S-Media CoCoPod
Soham Raninga, Mar 29, 2004 0000 hrs IST
The CoCoPod is a 20 GB hard drive-based MP3 player from S-Media
Great build quality, Tons of features, decent Price, Carry case
Poor earphones, Strictly OK interface, Mediocre bass response
Interface and navigation
First and foremost, the blue backlit display is average in terms of clarity and it is a little dull. There is a provision for adjusting the contrast of the display but it doesn't help much to enhance the visibility. The navigation is pretty easy while moving around the 6 prime menus, which take care of Jukebox, FM Radio, Setup, Voice Recording, Line-in Recording, and File Manager functions. Later on the interface gets a bit tricky and it's not very user-friendly. Some functions are activated through a long press and it's not clearly defined for the user. Overall, I found the interface far from being intuitive and it demands quite a workout before one can get used to it. The roller does work well for navigation and scrolling within the play-list but apart from that, there isn't much to talk about.
Sound quality
The CoCoPod is out and out loud, with a decent SNR ration of 90 DB. We put the baby through a selection of tracks, hand picked from a wide variety of genres. Apart from being loud, the sound was not all that balanced and it required some tuning. But thanks to the 10-band equalizer that comes with four preset modes and a custom mode, the fine-tuning was taken care of. The sound was good but not as dynamic as the iPod. The low frequencies were a bit poor. The earphones are absolutely tiny, the low frequencies are missing, couple that with the average bass response from the player and you get a treble heavy sound that would appeal to the treble freaks until even they start feeling the pain of pure treble, which distorts at high volumes. I quickly swapped the bundled earphones with the Sony MDR headphones and the sound was much better. I realized that it is not the player but the earphones, which spoil the fun for the CoCoPod. I would say that the core sound quality is pretty good as long as one uses good quality headphones.
Recording and FM radio
The line-in feature is pretty impressive; one can record directly in the MP3 format and hence save a lot of space. The recording can be done at various bit rate levels, so the quality and space taken can be controlled easily. The player lets you store 20 stations in the player's preset memory. I recorded 30 minutes of FM radio at 160 Kbps to test the recording feature, the result was pretty impressive and I was more than satisfied with the sound quality. As far as the FM reception is concerned, the overall performance was pretty good. In areas with weak signals, the player did struggle a bit and hence I conclude that the FM radio is generally good if not excellent. Tried recording some tracks through the Audigy sound card, using the line-in feature and the result was exceptional. The line-in feature is pretty impressive, and a very handy one as well.
As far as the battery is concerned, the rechargeable 800 mA Li-Ion battery gives decent performance and it takes about 3 hours to charge via the USB and 2.5 hours via the power adapter.
Conclusion
Priced at Rs. 18,990/- the player is high on features but average on sound quality. If you are looking at the extra features of line-in, FM and voice recording, this player fits the bill better than the other alternatives. If core sound quality is your concern the iPod might win on points. The price performance ratio is pretty good for the CoCoPod as long as one can ignore the bundled default earphones and buy better quality earphones/headphones, which can do justice to the player.
Test Unit Sourced From: X Serve India Ltd., Bangalore.
USER COMMENTS
It is a very nice product but the cost is bit a high
by Tahir Rehman Kh, Jammu, on Apr 03, 2006 03:07 PM, Report abuse Reply
Soham, Great review :) S-Media could soon be one-up with all other major players if they improve upon the UI in their players and give it a sleeker look. Adding better earphones to the package will certainly make this one a 'best buy'. Currently, this player lacks the sophisticated 'look and feel' of the iRivers and iPods, leave alone the sound quality and the UI.
by Anish, Mumbai, on Mar 29, 2004 04:20 PM, Report abuse Reply
why doesn't the manual mention the re-set facility throught the hole in the back ? Also the music database needs reformatting throught the software but this isn't mentioned either
by Brendon, Darlington, on Jan 11, 2006 06:12 PM, Report abuse
don't waste your time here! go to http://cocopod.atspace.com
by J. Smith, London, on Jan 29, 2006 09:07 PM, Report abuse
The coocopod is totally useless. Most people who have bought them spend all there time on the net trying to solve the inherent programming problems and trying to get decent software. The software places music randomly and uncontrollably while the thing freezes all the time.
by Robert Lindsay, Daugaard, on Sep 24, 2005 06:51 PM, Report abuse Reply
I have the dutch version gogopod "Time" and i need a new battery but I do not know where I can buy it. if sombody know where I can buy it, please tell me
by Ger, Delft netherlands, on Sep 18, 2005 04:44 PM, Report abuse Reply
Please tell me where I can get the software for the GoGoPod MP3 player ? I have lost the CD and would be grateful th have it ... My player plays some songs and bloks with other ! Very strange ! Will anyone inform me about this issue ?
