Successor to My iPod: Sansa Fuze

Earlier this week, my iPod Video bit the dust. After 3 years of loyal service, it went out in a blaze of glory as it shorted out on too much electricity through the USB port. RIP iPod Video -- you served with distinction over 3 years, 2 countries, and countless thousands of miles of travel. You will be missed!

Since my iPod kicked off, I've been agonizing over which MP3 player to buy to replace it. My main criteria for a replacement were:

1. Decent Linux compatibility. After my ordeals with the hideously incompatible and unstable iPod Touch, I refuse to use devices that require proprietary software. If it don't work with Linux, it ain't gonna fly.
2. Good podcast support. I hardly ever listen to music on the go these days; 90% of the time, I'm listening to podcasts like Buddhist Geeks, TWiT and No Agenda. Since most podcasts are 45-90 minutes long, my new player must allow bookmarking so I can pick up where I leave off if I turn off the player. Surprisingly, a lot of MP3 players don't do that very well, or at all.
3. Physical controls, NOT touch controls, for things like volume and changing tracks. Another reason my iPod Touch didn't suit me was the touch controls were impossible to use while riding a bicycle, which I do often for commuting to work. Ironically, players like the iPod Touch cannot be used solely by touch.
4. Price tag under $100, preferably under $75. Since I only need a few gigabytes to store my most recent podcasts & some favorite tunes, and since I virtually never use mobile video, it shouldn't be too hard to find an affordable MP3 player.

It didn't take much poking around to discover that the Sansa series of players, from Sandisk, tend to fit the bill best. Most (maybe all?) Sansas work with Linux, and all except the Sansa Express (which I really was interested in) seem to work well with podcasts. Also, the majority of Sansas range in price from about $25 to $80, well within my price range.

Which one did I settle on? Drumroll please...

The Sandisk Sansa Fuze

The 4GB model of the Sansa Fuze is about $50 on Amazon, with free shipping. It can do music, video, photos, FM radio, voice recording, and radio recording. I'll probably never use the video support, but since a Fuze is only a few dollars more than the Clip (which can't display photos or videos), why not go for it? And as a bonus, cute Japanese pop star Maki Goto did a promo video for the Sansa Fuze. How can any sane guy resist a cute j-pop girl?

Anywho... My Fuze was just shipped today by Amazon, and I should have it sometime next week. No doubt I'll be posting a "first impressions" review of it after I've had my hands on it for a little while. I'm just itching to get back into my podcasts, though...