Customer Reviews

Coby 4 GB Flash MP3 Player with FM and Color Display (Black)

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

The ear plugs included with the player are too hard and not easily inserted into the ear. I bought the CVE92 Isolation Ear Plugs (White) and they are very good. Manual does not offer a whole lot of advice. Computer literates will be able to find out how to rip and synch up with Windows Media Player. One main gripe! The player does not play the music that is added in the order it is ripped and synched; all music files are arranged alphabetically within the album name on the player. Bummer when listening to soundtracks, etc. Would have upgraded to a better model that loads files in the order ripped. However, for the money, this is a good player.

Admittedly, I purchased this product largely based upon the price and the good reviews mentioned here. Since I was purchasing this as a replacement for my Autistic son, my basic requirements and expectations for an mp3 player were minimal. An effective player without all kinds of technological bells and whistles would suit me fine. After opening the package, however, I immediately reassessed my "minimalist" viewpoint. The first thing I noticed was the player's cheap, flimsy encasing; which is some sort of cut-rate, thin plastic. That was my first disappointment. The second thing I noticed was the fact that the manufacturers appeared to have taken my minimalist theory a bit too literally because the entire unit consists of a display area and two buttons: a Menu Button and a Control Button. That's it. My second disappointment. Still, in an attempt to not be ultra finicky, I read the rather ineffectual instruction manual, hooked it up to my PC, charged the battery and, after a while, went about the process of transferring music files into it using Windows Media Player. Although the synchronization of the music files was slower than my other mp3 player (Sansa), it did go smoothly because it was easily recognized by both my PC and the media player. That was a nice plus.

Now that the unit is fully charged and loaded with 1,500+ music files, the time has come for me to turn it on and give it a whirl. I insert the ear buds that came with the music player into my ears. They feel weird; overly large and slanted at a strange angle. My third disappointment. Time to turn the player on already. Press...press...confused pressing. Eye-roll! The technology is extremely slow and rudimentary, and looks like something I would find on a 1996 CD player. Sigh. My fourth and biggest disappointment. Yet, I persevere on. OK, I got it. It's playing, but the sound is very, very low. I examine the player looking for the volume control button. No button. I search through the manual looking for answers to my volume dilemma. Nothing. Time to dig into the player itself to see if the volume can be controlled with either of the two buttons. After a series of frustrated presses and slow displays, I find an area in the system that allows me to alter the volume output, but the only selections are "Jazz, Pop, bass, etc." I stare at the display in utter disbelief. I haven't seen such options in years! This has got to be a joke. Am I being punked? My fifth disappointment. Before I begin to panic, though, I take my expensive Bose headphones and plug them into the unit with the hope that the ear buds that were enclosed with the player were of poor quality. No such luck; the same faint tinny sounds ring through. Huge sigh. The sixth disappointment. Disgustedly, I sit there looking at my purchase as the truth finally sinks in. I just bought a cheap, crappy mp3 player that is using Sega technology in a Wii world. I feel like such a doofus.

Cons:

- Looks cheap
- Feels cheap
- Extremely antiquated technology
- Slow start up and display
- Does not signal to the user that the battery is fully charged
- Confusing controls and display
- Ridiculous volume settings
- Very low volume
- Uncomfortable headphones

Pros:
- Low price
- Ease of file synchronization


In summary, unless you have taken out your disco ball and are in need of a music player to complete your ensemble, skip this one.

Appearance
Yes, it looks kinda like a toy. That said, though, it's small, sleek, and black. If you put a large emphasis on your mp3 player's looks, try getting some blown up pictures on Google to see if you like it. Otherwise, just know that it isn't horribly ugly.

Ease of Use
This mp3 player easily connects to Windows Media Player to sync, the menus are intuitive, the controls are mostly intuitive, and it allows for decent customization. I was able to figure out the controls without even cracking the manual. I may be fairly tech savvy, but the controls really aren't hard to figure out. Volume's the only thing that may be hard. To adjust volume, just click up or down while a song is playing.

Battery Life
I've only owned it for a day, but even the worst critics of this conceded that the battery lasts a long time.