by Sa3eed, Amsterdam, on Jul 08, 2005 07:07 AM, Report abuse Reply
can you tell me how long the battery life is b4 it needs recharged plz cheers
by steven, belfast, on May 28, 2005 05:38 PM, Report abuse Reply
A great device. It has a voice recorder (much better quality than the one for Windows), FM radio (which can also be recorded), fast USB 2.0 transfer rate, no restrictions like the iPod, eg.) you cannot transfer data from an iPod to your computer (only computer to iPod), so it is good for storage if you are like me and can't find enough songs to fill the thing (I can be a little choosy), Record line in (hook it up to devices like cd players to record from, or other media players like another GP2000 or iPod and transfer songs too. There is only 1 downflaw that can be easily redeemed in a matter of 10 seconds - I am talking about the freezing. Just carry around a paperclip if it freezes (for me its about once a day if I am using it a lot).
by Daniel Gray, Sydney, on May 04, 2005 04:15 PM, Report abuse Reply
Can anyone tell me where I can find the german font for the GP2000? Please help me!
by OlliS, Hamburg, on Apr 26, 2005 09:44 PM, Report abuse Reply
As far as I know the cocopod interface is only available in english or traditional chinese (firmware 2.4), these are the only languages I have seen support for though I could easily be mistaken. Try a specifically german forum? Or if you get enough german speaking people to nag s-media, perhaps they will release support for german in their next firmware, if they ever release one...
by Richard McK, Johannesburg, South Africa, on Apr 27, 2005 05:31 AM, Report abuse
why did you delete my posts? what was wrong with them? are you not allowed links in your post?
by Richard McK, Johannesburg, South Africa, on Apr 22, 2005 05:56 AM, Report abuse Reply
if a link pops up...<a href="http://cocopod.atspace.com">cocopod.atspace.com</a> click it!!! otherwise go to cocopod.atspace.com
by johnny, london, on Apr 27, 2005 05:14 AM, Report abuse
ok, i have several question the reviewer has not addressed 1. Does it use special driver/software to transfer music like IPod. or it's an USB external device that requires no extra software like the IRiver. 2. How long does the battery last. 3. Has it ever froze during the review and does it have a reset button. 4. Do you mean with the enhanced ear-bud, it is just as good as IPod. I am confused. These are the major factory for me to make the buying decision. Thanks.
by Gary, Los Angeles, on Jun 19, 2004 05:27 AM, Report abuse Reply
Not the reviewer but, I may be able to help. 1. Yes. Both needs both driver and special software. 2. Providing you charge it fully it seems to last about 4-5 hours of continuous use, however there doesn't appear to be a way to completely shut it down. So you leave it switched off over-night and it won't function in the morning without being recharged. Power adapter is fairly bulky if you need to recharge at work and home. 3. Has frozen six or seven times for me in last week. Soft reset button is a pin-hole accessed switch in the back of the unit. Transfer software is not fantastic but bearable. Physical interface is fine. Carry case design looks like a womens purse and isn't very functional. You have to remove case fully even to change volume. Support seems practically non-existant and don't even think about accessories. I believe the phrase cheap and cheerful applies here..or maybe you get what you pay for would be better.
by Tony, Leicester, on Apr 26, 2005 05:43 PM, Report abuse
anyone know if s-media are still going? i can't find a website on the net, so upgrades etc. are impossible as far as i can tell. The software that comes with it is rubbish too.
by Ray, Scarborough, on Feb 14, 2005 12:53 AM, Report abuse Reply
Are you still battling with your CoCopod? I also hate the software it came with!!! So I wrote a program that can make cocopod playlists from winamp playlists - this is much more my style. The software is available for download from my site - http://cocopod.atspace.com Hope it helps
by Richard McK, Johannesburg, South Africa, on Apr 22, 2005 03:50 AM, Report abuse
hey, I hate the software too... see my new posts and my site... might help you out
by Richard McK, Johannesburg, South Africa, on Apr 22, 2005 06:01 AM, Report abuse
ALTERNATIVE PLAYLIST SOFTWARE AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD: http://cocopod.atspace.com - sorry my last post was a bit verbose - hiding the important stuff. I think being able to store music in smaller organised directories might make file access time shorter on the device than it is when all the music is stored in one very large directory.
by Richard McK, Johannesburg, South Africa, on Apr 22, 2005 03:46 AM, Report abuse Reply
I know the PC software isn't available for Mac, but that doesn't concern me. What I'd like to know is whether the hard disk can be used as a data storage device on mac os x.
by salocin, Bremen, Germany, on Apr 15, 2005 11:45 PM, Report abuse Reply
I think you would be able to use the cocopod as an external hard drive on a mac because it's file system is fat32. You could probably even format it using a different file system if you are only going to use it as an external hard drive - though you won't be able to use the file manager on the device then. But I mean if usb flash drives that are fat32 work on macs, I can't see any reason why the cocopod wouldn't work on a mac - it is after all a 20 gig usb flash drive.
by Richard McK, Johannesburg, South Africa, on Apr 22, 2005 03:41 AM, Report abuse
Hey guys The GP2000 compared to my old XCLEF HD500 40 gig: (HD 500 broke so they gave me a GP2000 player and some money back) What I like about the GP2000/cocopod: reasonably small size for a 20gig. boot time is very fast. charge from usb. File functions (delete,rename etc) on device. Plain looks - I got an unbranded white one. What I don't like: Freezes a lot - but my old player did too. Absolutely rubbish playback time. Does not really support drag and drop of music - I hate the bundled software!!! (though it is necessary for firmware upgrades). It does not play the song you select in the file manager - instead it starts with the first song in the directory. You can not add songs from different directories to the same playlist using the device interface. I don't always have a paperclip to press the reset button. I have to say it could be more reliabe. The most irritating problem I have is that sometimes it does not turn on - even if the battery is NOT flat. But then I plug in the AC for 2 seconds and it powers up, after that I can get another hour or twos play time. Does anyone else have/know about this problem? Could anyone offer some advice?? The other thing I would like to know is - can you get a battery upgrade for this device, is it possible to replace the battery at all? Well enough complaining... I tried to solve one problem (the playlist problem), I wrote a program that allows you to create cocopod playlists from winamp playlists. This means you don't have to use the stupid bundled playlist manager. The program I wrote makes it possible to create cocopod playlists from music that has been "dragged and dropped" onto the device in the ordinary windows manner. You can now access and manage music using the 'file manager' and play the correct tune when you click on it in the 'playlist' option (instead of the first tune in the directory). You can also now include multiple tunes from multiple directories in a single playlist - all this without using the stupid orange bundled software. If you would like to try it out, the link to my site is: http://cocopod.atspace.com/ I plan to expand this site to provide support and discussion for cocopod users as I have found this to be somewhat lacking. At the very least the latest version of my software will always be available for download at my site. I'd like to get a propper forum going, where we can discuss what we would like smedia to fix in the next firmware upgrade - useful stuff like that. So watch this space! Hope to see you guys around ;-) Techtree - I really could have done with a field of view that was larger than 3 lines high while I was typing this. he he...
by Richard McK, Johannesburg, South Africa, on Apr 22, 2005 03:30 AM, Report abuse Reply
this thing sucks. the first time i used it it frose. and the battery only 2-3 howers i think the $450 Aus i spent on this thing wood have been better spent on an iPod dont let is trendy looks fool you this thing is a pice of junk DO NOT BY IT!!!!!
by nathan peek, longreack QLD Australia, on Apr 10, 2005 02:06 PM, Report abuse Reply
How many people have had freezing problems with this then? I'm very serious about getting the GP2000, it's only £130 in UK now, with 20GB and a FM tuner that's really good. If it's always crashing though I might have to look elsewhere. Any positive reviews?!
by Simon, Birmingham, on Mar 26, 2005 04:37 AM, Report abuse Reply
Oh, and I will return it tomorrow.
by Henk, Rotterdam (Netherlands), on Mar 10, 2005 10:44 PM, Report abuse Reply
This is a very bad product. I had it now for two days, it crashed more than 30 times. The battery life is much to short. I even upgraded the firmware, which took down the crash frequency a bit. DO NOT BUY!!
by Henk, Rotterdam (Netherlands), on Mar 10, 2005 10:43 PM, Report abuse Reply
i bought this and gave it back 3 days later. i think, its that typical cheap taiwanese crap. crashes very often (player and pc-software), killed my usb-ports (want to know how it did THIS) and its soooooo slow with more than 1-2 GB of mp3-files, you can make coffee and its still not ready loading the audiofiles for listening.
by tom, germany, on Mar 05, 2005 05:02 PM, Report abuse Reply
Have anyone use the VP2160 ?(www.vosonic.com) I would like to know where to buy it in Canada ? thx
by Rossi, Canada, on Mar 01, 2005 06:40 PM, Report abuse Reply
hehe.. sorry about the website question, just seen Petes comment a bit down, looks like we both have the same prob. If anyone finds it, feel free to e-mail me too, at razor472@g-mail.com cheers.
by Ray, Scarborough, on Feb 14, 2005 12:55 AM, Report abuse Reply
rubbish, why can't you edit these things :) wrong e-mail above, it should be razor472@gmail.com
by Ray, Scarborough, on Feb 14, 2005 12:58 AM, Report abuse
I bought the cocopod and was disappointed with recording feature from vinyl.does not split tracks up and is a manual process and requires 3rd party software in order to split tracks up.
by Kwadwo, london, on Jan 28, 2005 07:35 AM, Report abuse Reply
Kwadwo,i bought a cocopod and would like to know what 3rd party software you use to split the tracks/albums up? It's bloody annoying to find that when u upload trax they are jumbled about all over the place...all help greatly appreciated..please email me at peteoflanagan@yahoo.co.uk p.s do u know the manufacturers website to update the firmware? cheers..
by Pete, york, on Feb 05, 2005 04:06 AM, Report abuse
don't buy this thing... crashes very often very slow battery life very limited 4 to 5 hrs
by jonathan, amsterdam, on Feb 01, 2005 02:06 PM, Report abuse Reply
I have just purchased one from microdirect and it seems to be a good buy apart from a few flaws. 1) the battery gets used up quckly when using it. 2) It is incredibbly slow when it comes to opening files and playing music. 3) It has a tendency to crash. has anyone else has these problems and do they know how to remedy them.
by David, Birmingham, on Jan 24, 2005 10:31 PM, Report abuse Reply
I like my CoCoPod but it crashes quite frequently (requires resetting via a tiny hole at the back) and the software you use to download songs to it sucks. Perhaps my CoCoPod is faulty, don't know if it crashes for other ppl.
by NoneOfUrBusines, NoneOfUrBusiness, on Sep 06, 2004 08:03 PM, Report abuse Reply
dude, i get te same problem with mij gogopod (the same but difrent name, here in the NL... (netherlands) i just think that it's something that happens ... but .. 200 euro cheaper than a ipod? i'm not complaining haha!
by notofyour....., hehe, on Jan 18, 2005 10:42 PM, Report abuse
Hi, This unti is on sale at only £99 in the UK from microdirect.co.uk! A massive difference considering we normally pay at practically $1 to £1 for some IT products.
by Matthew, London, on Dec 20, 2004 02:06 AM, Report abuse Reply
Matthew, did you get one of these? i'm thinking of getting one - looks a bargain.
by chris, birmingham, on Jan 04, 2005 12:42 AM, Report abuse
Karma guys... i can't believe you guys havnt said a thing about the Rio Karma... The ipod may be the MARKET leader, but that dosnt make it the best in ANY way.. it is infact far from the best... all it has going for it is its looks and size... the best is the iriver ihp series, features and same size as ipod too... the ipod hasa scratch prone body, crap battery life, EXPENSIVE no features whatsoever! th iriver ihp series whoops the ipod big time! the karma is the best for the price.you get a docking station as a standard, which allows you to network your playr... awesome... also the karma (and iriver) has a higher signal to noise ratio, basically better sound quality, and also, the karma, although fatter than the ipod/iriver, is shorter and has a smaller overall volume than the ipod... so really there can be no comparison
by Chinthaka Senan, Colombo, on Jul 06, 2004 08:28 PM, Report abuse Reply
The IPOD is the market leader for a very good reason. IT IS THE BEST. My friend's father owns an electrical outlet in Australia and retails virtually every kind of portable audio device known to man. We have rigorously trialed numerous units and the IPOD 4G is without doubt the best. Reasons: 1) It is without doubt the most stable unit. Lots of entrants on the market inc. the CoCopod have a tendancy to freeze and some must be reset either by button or battery drainage. 2) The battery life is AS good as an other. The advent of the 12 hour li-ion battery gives it as good battery life as the Iriver products. 3)The interface is the best. Goes without saying that the interface is awesome, easy to use and with the new Ipod Color, it only gets better. 4) The most reliable. Apple IPODS have the best quality control of all other portable audio. In the store, Apple Ipods are the #1 seller and lowest returned for repair items. 5) The tech support you get from Apple upon puchasing the Ipod is second to none. 6) It comes with a wide variety of accessories. Enough said. 7) The standard earbuds are awesome. They use a neodynium magnet and provide awesome an awesome sound clarity. Apple Ipod and IRiver are both aweomse units. They are by far the market leaders.
