Everyone I talk to about media players universally despise Windows Media Player. Any suggestions for other programs. I need something that’s easy and intuitive for my new 8 gig Fuze. I’m new to all of this and any help would be appreciated
There are two great, free, media players for Windows out there that alot of people like. The first is WinAMP, which is the most popular third party media player for Windows. It does work with the Fuze, but IMO, the interface is slightly clunky when it comes to adding stuff to the player It’s still a really nice music player, however.
The second is MediaMonkey, which has gotten a reputation as the ultimate ID3 Tag editor (you can actually add album art to your songs here) and a handsome player. Version 3 is up now. There is a for-pay Gold Version, but the free one has everything you’ll ever need.
The Sansa is specially optimized to work with Rhapsody. Getting Rhapsody is fast and easy and it syncs everything to your mp3 player in a flash. Your Sansa probably came with a software disc, so download Rhapsody and plugin your player. Just click and drag your songs to your new Fuze. Easy and really fun!
Rhapsody is not a media player! It is a subscription service to ‘rent’ music by the month. As long as you pay, you get to play.
While it’s certainly an option for people who don’t have an existing music collection, a good media player will ‘rip’ your existing CD’s into .mp3 files that you can easily transfer to your player. You’ve already bought and paid for this music. It is yours to use as you see fit. You might as well use it.
Rhapsody & Napster, on the other hand, supply DRM-encrypted music to you as long as you pay them their pound of flesh every month. If you don’t, no music. You can however, buy tracks from them at a buck a pop, but you can also pay the same (or less) from other on-line pay-per-song services if you want.
Windows Media Player, while not ideal, does do an adequate job of ripping CD’s.
Winamp, I find to work well, but the free version does not offer .mp3 ripping. You have to get the paid version for that. I think it’s only $20 though. Not bad.
Media Monkey is one that is preferred by many, although I didn’t care for the interface and found it confusing and clumsy
Funny, my impressions were just the opposite of DocStrange’ s. Just goes to show, not everybody likes the same things. Check them out and figure out for yourself what is best for you and your needs. 
