I know there are many who extol the virtues of Apple's flagship over and over again. I am not one of those, but not because the iPod isn't a great product (it obviously reinvented the music player market and put Apple at the top of its game). Even someone who hasn't had the pleasure of using one can see that. But I'm kind of about being down on the man (or at least not being down with one man to rule them all), and let's be honest, as much as Apple wishes it was the anti-man, when it comes to music, Apple is the man.
Enter Sandisk, and their wonderful Sansa line of mp3 players. I've had the pleasure of owning the mid-sized Fuze (a reference to the melding of their smaller Clip and its big brother the View), for a while now and I have to say, I love it. It sounds great (even better with non-OEM earphones - a pitfall of any mp3 player), looks great, has a simple and intuitive interface, and holds gobs of music. I purchased the largest capacity Fuze, which has 8 gigs of onboard memory. But here's the kicker, and what makes the Fuze truly great: it has an available micro SDHC slot, which allows you to expand the memory! I added an 8 gig card, giving me a total of 16 gigs. Add the newly released Sandisk 16 gig micro SDHC card, and you could go as high as 24 gigs of memory!
I average anywhere from 20-25 hours of music play on one charge, depending on the bit rate at which you encode, or about 5 hours of video if you so desire (although the screen's a bit small for video playback). Oh, and you don't have to install iTunes to make it work, either.
The 8 Gb Fuze clocks in at a very reasonable $90-$100, and you can buy it online at Amazon or at your local electronics store if you prefer.
Downsides? Well, since Apple has the market cornered, almost all third party accessories are for the iPod. So don't expect to find a Sansa Fuze rock climbing harness with integrated speakersany time soon. Also, it's a bit easier than I'd like to push in the SD card without trying. This isn't a huge deal (and with a case, not a problem at all), but it does cause the Fuze to "refresh" your music library, which can take some time if you have all 16 gigs full. (If you never use the slot you'll never have to worry about it.) Other than these minor gripes, it's a great player, and a great alternative to the iPod.
If the Fuze isn't your bag, the Clip is smaller and also grants up to 8 gigs of space (but no expansion slot). If size matters, get the larger View , maxing out at 32 gigs (expandable).
share
Leave a comment