I recently bought a Coby mp3/radio player. Prior to this, I’d used an iPod Shuffle for a year and a half, and before that I had an iPod Video (30 GB). Now the iPod Video has been handed down to my mom, the Shuffle is languishing in the closet, and the Coby is coming on the Midwest trip with me. Why?
About the Coby:
-It’s cheap. $30 plus free shipping (to the mainland) from Electronic Express on Amazon.
-2 GB memory is really all I need. I always have a laptop around that I can use for switching out music.
-It has a voice recorder. I haven’t used this yet except to test it out, but I think it’ll come in handy.
-It runs on a single AAA battery.
-No extra USB cable needed to plug it into a computer – just take the cap off and plug it in like a USB drive.
-Oh, and it WORKS AS A USB DRIVE!
-Screen is small but good enough for me.
-No way to clip it to clothing or bag, unfortunately. This would’ve made it more useful for running/biking.
-The radio works pretty well.
-Don’t need to use iTunes to load/switch music.
About the Shuffle:
-Small size is great, clip for running/biking is great.
-Annoying that I had to remember the USB dock if I wanted to charge/reload it on the go.
-No screen – not the end of the world, but a little annoying.
-Occasionally had problems syncing on my Mac.
-Love the purple color :)
-No radio, voice recorder, or ability to use as USB drive.
About the iPod Video:
-Video feature is super cool but I really didn’t use it.
-Huge drive size – again, super cool but I really didn’t use it all.
-Bulky and got scratched up.
-Great for navigating through collection of music.
-Obscenely expensive.
In conclusion? Apple products are great, but tons of different factors mean that for me, the cheap Coby is even greater.
