Just a heads-up that there have been comments and updates to our review of the Sandisk Sansa Fuze MP3 player. I just added there information on how a piece of software I found at a website in Japan dramatically increased the speed of the player’s database “refresh.” While still not quite enough to consider this player as a replacement for the XM Satellite Radio, it’s impressive enough to not only note but to recommend that software to anyone who uses SD/SDHC memory cards of any stripe.

As I’ve mentioned before, I am (eventually) canceling my XM Satellite Radio, which means I need something for the car…something that can play music and downloaded podcasts, particularly news and talk shows like The Bob Edwards Show. I’ve already found the V-Touch VL-875 sorely lacking, so I stepped up, or over, to the Sandisk Sansa Fuze to see if that will fit the bill. Short answer…don’t think so, and I think you’ll agree with me in a little while…

First off, this is a great looking little player…I bought the 2G version on-sale to start, figuring I could easily upgrade to the 8G version later. Since the device has a microSDHC slot which will handle up to 16G, the on-board memory didn’t seem to be quite as important (although I was a little wrong there, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves). Pulling this thing out of the way-too-much packing material was a challenge, but well worth it, since like I said, it’s really a pretty little machine. It’s about the size of a credit card, and while a bit thicker, not as much as you’d think. The screen is is a bit small for someone of my advanced years, but I think I can live with it. The thumbwheel is comfortable, although it takes a little bit of getting used to, and as I discovered the interface is a little inconsistent, making it more difficult to master than is really necessary.

But the first step is to charge the thing…dig out the proprietary charging cable (you knew that was coming), plug it into the Belkin powered hub and…uh-oh…the settings are such that it requires Windows Media Player 10 or higher, and I avoid putting that on any of my machines. What’s bothersome is that the device won’t charge if it’s connected to a computer and it doesn’t have a solid mount; an unnecessary complication, in my humble opinion. It was easily fixed by using what little battery power was in the device to fumble through the menus until I could find and change the USB setting to connect via MSC (like a flash drive) instead of via MTP (a Microsoft-created system to “manage” devices and make sure someone pays a commission on purchased DRM-laden music). Once that was accomplished, the device began to charge, since the “drives” could mount to the Explorer. Like I said, unnecessarily difficult just for an initial charge…I suppose I should have connected it to a standard USB charging brick, but there isn’t one included, and most folks aren’t like me and have a bunch sitting in their office, so I didn’t.
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As many of you know, I love coffee. Don’t misunderstand, I’m not a snob about it…I don’t spend hours “temperature surfing” or searching for the prefect grind. I just want a good espresso coupled with an equal amount of steamed milk, with some foamed milk on top, and I don’t want to spend all day doing it.

In that search for a good cappuccino, I’ve gone through a lot of low-end pump machines. Some make good coffee but can’t steam milk very well (DeLonghi), others steam well (once removing the silly plastic or rubber steamer aids) but couldn’t produce crema to save their rear-ends (Hamilton Beach), and some can’t do either (Mr. Coffee). The only machine I ever really liked was the first one my wife gave me many many years ago, purchased at a chain that no longer exists, and I honestly cannot remember the brand…but it did everything really well and, more importantly, really fast.

I stumbled over a great deal on a mid-line espresso machine, the Saeco Sirena. Oh, before I go any farther, I need to mention that this machine is “branded” by a certain coffee chain I don’t have a lot of time for (I have frequently referred to it as, “The coffee shop for people who hate coffee”), but I will in this article refer to it by its manufacturer and name, not branding. Even with that name (only on the thermometer, which is easily ignored) I simply couldn’t pass up this machine…it lists at $599, sells at that faux-coffee shop for $399, can be found on Amazon for $350, and was mine new complete with warranty for $200 and $5 shipping. Now that I’ve played with it for a while, I thought I’d describe my experiences.

The main pro: this machine looks good. With a design by BMW, I suppose it should, but it really is one good-looking machine, and that photo up there really doesn’t so it justice. The “Ooh…Shiny!” factor of this puppy sitting on a counter-top or table simply cannot be ignored.

It’s a semi-automatic, which means only that it stops itself. It also has a self-pressurizing portafilter, which coffee snobs hate. I admit it’s a little odd not to be tamping down the portafilter, and odder still not getting a hockey-puck out of it when cleaning, but ok, I can live with this.
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As most of you know, I am canceling my XM Satellite Radio, which means I need something for the car…something that can play music and downloaded podcasts, particularly news and talk shows like The Bob Edwards Show. But I’m afraid the V-Touch VL-875 isn’t anywhere near it.

Wow, what a deal!

This player, according to the distributor’s web site, has a list price of $249.99, and I only paid $60!!! Um, no, to be serious, if you pay more than $90 for this player, you’ve been severely ripped off regardless of the manufacturer’s list price. I purchased mine when buy.com had a sale with free shipping, including a set of “high-end” earphones. (The earphones turned out to be Visual Land’s SSB-10’s, which list for $30 and are commonly available for under $10. And I’m not a fan of in-ear earphones anyway, preferring something that sits outside the canal. But still, it made the $60 a somewhat better deal, although not much, as you’ll see.)

The player has a 2.8″ touch screen which is a whole lot smaller than it sounds, and plays MP3/WMA/WAV/AAC audio files (depending on where on the website you read…some places omit the AAC, and others omit the WAV as well - me, I’ll bet on MP3 and forget the rest), and AVI/3GP/MP4 video files (more on this mess a little later), as well as JPG/GIF/BMP photo files, and plain-text “ebooks.” (Yeah, it has a text reader. Be still, my heart.)

Opening Up…

The box is kinda classy, a book that needs to be opened to expose the player. Mine was sealed in a cellophane bag (you know the kind, with the folded sticky-strip on the end), with the accessories (included earphones not dissimilar to the SSB-10’s, USB cable, USB wall-wart, and sexy little carry-bag) in the larger side. The first disappointment was a small mar on the touch screen…I couldn’t remove it using my favorite screen cleaning method, vinegar-and-water with a micro-fiber cloth. It’s still there, and visible while watching video; I can only assume it occurred either during manufacturing or testing…I’d hate to think the unit I received was remanufactured, even when on sale.
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