The skipping and skating was probably due to the cueing lever not lowering all the way. That is a common problem with these players when they're new -- the soft-damped cueing lever is a little _too_ damped and doesn't fully lower, causing the stylus to make poor contact with the grooves. The fix is easy: just push down on the cueing lever post to make sure it is fully lowered.
The one and only VWestlife :) Welcome! On my case I'm pretty sure it's the cartridge, but thank you for the info. It should help other people encounter this problem with their Cruisers
Awesome down to earth facts and real science to show what you mean. Outstanding take on not just saying it's "bad" but actually why. To many don't take the time and just bash blindly. What needs to be made is a good player like the 120 with good speakers. Sometimes you just wanna listen to an LP without dragging 50lbs of equipment into a room
True and fair review... crosley has a lot to offer vinyl lovers and beginners... with the cheapest of the cheap record players,,, to top of the line audiophile grade turntables..
My primary turntable is the Audio Technica LP120. I upgraded the stylus to the brown Shibata model, which was well worth the $180 I spent. I tell people to get a record player or turntable with a magnetic cartridge if it is in their budget.
I own a all in one with the same table in it. Table was never stable and tone arm glides across the record when using the cue, scratching the records. Owned it 5 years and has only played 5 records. Now is so slow. Now my 40-50 year old Duals still play great. I do use the jacks on the combo for one thing. I patch cables from the tape out on my analog stereo and go to aux on combo. Then run a record on my Dual with Grado cartridge and burn CDs. They play back beautifully in the car
I agree, the Crosley you buy in the box is probably rubbish when you purchase it. I have one though it ain't so much a Crosley cruiser anymore. For start off, they tend to provide a stylus with a sapphire needle and a plastic cantilever. It's not necessarily bad but you'll get better sound from one with a metal cantilever and diamond needle. I also think the harshness of the plastic cantilever can make records skip in my experience. That's the first thing to swap out. You can actually get an upgrade for the cartridge - BANPA BP2ATC or Vakind P-192D. Both take a flip over 78/LP BSR ST 17 stylus. I've currently got the Vakind P-192D on mine with a diamond tipped flip over stylus. Tracking force - well, most MM turntables are designed to track light (1-3g) and as a result need anti-skate. However, the Crosley has a ceramic cartridge. They need a higher tracking force so don't need an anti-skate mechanism. Anything up to 5g of tracking weight is fine. Some older ceramic carts tracked way higher than that! My Crosley was just over 5g and with the new Valkind cartridge and stylus I have managed to get it to just over 4g using some counterweights. Most cheap end suitcase player manufacturors (and this is not restricted to them) don't know the difference between a MM cartridge and a Ceramic cartridge. I didn't until I did research. Ceramic's need to go into an amp with a High Impedence (like a guitar does) If you feed a ceramic into a solid state amp the result is flat and tinny (sound familiar) You can get round this on the Crosley by using a high impedence preamp between the tonearm and main amp. I wanted to upgrade the speakers and make it louder so went the whole hog and ripped out the Crosley mainboard and put together a high impedence preamp from a schematic on the web and purchased a 10w amp pcb. Coupled with the 10w full range speakers, mp3 decoder board I threw in the side for good measures and made it rechargeable (using laptop batteries and a lithium charging circuit) All in all, it's a good little player. WIll it sound as good as a turntable with a MM cartridge? No, but the beauty of it is I can grab a box of 45's and go down to the beach and play them if I wished to do so :) Here's my Crosley BTW and I'm still tweaking it to try and make it better... th-cam.com/video/pE4EqKm6jUc/w-d-xo.html
Great video! There seems to be alot of pushback. Some people just don't like to be told they spent there money on a piece of junk. Shame too. A few years ago the AT lp120 had serious problems with the anti skate. It didn't work. The AT crowd still defended these plastic made in China turntables. For alot of people at the bottom of the entry level cheap price is valued more than quality. For some reason they don't want to know they can spend a little more money and get something better.
