In my continuing quest for an MP3 player to replace the XM Satellite Radio in the car, I received delivered to me…a 2G SanDisk Sansa Fuze MP3 player.

So why buy another copy of the exact same player? Well, if you check the comments in my review of the first 2G Fuze, you’ll find from ilamfan a suggestion I look at Rockbox, a free (as in beer and as in speech) replacement firmware for many MP3 players, including the V1 Fuze. I got a really good deal on a reconditioned 2G Fuze at an Internet store (which, for whatever it’s worth, came in looking every bit as shiny and “new” as the first one I purchased, complete with SanDisk earbuds and a charging cable). I figure, if I brick it with Rockbox, I’m not out much cash, and no warranty to speak of…I admit I did get lucky and receive a V1 unit (the software for V1 is “Unstable,” where the software for V2 is “Unusuable”), but I figured my odds were pretty good since the V2 units are relatively new and wouldn’t be in the refurbished bin in the quantities the V1 units would be. I am leaving the original Fuze untouched, so even if this one blows up, I still have something to use to listen to The Bob Edwards Show on my morning walks, even if it is kinda worthless for the intended use in the car.

This one shipped with v01.01.15a of the firmware (check this website for an archive of all the different firmware versions), which while not the most recent does have the silly “exploding SanDisk.” I’m not perfectly clear if I should update the firmware in the Fuze before I install Rockbox (one of the fun, and maddening, things about open-source software is that there generally aren’t a whole lot of instructions), but since I can always replace the dual-loader by installing a fresh version of the SanDisk firmware (I think), I’m going to leave it go for now.
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