From Komonews.com

By Good Housekeeping 

This report will be music to your ears, because we're talking about MP3 players.

The editors at Good Housekeeping came up with a neat idea. They decided to look at portable music players that are good for people who like to listen to music as they try to run or walk.

And guess what? They found you don't have to buy an iPod! The iPod Nano did very well in the Good Housekeeping Research Institute's tests, but now it has a lot of competition that cost a lot less.

Here are some inexpensive alternatives you may want to give a listen to.

"We evaluated 19, flash-based mp3 players for ease of use, performance, durability, as well as their appearance. In our tests, two MP3 players really stood out," said tester Rachel Rothman.

The Sandisk Sansa Clip, 1GB ($40) was one of the institute's budget picks.

There is a new firmware for the Fuze out now.

There is also a revision 2 of the Fuze existing - so before you attempt a manual flash, be sure which revision you got, as there is a separate firmware version for each of them!

 Here are the tips from the http://forums.sandisk.com

Follow the instructions below to verify the hardware revision of your Fuze before proceeding. 

 • Turn on your Fuze
• Select Settings from the main menu
• Select System Settings
• Select Info 
• Verify the Version #

Revision 1 = 1.XX.XX (example: 1.01.15)
Revision 2 = 2.XX.XX (example: 2.01.16)

 

If your Sansa Fuze is a Revision 1 please proceed to the Revision 1 download and installation instructions.

If your Sansa Fuze is a Revision 2 please proceed to the Revision 2 download and installation instructions.

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Let me start off by saying that majority of people will be able to update his/her firmware through the

You gotta love Gordon Kelly over at trustedreviews.com and his review and comparison of the iPod shuffle and the Sansa Clip.

 This wasn't announced during the Let's Rock / Let's Whimper event late night, but Apple has quietly updated the iPod shuffle... 

 So what has exactly happened? Well, if you go to the Apple Store you'll see 'NEW' in capital letters stamped all over them but it really should just say 'Respray'. 

Yup, while rivals such as the Sansa Clip and ZEN Stone Plus sport screens and feature such revolutionary ideas as song selection and sequential play, not to mention double the capacity (4x in the case of the Clip) for less money Apple has decided what they were lacking was more colours.

Consequently you can get the same screen-less, FM tuner-less, voice recording-less, sequential play-less, 1GB and 'flagship' 2GB players now in blue, green, pink and - in an Apple store only exclusive - (PRODUCT) red. Wow. Prices remain

There comes times that you may want to combine a couple (or more) MPG video files into just one larger file. I had this case come up just recently.

I needed to decompile a dvd that I wanted to watch using my thumb drive. Unfortunately my thumb drive is only 2.0 Gigs and the movie was over 4 gigs. There are several ways to copy a DVD to your computer and I won't get into how to do this now. But I needed to copy it to my thumb drive in the original VOB structure that the DVD uses instead of one large file.

If you are familiar with DVDs and their layout you will know that they usually breakdown the movie into about 1 Gig VOB files.

At the end of the day after doing the decompiling I had all the original VOB files on my computer and , if you didn't know it

It may be about time to dig out that old library card.

Hoping to draw back readers, libraries have vastly expanded their lists of digital books, music, and movies that can be downloaded to a computer or MP3 player -- and it doesn’t cost a cent, unlike, say, media from Apple Inc’siTunes or Amazon.com Inc.

In Phoenix, for instance, branches have banded together to create a digital library that currently has about 50,000 titles of e-books, audiobooks, music and videos that can be “checked out” from anywhere.

Once discovered, says Tom Gemberling, the electronic resources librarian for the Phoenix Public Library, the program often proves wildly popular.

Not long ago, Gemberling visited a local trailer park to speak about the program to 100 or so seniors -- who regularly travel the roads touring in their recreational vehicles. “They were cheering and screaming by the end,” he said. “They were so excited. They

From: Sansa® Portable Media Players Blog

The ability to download music is one of the great advantages of owning an MP3 player. You no longer need to go to the store and pay for complete albums when you may only want just a song or two. You're also not stuck with piles of discs that need to be organized and stored.

Downloading is a faster, easier and less expensive way to get the music you want. And, you'll soon find you have an incredibly wide choice of music from which to choose. There are a lot of MP3 download sites that offer all types of music.

Each download site offers specific features and benefits. When you're searching for the online source that's right for you, however, it's important to make sure the site has been approved by the music industry. A good place to get a complete list of approved sources is at the web site for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). They represent the U.S. recording industry with the mission of fostering a legal climate that supports and promotes their members' creative and financial vitality. RIAA members create, manufacture and/or distribute approximately 90% of all legitimate sound recordings produced and sold in the United States.