Can't download music or firmware update--(Fuze a nightmare to figure out)

SanDisk MP3 players Sansa® Fuze™
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Copying music to the Sansa is as simple as dragging and dropping.

  1. Connect your sansa to the computer

  2. Open Windows Explorer

  3. Click on My Computer (XP and earlier) or just Computer (Vista and later)

  4. Open the “Sansa Fuze xGB” Drive that should be listed under your computer

  5. Open the “Internal Memory” folder

  6. Open the “Music” folder

  7. Copy your music (in a compatible format - sansa supports MP3, WAV, WMA, secure WMA and Audible) into this folder

DONE!

You can sync with Yahoo! Music, Microsoft Windows Media Player, and a host of other players automatically (assuming compatible format).

While I’ll hand it to Apple for the ease of use of iTunes Music Store, many of the other stores are usable such as emusic, napster, puretracks, passalong, and many other online stores that sell music in a compatible format. While some record labels require their music to have DRM, many will offer them in the secure WMA format. All of the stores mentioned above can all be accesed from within Windows Media Player (version 11 required for Audible) by selecting the righmost option in the menu in Windows Media Player (usaually has text “Media Guide” but can change if you visited help, online stores, etc.). In this drop down menu item you will find “Browse all Online Stores”. This is where you will find online stores to purchase music. Not at all different from iTunes except you don’t have to update the iTunes every 2 days (ok that was a cheap shot but come on is anyone else getting tired of updating iTunes every time you turn around?) 

As for the Firmware update not working:  

To update firmware you simply download the firmware file for your revision (1.xxxx or 2.xxxx) from the sandisk site and copy the fuzea.bin file into the “Internal Memory” folder and unplug the fuze from your computer and the firmware will be updated automatically. You will see “Firmware upgrade in progress” when you disconnect from your computer… easy.

There are plenty of other music managers that will keep your library in Sync (an example is MediaMonkey)-- some free, some you have to buy.

Hope that helps.