Coby Electronics MP601-4GBLK 1.4-Inch Video MP3 Player with FM, 4 GB Flash Memory (Black)

I'm a cheapskate when it comes to mp3 players. Between us (and our kids), we've tried probably 5-6 different MP3 players in this general price range (25-30). They have all been a bust, until we found these Coby ones.

The problems we usually have (but DIDN'T have with this one) are:

1. the players don't work well with windows media player (we had one brand that only allowed us to sync one song at a time... unplug, re-plug... sync next song)
2. you can't play things in the order/group you want (eg it won't shuffle, it ONLY shuffles, you can't use playlists, etc)
3. the players won't charge, won't hold a charge, go through batteries like crazy, etc.
4. no color display/text-only
5. awful menus
6. manual is incomprehensible or not included
7. they die after a month

When we finally got sick of the parade of misfits, we came across these, crossed our fingers - and we love them!

Unlike most other super cheap MP3 players, they have a small color screen that will display video and photos.
The software that is included is easy to use (granted, we're very computer literate).
You can use the included software (we usually do) or just open the folders via Explorer, and drag and drop.
It supports lyric display.
You can sort the music in a bunch of different ways (including by genre!).
The manual is in easy to understand English.
The menu system is logical.

We have only two complaints after using these for about 4-5 months:
--Like most MP3 players, it doesn't have a removable/replaceable battery, and must be plugged directly into the computer to recharge. Not so great if you're away from home. I doubt this would be a dealbreaker for most people since this is very common.
--The OFF button must be held down for a long time, 3-5 seconds, AND THEN RELEASED, before the player will power off. At first we would hold it down for a long time waiting for the screen to shut off, then remember and let go and it would immediately power off. Then, once we were used to it, we often find ourselves pulling the button down, then letting go too early, only to find we have to do it again. I suppose eventually we'll get the hang of it!

The Coby MP601-2G is an mp3 player that is marketed toward budget friendly consumers. I picked up one a few days ago as a throw away player to leave in my car and take in my pocket to avoid damage to my more expensive and higher capacity iPod Nano. The player has a washed out, tiny screen and a confusing menu system. However, after a few minutes of use, it becomes fairly easy to learn the counter-intuitive navigation style. The system does not include an installation cd, but has user manual pdf's and installation software stored on the internal memory. Windows 7 automatically recognizes the device as an external storage drive. You can install the software to tranfer files, but I prefer manually dragging and dropping files to the player directly. If you do decide to drag and drop, you will need to refresh the mp3 database on the player to find your files. The unit comes with 2GB internal storage, which is very small in this day and age, but may be suitable for someone with a smaller media collection. The screen size at 1.4 inches is useless for picture or video viewing, so I would recommend against that. I personally down-converted my media collection to 96KBPS MONO files, which still sound really good and keep files small at around 2MB/ file. I've been able to store just under a thousand files which is a decent collection for traveling. Overall, I do recommend this player as a device that costs little and if it were to be stolen, stepped on, submerged in water, dropped, lost, etc wouldn't be a big deal or loss due to the cheap price.

When my 1GB Sandisk MP3 player died, I hit up amazon looking for something around the same size and function. I was not looking for a video player what-so-ever, but stumbled upon this player which for the comparable had more memory that my old player, I bought it up.
This player ended up being WAY more than I expected for a "Coby" Video/MP3 player.
Yes, the screen is small, but if your in the market looking for something that plays video, than you might not be interested, or is there are complaints about the screen being too small and hard to see, well, you knew before hand what the screen size would be. That being said, I have put several different types of video files on this player, and it plays all of them great. It's nice that if you end up being stuck somewhere you can just quickly pull up a 30minute episode of Reno 911 to kill time.
The player also comes with a E-Book reader, which if you stick any .txt file on it, it will read it, it also comes with a multi-level timer scroll so you can just sit the player up and don't have to keep pressing buttons for the next page.
The sound quality is on par with players in this price range, my biggest complaint is that under the EQ setting, the BASS setting actually produces less BASS than the rock or jazz settings, and is just completely muddled with mid-range frequencies.
Also, you do not need to use the provided Cony Media Manager software to sync music, text, or videos, and you also do not need it to convert your video files for the player. Just do some searching with Google and you will find a standalone .MTV format converter which is only 3MB vs the 45+MB Media Manager. Also, you can just open up Explorer and drag and drop your files directly to the device, so no need to muddle up your OS with extra software. *cough cough* itunes
All in all, this is an excellent Video/MP3 player for daily use for the price.