Customer Reviews

Coby MP-C885 1 GB Flash MP3 Player with FM Tuner and Direct USB Drive (Black)

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

**Please see the bottom of this review for an update.**

I read all the comments about this player AFTER I bought it, and I'm prepared to find I later have problems with it, but so far, I am really enjoying this item.

Pluses:

you can use this player to listen to songs you've purchased from various subscription services (not including iTunes, I think);

you need to install absolutely NO new software to your computer in order to get songs onto the player (I synced practically my whole media library at my work computer during a quick lunch break; I normally can not do anything that requires installation or changing of the computer programs already on there--no problem with this one, though!);

you can add songs to it quite easily [I just plugged the player into my usb port and synced songs from Windows Media Player 10 (which I recommend you use, even if that requires upgrading from version 9); syncing 170 songs--about 2/3 the capacity if you're using WMA files--took approximately 8 minutes];

the buttons are easy to use and the menu simple to navigate; and

the cost is extremely inexpensive.

Minuses:

battery life isn't that great (about eight hours, but it does use one AAA battery, and at least you won't have to toss the whole player once you run out of juice!);

getting to specific songs isn't that easy when you have a lot of music already on the player (opening specific files isn't as simple a task as I'd like);

the headphones SUCK (but most of them that come with players do tend to suck, so this isn't a huge deal), keep sliding out of my ears, have no padding, feel like rocks in my ears. URG.

Overall, one week in, I am very pleased. I like the quality of the sound and am enjoying having all my favorite tunes dashing about with me, strung around my neck very comfortably.


Well, I guess I spoke too soon. :-) I now am having fatal problems with this item and am about to return it to the store where I purchased it.

I now rate this item one star instead of four.

For one thing, when I tried to sync some new songs to it, I very clearly clicked on the button (on the computer screen) that said I wanted to add new songs, not override old ones, and then synced the new ones. Well, as soon as I turned the player on, the old songs were gone. Not really gone, as they still show up as taking memory space, but no longer accessible to me in any way. I try connecting the player by USB to my computer, but the computer shows that the space is taken up but will not show the songs that are taking that space. OR I will disconnect and reconnect to find that now I can access the songs BY COMPUTER but still am showing "no music" on the player itself. If I just confused you, I apologize, but that's precisely how I feel. I have almost the whole 1gb of memory used up, but only 3 songs to show for it. What a pain in the buns! To make matters worse, I've been trying to reach Coby's customer support at both the non-toll-free number and the toll-free one and can't get anything other than a busy signal. The little booklet that comes with the unit does nothing to help with this problem, and neither does the website.

Arg!

This baby is going back. Now the question is--what do I buy? I don't want an iPod. Frustration, deluxe.

It worked for 3 months and it stop working after that. Customer service sucks when it comes to this company. I sent 3 emails that went unanswered, I called them and no answer, Do not purchase anything from this company!!!

Nothing wrong with it for the money. Does just what I expected it
to do: play music No problem dumping files from my pc to the device.
Turn it on and it starts playing. A small learning curve to allow access
to all the options available - not intuitive. Simple enough when you
learn how. I'm not qualified to evaluate its audio qualities, but it
suits me. One thing though, it could use a clip to attach to clothing.

Update 4 Jul 07

Well the power-on switch broke after daily usage. If you get one of these
players, then be careful not to push on the switches to hard - what ever that may be.

Update 17 Jul 07

After finally talking to Coby (no response to emails), I find that to have it fixed/replaced I must mail them the broken player including all accessory and literature with a money order for six dollars. I'm not
sure if the payoff would be worth the probable aggravation of further
dealings with this company.

Update 1 Aug 07

It cost a total of about eight bucks to send it back. They, Coby, returned me a new one within a week. It works fine, and I'm careful
not to squash the buttons.

Update 21 Aug 07

Well, I've had the replacement for three weeks and it works just great.
I use this one exclusively, and I am really satisfied. In reality, it was my wife who broke the button on the first one, so who knows. She
tends not to force things, but to get a bigger hammer.

I've used this device for about 2 weeks now and so far it has been wonderful. Sound quality is excellent, FM tuner works extremely well, and the storage capacity (1GB) was exactly what I needed. And I must also say that it is a beautiful looking piece of electronics.

When deciding to buy this player, I was concerned by some of the reviews that say it is unreliable. I figured that getting all these features for 30 bucks was worth a shot. So far I have been extremely pleased, but if I do have any problems with this player I will be sure to update this review.

Having used a simple COBY 512GB for a few days and found that with good Sony earphones it was very satisfactory with good bass (the sound is VERY changeable according to the headphones used according to my testing) I plunged for this COBY 1GB at J and R and it seemed an excellent upgrade at $34, against $20 for the 512GB at some ultra cheap place on Broadway near Wall Street.

Unfortunately the 1GB has screwed me up syncing music albums from my PC (Windows Media 11). Hasving been loaded with 500 GB of music like the 512GB COBY I then synced a number of Nat King Cole albums onto it until it was full.

Sad to report the item cannot play past Song 96 ie including only a limited number of the 12 Cole CDs added. Previously it played 106 or more like the 512MB. Now it has simply forgotten most of the latest ones by Nat King Cole I added.

Not good. There has been no damage to the player to account for this. Its software is simply unreliable. Unless the COBY support guy (very nice young guy I got through to quite easily the first time I asked him about some command puzzle) can tell me any different I shall not send it in for repair at $6 but return it to J and R and not buy another.

This is a great pity. COBY should get their software to be reliable. The FM tuner is excellent and the sound is A1. The record commands are too poorly designed for me to try that out properly yet, but I suspect that is high quality too (tiny mike holes and good pick up of sound are familiar to me from a Toshiba camera which records sound only), so it is sad if they can't get their software straight. $6? I suspect that is what it costs simply to replace the item. They expect a certain number of failures I guess.

