Very newbie Questions

I just got my black 4GB Sansa Fuze two days ago. I’ve only had Creative MuVo (no screen) Mp3 players before this, so I have some questions.

1. Is there any way to make a picture your background/wallpaper?

2. I moved pics on there and no window came up denying them, but they won’t appear on the player. Whats wrong?

3. Why does it try to shove my whole computer onto the player when I plug it in?

4. Even if the video is a Mpeg4, does it still have to be converted? I have Mpeg4s, but it wont let me move them.

5. Will animated Gifs work when moved?

Thank you for the help in advance.

Message Edited by MorbidHobbiest on 09-25-2008 06:44 PM

@morbidhobbiest wrote:

I just got my black 4GB Sansa Fuze two days ago. I’ve only had Creative MuVo (no screen) Mp3 players before this, so I have some questions.

1. Is there any way to make a picture your background/wallpaper?

no 

 

2. I moved pics on there and no window came up denying them, but they won’t appear on the player. Whats wrong?

use the sansa media converter to put pictures on the fuze. there is a download link in the stickies sansa fuze general information

 

3. Why does it try to shove my whole computer onto the player when I plug it in?

it sounds like you have windows media player set to auto sync. change the settings in wmp 

 

4. Even if the video is a Mpeg4, does it still have to be converted? I have Mpeg4s, but it wont let me move them.

yes all videos have to be converted through the sansa media converter 

 

5. Will animated Gifs work when moved?

fuze does not support gifs 

 

Thank you for the help in advance.

Message Edited by MorbidHobbiest on 09-25-2008 06:44 PM

I think DrLucky cover pretty much covered everything, but I’ll add a small clarification Re item 2:

The Fuze will display most jpegs without problems, however there is a file size/resolution limit.  It’s not documented what the limit is, but pictures taken from most recent digital cameras will probably exceed the limit.  Since the screen is only 220 x 176, there’s not much point in using hi-res images any way.  So you’ll want to resize your images to the ballpark of the screen resolution anyway.  Saves space on the Fuze and the images will display more quickly.  Sansa Media Converter will do this for you, but it’s not required.  You can use pretty much any tool you want to do the resizing.  Videos on the other hand require SMC.

Thank you very much. This is very helpful.

I must ask another dumb question.

Videos. I now have the converter and only two files will play, some convert and then only show the 1st frame and play the sound, while others (including Mpg4s) just say the files not supported, or corrupted.

Help me fix this, i’m getting very mad at the player and about to take it back :frowning:

Check out the Sansa Media Converter board. There are people having issues like you. I don’t do videos myself, but some have reported success with using ‘Any Video Converter’ first, then running it through the Sansa Converter.

I don’t happen to have the link to the ‘AVC’ handy, but you’ll find in in the SMC board, or you can use the search box in the upper left to find it. :smiley:

To go into more detail, the only format that works is “movie clip (mpg)” .Most of my stuffs in AVI or MVK.

Can I get any of these to work? If not, do you know of any video Mp3 players that will support them?

Thank you, Tapeworm. I’ll check it out.

I don’t use the video features, but other posts on the forum indicate that you sometimes need to get the source video into a format that SMC likes.

See this article for a possible solution.  You’ll still need to use SMC to transfer the video to the Fuze, but following the procedure in the article first might make SMC more successful in converting your videos.  Also make sure you have the latest SMC (always available in the Sansa Fuze General Information sticky post).

I can’t make heads or tails outta this stuff. I hate to be so negative and angry online, but if all I can do is play music on it, I could that with my $40 MuVo without the headache. The magic is long gone and the things about as useful as a coaster on plastic furniture.

Theres a reason this things so cheap in comparison to other 4Gb players.

This should not be this hard.

I’m not tech savy, and I don’t want to download 10 programs and take up space with multiple copies of the same videos. This thing is very unuserfriendly.

Message Edited by MorbidHobbiest on 09-26-2008 09:14 AM

Message Edited by MorbidHobbiest on 09-26-2008 09:18 AM

@morbidhobbiest wrote:

To go into more detail, the only format that works is “movie clip (mpg)” .Most of my stuffs in AVI or MVK.

Can I get any of these to work? If not, do you know of any video Mp3 players that will support them?

Basically, all smaller audio-centric players require some kind of conversion tool to enable video support.  To get good native support of multiple video codecs you need to step up to a true PMP.  Which typically means a much higher price tag, larger form factor and lower sound quality (compared to the Fuze).

