Fuze f/w update suggestions

New Fuze owner/user, loving it.  Thought I’d throw my suggestions for firmware updates into the ring.

First, like lots of other folks, I’d like to see folder-based browsing and expanded song # limit.  I understand both are in development, hurrah!

Second, please, please make the text scroll faster.  Better yet, make all lines that are too long to display entirely scroll at the same time , particularly on the “now playing” screen.  I feel as if I may fall asleep at times waiting to see the full title of the song, especially if the artist and album are both long.

Third, if we’re going to use a tag-based system, let us see all the info in the tag.  Add an “Info” item to the song menu that allows viewing of all tag info.  If this is implemented, it would make the previous suggestion less important, but still nice.

And finally, I like having light text on a dark background, so darker colors for backgrounds/wallpapers would be outstanding.

Cheers!

(Now playing:  Musselwhite, Charlie/Delta Hardware/Invisible Ones)

I agree with the black background with white txt. Saves eye strain. Also how about volume normalization so I don’t have to re-encode all my files to keep from having to adjust the volume constantly. Great player btw!

@bleargest wrote:
I agree with the black background with white txt. Saves eye strain. Also how about volume normalization so I don’t have to re-encode all my files to keep from having to adjust the volume constantly. Great player btw!

Funny, my eyes see it exactly the opposite. More strain with the white text on black background. I would agree though, that the higher contrast makes it (appear anyway) moe sharp & crisp-looking.

Have you seen this thread/discussion on volume normalization?

@bleargest wrote:
I agree with the black background with white txt. Saves eye strain. Also how about volume normalization so I don’t have to re-encode all my files to keep from having to adjust the volume constantly. Great player btw!

Funny, my eyes see it exactly the opposite. More strain with the white text on black background. Maybe my astigmatism causes that reaction. I would agree though, that the higher contrast makes it (appear anyway) more sharp & crisp-looking.

Have you seen this thread/discussion on volume normalization?

@tapeworm wrote:


@bleargest wrote:
I agree with the black background with white txt. Saves eye strain. Also how about volume normalization so I don’t have to re-encode all my files to keep from having to adjust the volume constantly. Great player btw!


 

Funny, my eyes see it exactly the opposite. More strain with the white text on black background. Maybe my astigmatism causes that reaction. I would agree though, that the higher contrast makes it (appear anyway) more sharp & crisp-looking.

 

Have you seen this thread/discussion on volume normalization?

Well, then we should have the option to change the font color to black, as well as some lighter backgrounds.  My Meizu has 8 or so font color options, and can use any image as the background.  I don’t expect that, but some more options would be nice.  (As well as the items I mentioned above. :wink: )

Another thing I thought of that is more an annoyance than a feature.  When the player is locked and you press a button or turn the wheel, the backlight comes on, and you get a GINORMOUS LOCK ICON on the display, blocking everything else.  Very annoying.

My suggestion(s) for the locked situation would be this.  First, turn the backlight off immediately when the player is locked, and don’t turn the backlight on for anything except the center button press.  I locked it because I’m sticking it in my pocket or whatever, and I’d just as soon not waste battery life lighting up my pocket lint every time I take a step.  Second, make the GINORMOUS LOCK ICON a little more subtle, like down in the bar by the battery icon.  Maybe make it flash or something if you really must, but at least move it out of the way of the info on the screen.

And seriously.  Make.  The.  Text.  Scroll.  Faster.  Pretty please?  It really is almost painful to watch.  I admit, I read faster than most people, but wow, I can almost print faster than this little beast scrolls.

@tenzip wrote:

 And seriously.  Make.  The.  Text.  Scroll.  Faster.  Pretty please?  It really is almost painful to watch.  I admit, I read faster than most people, but wow, I can almost print faster than this little beast scrolls.

I am with you on this one. I am another that reads fast, and this is one of my few pet peeves about the Fuze(and Clip).

