Just purchased... and anxious any suggestions?

SanDisk MP3 players Sansa® Fuze™
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Hey everyone, I just found a really good deal for the 4GB Fuze so I had to grab it considering my 3gen iPoop ClickWheel took a beating this winter with the harsh cold (yea I’m too lazy to bring it inside every night and the battery pays the price). Not to mention my current MP3 player is just old, unstylish, no color, quite uncomfortable/heavy/large to workout with, etc…

Should hopefully have my Fuze w/ a 8gb SD card by Thursday or Friday… from what I’ve read it is a solid product overall. Just wondering so I can prepare if needed… does the Fuze use it’s music as straight up .MP3’s/.WMA’s and .MPG/.WMV’s… always nice to be able to just drag and drop from PC to player to save time.

Does it come with a car charger, if not… is it a brand/model specific type of charger… always nice to be able to use 1 of the plenty of extra USB chargers shoved away in the glovebox of my truck.I plan on using the Headphone Jack to Aux-In on my truck’s cdplayer face (so totally beats those cheap transmitter tools when it comes down to quality).

Ahhh I’m looking forward to finally getting a new MP3 player, 4GB+8GB(sd) should just barely be enough for tunes I choose wisely as well as include a movie or two but no more than that at a time… So let me know whar yas think!

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@jaybfuze wrote:

Hey everyone, I just found a really good deal for the 4GB Fuze so I had to grab it considering my 3gen iPoop ClickWheel took a beating this winter with the harsh cold (yea I’m too lazy to bring it inside every night and the battery pays the price). Not to mention my current MP3 player is just old, unstylish, no color, quite uncomfortable/heavy/large to workout with, etc…

 

Should hopefully have my Fuze w/ a 8gb SD card by Thursday or Friday… from what I’ve read it is a solid product overall. Just wondering so I can prepare if needed… does the Fuze use it’s music as straight up .MP3’s/.WMA’s and .MPG/.WMV’s… always nice to be able to just drag and drop from PC to player to save time.

 

Music wise YUP! Its just that easy. With MPG and WMVs you need to use a program called Sansa Media Converter to convert the files to a format to specs that the fuze likes and add them to the player. This program is a bit of a pain, so check the Sansa Media Converter board for info on that.

 

 

Does it come with a car charger, if not… is it a brand/model specific type of charger… always nice to be able to use 1 of the plenty of extra USB chargers shoved away in the glovebox of my truck.I plan on using the Headphone Jack to Aux-In on my truck’s cdplayer face (so totally beats those cheap transmitter tools when it comes down to quality).

 

Any genaric car charger with a USB port should work just make sure    it meets these specs.

INPUT Voltage - 100-240VAC 200MA 47-63 Hz

OUTPUT V -      4.5-9.5V 800MA Max

 

 

Ahhh I’m looking forward to finally getting a new MP3 player, 4GB+8GB(sd) should just barely be enough for tunes I choose wisely as well as include a movie or two but no more than that at a time… So let me know whar yas think!

 

Something to look into is a screen cover and a case to prevent scratches. I have an Zagg InvisiShield screen cover, and a Silicone case. For the Screen Cover Just Search for Zagg Invisishield on Google, and for the case search Sansa Fuze Accessories on Amazon

 

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For charging operation without using the computer, use the supplied SanDisk Sansa cable, and a standard USB charger for your car, or an AC adaptor for home use.  These chargers will have a standard USB rectangular port.

The USB standard supply voltage is 5 volts DC.  Look for a charger with about 500mA capacity, as a rule of thumb.  The Sansa regulates charge current automatically.

Avoid using products that connect directly to the 30-pin port on the Sansa unless they are specifically made for the Sansa; iPod connectors, though similar, are wired differently than the SanDisk, and will cause damage.

If you use the supplied Sansa cable and a standard charger, this is the best bet.

µsansa

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If you’ve been using iTunes, you may need to check that your music is really in MP3 format. iTunes’ default format (.m4a, .m4p) isn’t supported on the Fuze. The easiest way to check is to right-click on the column headers in iTunes, and check  “Kind”. It will tell you what kind of files you have. If they say MPEG, you’re good to go.

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Welcome to the forum!

You’ll have questions as you progress so don’t forget to check back in here.

Many good folks with a lot of knowledge.

Also Search the Archives for past questions and anwswers.

Welcome back from the dark world of the Apple Mafia.  Welcome to easy drag-and-drop, easy file-sharing, free mp3 files and NO I-TUNES!

I second the Invisible Shield by ZAGG.  On day one.  Avoid the scratches rather than trying to figure out how to remove them later.

