Easily the most attractive digital media player created by Sandisk, the Sansa Fuze sports a dazzling automotive finish in a bright choice of colours. Like the iPod nano it imitates in controls and petite squarish body, the Fuze plays music, photos, and videos, but moves a step further with an FM Radio and voice recorder. The new twist not found amongst others mp3 players is the inclusion of a microSD slot for memory cards, but what will draw attention from PC users (sorry, Macs not supported) will be the low, low price.

The best way to compete against Apple’s iPods is through sticker shock, something the Fuze does extremely well at. The Fuze sells for $80 for 2GB, $100 for 4GB, and $130 for 8GB. Compare that to the iPod nano which sells at $160 for 4GB and $209 for 8GB and you’re looking at a 60% difference. Usually, the “bargain” mp3 players pick up the discount with cheap earbuds and primitive software, and while this is certainly true with the Fuze, at this difference you can buy an extra pair of quality earbuds and still come out on top.

With its scrollwheel controls and squarish body, the Fuze looks like a nano at first glance, but the imitation quickly ends with a polished, reflective surface, a beveled top, and a bright selection of colours - pink, red, blue, black and silver. With bargain players, the attraction usually ends at the price, here’s there’s flash on top of the frugality.

The new feature you won’t find on other MP3 players is the MicroSD card slot. The idea here is that you can expand the storage capacity by purchasing and inserting an extra memory card. This has been a popular feature on MP3-playing cellphones, mainly because most phones offer less than 1GB in storage. With the Fuze it’s unlikely you’ll need the extra room unless you invest heavily in videos and with a 1.9” screen, probably not. For Sandisk, which is a leading manufacturer of memory cards, the hope is you’ll buy more than one memory card and swap them in-and-out between other gadgets. Either way, it’s not something you’ll need to think about right now.

The Fuze plays music, digital photos, videos, audiobooks, and includes both an FM radio and voice recorder. These are fairly standard features amongst non-iPod players and in all respects the Fuze performs the same as other players I’ve tested. The quality is excellent, but there’s nothing that stands-out.

Where the Fuze falls short is software. The player itself sports a drab interface. Large, humble icons rotate with every turn of the scrollwheel. It’s simple, but not intuitive and resembles the same standard interface I’ve seen across many low-end cellphones, digital cameras, and MP3 players.

The Fuze relies heavily on Microsoft’s software for adding, purchasing, and synchronizing content. Windows Media Player is used to synchronize your music and photos between your PC and it supports Microsoft’s Digital Rights Management software for use with buying music from online stores such as Puretracks or eMusic. Although many stores now offer TV shows and movies using Microsoft’s DRM, the Fuze can’t accept these as it has to use its own Sansa Media Converter software to add videos to its library.

I tried adding a movie from the Bell Video Store for example. In order to support Microsoft’s DRM, Bell requires you to do so using their Bell Video Player software, and while the file did transfer, the Fuze wouldn’t add it to its menu. Only the Media Converter software can do that, but it can’t transfer licenses. Here we have two products, both using the same Microsoft software, and yet unable to work together, a problem I encounter often with Microsoft’s DRM.

You’re best to create your own videos or download free content from online and in terms of video formats supported, the Fuze naturally supports MPEG-4 and Windows Media Video, but with the added converter software can also accept QuickTime, DivX, and AVI files.

Another piece of niggling software is the Sansa Updater which you will need to install on your PC in order to update the Fuze’s firmware to add new software fixes and added support for file formats and Digital Rights Management. Not content with running once and ending, the Sansa Updater remains on your PC and is activated every time you connect your Sansa device. It sits within your taskbar, always looking to see if there’s an update (which might happen once a year), and remains there, running in the background and taking up system resources. Yes, you can uninstall and reinstall it as needed, but you shouldn’t have to.

Most people who buy a Fuze are likely to stick to playing music, a task it does well and one you can do without the need for any kind of software. Just connect it to your computer and drag-and-drop your files (DRM-free) to transfer them over. If you have no need for the other features, the Fuze lives up to is bargain price tag and attractive looks.