Fuze pre-purchase questions

[color43]

I'm considering buying a Fuze for music and podcasts. I have some presale questions though.

1. Concerning album art which I consider a distraction. If there is no album art for a song, what is displayed on the screen? Is there a big gray box like iPod or does the song information text fill the screen?

2. How long does it take to charge after using it for say, 3 hours? I have an iPod shuffle now that charges VERY quickly.

3. About the microSDHC expansion. I plan to use the expansion slot. How does it work though? Is it a 100% seamless integration to the Fuze's internal memory? Or does it show up separately on the computer. When I'm using the player away from the computer, is it seamless?

4. How does the autoresume work on Podcasts? I understand you make something a podcast by either putting in the Podcast folder or changing the ID3 genre to Podcast. Do I have to manually set a bookmark or is it completely automatic? How about when I go to play a bookmarked podcast? Does it automatically play at the bookmark or is there a prompt?

5. Which file formats use the most battery power? I understand the player supports MP3 and OGG. I currently have an iTunes library full of unproteced AAC-LC files. I have all the original CDs and I was wondering if I should re-rip them using MP3 or OGG.

6. How sensitive is the player when left in a pocket without the hold switch on?

[CrowdAds]

[advcomp2019]

1) I am not sure since I do not have one.
2) It should charge in 2.5 to 3 hours, but it depends on the milliamps of your USB ports tho.
3) It is integrated into the main memory on the Sansa. If you connect it to a computer and use MSC mode, it will show up as two drives.
4) If it is like the Clip, it works great. You put them in the Podcast or Audiobook folder. The bookmarks are automatic. When you play podcast or audiobook with a bookmark, it will ask you if you want to resume or start at the beginning.
5 and 6 is like 1. I am not sure.

[Skinjob]

1. It has a missing image placeholder. The track info display format does does not change.

2. A full charge from empty takes about 3 hours. Not sure after only using it for 3 hours, but you'll still have a nearly full charge at that point, so it won't be very long.

3. Like advcomp said, it's fully integrated on the player and appears as two devices to the computer.

4. Audiobooks and podcasts are the same as the Clip with the latest FW. It works like advcomp described.

5. Ogg would in theory use more battery power due to the greater computational complexity. As would FLAC due to increased memory access. MP3 is probably the best for battery, with WMA somewhere in between MP3 and Ogg. In practice though, I don't think the differences are really that great. Probably a few percent between the worst and best.

6. The buttons require a pretty firm press, so that's not really a problem. But the wheel could be easilly turned, changing your volume. If you're just sitting somewhere, it's probably fine. If you are moving around a lot, the wheel might be an issue.

The Fuze rocks, you won't be disappointed. It's definitely the best value in Flash players right now and one of the very best for sound quality.