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iPods seem to be all the rage these days, encapsulating its buyers into a dreamland of a sophistication and self-importance that is solely based on the fact that you are carrying around an expensive Apple product, and anyone who does not own one or dislikes them, is an outcast and should be treated as such. In fact, from 2002 to 2007 Apple sold 100 million iPods. Of course the popularity of the iPod is still increasing, luring people in with the only program it works with, iTunes. I have asked my friends why the decided to get an iPod and they said, “Because of iTunes. iTunes is such a good program with billions of songs and movies and tons of stuff!”
In reality, iPods are very expensive, and iTunes uses major DRM restrictions on everything purchased there so you can only use the songs you buy from them on your iPod and nothing else! iTunes is really the iPod’s true weakness – the iPod will not sync to any other program and iTunes is really horrible software. If you want to share a song with a friend, it won’t let you! Although many think it is illegal, is quite common and really shouldn’t be considered illegal as many people also used to share songs on cassette tapes back in the 80′s. Are they worth all of this extra cash? Is there an alternative?
There are many companies that have tried competing with the iPod, but I think that SanDisk takes the cake. The SanDisk Sansa Fuze is an amazing mp3 player, at a fraction of the price that most iPod Nanos cost. The Sansa Fuze could even be comparable to the iPod Classic. The Fuze has a 1.9 inch viewing screen, it plays videos, music, shows pictures, and it has FM Radio and a Voice Recorder directly built into it! Apple is just barely coming out with iPods that have built in radio.
The Fuze also comes with an expandable microSD card slot! That means you could get an 8gb microSD card, and the 8gb Fuze, and have 16gb in storage space. iPods do not have the option to expand its storage space. Also, the Fuze is not tied down to one program. It works with Windows Media Player, Rhapsody, WinAmp and works with pretty much any program you want! It even plays formats that iPods cannot play like .mp3, .wav, and .wma.
The 4gb Fuze is only $50-$60, and to get an 8gb microSD card is only another $10, and to get an 8gb iPod Nano it is $150. The iPod is more than twice as expensive as the Fuze.
In conclusion, the iPod and the Fuze both have the same features, but the Fuze has just a little bit more, at a fraction of the price. Its sleek look and feel can be compared over the look and feel of the iPods. If you are looking for flexibility, and portability and a low price, take a look at what the Sansa Fuze has to offer. You no longer need to be caught in the web of Apple.
Check out www.amazon.com for these great prices, and free shipping!