I think that a good update would be to Add a picture background option and an option for a numeric password or something like that when you turn it on.

and i agree that the text needs to scroll faster.

@visualbasicjedi wrote:

I think that a good update would be to Add a picture background option and an option for a numeric password or something like that when you turn it on.

and i agree that the text needs to scroll faster.

Why a password? It seems like an annying feature, even if you feel you need it. I can see haveing a password for adding and removing files but not for turning it on.

@tenzip wrote:

Another thing I thought of that is more an annoyance than a feature.  When the player is locked and you press a button or turn the wheel, the backlight comes on, and you get a GINORMOUS LOCK ICON on the display, blocking everything else.  Very annoying.

 

My suggestion(s) for the locked situation would be this.  First, turn the backlight off immediately when the player is locked, and don’t turn the backlight on for anything except the center button press.  I locked it because I’m sticking it in my pocket or whatever, and I’d just as soon not waste battery life lighting up my pocket lint every time I take a step.  Second, make the GINORMOUS LOCK ICON a little more subtle, like down in the bar by the battery icon.  Maybe make it flash or something if you really must, but at least move it out of the way of the info on the screen.

 

And seriously.  Make.  The.  Text.  Scroll.  Faster.  Pretty please?  It really is almost painful to watch.  I admit, I read faster than most people, but wow, I can almost print faster than this little beast scrolls.

Tenzip you havent been on here very long but I am sure you have seen the millions of repeat questions that get asked. I can tell you one thing beyond the shadow of a doubt, if not for that “Ginormous Lock Icon” we would have hundereds of people in here going “My Scroll Wheel wont work this thing ■■■■■…” Or "Why wont my player do anything"and it will unboudtedly be because the fuze is locked and they cant see that massive lock Icon. I do like the idea about when the player gets locked the screen goes dark but, there needs to be some sort of action when buttons are pressed, my thought would be the word LOCK in white on the black background, thats only on for perhaps 1/2 of a second. 

I think the most important one is the tag information in the song menu.

I think we all agree on this.

Conversionbox wrote: 

Tenzip you havent been on here very long but I am sure you have seen the millions of repeat questions that get asked. I can tell you one thing beyond the shadow of a doubt, if not for that “Ginormous Lock Icon” we would have hundereds of people in here going “My Scroll Wheel wont work this thing ■■■■■…” Or "Why wont my player do anything"and it will unboudtedly be because the fuze is locked and they cant see that massive lock Icon. I do like the idea about when the player gets locked the screen goes dark but, there needs to be some sort of action when buttons are pressed, my thought would be the word LOCK in white on the black background, thats only on for perhaps 1/2 of a second. 

Yes, I know about lusers, er, I mean users.  I deal with them every day.  I’m the whole IT department for a small/medium sized company, so I get to do everything from hold the hand of the department manager that can barely run the mouse without cutting himself, to writing specs for, buying, and installing/setting up the servers and all the software on them.

Having it flash up for 1/2 second is more than long enough to read/comprehend it.  2 seconds, which is ~ how long the icon now appears on the screen, is serious overkill, IMO.  Maybe this is overkill too, but I’d just as soon have none of the buttons do anything at all until the player is off lock.  Perhaps “Lock action” could be added to the system settings menu, with “Normal” and “Blackout” options.  Obviously not something that will get into the next f/w update, but maybe in a future one?  To me, locked means locked, I was actually surprised that it lit up the screen by just bumping the wheel the first time I locked it.  I had expected nothing at all to happen until I took it off lock.

I also found a “bug”.  I guess it has to be called that.  After turning on my Fuze a few minutes ago, I hit play before the “now playing” screen was visible, (still sansa icon onscreen).  The song that was playing before I turned it off started up right where it left off, but while it’s playing, the red double-bar “pause” icon is showing.  So I hit play/pause again, and the green arrow shows, and the song continues to play.  Being a nosy, curious sort, I then tried pause/play again, and the song paused for about 1/4 second before continuing, but with the red pause icon now displayed.  After that song ends, operation returns to normal, but for the duration of that song, it’s impossible to pause playback.