Price for Quality
Paying less than $30 with tax is a great deal for this mp3 player. It's not perfect, but for $30 I don't think I could ask for anything more.

Portability
It's smaller than my friend's iPod Nano, and holds a charge. 'Nuff said.

Sound Quality
At least on my unit, sound quality is great. I can hear all the individual portions of the music better than when listening on my computer.

Flaws
--I can't find a way to turn on either shuffle or repeat. For most people, this will probably be fine. If you want to shake things up, move through songs randomly while the music's playing.
--The menus are a bit slow. But really, you're buying it for the music and price, not for the menu speed.
--There isn't really a play list feature. This said, however, you can organize folders on the flash memory, and can play a folder at a time.
--Doesn't support .wma files. They say they do, but they don't. Just make sure you're music files are mostly .mp3 before you get this.
--Small display. For browsing music, this doesn't matter. However, I don't see videos (if they work, which other reviews have not been positive about) or pictures being viewed on this. Great for music, poor for visual arts.

Rebuttals
--"Flimsy, cheap casing"
I would disagree. The plastic seems fairly sturdy, and I doubt you want to drop an iPod, so this really isn't a big flaw.
--"entire unit consists of a display area and two buttons: a Menu Button and a Control Button"
This is sort of true. They aren't mentioning the directional buttons or the select button (total of 7 buttons). Since all you are doing is scrolling through menus and selecting music to play, this seems like a rather silly thing to pick on.
--"[the ear buds] feel weird; overly large and slanted at a strange angle."
This is true. I would recommend getting different earphones for it.
--"alter the volume output, but the only selections are "Jazz, Pop, bass, etc." "
When the music is playing, pressing up or down on the directional buttons increases or decreases volume. It's that easy.
--"faint tinny sounds"
I'm not sure where this came from, probably an issue with the person's unit. The sound quality on my unit is crystal clear, and of a nice volume on both the included ear buds and on my $10 Sony ear buds I usually use with it (for comfort reasons, the included earphones are oddly shaped).
--"The player does not play the music that is added in the order it is ripped and synched"
No, it doesn't. That said, though, does it really matter the order a playlist plays in? If your answer is yes, all you have to do is change the name via the included software interface once it's on the player. Just start the track names with their track number, and they'll play in order.
--"The only issue I have with it from a functional standpoint is the short time the screen stays active (illuminated) during use"
All you have to do to change this, is go to settings > display > backlight and change the number from 5 seconds to a higher number (the number is how long the back light stays on until it shuts off for power save, in seconds)
--"The pinwheel on the player is a button device, actually 5 buttons, 4 directional and 1 in the middle to select. It's easy to use but it is button pushing, not gliding across a wheel (like an iPod)."
Yeah, they're buttons. If the "gliding" is that important to you, go with an iPod or other mp3 player that has one. If you consider the lack of a "pinwheel" a big flaw, don't buy this. If you're like me and don't care, then know that the buttons are sufficient for the menus.
--"Just want everyone to be aware that this MP3 player is not compatible with iTunes. My iPod nano was destroyed so I thought I could just get this cheaper MP3 player and upload all my iTunes in my libary. Not so. This might seem obvious to some, but I am not very techie and was not aware of this incompatibility."
General rule for anyone who didn't know this: iTunes is for iPods, and doesn't really work well for anything else. However, if you're using a PC, Windows Media Player (which comes with all Windows systems by default) works great with this product.
--"When I added music, it doesn't play most of it."
The product doesn't play .wma or .wav files. When windows media player rips cd's, it makes them .wma by default. However, almost all music you buy online is in the supported format. Further, there are several free websites that allow you to convert files on your computer between various audio formats.
--"The Coby media manager software is loaded on the unit itself. "
This software is what allows you to make folders to organize music in. The setup is the "launcher" file in my computer under removable media.

I hope that this review helps.