by Len, MElb, on Nov 14, 2004 01:20 PM, Report abuse
what does 18,990 translate in US dollars? Is it available in the US?
by hnic, NYC, on Apr 20, 2004 10:33 PM, Report abuse Reply
hello I cked it out heres a link were you can find itithttp://store.yahoo.com/komusa/usbmp3players.html
** Message edited by moderator **
by will, nyc, on May 05, 2004 11:42 AM, Report abuse
using the XE.com currency convertor, it shows 18,990 rupees is equivalent to $411, but I've seen sites selling it for half that price. Newegg sells this model, i believe
by anon, Knoxville, on Sep 28, 2004 08:39 PM, Report abuse
where do i get the S MEDIA COCPOD in mumbai ??
by nikhil arora, mumbai, on Aug 07, 2004 03:44 PM, Report abuse Reply
oops, sorry about the err, triple post, damn thing said it was having problems, guess the posts got through though :O
by Patrick Freeman, Port Orchard, on Aug 07, 2004 03:17 PM, Report abuse Reply
what in the world is wrong with the freaking world!@ finally someone does the right thing and puts a memory card reader in a HDD player and NO ONE sees it's value :( umm, like take it on a trip and store all those pics/movies...or exchange your tunes on your tiny little memory mp3 player, etc., etc...wake up people!
by Patrick Freeman, Port Orchard, on Aug 07, 2004 03:15 PM, Report abuse Reply
what in the world is wrong with the freaking world!@ finally someone does the right thing and puts a memory card reader in a HDD player and NO ONE sees it's value :( umm, like take it on a trip and store all those pics/movies...or exchange your tunes on your tiny little memory mp3 player, etc., etc...wake up people!
by Patrick Freeman, Port Orchard, on Aug 07, 2004 03:14 PM, Report abuse Reply
what in the world is wrong with the world! finally someone does the right thing and makes a HDD player with a memory card reader and KNOWONE sees it's value :( umm. like, u take the HDD on a trip and it stores all those pictures...or you have your tiny memory mp3 player and want to change the tunes, etc. etc., god, are you people asleep? it's a freaking breakthrough, mkay.
by Patrick Freeman, Port Orchard, on Aug 07, 2004 03:07 PM, Report abuse Reply
you guys keep comparing drive based MP3 units - but never have you ever compared any of these to the mighty ARCHOS, which beats all in terms of price, functionality and features - check it out!
by shoestrung, bangalore, on Jun 20, 2004 10:15 AM, Report abuse Reply
i had an archo 20gb unit, i was frozen up and had no reset button. It did return to normal only when the battery was completely drain hourly later. Tech support is virtully non-existenace... yeah, you check it out!
by Gary, Los Angeles, on Jun 21, 2004 01:52 PM, Report abuse
Hmm. Not such an original idea when you look at it, really. Has the stolen looks of the iPod and the stolen features of the iRiver (which just happen to be the two of the leading jukebox mp3 players on the market). Will not be a success until the price is lowered to something ridiculously cheap, at which point prospective buyers will have to balance being labelled as wannabe's, with having an affordable option to the major players in the market. I think I know which one will win ... P.S. The name reminds me of a cereal available here, called Coco Pops, so IMHO, invariably, these will sell in limited numbers (that's being polite) here ...
by Omar N, Manchester, on Apr 21, 2004 05:35 AM, Report abuse Reply
i don't think the focus should be of who has the original idea. It boils down to who has the best implementation and added innovation. Ipod had a good start and iriver expanded that idea. Nonetheless, iriver has one stupid flaw kept me from buying, namely, unable to record from its own FM tuner. I mean how stupid is that!!
by Gary, Los Angeles, on Jun 19, 2004 05:06 AM, Report abuse
by sandeep, pune, on May 13, 2004 02:27 PM, Report abuse Reply
Ugly device. Other than that it seems fine. Thanks for the well thought out review!
by Aminous, Baltimore, on Apr 21, 2004 09:44 AM, Report abuse Reply
Cool gadget, the ipod does have its own charm but i am impressed with the features incorporated in this tiny jukebox
by nimesh, mumbai, on Mar 30, 2004 09:52 PM, Report abuse Reply
Great stuff. i wish the price was not so steep !
** Message edited by moderator **
by Karan, NYC, on Mar 30, 2004 03:48 PM, Report abuse Reply
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The best site if you have a cocopod is http://cocopod.atspace.com
by Jan, NY, on Apr 24, 2006 09:50 AM, Report abuse Reply