SanDisk Sansa Fuze+ 4 GB MP3 Player (Black) (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

Update: I forgot to come back and fix this review.... this review was based on a brand new never opened player that no matter what i did, didn't turn on .... my second attempt was a used player from a different seller and while I ADMIT i wasn't as careful about getting it nicked up as far as how it looks ... well I bought in July/August 2018 and in March 2021 it still works greatjust a note: I see why this gets lower reviews if you use the Stock firmware ... it can get annoying at times .. specifically with the touchpad .... however IF you add Rockbox third party firmware... i hate to sound like i am knocking any other players but .. Rockbox on the Fuze+ may be one of my favorite combos ... I cant explain it but the sound when Rockbox is set just right ... same mp3 files and same headphones ... just sounds better ...also that touchpad issue when using Rockbox with DEFAULT settings (aka you dont have to fiddle with anything) proves that the touchpad hardware in the player IS NOT a problem .. sure i misclick every so often but Rockbox + the Touchpad = NO ISSUES is what I am saying ...I will redo this review when i get a chance but i'd give it a maybe 2.5 out of 5 or 3 out of 5 with stock firmware at best ... a 4 out of 5 with Rockbox on it, hands downNOTE: I updated the review from a 1 out of 5 to a 4 out of 5, but HAVE NOT yet updated the review itself. The 1 out of 5 was due to my first Fuze+ being a lemon with a bad battery ... that was the only reason i gave it a rating that low and i knew i could only review the one physical unit i had at the time.--------------I hate writing this as this bad review was ONLY on the physical unit I got. Everything looked almost like New condition, but the battery/battery "meter" was acting funny right away and eventually wouldn't hold a charge. I did another review on this model (the size or color doesn't matter, I mean the "Fuze+" in general) and while i'd give it a 2.5 maybe with default firmware .... maybe a 3 out of 5 .... this exact unit was going to be a backup to a previous Fuze+ I bought that I run Rockbox firmware on.Again this bad review is probably due to the fact that I got a lemon unit ... otherwise .. especially with Rockbox, I LOVE the Fuze+. The Seller was also the same seller I got my earlier (still works perfectly) used Sansa Fuze+ and Sansa E-series player from. Not sure I want to name drop the seller but they often have older, used Mp3 players and the refund was no hassle at all really ... I'd not only be looking at maybe using the seller again but perhaps on the same model ... getting stuff used is always a gamble but I got the full refund and if the battery had worked... the "used-Good" player I had to send back was in BETTER condition than advertised.

i picked up an 8 gig purple sansa fuse+ to replace my old sansdisk 512mg MP3 player because i was tired of constantly swapping out AAA batteries (yes, it was that old...) and wanted something to play videos with. this fills that need and then some.Pros.+ Good video playback (i would recamend "Any Video Converter". it's quit good for freeware. just make sure to set the sync rate under options from 0 to 30 or 60 or the audio for any video you convert WILL go out of sync. res options are 320x240 and it can handle both Mpeg4 and WMV formats)+ audio is quit good, nothing to complain about really+ Build in microphone is shockingly good for the price and amount of features+ Built in radio is a very welcome feature, though as you move around the signal may brake up so your mileage may very.+ Micro SD card slot gives you the option to "upgrade" the amount of space on your sansa. not being restricted to 4,8 or 16 gig is great, especially if you load yours up with movies you own and converted at home for long trips. (though be warned. the expected battery life is 4-5 hours for videos. still, thats 2-3 movies while on a long trip. and it's always nice to have a small library of videos to pick from.+ ability to store and view images is nice, but barley worth mentioning.Cons.- Like others the touch pad can be a bit of a hassle at times, mostly when browsing through a lot of files.- i saw some one mention the inability to sort things into folders or sub folders. that's not quite true, it just gives you all the files in all the folders of that category (video, music or "Book") fist. but, if while navigating that category you slide all the way to the right, then go into internal memory you can find all the folders and sub folder you made while you had it hooked up to your computer. but that's still lot of hoops to jump though and a major over site that could have been handled A LOT better.- this might just be with mine, put the power button doesn't respond 100% of the time so you end up pressing it 2 or 3 times to turn it on...- again, this might just be mine, but... one thing i have discovered that is rather baffling is the clock... it wont keep time if you turn the player off (and really, why would you keep it on all day, every day?!) it's just really odd that this one simple feature would be so badly botched when everything else turned out so well. chances are that a fermwere update will fix the problem but so far there is no reason to set the clock and date on your sansa fuse+*edit* sansdisk "Might" have intended the player to not be turned off, but instead go into "sleep" mode. but even with that assumption it still doesn't make a whole lot of sens to me...- the guide that comes with it is not as helpful as it could be. i would recamend visiting the sansa fuze+ forums on the sansdisk main site if you need any help. that was how i discover you need to quickly press the power button to lock the player instead of holding down the play/pause button like the guide that came with the played instructed.Finale Thoughts: even though the Cons section seems dwarfs the Pros sections i would still recamend this to others. even with it's flaws and quirks i still love the heck out of this thing and i'm glad i picked picked it up.(Fermwere of the sansa fuse i had while writing this review)Version 02.38.06 A