Not bad... Esp. for the price.

Let me begin by admitting that I am "downgrading" to a Coby 610 from an ipod Nano which broke (mysteriously) a few months ago. I needed an MP3 player and I could not afford to invest in a new Nano. The Coby was my compromise: at a fraction of the price and apparently with far greater capabilities this machine had the contest hands down.



Well sort of. My principal need was a machine that would play music WELL and hold a lot of it. I got what I paid for: the Coby 610 has copious memory (more than enough for my needs) and seems to be able to play my music just fine. So my complaints here are technically superficial. But I think they are worth considering.



First if you get a Coby 610 you will be amazed at how light and chintzy the plastic case seems. My Nano had a sturdy flashy beautiful metal case-- this one FEELS ready to crack in my hands (note: actual cracks have yet to appear). Second you will notice that the font used on the display screen is a blocky system font-- easy enough to read I guess but far from sleek or stylish. Next you will discover that the "fly wheel" on the lower half of the front panel does not "fly" at all: the Nano had a wheel that actually "swirled" allowing me to scroll and navigate through the Nano's various menus: here it is just a directional up/ down/ left/ right button placed on a silver wheel.



Okay more good things: I was blown away by the fact that for about $30 I could watch a full-length movie on the [tiny] display screen. I mean it's really really small and the practicality of watching ANY movie on a screen so small must be considered questionable but there it was right there: a movie on the LCD display. My Nano could never do that.



Am I happy with my purchase? I guess so. I do not feel like I was ripped off certainly nor do I feel like I walked in blind. I guess I was just well disappointed... When I got it out of the box and started working with it I was disappointed. I didn't feel like I had gotten an amazing new thing for a bargain price. But I am glad I have it. Rihanna just isn't the same unless you can hear her sing.More detail ...

Satisfied Customer

This player was exactly what I was looking for - something relatively inexpensive on which I could upload audio books for on-the-go listening. I do not have a lot of sit time but enjoy books. This fit the bill. The greatest pro to me is the fact that each track not only has a timer that counts up the time but this player counts down as well simultaneously. That way if I want to re-listen to a track I know how far I've got to go back. Most players just have a counter that counts up the time without letting you know how much time is left on a given track. The biggest con - I bought a candy apple red player. Although it is nice and pretty the quality of the finish is poor. It scratches easily. Even just a bit of pressure from winding the cord around the player has nicked the finish. Considering the pro however it's something I can live with.More detail ...

Good buy for the money!

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.More detail ...

Playlists lots of room can be taken anywhere wow!

I recently ordered this product off of Amazon and I am extremely satisfied.



First I will give you a run down of what equipment I use this with. My laptop (Entertainment HP 2GB RAM with Vista) my surround sound (Phillips Hi-Def) my Sony PS3 (not the PS3 itself but the charger for the controllers) car stereo & iHome speakers.



When I was browsing potential MP3 Players my main concern was playlists and if the player could hold up under pressure (aka being on my arm while jogging being dropped and tossed around in general).



I have put songs on it (mostly MP3 & WMA format) from Windows Media Player on my laptop. In order to create playlists I first put them as a list in Windows Media Player and then right clicked on the list in order to send it to the player. All of the songs were in the exact order I put them in (in the past I had experienced a problem with the MP3 Player jumbling things)! The menu is easily to scroll through using the navigational keys. The player also remembers where you left off in a song and in a list. If I turn it off during the middle of the song all I have to do is scroll to "Now Playing" in the menu to pickup where I left off. It came with a disc to install it but all I had to do was hook it up to my laptop with the usb cord. No installation was necessary (although my computer did have me name it). No additional software was necessary. Windows Media Player was enough. I have not found a way to delete songs off of the player without hooking it up to the computer but this is not a huge deal for me since everything else is perfect.



The volume goes up to 31. I generally do not put it over 16 or 17 which is plenty. The battery life has varied some. I think this has to do with the days when I am constantly scrolling through songs as opposed to days where I select my list and let it play. This makes it generally 7 to 10 hours respectively.



It holds up while I am jogging. I always prefer to purchase electronics that can take some abuse since I am clumsy. This player has held up under my treatment (which is saying a lot)!



To charge it I did not purchase a charger. I use the charger I bought for the PS3 controllers. It works just fine and does not take forever to charge. I also like that there are no batteries I have to replace.



I also hook the player up to iHome speakers so I can "jam out" when I am doing laundry or some other house chore. It also works well with the surround sound system I have. All I have to do is plug it in with the usb cord.



I highly reccomend this MP3 player if you're looking for something that works with the rest of your electronics. In the past I have purchased players that have had serious compatability issues and it drove me nuts trying to figure out how to use them. Next I am going to purchase one for my nine year old. He already can use it perfectly! So if you're looking for compatability user-friendly features and durability look no further!



Update as of 10/4/08



I dropped the mp3 player off the upstairs deck at my house and thought I broke it but luckily there is a reset button on the lower back of the player. You have to use a small point (I used a thumb tack) to press the button. It was a total life saver.



Update as of 1/8/09



I noticed when I was updating the playlists that the playlists already on the player that had less than 18 songs on them were jumbled. All of the playlists in which I had placed 18 or more songs on them remained perfect and in the order I had originally specified.



PS. I would highly advise buying different headphones.More detail ...