Alarm Clock

How 'bout an alarm clock?

I would Love to see this feature implemented.

I have it on my old G2 Cowan and it is great.

This should be easy to set up.

I would be willing to go to Rockbox if they added this.

I would PAY for this feature!

Thanks

How useful would an alarm be in a player without a speaker?

Ever hear of external speakers?   My Fuze is probably plugged into external speakers more often than

using earphones.

(BTW… my cowon has no external speakers either)

imagrandpa wrote:

Ever hear of external speakers?   My Fuze is probably plugged into external speakers more often than

using earphones.

 

(BTW… my cowon has no external speakers either)

Some of us dont use external speakers but we have heard of them. And the thing we have to assume is that the average user is running their fuze with the stuff that came in the box. If you have speakers then it would work for you but I wear headphones to bed and they usually fall out in the night, so you can see how it wouldnt work for me. By Asking how it would work for people with headphones we are simply inquiring as to how you would work it, maybe making it worth wild for us to have this feature.

And I know JK’s concern, that adding this would decrease battery life. For me its as simple as I dont want it to effect my play back if the alarm is set and Im listening to something else (Like if I cant sleep). 

"And I know JK’s concern, that adding this would decrease battery life. "

I am very concerned with battery life. A few years ago, one of Sandisk’s competators decided to come out with a variation of one of their popular players which was almost the same except that a speaker was added, and they made the player a bit thicker since they used a battery with double the capacity of the model without the speaker, so that battery life for those who use the speaker all the time would be reasonable. Many bought the version with the speaker not to use the speaker, but instead to get double the battery life of the model without the speaker when using headphones.

A built in speaker is handy for podcasts and audiobooks, but ■■■■■ for use with music.

Message Edited by JK98 on 12-23-2009 11:26 PM

Battery life is not a factor if implemented correctly.

When I go to bed at nite… I simply plug in my little Cowan G2 (using minature cables to a speaker system)

I have programmed the Cowon to “turn on” and begin playing (either mp3 or FM) at a predetermined time

of 6:00am.   The unit Plays for ten minutes (user selectable) and then turns itself off.

So, it uses ten minutes use of battery life each day.  

So… battery life is effected VERY little.  (You must have assumed that the unit had to remain on.)

To program this function should take very little effort.

No, I assumed that Sandisk would not have an alarm function on a player unless the player has a built in speaker. By having an alarm function without a built in speaker, people will complain that they can’t use the alarm function since there is no built in speaker. If Sandisk comes out with models with a built in speaker then people will complain about short battery life when using the speaker, unless Sandisk places a large capacity battery in the player. So therefore having an alarm function in the player opens up a can of worms and would probably generate many negative comments. For that reason, it is better off being omitted.

 Imo Sandisk would have been better off omitting video on the Fuze.

I’ve used my Sony as an alarm clock quite a few times, but I don’t use its speakers because they are not very loud. I plug my old powered computer speakers into it. It doesn’t seem to have a noticeable effect on battery life.

Well… if you don’t need an alarm function I guess you don’t see it as an added amenity. I suspect

that a lot of people would use if it was there.  Yes, you do need external speakers to make it

worthwhile… but there are a whole lot of people that use external speakers with their mp3 player.

Hard to even find a radio these days that isn’t ready for the “iPod”… I would venture a guess

that well over half people that get an mp3 player go and buy some sort of external speaker

even tho it isn’t in the box.  Also, when I used to frequent the Cowon forums, I never saw a single

complaint about the alarm function.

Even for those who don’t need it for waking up… some have been known to use the function  to

“turn on” automatically play FM (at a certain time for a particular program), and then turn off after

the show is over.

Man… that’s also a battery saver too !

People usually have dedicated alarm clocks they can use, except perhaps while they are travelling, which is when they probably won’t want to carry external speakers.

I guess an alarm built into the player might be useful to some people. I was just giving reasons why Sandisk might not want to have it. Imo a small built in speaker, a larger capacity battery, and a built in alarm would be nice in some models, even if the player has to be half an inch thick instead of 0.3" thick. I like the idea of a built in speaker for podcasts and audiobooks, but not for music.

I doubt that half of mp3 player users connect the player to external speakers, although many people probably connect a player to a stereo system.