@@vinylanatomy7888 I personally don't have a problem with Audio Technica. At the time the anti skate problem turned me off. Several years ago I spent alot of time agonizing over a new turntable. Everything had a issue I didn't like. I wanted to replace my 1983 Technics the only company I have ever had turntables with. Then Technics came back!! Finally the 1200GR came out. I agonized about having to buy a cartridge. The place I ordered from sold me a ortofon bronze and mounted it for me. I was saved. This was Jan 2020. A week after I ordered it Technics came out with the 1500C with a premounted ortofon red. Oh well. The 1200GR is a tank. The best table I've ever had. My first technics from 1976 got destroyed by movers along with a kenwood receiver also from 1976. Last year got a Yamaha integrated amp A-S1200. It was like $3,000.00!! So my setup is pretty good now. Funny I have 2 different 1200's from 2 different companies. Still have my kenwood 777D speakers I bought in 1976. Technics closed the plant in Japan last year and everything will be built at one facility in Malaysia. I hope the high standards are maintained!! This Yamaha amp was built it Malaysia too and it's rugged and built like a tank. HEAVY!! I had to roll the box into my house!! It's pure analog no DAC! And vu meters. OLD SCHOOL!! 😃😃
Sounds like a journey! Glad you find the set up you enjoy, that's the ultimate goal. The anti-skating on the AT120 series is just wonky. I noticed that when I tested my LP120 USB. However, since it plays smoothly and is reliable, I would still recommend them if their budget and needs align with it.
Vinyl records are not as travel friendly as CDs. The prices of vinyl is not like it was in the late 60s and early 70s when you could get an album for three or four dollars. I started collecting vinyl albums in 1968 when I was ten. The first album I ever bought was "Help!" by The Beatles. I paid $2.69 for it. By 1989 I had almost 900 albums. Everything changed when my brother came to visit me with a Sony Discman and asked me to hook it up to the auxiliary on my amplifier. He had the CD "Led Zeppelin I" and after hearing it I never bought another vinyl album. I went out the next day and purchased my own portable CD player and began replacing my favorite albums with CDs. By 1992 I had 200 CDs and sold my record collection (minus the Beatle albums) for $500. I never regretted it. Vinyl was great when that was as good as you could get, but it's not the case anymore. With vinyl, a few scratches can ruin them. You could have a thousand scratches on a CD and as long as they don't penetrate to the polycarbonate surface they'll keep playing fine. I'm still playing CDs I bought 30 years ago and they sound just as pristine and clear as they did then.
Cool story! I myself grow up with CDs. And I still love CDs even though people keep saying CD is dead, or physical media is dead in general. For me, records are an engaging experience. I understand the limits and struggles of the format. But the fun of researching, collecting, testing, and finally enjoying it is also fascinating.
@@rebeccalankford8573 An Audio-Technica turntable from their LP60 series. Fantastic entry-level 'table, fully-auto, magnetic cartridge, built-in preamp, tracks fairly light, no real 'setup' required. A pair of Edifier R1280T speakers. These are POWERED speakers that do a pretty decent job of producing quality sound at a budget price. Plug in your LP60 and you're good to go. That'll put you in the roughly $300-350 range new. Excellent entry point for vinyl. You can go with better stuff if you want to raise the bar a little bit. But even at this point, there is a profound improvement in the sound quality over those briefcase things, and it'll treat your records MUCH better.
When asking if people would like to explore more of this hobby after listening to a record on a crappy player, didn't you answer that question yourself earlier with "yes"? I've seen many people comment that they similarly upgraded to a better player after owning a suitcase one precisely because their interest was ignited on them and they wanted to experience playing records better. Also, don't forget that both those players are marketed at different people. Parents buy those cheap ones for their kids to play those records that have been collecting dust in the attic, they're not hooking them up to their own Yamaha super surround systems. At least those records are getting played again.
i have one plays fine no skipping and sounds like the artists. don't know what all the complaining is but if you want a higher end trurntable try a technics or pioneer. these type of suitcase styles are repiicas of ones that were made in the 1950's and 1960's
It’s not a turntable, nor has it ever been marketed and sold as such. It’s a record player. Yes, there is a difference. You are comparing apples and oranges.
@@vinylanatomy7888 Face facts. It is not a turntable, my friend. Once again, your comparison, weighted unfairly, is apples and oranges. And you know it.