Simple plastic membrane applied directly to the screen surface.  Indestructable.

https://www.zagg.com/

Don’t forget, per past posts, that the 8 gb KINGSTON microSDHC cards are not good for video.  Fine for music, poor for video.

I started with wma files ripped from Windows Media Player (WMP).  Then switched everything (re-ripped) to mp3.  It is generally a good idea to keep the same type of files if possible.  Mp3 allows easier manipulation and organizing of “tags” than wma.  Keeping tags organized will make operation of your Fuze much easier and stable.

New firmware adds support for FLAC files (and ogg vorbis too) but you will use up mucho memory.

When ripping, 196 kbps is “generally” considered to be “fine” quality for general listening.  Some will argue.  256 is good too. And uses more memory.  I can’t tell the difference on most music frankly.

Amazon is providing 256 mp3s pretty much.

Striking a balance between file/sound quality and file size is a significant consideration.

Video can make you a little crazy.  Using Sansa Media Converter application can be frustrating for many reasons.  Accept the fact that video is an interesting “bonus” with this player and you’ll have the right frame of mind.  If you want dvd quality and ease of use, get a dvd player.

 At some point you can investigate replacement earbud or headphone options.  LOTS of options.  Search archives here for thousands of posts.

Fuze on!

Message Edited by blackdog-sansa on 03-25-2009 02:04 PM

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Wow hey thanks for all the wonderful feedback. The SD card I got is a SanDisk. I probably won’t go too crazy with videos on it, but if the quality is really good maybe I will :slight_smile: . Glad to know that there is a difference in quality from the different brands. I’ll have to check the USB AC Adapter for my TomTom, hopefully it will be the same… Mobile charging is a big thing for me, at least it has been with my iPoop considering the battery shakes loose every now and then and needs to be plugged into the charger to get any power… I never take that player out of my car though, very rarely and just to sync off my PC. And yes all my music is MP3, I’ve actually been fortunate enough to restore off my iPod using EphPod after a few system and HD crashes on my library computer. Considering the less space on the Fuze I’ll probably be a lot more selective of what I put on this player.

Another question, I’m big on Ratings, and I believe the Fuze playlists can utilize My Top Rated, if my music is rated in iTunes 1-5 Stars, will I have to re-rate it outside iTunes (I guess WMP?) in order to get My Top Rated in the Fuze’s player?

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@jaybfuze wrote:

<–Snip–>

 

Another question, I’m big on Ratings, and I believe the Fuze playlists can utilize My Top Rated, if my music is rated in iTunes 1-5 Stars, will I have to re-rate it outside iTunes (I guess WMP?) in order to get My Top Rated in the Fuze’s player?

Actually I would suggest re-ratiing on the fuze itself. There has been much discussion on this and the only consistant way that can be agreed upon is to rate in the player.

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Ratings is something that works much, much better on iPods. All I’ve been able to do with ratings is rate them on the Fuze, then the next time I connect it to the computer (and it refreshes), the ratings all disappear. Has anyone gotten ratings to work (and stay) on the Fuze?

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@bdb wrote:
Ratings is something that works much, much better on iPods. All I’ve been able to do with ratings is rate them on the Fuze, then the next time I connect it to the computer (and it refreshes), the ratings all disappear. Has anyone gotten ratings to work (and stay) on the Fuze?

I think sansafix said that for ratings to stick you had to be in MTP mode, but I’m not 100% sure of that.

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Hmm well rating on the player itself will be a nice little activity to keep me busy for a bit I guess, I truly hope they do save and I won’t have to do it on a regular basis (or ever again!) But whatever I don’t mind… I should have asked since I know nothing about the OS the player uses if you can playlist play your “Top Rated”?

Unfortunately did not get the player today because the store shipped via DHL who likes to take the shipment 20 or so miles past my house in the wrong direction simply to tendor it to the USPO because they can’t seem to do a job right or even simply finish it. Horrible considering the store’s warehouse is like 7 miles away from my home but unfortunately they don’t let you pick up from the site hehe :angry: . Hopefully tomorrow I can be a proud Fuze owner.

Guess I’ll ask another question, I’ll probably get the player before the SD Card, so I plan on tossing on the media I will consider my “top rated” first to hold me over, then when I get the card add whatever else I couldn’t get on initially… now if I try and shuffle all my media at once (hd + card) is that possible is it all merged together? Or will it list the music on different locations in the player and only allow me to listen to say 1 drive/disk at once?

Message Edited by jaybfuze on 03-26-2009 09:29 PM

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The player plays all the songs on internal memory or the card seamlessly.  It doesn’t care where they’re located.