Sansa Nation

Rockbox for the Sansa improves video functionality where the original firmware for the Sansa is lacking. Sansa uses Quicktime to view videos which slows things down and is just not efficient at all, making videos for the Sansa very frustrating to watch. The Rockbox MPEG player is a huge improvement, using MPEG ½ format which is quite a bit smaller and offers far better synching. One way to take advantage of Rockbox for Sansa is to use the free program WinFF which is a small and simple to use program already configured for the Sansa. Use the following steps to create videos for your Rockbox player:

1: Download and install WinFF. It’s free and easy to download.

2: Get the video you want to convert. Have the saving location pointed to your Sansa.

3: Open WinFF and load your video by pressing the ADD button. Choose a saving location in the next area. Finally, in the first drop down box, choose ROCKBOX. In the second dialog box, choose the mp3 player or iPod you’re using.

4: You can add extra parameters for your video file if you’re comfortable doing so. If recommend changing the frame rate to 15 FPS, as many videos skip and are choppy at higher frame rates - also, this reduces the file size.

-Ray

[Source: associatedcontent.com]

Buy a new Silver Sansa Fuze from now until August 2, 2008 and you’ll get a free music microSD card direct from SanDisk. The microSD card features the exclusive music sampler Sansa Sessions. The free microSD card features 55 tracks. Act now and to get your free microSD card from SanDisk.

-Ray

[Source: Sandisk.com]

If you have ever wanted to add YouTube videos to you Sansa, but could never figure out how, we have something that just might help you. The good people over at the Sansa Portable Media Players Blog have put together a tutorial showing you how to do this. Check it out:

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Castgrabber has developed the first standalone podcast downloader which is compatible with almost all MP3 players, including the Sansa. The new Castgrabber makes it very simple to automatically get updated podcasts onto your MP3 player. After the initial setup, all you have to do is plug in your MP3 player and podcasts are automatically downloaded. One major advantage of the Castgrabber over software downloaders such as iTunes is that the Castgrabber doesn’t require a computer to be on and a player connected to the device. The Castgrabber does need to be connected to a network as wifi is not yet available however.

This is a very convenient device for podcast downloaders on the go.

-Ray

[Source: Anythingbutipod.com]

According to reports, Spain is soon to enact a new anti-piracy tax on all electronic devices capable of recording, copying, or storing sound and images. This tax will be implemented on July 1st and will be directed towards the manufacturers of these devices. A tax of €3.15 (around $4.90) will be levied on all devices with the aforementioned qualities, and a tax of €1.10 (around $1.70) will be placed on all cell phones with Mp3 capabilities.

I personally see this as an attack on a businesses right to produce media devices. The Spanish government is operating under the assumption that all people who buy Mp3 players pirate their music. While it is no doubt evident that there is a large amount of music piracy going on, it is not right to declare someone guilty before hand.

This decision is unfortunate, because it will require businesses to pass on the cost to consumers to make up for every device which they produce.

-Jameson

[Source: iLounge]

The SANSA Portable Media Players Blog has been so kind to provide a liust of reviews on the Sansa Fuze. If you were thinking of getting one, just check these out:

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