Sansa Clip+ on Sale Again

[cromag]

Originally Posted by silverraven

http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum...isplay.php?f=6
Anything you could ever want to know about the Sansa line, including Clip +, Original Fuze, Fuze +, and Clip Zip. Very nice group of people!
S

Yep, I've been there a while, although I usually hang out in some of the (older) Creative forums.

They're also very helpful.

[silverraven]

Originally Posted by cromag

Yep, I've been there a while, although I usually hang out in some of the (older) Creative forums.

They're also very helpful.

Sorry if I offended, I didn't mean to say it is only the Sansa forum that is friendly! I've visited many of the subforums, even just to read up to make my next purchase decision. I have yet to run into any rude people. And that is saying something about a forum as a whole! I love the headphone forum, That is where I found my new favorite cheap headphones recommended. Cheap and good together always makes me happy!!
S

[cromag]

Originally Posted by silverraven

Sorry if I offended, ...

Absolutely not!

[silverraven]

Whew, good, I'm slightly paranoid about that! It's so hard to convey emotions with typing, I'm always worried something I say will be interpreted differently than I meant.
S

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by silverraven

Whew, good, I'm slightly paranoid about that! It's so hard to convey emotions with typing, I'm always worried something I say will be interpreted differently than I meant.
S

Say anything you want to me. I never get offended.

[Anabana]

We had a family birthday party at a local restaurant recently and my niece's 2yo was being LOUDLY Cranky. Her mom set her up a kid's video on her Fuze and all was peace and quiet AND she ate her lunch with no more fuss. So, yes, I have one of these ordered and it's in the mail already. I love gadgets like this, plus you never know when one might just save the day (or the party)!

[KentE]

Originally Posted by joehunt

Does anyone here own the Fuze+? Many reviewers (on Amazon) complain about the interface and state that the touch controls don't always do want you want. I'm debating between this and the Clip+.

I have kind of limited experience-- my wife has an older E or C series Sansa, used for MP3's, and it's great at that.
I've read many comments here and elsewhere from those who love the Clip series for audiobooks, but I've never tried it. My sister-in-law got a Fuse + for audiobook use, couldn't figure it out, and I volunteered.
For audiobook use, I find the Fuse + extremely frustrating. The menu system is difficult to navigate. Getting anything except Audible audiobooks on it in a usable format is difficult. There's an "Audiobook" file system and menu system, but you have to load them as "podcasts" (a different menu) if you actually want them to play through instead of loading as a number of separate books. Very intolerant of the internal structure in a lot of ebook files, and I had to go in and edit metadata in a number of books to get them to work.
What I've read indicates that Sansa, who always used to do their own software/ OS for their players, subcontracted the Fuse + programming to an outside source, who definitely does not get it.
The touchscreen control is not very precise, and impossible to navigate by touch (in your pocket, clipped to your belt, etc.). The menu system is not intuitive: you move up and down through multiple menu layers, and then sideways through the layer. I ended up having to draw myself a "menu map" to be able to work through it.
My recommendation-- if you're going to use it for audiobooks, stick with the Clip or Fuse, but not the Fuse +.

KentE

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by KentE

My recommendation-- if you're going to use it for audiobooks, stick with the Clip or Fuse, but not the Fuse +.

KentE

Oops. I actually saw a similar review on the Fuze+ at Amazon, but for only twenty bucks, I bought it anyway. I've been afraid to try Rockbox on my Clips, but maybe I'll play around with that on the Fuze+.

[Greg Anos]

I use Rockbox exclusively on my 5 clip+s...A bit cranky to install, and it has the quirk that if you are running under external power, it won't boot into Rockbox (goes to the standard software instead), but I boot first and the plug in the external USB power.

Love Rockbox...

And the Clip+ will read a microSD of any size reformatted into SDHC. So you can but a 64 GB chip, reformat with a freeware utility, and load it Plimsoll Down!

[silverraven]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Say anything you want to me. I never get offended.

OOH, I finally found a sock monkey! Yeah! I found it at Target. It's ok, but the material isn't the quality I remember from 100 years ago when I was a kid.
*sigh* they just don't make monkeys like you any more!
S

[KentE]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Oops. I actually saw a similar review on the Fuze+ at Amazon, but for only twenty bucks, I bought it anyway. I've been afraid to try Rockbox on my Clips, but maybe I'll play around with that on the Fuze+.

When I checked shortly after Christmas (when I started working with a stock Fuse+), I don't think there was a stable Rockbox port. Looking now at the Rockbox forum seems to show that's still the case- although there's been a stable port for the Fuse (non +) for quite some time. A number of people are using the in-development port happily, I guess, and it's probably worth trying if you're not afraid of beta versions. I've read that Sansa all but begged Rockbox to come up with a port for the Fuse+ instead of trying to fix the stock firmware. There was an official Sansa update, which I did install. Changed it from absolutely horrible to just utterly frustrating.....
In my limited experience, the Audible book worked fine-- as I would expect since it's running on Audible's playback program. I also loaded books from Downpour, AudioGo, a couple of others that I don't remember the original producer of, and a couple of transfers from CD. If I remember correctly, the Downpour book worked fine (within the other limitations of the unit), the AudioGo and one other required digital file manipulation, and the transfers required a lot of work (but I also didn't try my original transfer version on another player....). The formatting that seems to work flawlessly on other Sansa players (and most other audiobook players) is just much pickier and problem-prone on the Fuse+.
KentE

[Catlady]

Thanks for the info, KentE. At the price of the Fuze+, I am not too worried--I'll try the audiobooks on it (I assume I could just pop the microSDHC card out of the Clip Zip and into the Fuze+?) and if there are problems, I'll just used it for music and photos or video.

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Thanks for the info, KentE. At the price of the Fuze+, I am not too worried--I'll try the audiobooks on it (I assume I could just pop the microSDHC card out of the Clip Zip and into the Fuze+?) and if there are problems, I'll just used it for music and photos or video.

Yes, swapping chips works just fine...

[KentE]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Thanks for the info, KentE. At the price of the Fuze+, I am not too worried--I'll try the audiobooks on it (I assume I could just pop the microSDHC card out of the Clip Zip and into the Fuze+?) and if there are problems, I'll just used it for music and photos or video.

I probably sounded too negative about the Fuse+. If your audiobooks are mostly (or entirely) Audible format, I think you'll be fine. There's still the clunky menu system, but it seems to come up where last used in the menu if you shut it down the right way-- so if your habit is to listen to an Audible audiobook all the way through without intermittently switching to different playback material (music, non-Audible audiobooks, etc.), you can avoid the clunky menu navigating and the file name/metadata problem.
For my sister-in-law project, most of her audiobooks are not from Audible, and a number will be transfers from CD-- this is where the Fuse+ becomes a real pain. As I remember, the core of the problem is that the Fuse+ has real problems integrating multiple files (chapters, tracks, etc) into a cohesive book. The exact format of naming the tracks is critical, and sometimes I had to go deeper and edit the metadata information. The Audible format isn't a problem, since it's basically 1 track, and plays on Audible software.
I think it'll also be okay if primarily used for music playback, too-- I didn't try that, and think I remember reading their were a couple of menu quirks for large music libraries, but don't remember any details.
At $20, it's a bargain IF you don't listen to non-Audible audiobooks, or if you have another player available if the Fuse+ can't handle the files properly.
KentE

[JoHunt]

Originally Posted by KentE

My recommendation-- if you're going to use it for audiobooks, stick with the Clip or Fuse, but not the Fuse +.
KentE

Thanks for the recommendation! I do want it for audiobooks, so I purchased a Clip