New MP3 player
May. 2nd, 2011 06:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
johnridleyI managed to nab an 8GB Sansa Fuze, used but in like-new condition on eBay for $30 shipped. Excellent. My old one has been BADLY abused over the years, between me dropping it (severely) several times, keeping it in very dirty pockets, dropping it in water once, and keeping it in bike jersey pockets where it gets sweated into. It's held up incredibly well, better than any other player I've had, and I have never had or used a player that's in any way better for playing audiobooks. No touchscreen players need even apply at all since I can't use them without looking or even taking them out of my pocket, which I consider essential. It's also as good as anything I've had for music, and plays a variety of formats including protected WMA (for DRM-laden library audiobooks).
My Fuze has held up better than I could have expected but it is starting to act a little wonky. I *think* that the problems it's having are all related to dust and/or salt (from sweat) inside, and it's possible that it will be revived by opening it up and giving a good cleaning (I suspect there's a TON of dust and crap in the spin wheel and I know the USB connector is dirty) but it won't last forever and I want a backup.
I have a new battery coming for the old one, the original is down to about 6 to 8 hours (instead of the original 16) so at some point I'll crack it open and see what I can do to revive it.
I actually am now using RockBox on the Fuze. There's not a thing wrong with the stock firmware, but RockBox has a feature where it will boost the speed of playback up to 235% without changing the pitch of playback. This is AWESOME for audiobooks. I find that depending on the reader I can crank it up to about 180%, which typically gets them close to my print reading speed (I am NOT a fast reader, though I'm improving).
From a usability point of view, RockBox takes some getting used to but the feature set is worth it for me.
My Fuze has held up better than I could have expected but it is starting to act a little wonky. I *think* that the problems it's having are all related to dust and/or salt (from sweat) inside, and it's possible that it will be revived by opening it up and giving a good cleaning (I suspect there's a TON of dust and crap in the spin wheel and I know the USB connector is dirty) but it won't last forever and I want a backup.
I have a new battery coming for the old one, the original is down to about 6 to 8 hours (instead of the original 16) so at some point I'll crack it open and see what I can do to revive it.
I actually am now using RockBox on the Fuze. There's not a thing wrong with the stock firmware, but RockBox has a feature where it will boost the speed of playback up to 235% without changing the pitch of playback. This is AWESOME for audiobooks. I find that depending on the reader I can crank it up to about 180%, which typically gets them close to my print reading speed (I am NOT a fast reader, though I'm improving).
From a usability point of view, RockBox takes some getting used to but the feature set is worth it for me.
