Indeed, endorsing a particular source cannot be done, as support has to be “ecumenical”, for lack of a better word. SanDisk has partnered with Real Networks / Rhapsody (as many makers have for the RhapPFS platform), and with Microsoft for the Janus DRM / WMDRM10 standard.
The view is a different animal, a sortie into a unique video device, using a combination of the NVIDIA chipset and a different AMS processor than the the v2 line, including the Fuze. This is why the View has an mi4 format firmware library, rather than the binary file employed in the Fuze.
The result is a cool player that can work magic with video. The current View is a complete redesign of its earlier version, the huge View with a standard SD slot. (There are a few rare examples of it in the wild)
The downside? Its complexity makes it sensitive to firmware builds. There are users running happily with several versions concurrently. This can be a nightmare for Support. There are many users running along with no issues, and with others, it’s a real pickle.
I really like the “flopping” control lights when the device is oriented horizontally (landscape).
If you pull several Sansas onto the test bench, and remove the skins, you’ll find that the production work on all of them is of identical quality. Interestingly, access to the internals of the View is far easier than its little sisters. SanDisk put some interesting machines out there, quite an achievement considering the main product is flash memory devices.
As you’ve no doubt noticed, the world economy has been fickle these past few years, and the volatile flash memory market has been a gnarly wave that they have had to ride. (Yes, I see the engineering pun in that!) SanDisk has been quite busy indeed navigating through all of that, and development is affected by competing needs in all of the areas involved.
It’s my sincere hope that solutions will be found, improvements that will be beneficial both to all View owners, SanDisk, and even users of all variants of Sansa. The current situation requires understanding and patience. All of us need to “hang in there” through it, rather than blasting at each other, which is counterproductive. SanDisk needs to make a living just as each of us do in turn. We’ve seen that they can make some really cool things, and are more involved with the user community than any maker I’ve seen.
Bob :smileyvery-happy:
Message Edited by neutron_bob on 04-26-2009 07:37 PM
