Desperate Firmware Request (Shhh...Don't tell the thumb!!!)

I have an 8GB Fuze and with an 8GB SD card stuffed to the gills with my music. 

After navigating my song list for a week, my right thumb has never looked better and is thinking of releasing a Workout Video with Jane Fonda.  However the rest of my body would really appreciate if you guys added A-Z Z-A rollover in your music lists for the next firmware update.

The only way I can search alphabetically for a song is via the Songs catagory, which now sits at roughly 3500+ entries.  Thats quite a workout.  And my thumb can fit into clothes he hasn’t fit into since High School. 

The simple act of allowing me to go from Z to A and vice versa would cut my thumbwheel workout in half.  It would also be great if you either gave me the option to either display by track number or alphabetically.  I try to use Genre and Artist to narrow down my choices, but I still get the tracks listed in track order.

I understand listing in Track Order from Album View, and actually prefer that, but because the only Alphabetical listing is directly from the Song category, it means a lot of scrolling if I am looking for a particular song.

A final wish would be accelerated scroll wheel like my E200 series had when running Rockbox. 

Apple had the same issues to deal with as they made the transition from “low capacity” to “high capacity” players.  Heck, they still sell 2GB Shuffles with no visual navigation tools at all (I don’t get it…)  So you guys are definitely not alone.

All these things would greatly reduce thumb fatique when searching my Fuze for a particular song.

I know it’s a lot to ask, but if you could just remove the barrier between A and Z by the next release, it would mean a LOT.   Just loop ALL your lists like you loop the Main GUI page.

All the other requests could wait. 

Whatever you do, don’t tell the thumb.  It would destroy his self esteem.  I caught him flirting with my pinky the other day… 

Message Edited by p_opus on 06-25-2008 06:42 AM

After enjoying the A-Z-A rollover capability of my e260, not having this feature on my new Fuze is definitely an annoyance.  Same interface, yet this feature has been removed.  Why?

One of the minor pitfalls of a new generation of code.  On the other side of the coin, note how well the Fuze handles features like adding music to the library, song ratings, etc.  (significant when using Rhapsody).  The database refresh is extreme compared to even the e200v2, with an identical processor.

Out of the box, I was surprised to see the wraparound navigation missing.

Alternately, the Fuze has no issues playing protected wma files over 8 minutes length, unlike my v2.  The album art display while navigating is a plus.  Lots of changes made indeed. 

I am anticipating both a wraparound navigation and speed acceleration based upon scroll wheel rate.  I’ll be keeping my fingers (well, pretty soon won’t be able to cross the thumbs) crossed!

Bob  :smileyvery-happy:

I’m all for rollover and acceleration, but it doesn’t really solve the problem with large libraries.  We also need an alphabet index/filter where you can select the first letter of the artist/album you are looking for and then the list will be filtered to artists/albums starting with that letter.  Having rollover, acceleration and an alphabet index/filter would be the ideal solution.

This has been requested a number of times, but I haven’t seen any response yet from Sandisk.  I really hope they consider this feature, because it’s virtually impossible to navigate a large library without it.  I have an 8GB Fuze and can really only use it with playlists.  Trying to manually find an artist/album deep in the library is incredibly tedious and takes so long that I usually just give up.

Message Edited by Skinjob on 06-25-2008 09:52 AM

@skinjob wrote:

I’m all for rollover and acceleration, but it doesn’t really solve the problem with large libraries.  We also need an alphabet index/filter where you can select the first letter of the artist/album you are looking for and then the list will be filtered to artists/albums starting with that letter.  Having rollover, acceleration and an alphabet index/filter would be the ideal solution.

 

This has been requested a number of times, but I haven’t seen any response yet from Sandisk.  I really hope they consider this feature, because it’s virtually impossible to navigate a large library without it.  I have an 8GB Fuze and can really only use it with playlists.  Trying to manually find an artist/album deep in the library is incredibly tedious and takes so long that I usually just give up.

Message Edited by Skinjob on 06-25-2008 09:52 AM

Agreed.  I now have 2570 songs on my fuze (8GB + 8GB external) and it’s not very fun to go through the complete list just to find the artist I want to listen to.  The alphabet index and acceleration option would be great modifications to this little player. 

I have two issues with my Fuze, this being one and the other is that the Fuze cuts off the Artist names of my songs if they’re a certain length (so if I have multiple artists their names get cut off, it display the song title fine though).

If SanDisk were to fix these two issues this player would get a 10 out of 10 in my books. 

I’m hoping someone from SanDisk reads these forums and that these changes are made with the next firmware update.
Anyone know how long it usually takes SanDisk to make updates to their firmware?

Compared to other manufacturers, SanDisk has a secret team of mad scientists that likes to try new things, and the results pop up as future firmware updates. Thus, the logic of keeping tabs here on the forum, and an eye on that Firmware Updater.

Muahahahahaha!

I have a feeling a new solution is in the works, but don’t quote me on that. The black helicopter interferes with my lab’s airspace.

Bob :smileyvery-happy:

Message Edited by neutron_bob on 06-25-2008 09:49 AM

Most heartily agree with this observation!