Gadgets: An $80 portable media player?

By GREGG ELLMAN - McClatchy Newspapers You're far from alone if your first thought is "iPod" when "MP3" or "portable music player" are mentioned. But you shouldn't be afraid to go a different direction toward the SanDisk Sansa Fuze. This is a nice, compact addition to the SanDisk family of portable media players. It fits easily in a pocket (but don't crush it). There are many aspects that make it better than the iPod. First, you not locked into iTunes. Load as you wish (except from iTunes) from any music service or friend's MP3s. The player also has an FM radio with 40 presets. For the most part, this player looks like an iPod Nano but the price is a lot cheaper. The players are available in 2, 4 and 8 GBs and in pink, red, blue, black and silver - starting at $79.99. To me, the single best feature is a microSD card slot,... [read full story]