better with Mac, It works well for me it also keeps the mac stuff seperate from the pc. I can see why the elimination tho
@jk98 wrote:
Why MSC and not MTP? I like the MTP mode since I can see the battery status when the player is connected to the pc. Drag and drop or copy and paste works fine with either MTP or MSC. The difference is that in MTP the player will also sync with Windows Media Player and other media players. I guess the only real advantage to msc is editing tags or filenames of files on the player, although some have had issues after doing this. I prefer editing tags on the files on the pc, deleting them from the player, and copying the files to the player again. There is less chance for issues to arise.
It’s my understanding that MSC allows compatibility with just about any operating system, as opposed to MTP being a Windows creation. Also, to manually update the firmware, I believe you need to be in MSC…so why not already be there? And as far as syncing, I can sync with WMP 11 and MediaMonkey on my Fuze and Clip, which are both in MSC mode. I didn’t realize you could see the battery status on your PC while in MTP mode. Asides from that the only advantage I am aware of with MTP vs. MSC is that I hear that playlists work better with MTP( I’ve never used one). As far as editing tags, I agree with you that I’d rather do it on the PC and then put it back onto the player in its newly edited form.
“It’s my understanding that MSC allows compatibility with just about any operating system, as opposed to MTP being a Windows creation.”
Of course. That is why MSC mode should not be eliminated. If MTP mode doesn’t work, then MSC should be used.
“Also, to manually update the firmware, I believe you need to be in MSC”
No. Either MTP or MSC mode can be used.
" I can sync with WMP 11 and MediaMonkey on my Fuze and Clip, which are both in MSC mode. "
You can? I never tried syncing my player with WMP, however my understanding is that the player is only recognized in MTP mode. I guess WMP could transfer files to the player in MSC mode, but this isn’t syncing.
I use Windows Explorer to copy and paste files to my players.
@jk98 wrote:
“It’s my understanding that MSC allows compatibility with just about any operating system, as opposed to MTP being a Windows creation.”
Of course. That is why MSC mode should not be eliminated. If MTP mode doesn’t work, then MSC should be used.
“Also, to manually update the firmware, I believe you need to be in MSC”
No. Either MTP or MSC mode can be used.
" I can sync with WMP 11 and MediaMonkey on my Fuze and Clip, which are both in MSC mode. "
You can? I never tried syncing my player with WMP, however my understanding is that the player is only recognized in MTP mode. I guess WMP could transfer files to the player in MSC mode, but this isn’t syncing.
I use Windows Explorer to copy and paste files to my players.
Well, right there on WMP, it clearly says Sansa Clip and Sansa Fuze…even lets me put files on the microsdhc card, by adding things to the “sync list”. After it adds them, I can view “sync results” and during, it says, “syncing in progress”. I also drag and drop/copy and paste files too…but from time to time when I completely redo my players’ contents, it’s easier to do a mass sync with WMP than to go through everything folder by folder. My Fuze in particular is nearly 12 GB…that’s a lot of folders to d&d/c&p.
@marvin_martian wrote:
…but from time to time when I completely redo my players’ contents, it’s easier to do a mass sync with WMP than to go through everything folder by folder. My Fuze in particular is nearly 12 GB…that’s a lot of folders to d&d/c&p.
I’ve got 16 GB and you can do it with very little effort. Just use the Shift button in concert with the mouse is selecting the folders. You can do A - G, H - O, P - Z or something similar. A total of 9 mouse-clicks (3 for each group) and maybe 45 seconds (15 sec. each time) of actual work by you. You walk away and do something else while it’s copying all the files over, same as if you instructed WMP to ‘sync’ everything. You just have to come back every 30 - 45 minutes to send over the next batch is all. Your computer is still doing ‘all the work’, not you. 
As far as the Auto setting, it’s not needed. It defaults to MTP 90% of the time anyway. That’s why I advise against using it. A simple choice between MTP & MSC is all that’s needed. There was no Auto setting on the e200 series v1 players. This only started with the v2 model and subsequently the Fuze.
I agree though that a full explanation including the pros & cons of each mode should be more prominent with new players to help new users decide which is best for them and the way they plan to use it. With so many different people running different systems and OS’s, some wanting subscription services and others not, the Auto setting causes more confusion than it prevents, as evidenced by the glut of pleas for help surrounding this issue here this past week.
