Sandisk's MP3 players

I guess I have been so critical of the Fuze and Sandisk’s other mp3 players not because they don’t stack up to the competition(the Fuze is imo one of the top mp3 players available), but because imo Sandisk could do so much better. Yes, I am disappointed with all the mp3 players on the market now. They all seem to be lacking in one area or another. Most MP3 player makers seem to be unreasonably obsessed with player thinness, and with video. Video is a good thing if the screen is large enough, battery life is long enough while playing videos, and videos don’t need to go through a special conversion to play on the player. Imo video on the Fuze is not practical.

It is unfortunate that Apple has so much market share in the US, and perhaps because of that other player makers have decided to incorporate some disliked aspects of Apple’s players into their own players. Navigation by tags only, a built in battery that is not user replaceable, and a proprietary connector are undesired attributes that the Fuze has in common with ipods. I am hoping that Sandisk will come out with some new models that don’t have these attributes, and have great sound quality and a display(the Slotmusic player has no display, and is said to have sound quality lower than the Clip).

I’ve been a fan of Sandisk products for several years, the flash drives, the SD cards, now the players.  I agree about the video issue, I use my Zen Vision:M for video, the Fuze is passable, but I don’t think I could watch a full movie on it.

I think the thinness is probably to make it easier to pocket, and the extra width makes for a larger display.  I had a Sandisk DAP, the red 256MB model, and it was not pocket friendly.  The Express is better, but I hardly notice the Fuze in my shirt pocket.

On the issue of the battery, I wish someone would go the way that HP/Compaq did on the iPaqs.  I had a 3650 that was “sealed”, the battery could only be replaced by opening the device using a small (read:hard to find) Torx driver.  I bought a 2490 and it has an easily removable battery.  It’s still proprietary to keep the device flat, but it is easy to remove.  Spares/replacements are readily available from HP.  I would like to see a player in the View/Fuze class that could do that.  I have a Rio Nitrus with a failing battery, and I just don’t know if it’s worth the money/trouble to replace it.

The thing with the proprietary connector is tough.  USB doesn’t have the pins for much more than data transfer.  Motorola’s RAZR does manage stereo headphones through a USB connector, and some HTC-made phones are able to charge while listening to music, but only through the use of a splitter.  That’s another little part to lose.  Like others have suggested, I’d like to see a combination of USB and A/V connectors.  But unlike the Vision:M I’d like to see it done without an extra dongle. 

It’s hard to analyze “Fuze vs. SM Player” in terms of audio.  I have a particular couple of songs that I use to compare earphones, but I can’t really tell the difference in players.  The SM Player is definitely heavier.

As for iPod, I can’t believe they don’t have a radio.  Even Sony’s MiniDisc players had radios.  The one I have has FM, TV (useless after Feb '09, I know), Weather, and even AM.  If it just *didn’t* have SonicStage.  I have it for the novelty as well, I did rip a CD to one of the MiniDiscs, and it came out OK.  But I don’t think my Fuze has anything to worry about from it.

Why can’t a player have both a mini USB connector plus a proprietary connector, or a proprietary connector that incorporates a mini USB connector, so the player could be connected to a mini USB or a proprietary cable?

I want the use of a AA or AAA battery so that I can carry spare batteries and not worry about running out of power, and never need to connect a player to a pc or wall outlet to charge it.  It is not to replace a rechargeable battery that no longer hold an adequate charge(that is an additional bonus).

IMO I think the Fuze plays full length movies fine.  I’ve watched several on mine.  Maybe I still have decent eye sight :wink:.  It seems to be the same quality as ipods, even the newest nano (my coworkers preference, for some reason…) which can show them in widescreen. 

I don’t want one with AA or AAA batteries on a player. That’s why I choose my digital camera, no batters to replace and one to recharge, which can be replaced if needed. So that would be fine for a Fuze, I suppose.  I got tired of buying new batteries for my regular 35mm camera.  yes I know there are rechargables and maybe they’ve improved since I last used them when they wouldn’t last as long as they got older so I was constantly recharging them.  And I don’t want to be bothered carrying around something else.

I believe the slotmusic is made for those who want an inexpensive player with no screen to worry about, like exercising or outdoors or even those who work in a more physical environment.  Or for the youth.  Or those who have a difficult time handling a more advanced machine (like disabled).  Different devices for different people.  I thought it looked pretty interesting, but thought the Shaker better (although uses a larger card). 

I also don’t see why other players don’t have FM radio.  Yesterday I wanted to hear some news about what was going on and we have an FM news station.

Many places don’t have much in the way of news, sports, or talk radio on FM. They are on AM. Having FM radio without AM is of little value to me, as if I want to carry a separate small radio to receive AM, it will receive FM as well. Canon’s A series digital cameras that use AA batteries are very popular. Canon also makes cameras that use a lion battery. The important thing to note is that they make several models of each type, so consumers have a choice. Their cameras that use a lion battery use one that is easily replaceable, and for which spares are easy enough to find.

I am huge fan of Sandisk products as well and mp3 players are made for listening to music not for watching videos.

@jk98 wrote:

Why can’t a player have both a mini USB connector plus a proprietary connector, or a proprietary connector that incorporates a mini USB connector, so the player could be connected to a mini USB or a proprietary cable?

 

I want the use of a AA or AAA battery so that I can carry spare batteries and not worry about running out of power, and never need to connect a player to a pc or wall outlet to charge it.  It is not to replace a rechargeable battery that no longer hold an adequate charge(that is an additional bonus).

I agree the mini USB would be more convenient , but how often are you using up your Fuze’s entire power supply? I can understand wanting to power up w/o a PC, but the wallcharge route is much cheaper than batteries would be, unless you go camping alot, and are nowhere near a wall outlet. :smiley:

@oleg wrote:
mp3 players are made for listening to music not for watching videos.

Actually they are made for both.  I listen to music and watch videos.  My cowrker with her nano does both.  My other coworker with his classic ipod does both.  (you get the idea, they’re pod people). 

But it depends what YOU want to use it for. 

Some MP3 players do not do video at all (they don’t even have a screen).  But those that can do video, it’s fine if the person who buys it wants to go to all that trouble and expense of the video process.  Or if they want to go to the music process.  Or have one with external cards and go through that process (uploading, refreshing database, etc).  So again, it depends on what the buyer and user wants out of their MP3 player.  If the player can do video and the person who bought it wants to watch video, they can. 

My Fuze can do music and video and photos and radio and recording and put items on external cards and … (you get the idea).  I use it for a lot of those things.  You can use it just for music, that’s fine.  That was my original idea for an MP3 player, music and podcasts.  But then I discovered the Fuze’s other features and like them too.

Message Edited by Dalaug234 on 12-08-2008 04:35 PM

 “I agree the mini USB would be more convenient , but how often are you using up your Fuze’s entire power supply?”

It is not about being away from the pc, but of using the player in spurts, and worrying about having enough power in the player when one wants to use it for several hours in a row. Running out of power is very annoying, but then forgetting to charge the player means even more lost listening time another day. The answer to this is having a player that uses a replaceable battery, preferably a AA or AAA one, so  that small inexpensive spares can be carried with the player.