SanDisk Sansa Fuze 8 GB Video MP3 Player (Black)

This is a great device -- I have used it a lot walking around campus and it is great. It is easy to use, looks great, and it definitely does the job! I am yet to use up the whole battery without charging it. It is no ipod, but the price is unbeatable for doing basically the same thing! I am yet to find anything wrong it!

Though, I have not used the video. I checked out the FM radio out of curiosity and noticed that it isn't as good as you would find in a car or on an actual radio, but is better than some other radios I've had on phones or other MP3 players! I would not buy this for the radio function only.

I love this mp3 player. The expandable memory is very helpful too!! I can not think of any complaints!!!!!! Extremly satisfied!!!!

Pros:
1. Small/light weight
2. Easy interface, "almost boring" - cnet reviews
3. Micro SD slot for extra storage

Cons:
1. Small screen - watching videos a chore
2. Windows XP did not recognize this device - SanDisk forums has a good thread
3. Did not come with a AC charger - Radio shack has one for $20
4. Sound volume is low. I suggest upgrading the ear buds - Apple ear buds are good

Conclusions
If this item was for me I would have purchased the iPod Touch 8GB.

Let me begin by telling you what I believe to be the worst thing about this mp3 player: The designers had the audacity to not include a lanyard hole. Yep that's right, the worst that I can come up with is that you can't use a lanyard with this player. Other than that, I have nothing but high praise.

To be honest, I've been blowing this player off for quite some time now because it's, like... Short, squat and kind of resembles an iPod. Call me prejudiced, but I just really don't like iPods. It just seemed to me SanDisk was purposefully attempting to mimic the form of the iPod.
My last mp3 player was a Sansa e260 which I dearly loved. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it, other than discovering that 4GB was too small. I realize that I could have expanded the players capacity with a removable micro SD card, but I recall reading a forum posting which mentioned that putting an SD or micro SD card in your device would cause a greater drain on the battery. I tested this with several other devices that I own and found that it was not necessarily true in all cases. Unfortunately, having a micro SD card in my Sansa e260 did indeed cause the battery to drain at a greater rate.

Perhaps it will be different with this device. Once I finish filling the internal memory, I intend to add external memory and see if this player suffers from the same problem. I certainly hope that it doesn't because I have about 100 more CDs to rip.

Anyway, I happened to be in one of the big box stores last week and had the opportunity to handle this player. Once I got past the "It resembles an iPod" thing, I began to see its merits instead of judging it through prejudiced eyes, which I'm really glad that I did.

This player is a fraction of the weight of my e260 and about half the thickness. I admit, having the headphone jack on the bottom seemed kind of odd to me but the more I use it the more I realize that this was a good design change. Another improvement over the e260 is that the thumb wheel used to be surrounded by four buttons. On this player the buttons have been integrated into the thumb wheel itself which allows for a more intuitive, less clumsy operation.

The thumb wheel is free spinning; that is to say, it doesn't "ratchet". This, too, helps to give the unit a more sophisticated feel. I understand some other reviewers concerns about how easy the thumb wheel is to turn considering how much I've had to manhandle some of the other devices I have just to get them to operate. With a deft touch, you have precision control and with a little practice you will find yourself zipping through menus and settings with greater ease than you've ever experienced before.

With my old player, I never even truly understood what the lock function was for as I never had any need for it. With this one however, I can see right away that I will be needing it to prevent jarring changes in volume as I am moving around with the player in my pocket. I also like how the designers incorporated the lock function with the power switch.

You can read the technical specifications and the description of the functions until your heart's content but words don't do justice to this device. It's almost a work of art. Coupling this player with my recently purchased earphones (which I reviewed) makes this one of my better investments.

My experience with this device consists of using a Dell computer running Windows 7 with Rhapsody (to which I have a subscription) as my music player of choice. I protect my devices with Zagg screen protectors and store them in Case Logic cases. And when I purchase removable media, it is of course, SanDisk.

Oh, just one more thing... if you tend to be short tempered, get a friend to get it out of the package for you. This thing is better protected than the Constitution of the United States. Seriously.

Just got this player yesterday. Everything appeared to work properly, but then I noticed that anytime I moved the thumb wheel or pressed a button, the screen went black for approx. 5 seconds, and then came back on. I went through setup to customize and loaded a few hundred songs on it. Really inconvenient and took a long time due to waiting for the screen to come back. I checked out the manufacturers web site and found numerous instances of this same problem, but no solutions. This problem apparently started to show up over a year ago and there are no solutions. And they supply Rhapsody software which would not install. A google search shows the same problem with Rhapsody for 3 years. This product is being returned.