SanDisk Sansa Fuze 4GB MP3 Player with Radio and MicroSD/SDHC Slot – Black
Posted by Notcot on May 23, 2010 in Portable Sound & Vision |
5 CommentsReply |
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I have owned and listened to a variety of mp3 players and this is the best so far. The feature count is high and the quality of the build is good. Package content includes 8Gb Sana Fuse, in ear headphones, USB transfer/charger cable, protective slip for the player and user manual. The following is a break down of the features:
Video – the screen is small but clear and bright and though I did not buy it for the video capabilities I was pleasantly surprised. The media conversion software (once downloaded from the Sansa website) was easy to use. Compression of the picture is high but does not matter too much on such a small screen. The audio is also compressed in the process and that detracts a little from the overall experience.
Photos – Ideally the media conversion software should again be used for max compatibility. The results fit the screen well and the images are sharp.
Voice recording – Simple and effective. The recording is clear and the microphone picks up conversations from several meters away.
Radio – The reception is very good though sometimes best listened to in mono to remove the background hiss completely. Tuning and presets are easy to use. As yet I have not used the radio recording feature.
Music – This is what I got the player for. There are loads of facilities which are easy to navigate, but the crux of the matter is how it sounds. The answer is very good (when used on the ‘normal’ equaliser settings). The sound is open and clear with good detail. Bass is well extended but lacks some punch. One surprising find was that the bundled headphones are not bad at all, certainly better than I have come across before. However a better sound was to be had with my Sennheiser CX55 earbuds which are excellent.
To get the most from the player it is worth downloading the latest version of the firmware from the Sansa website. In summary you have an 8Gb player with extendable memory, good build, good sound and loads of other features, all for a lot less than other players. Nothing else comes close really.
Rating: 5 / 5
I’ve been meaning to buy a decent MP3 player for months, and having just shelled out good money on getting my son’s iPod Classic repaired after less than a year of use, decided to give this a try. As a Nikon professional camera user, I know and trust SanDisk products but was completely unprepared for the value the Fuze represents. It actually looks, feels and sounds like a quality piece of kit. The headphones provided are pretty dreadful, but then I was prepared to use my own anyway – standard 3.5mm jack so no issue there. The only ‘charger’ is the USB lead provided which doesn’t bother me too much, though cheap mains adapters are available on e-Bay and I’ll probably get one eventually.
The real plus points are:
1)the sound quality, which with decent headphones is outstanding.
2)the radio, which auto tunes according to geographical region and sets presets for the strongest available signals. Reception is surprisingly good – so far tried in the US and UK
3)Screen quality. Ignore what you might read elsewhere, this screen works well enough for me to look at synch’d images from my camera. Tiny, but good colour and clear.
4)Video – The wide screen trailer for the new Bond is currently impressing a few family members! Great sound and watchable.
5)Sound recording – I wasn’t prepared for the quality of the internal mike and recording. Stick it in the middle of a conference table and record the meeting minutes live. Really quite impressive.
6) Sandisk website support. Downloading the latest firmware – advisable – was a doddle
7) Pre-loaded sampler of music. Now this may be unique to the US version which I bought but there were some great tracks pre-loaded on this thing. ‘Umphrey’s Mcgee’, ‘Wine, Women and Song’ for a start.
8) Micro SD card support. Around £13 buys you a SanDisk 8Gb card which, when added, actually works as seamless additional storage.
9) No iTunes trap. Either use Windows explorer to drag and drop files across, or better still just let Windows Media Player synch the files for you
All in all, an excellent player.
Rating: 5 / 5
Great mp3 player – much better than my daughters i-pod nano as it does not use i-tunes and has expandable memory. The scroll wheel has a lovely feel to it – much improved over the e200 series which we also have and rate highly. More options in the software than previous Sansa players such as Audiobook options, file delete etc. Very tactile and easy to use. There are two options in the volume set up on the settings menu – select the louder one. Sound quality is very good and in my opinion better than the i-pod. I would highly recommend this player. Very small and compact. There is a full review on the “anything but ipod” web site should you want an in depth review. Very good value for money. I hope this helps.
Rating: 5 / 5
Ok i thought i would post this to help other people out there unsatisfied by the very low volume in this player. Basically when you first set this player up, if you select the language as English-Europe then the maximum volume will be set to about 50% (when you should be able to get 100%). This has been enforced bySTUPID EU laws to supposidely protect people from ear damage, my personal opinion is that the maximum volume is far too low and i SHOULD have the right to change it if i want to – Now im not a person to have music very loud but i should be able to HEAR MUSIC WHEN I TAKE THE DAMN PLAYER ON THE STREET! What the hell do you idiots think that im going to be using the player indoors? Whats the point then if i can simply turn on the radio or listen to music on my PC…
Anyways if you want to change the volume back to maximum then go to SETTINGS – RESET FACTORY SETTINGS – Select English but then select REST OF THE WORLD (and not Europe). Dont select North America otherwise if you live in britian you wont be able to get the radio stations. Now when you save this and go back to SETTINGS – you will see a volume option underneath BRIGHTNESS and you can set the maximum volume to HIGH. Now isnt that amazing? I select a different English language and I bypass European laws, the irony of how secure this is…
The volume is the only reason i knock off 1 star, otherwise this player is perfect in everything, so far anyways…
Rating: 4 / 5
Sansa Fuze 8gb MP3 Player Black
A great little device that in my opinion is a better and cheaper alternative to the ipod Nano. Another advantage is that it doesn’t tie you to itunes.
In MSC mode you can drag and drop your files just like a USB memory stick and works under Windows XP / Vista, Linux or MAC OS. That or use WINAMP or similar to sync to it.
It has expandable memory which fully integrates with the main memory if you run out of space.
Its styling and size are very similar to the Nano, but maybe not quite as stylish if that sort of thing bothers you. That said, the build quality feels good in the hand and the rubber mechanical wheel has a much nicer feel to it than a touch sensitive interface.
The screen is nice and clear with an easy to use graphical interface. Again maybe not as stylish or as high resolution as the Nano but devices of this type are primarily for audio and maybe looking at a few photos. I wouldn’t fancy watching much more than a short video clip on a screen of this size.
Audio quality is a bit subjective but most reviews out there praise the Fuze for its audio quality. I can’t disagree with them!
Just replace the earphones that come with it. Not very comfortable and could be of better quality. I bought a pair of Creative Labs EP-630s which are quite good for the price. I can also recommend the Sennheiser PX100 headphones if you prefer not to have something wedged in your ears!
Since its recent firmware update it’s worth mentioning that there is improved file support now including “Ogg Vorbis” and “FLAC”.
Details of file support as of last update:-
Audio Books:
Audible, Overdrive
File Support:
MP3, OGG, FLAC, WMA, secure WMA, WAV, Audible, MPEG4
Rating: 4 / 5