I can open the media converter and convert jpegs from my camera but it wont work with short mov files from the same camera. it says to install the correct codex? what does this mean?
.mov is an Apple Quicktime video file. It needs a codec–coder decoder–to be played back or converted. So do other formats, but SMC may not be able to deal with .mov. Apple doesn’t always like to play nicely with the other children.
See if video4fuze can handle it.
http://code.google.com/p/video4fuze/
Use the installer.exe file if you are using Windows.
You can use an AVI MOV converter Mac to mov converter , That is a professional and wonderful converter , and it easy to work . you can follow the steps do it yourself .
$69 ? There must be an easier way.
And cheaper!
Just a tip . . . if you post a link to something and don’t say in your post it costs money, then it’s spamming.
And we HATE spam around here! 
You don’t need any pay-ware. Handbrake - http://www.handbrake.fr - will do it for free. It uses VLC for some conversions, so that needs to be installed as well.
Sandisk supported video files: Video: H.264, MPEG-4, WMV, Flip Video AVi is the most standard format today, I wish Sansa adds that. There are lots of web based converters too. Just google AVI to WMV for example and you’ll get loads of results. By doing this, some sites will just have pop up advertisements and that’s it. 
Video4Fuze . See above.
The problem with many of your suggestions is that the Fuze is quite picky about format, more so than any other portable player I’ve heard of (although I’m not exactly an expert on other portable players). That’s why Video4Fuze was created… people on this very forum were frustrated with their shared inability to make a video play. It doesn’t help that the software that Sandisk created to make this “easier” has earned a bad reputation for being unreliable.
For this reason, I strongly agree with Black-Rectangle. His advice is spot-on.
As a mov player for mac I would use:
I think you have already solved the converting issue