I've used the MP3 player for radio, audio books, and music; downloading from CD's or online to computer on both mac and PC, but keeping to windows media. Tried ipod material just to see if it would work, which it didn't, so I successfully erased the material using my mac. My motorola V190 charger works to recharge the MP3 player which is a plus. I use my own earphones as I'm not comfortable with ear buds as a general rule. The free downloads were welcome, though I did cancel the subscription before it went to automatic billing. Most of my songs are from CD's and my audiobooks are from public domain where I've become reacquainted with Mark Twain whose books are free online. The free music downloads allowed me to find old, old songs from the 1940's which I remember from early childhood. I put the free audiobook download on my wife's MP3 player because she likes Evanovich mysteries & they were on the list.

I wanted an inexpensive MP3 player to use as a music/radio source in my garage. I have it plugged into an older 2.1 Yamaha set of speakers, and it sounds great. Radio reception is far above what I expected. Sound quality overall is quite good. The ear buds that came with it, don't fit my ears, but then again many do not. Nor did I purchase it to use it with ear buds

I would have preferred that while viewing the artist list it would display songs in album/track order, rather than strictly alpha by song. Menu response is a little on the slow side, you have to really mean it when you select a given option.

Excellent product given the price.

I agree with most of what the 5 star raters have said, and for the price, it is a quality mp3 player. However, if you are wanting a high end, do-all media player, this is not it. You get what you pay for. There have been posts saying there is no shuffle or repeat option, but there is, you just have to search for it as the instruction booklet is about useless. When you are at your "Now Playing" menu, press and hold the "Play" (Middle) button. There are a bunch of different options including an equalizer option, but choose "Repeat". From there you can choose normal, repeat one, folder, repeat folder, repeat all, RANDOM (sorry to put all caps but this is your shuffle, and I don't have a bold option.), or intro. But again, past having to fumble through the options to get it to do what I want, again useless booklet, I would recommend this product.

So far so good. the only thing i had a problem was the headphones, I had to buy a different kind

This was purchased because of the "functionality" of being a video player at a cheap price. I wasn't much concerned about having a cheap mp3 player, as the kids already had that. Here is the main problem- the only file type that is supported is .mtv. I did a trial to purchase a Spongebob episode from Amazon Video on Demand, which is very cool by the way. I am not too surprised that this player is not compatible, but I thought that surely I would be able to find a way to convert the wmv file to mtv in order to actually use this "video" player.

As of now, I have no idea if the "video player" actually works, as I have no idea how to even get a file is a .mtv format. Sure, if you want to go thru a file sharing page and go thru all of that risk, maybe it is worth it.

My suggestion is to not go cheap, buy an ipod, use itunes, and save yourself alot of hassle. For my time invested, the utility from the savings in initial cost has evaporated.

The radio tuner does work, can view pictures in what appears to be about .5 MB quality, and the MP3 player does work. Use Windows Media Player. The Coby media manager software is loaded on the unit itself. Have to go to "My Computer", select the device, and then it self-extracts. This was thru trial and error (was not obvious or intuitive.)

I know technology advances on giant steps each days and nowadays you have Iphones, Ipods, Zunes and Cell Phones capable to play MP3 and this little guy does just that!

of course the screen it's too small for watching videos, I don't think anybody would buy this to watch videos on a 1"x1" screen; I got this coby player because I wanted a MP3 player and the one I was using (a Huskee 1GB USB drive) is dying already after years of use. This player has a good sound, and it's capable to store 4gb and anyone can buy it.

I know an Ipod has more storage space, I have like 90gb inside my music folder but I don't even listen to all the music I have on 4GB so carrying a 160GB ipod would be a waste, because in my case I already have my favorites songs so 4GB is too much for me.

I've been using it for more than a month by now and had no problems. Just make sure you push the earphones into the plug until everything is inside; I think I read a review here where a guy says that earphones don't go all the way in and I had the same problem but found out I just needed to push it a little bit more and the problem was solved!

I'm very happy with my purchase, I think I got a good deal for the price and from my own experience, I can tell you: you won't regret it if you get one of these

*******UPDATE*******

I purchased mine on January 22nd 2010, by today September 23rd 2010 my colby mp3 player still works without any kind of problems. I think that if it has been good enough to last this 8 months, it won't break down all of the suddenly in the near future. So there you go, another reason to buy this: cheap, does what you want, and IT WILL LAST!

I have had a lot of mp3 players and so far this is the best one I haved since I hade a psp