If my experience is not very rare or unique this is a shame. This level of quality with simplicity is very attractive, Alas.

UPDATE: OK I am sorry to say I took it back to j and R and bought a Trekstor 2GB with SD Card slot for $15 more. Very glad I did. The COBY lost its Menu function as well in the last day. The Trekstor iBeat Extension is a class above the COBY so far - 2 GB instead of 1GB, SD Card slot, and the mike and voice recording very good. The FM seems good too. Two problems though. The Mike hole is tiny and on the side so it does not record the person opposite you very well unless aimed intentionally at them. And, the FM seem not to be able to distinguish between 89.9 and 90.0 MHz, though perhaps I will find out how to correct this.

The TrekStor is German and made in China and the texture of the surface and the appearance in well above the Coby, except for two rather tinny looking metal controls. The earphones are excellent, where the COBY phones were tinny.

Allow me to explain my experience with this style of MP3 players:
Mac Vision MA833A 128 MB MP3 Player
This was my first MP3 player, the Macvision 256mb. Slick, black and small, this simple little device lasted me three whole years and would still be alive and kicking if I hadn't dropped it off of my rooftop one too many times. A remarkable piece of technology, it simply played MP3's, easily and without fuss. The transfer system was simple and easy to navigate, and the player worked through rain, snow, being stepped upon and drowned in water.

After that finally gave up the ghost, and believe me it took a looong time, I picked up this:Nextar MA933A-B 128 MB Digital MP3 Player (Blue)
The Nextar 512mb 'blue'
This was not up to par with its predecessor, despite being of the same design, just manufactured by a different company, this device was inferior in many ways.
Nextar re-designed the device's program and tranfer capability, forcing you to use Windows Media to sync your files, and they would appear in no particular order, and you had no control over where they ended up in relation to the other files. This MP3 player was definitely not as sturdy as the original, it broke within two weeks after I pressed the play button a tad bit harder than it was apparently made for.
So, frustrated, I bought this:
COBY MP3 Player with 256 MB Flash Memory & USB Drive
Coby had finally gotten the patents to this design, so I hoped things would improve. This little device was certainly a bit hardier than its predecessor, and it survived for some time, but its program was just as frustrating as the last one, once again forcing you to sync with Windows Media and randomizing your files on you. The glass screen was very fragile and broke within the first month I owned it, making it difficult to see the text.
So, finally after putting up with it for a while, I succumbed to trying out yet another of these devices.
I bought this, the Coby C885 1GB MP3 player.

Hallelujah!

This device not only stronger and more durable than the nextar or earlier coby model, also allowed you to return its program to the original Macvision style, allowing me to finally order my files the way I wanted! I have had this now for about three weeks, and it has served me well. The buttons take a little while to adjust to, but after you do, its smooth sailing. Its as if I have my old Macvision back, with an upgrade in style and funcion!
If you're looking for something sleek and simple, without paying out the big bucks go for this!

Just got this unit a month ago, but just now read reviews; thought I'd update some previous input by others.
1) In first month, no issues with buttons, sync, USB port/hardware, or functions.
2) Battery life: I'm getting 22-24 hours of play time on one AAA battery
3) Although earphones are still padless and a little large, they are the "hang-around-the-neck" style that I like: they provide a great antenna for the FM tuner and with the included clip lanyard, allow the unit to hang from the earphones w/o placing that weight on your ears. The clip/lanyard can be used to hang the unit from a shirt button or from the earphone cable. (I clip mine to the cable and then put the unit in a shirt pocket.) Even when working out, or without the use of a shirt pocket, the unit can hang easily without the weight being on the plug or the ears.
4) If you appear to run out of "space" on the unit, the user's guide/manual tells you how to fix this. Same if you seem to not have access to either files or music
5) User's guide/manual also explains why you don't have complete use of "space". The software for the unit takes up 27MB of it.
6) Voice recording and playback is just as good as my Olympus DVR at one-third the cost. Microphone is now on the front side so recording of surrounding area is better.
7) Price on Amazon on my purchase date was $[... making this the best value of all I've seen. I'm sure price is down due to relatively small size of 1GB (compared to others on the market mostly at 2GB+). Still has plenty of space for me as I listen to the radio a lot; it takes me three or four days to listen to 180 downloaded songs.
Overall, I'm very pleased with it; I put it on in the morning, leave it on all day at work and the gym, and realize I still have it on when getting ready for a shower and bed. Would recommend it to anybody willing to read the instructions.
Also: I'm using Windows Media Player 11 to Sync the unit in Random mode. (I don't spend time looking for individual songs on the player so I can't say how well this works.)

We ordered 2 of these and had to send one back as it didn't work. Ordered a replacement and had to send it back - same problem. Item comes with a special sheet in the box stating "before returning call customer service" so I think they know there's a problem. Called customer service before returning the 2nd one - they were clueless and not helpful. The one that works is cute, but we have 1 twin boy not happy about not receiving his. Disappointing. Amazon should discontinue offering this product. Coby MP-C885 1 GB Flash MP3 Player with FM Tuner and Direct USB Drive (Black)

First couple of days I was pleased with this player and the ability to be a thumb drive. But then it stopped playing entire songs and when downloaded to it would "lose" half of the book I wanted to listen to. I have since returned this item and purchased a Sansa an love it.

this player is a huge piece of crap, i just got it today and the radio stopped working on the third use. the mp3 player works, for now! dont buy this item, their customer support at Coby isnt worth calling either.
!!! DONT BUY THIS ITEM, IF YOU DO CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED!!!