I understand a "turntable" is different from a "record player." And the video is about how different they are and why they can sound so different. Since they are both designed for playing records, I don't think comparing them or showing the differences is unfair. And I did point out the advantage of the suitcase styled player too.
@@ArthurJS123 How do you describe listening to gear vs music? After all the gear is playing music, some ppl may analyze/dissect the sound ie the speakers, moving ear up or down the speaker to see if woofer and tweeter levels are equal. I've been watching GR research on how he analyses speakers, upgrading crossovers from cheesy parts to quality parts and redesign of Xover circuit
hi there jojo it's j frye i have a very bad feeling that I do not want chuo denshi ceramic stylus on my turntable i want to stick with audio technica stylus on my kenwood turntable.
IMHO, actually, the Crosley Cruiser Deluxe is decent compared to the original Cruiser record player because the Cruiser Deluxe has a "Pitch" control knob where you can control the pace (i.e. tempo) of the record that you're playing regardless of what type of record that you're playing, be it 33 1/3, 45 and 78. The original Cruiser didn't have a "Pitch" control knob. IMHO, Crosley has a few decent record players, aside from this one, which are the Crosley Collegiate (which reminds me of the record players that were used in schools that teachers played records on), the Crosley Advance USB turntable, which you can hook up to your computer to make MP3 music files of your music or it can also be used as a stand-alone turntable and last but not least, the Crosley Tripper, which I got for Christmas last year. The latter two also have "Pitch" control knobs where, again, you can control the tempo (i.e. pace) of the record that you're playing. I am enjoying my Crosley Tripper very much. I actually have it at the right tempo for the records and it sounds very good, IMHO. Thanks for uploading the video as I thought it was very informative and entertaining.
Pitch control doesn't make up for the poor quality build or poor sound. These might be fun when your 12 years old playing with your easy bake oven and Ken and Barbie dolls.
Remember the days when LP's cost LESS than 5 bucks each?Was TRUELY a "Hi-Fi" bargain.Not so now.Think many record collectors just buy the records because of the cover art.And when you buy like 2 records-equal to the price of the "suitcase"TT.
I don't hate them, but I won't buy one. They're cheap plastic crap, not that there's anything wrong with that. But there should be a company that can build something with a retro style that's a quality product. Heck, I even wish they'd bring back automatic changers so I could stack a few albums up like I can on my vintage Fisher 125 made in 1968. Yes, it has a BSR turntable and uses an idler wheel but it has a metal platter and uses a Pickering V-15 moving magnet cartridge and it also has screws to adjust tracking force and where the needle drops. I also have NOS styli for it for playing modern microgroove records or wide groove 78's (I also have modern microgroove 78's and they sound awesome on it). A friend of mine repaired the tuner/amplifier of the system replacing the caps and I restored the turntable as it and it's controls were locked up as the lubricant had basically turned to cement. It now performs wonderfully but every couple of months I have to remove the turntable to clean out the control pots and then hit them with a shot of D5 Deoxit and that's really getting old, lol.
You're comparing a suitcase record player to a turntable? Why? If you want to compare Crosley vs Audio-Technica you'd need to compare the Crosley C8, or at least the C6 vs the AT. This video is pointless. It's like comparing a bicycle vs a BMW and pointing out the obvious differences
Pointing out the short comings of these suitcase players is not pointless. Not everybody wants to start at the bottom. I bought my first technics when I was 18 when I joined the service when I was around people who had good stereo equipment. I had no idea what a good turntable was. At least some people might get a better start into records and stay if there entry into vinyl is a good experience.
I wish people would stop saying "These suitcase players bring more people into the vinyl community." I, for one, don't want that. They seem to be driving up the cost of records & making it harder to find the selections I look for. And they're increasing the kitsch factor and those silly multi-colored records they seem to be attracted to. Just give me the record on regular black vinyl, thanks. I'm trying to get music I love. I'm not "collecting." This isn't a hobby for me.
It doesn't make sense people spending a lot of money on new or collectable records when they're not going to get the full enjoyment and sound quality that records are capable of and the potential of damaging valuable records. I remember having the same or similar record player in all in one systems back in the early 90's and buying a brand new record and playing it having it skip. Then the poor sound quality made me shy away from records as I'm sure it did with other people until I started getting decent second hand turntables and starting to realise the full potential of vinyl records.
