There is nothing I like better than the idea of a portable music device with no moving parts. After struggling with cassette tapes being eaten and CDs skipping, an MP3 player is exactly what the doctor ordered. To that end, the Best Data Cabo MP3 player is a crown jewel.

On the other end, getting the songs onto the player itself can be a trick. It is a parallel port interface so you either have to get a switch or unplug your printer to use it. Most of the competition use the more acceptable USB interface. Not only that but my experience with getting the thing to actually be recognized by the computer has been very difficult. Once you actually figure out the trick to getting everything working, the PC interface makes it very intuitive to move everything over to the MP3 player.

Cabo is nice in that it already has 64 MB built-in and any more memory you add is gravy. The downside is, you can only upgrade to 96MB...less than the competition.

As for sound quality, the volume really packs a punch. However, the preset equalizer settings are terrible.

One minor detail that I REALLY appreciate is the fact that it has a button lock. I know you are thinking that wouldn't be all that important but it is REALLY nice not to accidentally skip, pause, repeat, etc a song when you are working out or riding a bike when buttons are prone to be hit on accident.

The battery life is very long...well, longer than I had expected. A welcome surprise.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 100