Does the Sansa Fuze really play videos?

MP3 players Sansa Fuze
1

I just bought one online and will be expecting it soon. One of the reasons I bought this is so I can watch movies on it during plane trips. I see that the screen is small, which is why I wouldn’t choose to watch movies with it on a regular basis.

But I am reading reviews now that say to not even bother with trying to watching videos on it because the quality is terrible and it’s very difficult to get movies onto it. Is this true? If it’s true, I might as well have bought a Sansa Clip.

2

Do some reading of prior posts…search: Video

You can load videos to the Fuze but not directly, you need to download a program from the Sansa site called Sansa Media Converter.  You add files and then the program converts and puts the files on the Fuze.  

The final file on the fuze ends up being roughly twice the size of the original.  So if you have a 700 meg video file, it wil end up a gig and a half onthe Fuze.  You’re going to chew up memory fast.

There are some playback issues.  Most notably the lag between audio and video that develops as the vid plays.

Sansa Media Converter can also be glitchy in terms of what it will accept and how cleanly it converts.

It’s also hard to imagine watching a full-length film on this little screen.  Even your smartphone is going to be significantly better.

Tthat being said, it is GREAT for YouTube conversions, home movies off your digicam, etc.  Assuming you start with a good video avi file, the quality is actually very good, in my experience.

And it’s a great player with better display graphics and navigation than the Clip for only a few bucks more.

Have fun with it.  Lot’s of experts and good advice here as you get going.

3

Thank you for your reply. The lag part bothers me a lot. I guess I should’ve known. If Sansa is going to make an MP3 player that also plays videos, it shouldn’t make it so bad quality. I don’t like to pay extra for features that barely work.

4

"I don’t like to pay extra for features that barely work. "

Pay extra??? The Fuze is dirt cheap. There are very few decent players in that price range which have a card slot. The only one close is the Clip+, which isn’t that much cheaper(perhaps $15 cheaper?). The Clip+ has shorter battery life, a much smaller screen, and lacks the scroll wheel. The scroll wheel and larger screen makes finding individual songs much easier on the Fuze than the Clip+. I don’t use my Fuze for video as it seems like too much of hassle, and I don’t want to watch video on such a tiny screen. I have used the Fuze for photos though. It is very easy to use for photos. Just use .JPG images that are smaller than 1024x768.

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Well, who needs a larger screen if you aren’t going to use it for videos? The Sansa Clip screen size is fine for what you need it for. I know it’s cheap, but no doubt you’re paying extra for other features. Whatever, I don’t care that much, I’m just bummed.

6

I believe videos converted with Rhapsody fixes the lag issue.

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Do you need to pay for Rhapsody? Sorry I’m new to this.

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For the service, yes.

For the program, no. 

9

Oh cool thanks, I’ll remember that when I get my Fuze in the mail.

10

You could also use video4fuze, written by a member here. Haven’t used it myself, but others who have say it’s a

 

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Mmmmmmmmmm cake, lol. Is that program good for full length videos? Like movies?

Message Edited by Xaviera2010 on 08-04-2010 08:04 PM

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I have been using video4fuze and it works AMAZINGLY well.  I haven’t noticed any issues with A/V lag, but I haven’t done much with full length video.  Also, about the file sizes doubling, I just converted a podcast that was originally 77.1MB and the Fuze ready file was only 14.1MB, so you can actually pack quite a bit of video onto the little bugger.

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Ooh!  Very cool!  I never knew it reduced size.

I personally have never used it, because I . . . Well, I don’t know.  I will right now. 

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When I get my Fuze I will put a full movie on it using that program and post here and tell you how it went. This will be my first real mp3 player and I hear good things about Sansa :smiley: