Coby MP-C7095 (2GB)

We have not reviewed this product but here is CNET's buying advice on MP3 players. This content was chosen based on the features included with this model of mp3 player.

Watching video

Nowadays, the line between MP3 players and portable video players (PVPs) is blurrier than ever, as the majority of devices hitting the market include video playback as a feature. Although the screen on a typical MP3 player is too small for extended video viewing, it can be a nice bonus for certain users. Undeniably, MP3 players with relatively large screens make the best substitute PVPs--make sure you look for those that are at least 2-inches diagonal. No denying it's nice to have that extra distraction in certain situations, such as doctors' waiting rooms and airport terminals.

See more Portable video products

Audio formats

The first format or codec to gain widespread acceptance was MP3, but there are now a variety of players on the market that support AAC, WMA, OGG, and other formats. This table will help you sort out the alphabet soup and determine which codecs you need in an MP3 player.

FILE FORMATS

AA	Audible, the format used by Audible.com, is designed for spoken audio content such as audiobooks and talk radio programs, including NPR. Many portable music players support AA.
AAC	Advanced Audio Coding, developed by Dolby Laboratories and best known as the format used in iPods. Apple and Real use their own DRM (digital rights management) technology to secure AAC downloads for iTunes and Real Rhapsody. The iPod is the solitary player that accepts copy-protected AAC files and only those from iTunes Music Store.
ATRAC3	ATRAC3 and ATRAC3plus are lossy compression formats used by Sony and its squadron of Network Walkman MP3 and MiniDisc players. It is an efficient format that sounds better than MP3 at the same bit rates. This format is akin to WMA and AAC but is generally known as a dark horse, as it is used by only Sony-branded players. Music downloaded or streamed from Sony's Connect music store are ATRAC3 files.
FLAC	Free Lossless Audio Codec, an open-source format that uses a clever algorithm to preserve every 1 and 0 found in the uncompressed file. Though not widely implemented, lossless formats such as FLAC are popular with audiophiles who disdain "lossy" formats (MP3, WMA, and so on) that further compress files.
MP3	Motion Pictures Experts Group Layer 3 is such a mouthful, it's no wonder the abbreviation has taken over. In fact, MP3 is the Kleenex of digital music--so common, it's become shorthand for all portable players whether they use this format, though nearly all do. The eMusic online music store and most file-sharing networks use MP3
MP3Pro	The latest from Thomson/RCA (the company that licenses MP3 to manufacturers and developers), MP3Pro sounds better than MP3 at the same bit rate. However, it hasn't been widely adopted by manufacturers other than RCA
OGG	Ogg Vorbis is the underdog of this group. It sounds great, and because it is open source, there are no licensing fees when it's used to encode or play music--a fact that probably makes developers of other codecs a bit nervous. Although it's not as widespread as AAC, MP3, or WMA in players or online music services, OGG could gain traction as consumers grow more sophisticated in their digital audio usage and developers look for ways to cut down on licensing costs.
WAV/AIFF	This is uncompressed audio, like what you'd find on a standard audio CD. For the most part, WAVs are found on Windows machines, while AIFFs live on Macs.
WMA	Windows Media Audio, Microsoft's format, sounds better than MP3 at the same bit rate. Some WMA files include copy protection, but others do not (if you left the "Copy protect music" box checked under the Options menu in Windows Media Player you've been ripping copy-protected WMAs). Most players support WMA, and online music stores such as Napster, Yahoo Music, and Wal-Mart use secure WMA.

Photo viewing and video playback

Most MP3 players now come equipped with a color screen that can display JPEG and BMP digital images. This is a nice feature for those who like to carry their precious digital memories with them. In addition to offering photo viewing capabilities, color displays are brighter and easier to read than their monochrome counterparts. Also look out for players with crystal-clear OLED screens, which offer better viewing angles and lower power consumption (though they are harder to read in bright sunlight). Increasingly, MP3 players are even offering video playback. Although the screen on a typical MP3 player is too small for extended video viewing (for that, try a PVP instead), it can be a nice bonus for certain users, such as commuters.

Exercise companion

If you're shopping for a portable music player to take to the gym, there's a few considerations to keep in mind. A gym-friendly MP3 player should be compact and easy to operate with one hand. Rather than looking for massive storage, flash-based music players with modest memory (1GB should be plenty) can withstand tough workouts better than larger hard-drive-based players. You may also want an armband, an option on many compact MP3 players, and a set of headphones that will stay in place rather than the cheap earbuds typically included. And remember: many gyms offer TVs that you can tune into with an FM radio, so be sure to consider players that include that feature as well.

See more Fitness-friendly products

MP3 Radio

Many players offer FM radio reception, although they're more common on flash devices, which lack the spinning hard drives and the CD-playing features that can interfere with the signal. AM radio is extremely rare. Other radio-related features include FM recording (usually to MP3), transmission (for playing back audio wirelessly through home and car stereos with FM tuners), and presets.

See more MP3 Radio products

CNET product brief

Description: The Coby MP-C7095 is a 2 GB, flash player.Compared to other flash MP3 players on the market, it is midpriced at around $50.

Pros: Has a 160 x 128 screen resolution, which is larger than some similarly priced MP3 players.In fact, the average cost of a product with this large a screen resolution is $110.This unit comes with a radio tuner.

Cons: None noted, given available product data.

Suitability: A flash MP3 player, suited for bringing quite a few songs with you.Listen to your favorite local stations on this radio equipped player.

Value: In general, this MP3 player has great features for the money.

Suggestions: Audiophiles may wish to buy aftermarket headphones for better sound reproduction.

Creative MuVo Micro N200 (512MB, Black)

We understand that a simple MP3 player with no extra features or even an LCD appeals to some people, but we prefer a device that gives us a little more bang for our buck. That's why we'd choose Creative's MuVo Micro N200 over Apple's iPod Shuffle any day. At $129.99, the 512MB MuVo Micro costs just $30 more than the Apple flash player and includes an LCD as well as advanced features such as FM tuning and line-in recording. Even better, the N200's overall user experience is a pleasant one. We just wish the screen was a bit bigger.

Editor's note: We have changed the rating in this review to reflect recent changes in our rating scale. Click here to find out more. Unlike its predecessor, the MuVo TX FM, the Creative MuVo Micro features a seamless construction without a built-in USB interface. The benefit of this design is that it affords the N200 the luxury of being smaller (2.6 by 1.3 by 0.5 inches) and a touch lighter (1.3 ounces) than its older sibling. Of course, you give up the convenience of having a built-in USB key. The player does come with the requisite USB cable, but we wish Creative had thrown in a USB adapter key for added portability. That said, we highly appreciate the inclusion of a belt clip, a case, and an armband in the box--the MuVo Micro is certainly a gym-worthy player.

You might assume that the MuVo Micro's tiny size is its most distinguishing feature, but actually it's the selection of bright colors in which the player is encased. You can choose from a palette of eight hues, including black, white, orange, red, dark blue, light blue, pink, and lime green. Our nail-polish-pink test unit definitely pops, but better yet, it seems quite resistant to scratches.

The controls on the MuVo Micro are minimal, which actually make the player a breeze to use. Rather than fumbling with a bunch of buttons, you access all features through the one menu toggle, located along the bottom edge of the player, that you press in to view your choices. This same switch scans through tracks when not in Menu mode. To the left of this switch are the two dedicated volume keys. The only other control is a button that controls play/pause/power. A small LCD, a USB port, and jacks for headphones and line-in audio round out the physical characteristics of the device. Creative is nice enough to include a line-in cable in the package. There's no Hold switch per se, but this function is easily accessible in the first layer of the menu. About that small LCD: Thanks to the high-res display, the text is easy enough to read, if you have perfect vision, anyway. The main screen shows only the song name, the time elapsed, and minuscule icons for battery life and play mode. It would be nice if the screen was large enough to display album and artist info as well.

Initial setup and use of the MuVo Micro is a snap, thanks to its Microsoft PlaysForSure designation: just plug it in and start using Windows Media Player 10.0 or Windows Explorer drag-and-drop to transfer files. Note that Creative's quick-start guide instructs you not to plug in the player until you've installed the driver and software from the included CD, but this isn't necessary if you're running Windows XP. Users of other Windows platforms, however, should follow Creative's directions. Creative also includes its own MediaSource music management software, but we prefer not to use it since it's not as convenient as Windows Media Player.

The Creative MuVo Micro really shines in the features department, especially when you consider its relatively low price. As is becoming the standard nowadays, the player supports DRM-protected WMAs, so you can transfer songs that you've purchased from stores such as Wal-Mart Music Downloads. So far, there's no compatibility with Windows Media DRM 10.0 (for subscription-based tunes), but hopefully we'll start seeing this in flash players soon. The player also supports AA files purchased from Audible.com and, of course, MP3s.

Along with standard playback features such as shuffle, A/B loop, and repeat, to name a few, the MuVo Micro features a five-band custom EQ as well as five presets: Normal, Rock, Pop, Classical, and Jazz. The player also offers several settings options, the coolest of which is LCD orientation; this lets you flip the screen to optimize it for either right- or left-handed use. Screen settings for contrast, backlighting, and language are also available.

Now for the fun stuff: The MuVo Micro includes an FM tuner with Autoscan and 32 preset slots. The tuner is blissfully easy to use: simply select Autoscan from within the menu when you're in FM mode; the player will scan all frequencies and save all the ones that come in as presets for future use (you can also scan manually if desired). You can record from the radio, and the player has a built-in mic for voice recordings as well; these recordings are saved as WAV files. The icing on the cake, however, is the line-in recording option, which encodes tracks directly to MP3. You can choose between three bit rates (96Kbps, 128Kbps, or 160Kbps) and even enable a function called Sync Track that automatically splits tracks. Do note that the MuVo Micro's line-in port is smaller than the norm, so you'll always want to have the included cable on hand for such recordings.

The MuVo Micro isn't without its flaws, though. There's no option to sort songs by artist, album, or genre, and there's no playlist support. Songs are listed in alphabetical--or numerical, if you name your files with track numbers preceding the song title--order. As such, the most logical way to transfer music, if you want some organization, is to use Windows Explorer and drag and drop album or artist folders (with no subfolders) directly from the My Music window; you can then browse through separate folders on the player.

As we've come to expect from Creative players, the MuVo Micro sounded good in our tests, even through the included earbuds. The signal-to-noise ratio is listed as simply "up to 90dB," which is average, but we noticed no background hiss at normal volume levels, and audio sounded rich and clean. We did note the same issue that several users have complained about: the backlight produces some feedback, though it's mostly perceptible when your music is paused and thus doesn't hamper overall sound quality.

Although the Creative MuVo Micro's maximum bit rate for line-in encoding is 160Kbps, recordings sounded quite good, and the track-splitting (Sync Track) function worked accurately. Voice recordings also came out clearly, although you have to hold the player fairly close to the sound source to avoid a muffled quality. The FM tuner worked a treat too, with the autoscanner picking up all local stations.

What we were most pleased with, however, was the battery life recorded by CNET Labs. The MuVo Micro lasted more than 19 hours, beating Creative's own estimate by 4 hours. Its average transfer time of 1.76MB per second was decent for USB 2.0.

File-transfer speed
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

MB per second

Cowon iAudio U2 (1GB)

1.76

Creative MuVo Micro N200 (512MB)

1.76

Apple iPod Shuffle (512MB)

1.31

MPIO FY400 (128MB)

0.79

Battery life
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

In hours

Creative Muvo N200 (512MB; AAA)

19

Apple iPod Shuffle (512MB; rechargeable)

15

MPIO FY400 (128MB; AAA)

14.1

Cowon iAudio U2 (1GB; rechargeable)

11.8

COBY MP 600 - digital player / radio

We have not reviewed this product but here is CNET's buying advice on MP3 players. This content was chosen based on the features included with this model of mp3 player.

Watching video

Nowadays, the line between MP3 players and portable video players (PVPs) is blurrier than ever, as the majority of devices hitting the market include video playback as a feature. Although the screen on a typical MP3 player is too small for extended video viewing, it can be a nice bonus for certain users. Undeniably, MP3 players with relatively large screens make the best substitute PVPs--make sure you look for those that are at least 2-inches diagonal. No denying it's nice to have that extra distraction in certain situations, such as doctors' waiting rooms and airport terminals.

See more Portable video products

Audio formats

The first format or codec to gain widespread acceptance was MP3, but there are now a variety of players on the market that support AAC, WMA, OGG, and other formats. This table will help you sort out the alphabet soup and determine which codecs you need in an MP3 player.

FILE FORMATS

AA	Audible, the format used by Audible.com, is designed for spoken audio content such as audiobooks and talk radio programs, including NPR. Many portable music players support AA.
AAC	Advanced Audio Coding, developed by Dolby Laboratories and best known as the format used in iPods. Apple and Real use their own DRM (digital rights management) technology to secure AAC downloads for iTunes and Real Rhapsody. The iPod is the solitary player that accepts copy-protected AAC files and only those from iTunes Music Store.
ATRAC3	ATRAC3 and ATRAC3plus are lossy compression formats used by Sony and its squadron of Network Walkman MP3 and MiniDisc players. It is an efficient format that sounds better than MP3 at the same bit rates. This format is akin to WMA and AAC but is generally known as a dark horse, as it is used by only Sony-branded players. Music downloaded or streamed from Sony's Connect music store are ATRAC3 files.
FLAC	Free Lossless Audio Codec, an open-source format that uses a clever algorithm to preserve every 1 and 0 found in the uncompressed file. Though not widely implemented, lossless formats such as FLAC are popular with audiophiles who disdain "lossy" formats (MP3, WMA, and so on) that further compress files.
MP3	Motion Pictures Experts Group Layer 3 is such a mouthful, it's no wonder the abbreviation has taken over. In fact, MP3 is the Kleenex of digital music--so common, it's become shorthand for all portable players whether they use this format, though nearly all do. The eMusic online music store and most file-sharing networks use MP3
MP3Pro	The latest from Thomson/RCA (the company that licenses MP3 to manufacturers and developers), MP3Pro sounds better than MP3 at the same bit rate. However, it hasn't been widely adopted by manufacturers other than RCA
OGG	Ogg Vorbis is the underdog of this group. It sounds great, and because it is open source, there are no licensing fees when it's used to encode or play music--a fact that probably makes developers of other codecs a bit nervous. Although it's not as widespread as AAC, MP3, or WMA in players or online music services, OGG could gain traction as consumers grow more sophisticated in their digital audio usage and developers look for ways to cut down on licensing costs.
WAV/AIFF	This is uncompressed audio, like what you'd find on a standard audio CD. For the most part, WAVs are found on Windows machines, while AIFFs live on Macs.
WMA	Windows Media Audio, Microsoft's format, sounds better than MP3 at the same bit rate. Some WMA files include copy protection, but others do not (if you left the "Copy protect music" box checked under the Options menu in Windows Media Player you've been ripping copy-protected WMAs). Most players support WMA, and online music stores such as Napster, Yahoo Music, and Wal-Mart use secure WMA.

Photo viewing and video playback

Most MP3 players now come equipped with a color screen that can display JPEG and BMP digital images. This is a nice feature for those who like to carry their precious digital memories with them. In addition to offering photo viewing capabilities, color displays are brighter and easier to read than their monochrome counterparts. Also look out for players with crystal-clear OLED screens, which offer better viewing angles and lower power consumption (though they are harder to read in bright sunlight). Increasingly, MP3 players are even offering video playback. Although the screen on a typical MP3 player is too small for extended video viewing (for that, try a PVP instead), it can be a nice bonus for certain users, such as commuters.

Exercise companion

If you're shopping for a portable music player to take to the gym, there's a few considerations to keep in mind. A gym-friendly MP3 player should be compact and easy to operate with one hand. Rather than looking for massive storage, flash-based music players with modest memory (1GB should be plenty) can withstand tough workouts better than larger hard-drive-based players. You may also want an armband, an option on many compact MP3 players, and a set of headphones that will stay in place rather than the cheap earbuds typically included. And remember: many gyms offer TVs that you can tune into with an FM radio, so be sure to consider players that include that feature as well.

See more Fitness-friendly products

MP3 Radio

Many players offer FM radio reception, although they're more common on flash devices, which lack the spinning hard drives and the CD-playing features that can interfere with the signal. AM radio is extremely rare. Other radio-related features include FM recording (usually to MP3), transmission (for playing back audio wirelessly through home and car stereos with FM tuners), and presets.