@morbidhobbiest wrote:

I can’t make heads or tails outta this stuff. I hate to be so negative and angry online, but if all I can do is play music on it, I could that with my $40 MuVo without the headache. The magic is long gone and the things about as useful as a coaster on plastic furniture.

Theres a reason this things so cheap in comparison to other 4Gb players.

This should not be this hard.

I’m not tech savy, and I don’t want to download 10 programs and take up space with multiple copies of the same videos. This thing is very unuserfriendly.

Well, like I said in my previous post, conversion issues are pretty much a fact of life with most all audio-centric players in this market segment.  Admittedly, the SMC is pretty rough, but you’ll have the same kinds of issue with other brands as well.

If video was a top priority, the Sansa View would have been a better choice, as that’s what it was designed for.  The Fuze is first and foremost a high-quality audio player, with video support as a secondary feature.  It definitely wasn’t designed to be a killer video device.  As an audio player, the Fuze is among the best available.

Message Edited by Skinjob on 09-26-2008 12:30 PM

Sigh

As far as audio, I actually like the pitch my MuVo played at better, but it had just a basic screen with shuffle and no menu. Bur it was very simple. Any audio worked as a drag and drop. The Sansa actually broke one of my songs for no reason.

I just wanted a player that did music well, that I could also watch an episode or two on while at work. I just want something simple that under $150.

I’ll guess I’ll have to check the boxes more carefully. AVI and MVK capabilitys gonna be a must for me.

I know you said they all have problems, but can you reccomend a brand?

We’re in the same boat my friend. I should have known better than purchasing such a dirt brand.

If you’re really set on looking for an alternative and want to compare and get info on just about anything & everything out there, check out the anythingbutipod forum. They’ve got boards and sub-forums for it all. Pretty mind-boggling. They’ve also got links to reviews, etc. so you should be able to find some good ‘intel’ there. I think you’ll find though, that the Sansas (& especially the Fuze) come pretty highly rated & recommended. There is no 1 player that does everything perfectly. If there was, there would only be 1 player on the market. :wink:

If you’re really set on looking for an alternative and want to compare and get info on just about anything & everything out there, check out the anythingbutipod forum. They’ve got boards and sub-forums for it all. Well, all except that ‘you-know-I-what’. Pretty mind-boggling. They’ve also got links to reviews, etc. so you should be able to find some good ‘intel’ there. I think you’ll find though, that the Sansas (& especially the Fuze) come pretty highly rated & recommended. There is no 1 player that does everything perfectly. If there was, there would only be 1 player on the market. :wink:

@skinjob wrote:

See this article for a possible solution.  You’ll still need to use SMC to transfer the video to the Fuze, but following the procedure in the article first might make SMC more successful in converting your videos.  Also make sure you have the latest SMC (always available in the Sansa Fuze General Information sticky post).

Actually doing video is really easy.  I’ve done several DVD’s.  Some do not convert over with the SMC (but neither do some for my coworkers iPod).  After you have the settings for anyDVDconverter, it stays, I just make sure the language is English.  Then click on Enclode and wait for it get done (doing other things in the mean time).  Then use SMC to put it on my Fuze.

Photos are easy to using SMC. 

  Yeah really,i’ve got to agree.With a modicum of patience and using AnyVideo convertor,you will be up and running in no time flat.This is not a difficult procedure.I’ve got like 40 hours of TV shows on my  Fuze as we speak.If the video file is of a type which the Fuze doesn’t like use AnyVideo convertor to change it and then use the SMC to load it to your Fuze.Thats it,all done.If you take the time and check these boards you will find that your little Fuze there will do just about anything you ask it to.Hang in there. 

You can’t really blame the player if you’re asking it to play video as a turn-key operation.  Digital video is a far cry from simple NTSC or PAL.  There are seemingly endless combinations of codecs and compression schemes in use.

With a little patience, you’ll fine a combination that will fit your needs.  I have converted troublesome videos to MPEG with the AVC application, even to avi, with acceptable results.  Transcode the video to various formats with the AVC application, and run each pass through the Sansa Media Converter, and see what happens.

The Fuze and e200v2 are both happiest with the latest SMC, version 4.236. 

Remember, it’s designed as an audio player first, with the added bonus of being able to handle video.

A 911 is great transportation, but it wasn’t designed to pull an Airstream.

Bob  :stuck_out_tongue: 

I’m gonna stick with what I know and get a 8GB Creative Zen Mozaic.

http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=213&subcategory=215&product=17897

Only $10 more and it seems a little more friendly.

Thanks for your help and time.

Message Edited by MorbidHobbiest on 09-27-2008 07:27 PM