I am a big fan of the original Fuze. I own one, got one for my wife and convinced two co-workers to buy them.
I wanted to buy my father a Fuze for Christmas and load it with podcasts of old time radio. I listen almost exclusively to old time radio on mine and am very familiar with retagging OTR files. I saw the new Fuze+ and assumed it would be an improvement.
The new Fuze+, however, is a gigantic step BACKWARD. I have come to hate this thing with the power of 1,000 suns.
First off, I set the player to MSC mode, then I added files, as I would with my Fuze.
However, I cannot get the player to recognize ANY OTR programs except for the Green Hornet, which would be just fine if I had not put another ten shows on there (not ten episodes, but ten distinct programs, each with 100+ episodes).
Additionally, it will not let me see a folder of Green Hornet episodes, but I have to scroll through every damned one before it shows the Car Talk episode that came as a sample. Are there no folders?
Is this a glitch or bad software design?
Help! I don’t want to have to return this and have to get him a late Christmas present.
I assure you the said team will not be fired because you want them to be. I also assure you that the majority of Fuze+ owners continue to have a generally positive experience with it despite the issues argued over since its release. It is fully within your grasp to get your father something different, that doesn’t mean people should lose their job because you had a bad experience with it.
while the fuze+ has a a completely different GUI than the original fuze and it would be a learning curve for some people I definitely do not see this as a step backwards. i also do not think management or anyone else should be or will be fired.
I have to agree that the Fuze+ is a bit of a step backwards, but I have high hopes that in the long run it will be over all a leap forwards.
I will agree that’s it’s nice to have better and more expanded format support and the screen increase over the total size increase is pretty amazing. From a hardware standpoint of view it’s got a lot more coverage forward than backwards.
As for the firmware, it feels a little rushed, and stepping a little too close to the walled garden feel; This is at least a partial reason for some of choosing Sansa over the apple products. That said, I’ve always felt with the Sansa products I’ve tried that the software has been rushed. More of a v.0.3 release than a v.1.0 release. For instance some of the options are lacking that can be found in the original Fuze, and some of the way the options implemented in the oringal Fuze are far less constricting than the Fuze+. The Playlist parser and the playlist display also seems more than a bit rushed.
Mostly it seems that their user acceptance testing uses too small of a base to catch all the hiccups. That said, looking at the history of the original Fuze, it was a good 6 months worth of patching before the Original Fuze was sitting at a level that I would be willing to put my name on as a polished v.1.0 product. I’m an early adoptor of the Fuze+ in my mind, it’s not yet 4 months old, so I fully expected for my use case I’d be holding on to it and watching it mature and mostly using my orignal Fuze until the firmware got to a workable point. My wife, on the otherhand, is not nearly as discerning as to what music she wants to hear when and how “automatically” she wants her music player to work so the Fuze+ has already hit her acceptance level.
I am under no illusions that anyone would be fired at SanDisk over our thoughts as the userbase of the products if far to small and splintered to actually form a major outcry. At the end of the day, I think the engineers that are doing the system do know what they are doing, they are just terribly rushed to meet shipping schedules and that’s why the products always debut with such an unpolished feel to them. The best we could do, and should do, is impress upon the management that engineers both software and hardware deserve more resources and possibly a wider testbase for product and user acceptance so they can focus on doing their job rather than stressing about ship times. Although as we know with the way this world is going, that’s pretty unlikely from any company.
I’ve had several Fuzes and now the Fuze+. In my book, the Fuze+ is a fine product. I’m very happy with mine. It may not be ideal for some, but by no means should any of the engineers or staff involved with the project be deciplined. No product is perfect for everyone. If you are ever unsure of a product, try it out heavily for a couple of days to see if it meets your expectations. If it doesn’t, return the said product back to the original point of purchase for an exchange or refund.
The podcast function has de-evolved. Resume is apparently not automatic. It is difficult to navigate. Fail.
I realize that the engineering and software people are rushed, but it is my money and time at risk. If they had put into their advertising that this was a half-baked, not-ready-for-prime-time v.03 release, I would have waited. The final product, like the original Fuze, might be great, but should the consumer have to fight through it?
In my case it cost me the time and expense of ordering a second original unit and returning the Fuze+. It also complicated my Christmas and made it impossible for me to get my father the loaded and set up present I had planned. My 68 year old father does not have anything like an MP3 player and is definitely not an “early adopter” of any digital techology save the CD, back in the early 1980s (and those worked!).
Again, if they had only advertised that it would take months to be ready, I would have avoided the product.
If not a firing, then how about a quick beating about the back and kidneys?
The podcast function has de-evolved. Resume is apparently not automatic. It is difficult to navigate. Fail.
podcast functionality is very similar and works no issues for me. just put the file in the podcast folder and thats it. i dont see how this is so difficult. only thing is you have to actually enter the podcast menu and play it from there. if you play it from the top level menu (which only shows your 15 most recently added files) it does not resume.
navigation is not difficult IMO just have to get used to the touchpad which took me about 5 mins. could talk longer for others i suppose.
I like the new machine too, including its different interface. This will improve over time, just as the original Fuze has. Being so used to the original, I fully understand your concerns! There are some great deals on the original, and it’s tried-and-true simplicity would make it a great gift, as Christmas is just around the corner.