Not really a big deal, just kind of a weirdness.  I know the cure, don’t push play before the now playing screen is visible.

The fuze needs better video support and get rid of SMC.

 

 

I would also like setting a pic as the background

I like the idea of my own picture in the background!  A little personalization!  As far as scrolling text, would it be so bad as to have multiple options? (Slow, Normal, Fast) Lock options would be good too!  I am in favor of gapless playback, WMA Lossless support, Folder Browsing, and more tag info.  Oh, I almost forgot!  More Video format support!

XC Fan

Message Edited by XCFan on 04-06-2009 07:15 PM

Just got a Fuze about a month ago. Very pleased with it. Got a 4GB because I like the red one and added a 16GB card. 20 GB is such a tiny package… ah bliss! My previous player, the Trekstor Vibez has died. Trekstor is not making it anymore. It was far and away the best player on the market.

I do adore the Fuze, though.

  • As has been stated in this thread, the ability to view ALL tag info. Many times I want to double check the bit rate of a tune (might be an old one I ripped at 128 and I would want to rerip), or make sure it has the right info.
  • Stay on the view I choose. This is the one annoyance I have with the Fuze. If I set it to the EQ visualization or to album art  *blink* it switches back to ‘track view’ at the very next song. Can’t it just stay in the view I choose? I’d also like it to stay in the “now playing” list if I so choose. That switches back after like 30 seconds.

I originally came here to ask for bookmarking in Audiobooks. Downloaded one from the library last night and could find no way to save my place and come back. While double checking to make sure it didn’t before I posted I found the “RESUME PLAYBACK” or “START FROM THE BEGINNING” option when coming back to an audiobook. Very cool!!!

@peregrine wrote:

Just got a Fuze about a month ago. Very pleased with it. Got a 4GB because I like the red one and added a 16GB card. 20 GB is such a tiny package… ah bliss! My previous player, the Trekstor Vibez has died. Trekstor is not making it anymore. It was far and away the best player on the market.

I do adore the Fuze, though.

  • As has been stated in this thread, the ability to view ALL tag info. Many times I want to double check the bit rate of a tune (might be an old one I ripped at 128 and I would want to rerip), or make sure it has the right info.
  • Stay on the view I choose. This is the one annoyance I have with the Fuze. If I set it to the EQ visualization or to album art  *blink* it switches back to ‘track view’ at the very next song. Can’t it just stay in the view I choose? I’d also like it to stay in the “now playing” list if I so choose. That switches back after like 30 seconds.

 

I originally came here to ask for bookmarking in Audiobooks. Downloaded one from the library last night and could find no way to save my place and come back. While double checking to make sure it didn’t before I posted I found the “RESUME PLAYBACK” or “START FROM THE BEGINNING” option when coming back to an audiobook. Very cool!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also agree with keeping the screen on the current section. I hate when I’m viewing songs or a different, I get side tracked and talk to someone, then when I press a button to activate the screen LED, it goes back to the song display and then I have to navigate all the way back to that menu.

@conversionbox wrote:


@visualbasicjedi wrote:

I think that a good update would be to Add a picture background option and an option for a numeric password or something like that when you turn it on.

and i agree that the text needs to scroll faster.


Why a password? It seems like an annying feature, even if you feel you need it. I can see haveing a password for adding and removing files but not for turning it on.

 

A laptop or PDA is likely loaded with confidential info.  On a media player, more likely stuff you don’t want your kids (or parents?) to see.

While doable, passwords would be a pain on a device with no text or numeric entry mechanism. 

An N digit password would be able to be selected quite easily using the scroll wheel like the dial on a safe to scroll (rotate?) through the digits and centre to select.

Wrap around scrolling in every menu + these suggestions: http://forums.sandisk.com/sansa/board/message?board.id=featuresuggestions&thread.id=1024

And the suggestions on this thread would be even better.