It seems like Sandisk may still have not given up hope on the idea player docking, where the player docks to an alarm clock that controls it. Let’s see if Sandisk decides to do away with the proprietary connector in all future models.

Message Edited by JK98 on 12-24-2009 08:50 PM

Message Edited by JK98 on 12-24-2009 08:52 PM

JK98 wrote:

 

 I doubt that half of mp3 player users connect the player to external speakers, although many people probably connect a player to a stereo system.

 

You might be wrong about that. Apple still has an incredible majority percentage of the market share, and all the speaker docks that are out there (like people here have been asking for) are made for iPods. And separating external speakers from stereo systems, that’s just playing semantics, don’t you think? :wink:

“And separating external speakers from stereo systems, that’s just playing semantics, don’t you think?”

No, as those who hook an mp3 player up to their stereo systems already have the stereos, so the extra cost is perhaps just a cheap cable or perhaps not even that(I already have extra cables for this but still haven’t connected an mp3 player to my stereo. The experience of connecting an mp3 player to stereo system is very different than connecting it to small speakers.

I have some pretty cheap Altec Lansing speakers that I use with my laptop and the experience is

pretty good.  Actually better than having the earphones stuck in my ear.  When I’m in my car, I usually

use an FM transmitter or directly connect to my car stereo system.  Experience is pretty good

there too.  Keep in my mind… I have several pair of fairly expensive earphones.  Evidentally a lot of

other people like to listen to the pods/mp3’s with speakers or else you would be able to find more

small radio/cassette boxes without the ipod interface.  I for one sure wish Sansa had used the standard

interface.  Most likely something to do with copyright issues.  Anyway… it shows.  Didn’t the head honcho

of Sansa state that he did not expect for Sansa too EVER overtake the iPod in sales?  Sorta like throwing

in the towel.   Personally, I wouldn’t like that sort of defeatist attitude if I were a stockholder.  Many

companies have been able to overtake their competition by being innovative.  In my book, the Fuze is the

best that is out there ( I have had many).  Altho I prefer the AA batts., I now prefer the size and convenience

of the Fuze and would not want it thicker for longer batt. life.  I get plenty of life as is and the batteries

seem to be holding up very well.  I also use it frequently to record things that I want… it is small and very

inconspicuous… I do have to take the extra step of converting to mp3/wma - but that is no big deal.  I guess

if I didn’t like the Fuze so well, that I wouldn’t give a hoot about some of these other features like an alarm

clock… (the ability to wake up on its own and play for a pre-determined time).  Aside from the size (which is

just abt perfect), the way that Sansa has implemented the operation is also the best I have seen.  As proof

of this unit’s appeal, anyone notice how the prices have held up against even newer units put out by the

other major manufacturers?  Even the 4gb is hard to get for less than $50.  I think it was $59 or more at

Costco.   Since I couldn’t get an extra battery to easily replace… I just bought another one.  If it goes dead,

you can simply move the micro chip to the one with the full battery.  It’s a great player!

“Didn’t the head honcho of Sansa state that he did not expect for Sansa too EVER overtake the iPod in sales?Personally, I wouldn’t like that sort of defeatist attitude if I were a stockholder”

Sandisk’s main business is flash memory, not mp3 players.

" Even the 4gb is hard to get for less than $50.  I think it was $59 or more at Costco." 

You can get a 4 GB Fuze for $50 with free shipping(USA) or an 8 GB Clip+ for $50+ $5 shipping(USA) from B&H Photo in NYC.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?ci=4259&N=4294542655+4291236412

Thanks… I think you made my point.  The 4gb is holding up pretty good for a 2 yr old player.

The simple and obvious answer is:  finally add a clock to the Clip, and then the alarm function as well.  There, that was simple.

:slight_smile:

Miikerman wrote:

The simple and obvious answer is:  finally add a clock to the Clip, and then the alarm function as well.  There, that was simple.

 

:slight_smile:

Too much for the already limited RAM, I would bet.

Likely so–time to up it …

There is actually a clock and an alarm hardware device on basically all Sandisk devices.  It needed for playing DRM WMA files.

You can use it as an alarm in rockbox (at least I’m pretty sure its working on all Sandisk targets now).   

Please tell me how I would use this feature on a Sansa Fuze.

Thx