I have to say I have had a $30. turntable since 2016. And it has NOT ruined any of my records.
The skipping and skating was probably due to the cueing lever not lowering all the way. That is a common problem with these players when they're new -- the soft-damped cueing lever is a little _too_ damped and doesn't fully lower, causing the stylus to make poor contact with the grooves. The fix is easy: just push down on the cueing lever post to make sure it is fully lowered.
The one and only VWestlife :) Welcome! On my case I'm pretty sure it's the cartridge, but thank you for the info. It should help other people encounter this problem with their Cruisers
Please tell me I’m not the only one who heard his voice while reading this.
@@paulblackman8159 I did too lol
Luckily my Crosley has never skipped so far.
Awesome down to earth facts and real science to show what you mean. Outstanding take on not just saying it's "bad" but actually why. To many don't take the time and just bash blindly. What needs to be made is a good player like the 120 with good speakers. Sometimes you just wanna listen to an LP without dragging 50lbs of equipment into a room
@Johny Jocker "secondly because the first thing I mentioned I have nothing more to say" keeps spouting off.
You're right about one thing
don't knock someone just because they are getting into
the hobby.
True and fair review... crosley has a lot to offer vinyl lovers and beginners... with the cheapest of the cheap record players,,, to top of the line audiophile grade turntables..
My primary turntable is the Audio Technica LP120. I upgraded the stylus to the brown Shibata model, which was well worth the $180 I spent. I tell people to get a record player or turntable with a magnetic cartridge if it is in their budget.
Agreed. How do you like the Shibata? I got a VM-Shibata cartridge recently. I plan to review it but haven't drawn my conclusion about the performance.
@@vinylanatomy7888 I love it! It’s much less finicky than the included green stylus in my experience.
I own a all in one with the same table in it. Table was never stable and tone arm glides across the record when using the cue, scratching the records. Owned it 5 years and has only played 5 records. Now is so slow. Now my 40-50 year old Duals still play great. I do use the jacks on the combo for one thing. I patch cables from the tape out on my analog stereo and go to aux on combo. Then run a record on my Dual with Grado cartridge and burn CDs. They play back beautifully in the car
Im playing 90s norwegian black metal anyway. So crosley being Lofi is great fit for that genre
I agree, the Crosley you buy in the box is probably rubbish when you purchase it. I have one though it ain't so much a Crosley cruiser anymore. For start off, they tend to provide a stylus with a sapphire needle and a plastic cantilever. It's not necessarily bad but you'll get better sound from one with a metal cantilever and diamond needle. I also think the harshness of the plastic cantilever can make records skip in my experience. That's the first thing to swap out.
You can actually get an upgrade for the cartridge - BANPA BP2ATC or Vakind P-192D. Both take a flip over 78/LP BSR ST 17 stylus. I've currently got the Vakind P-192D on mine with a diamond tipped flip over stylus.
Tracking force - well, most MM turntables are designed to track light (1-3g) and as a result need anti-skate. However, the Crosley has a ceramic cartridge. They need a higher tracking force so don't need an anti-skate mechanism. Anything up to 5g of tracking weight is fine. Some older ceramic carts tracked way higher than that! My Crosley was just over 5g and with the new Valkind cartridge and stylus I have managed to get it to just over 4g using some counterweights.
Most cheap end suitcase player manufacturors (and this is not restricted to them) don't know the difference between a MM cartridge and a Ceramic cartridge. I didn't until I did research. Ceramic's need to go into an amp with a High Impedence (like a guitar does) If you feed a ceramic into a solid state amp the result is flat and tinny (sound familiar) You can get round this on the Crosley by using a high impedence preamp between the tonearm and main amp.
I wanted to upgrade the speakers and make it louder so went the whole hog and ripped out the Crosley mainboard and put together a high impedence preamp from a schematic on the web and purchased a 10w amp pcb. Coupled with the 10w full range speakers, mp3 decoder board I threw in the side for good measures and made it rechargeable (using laptop batteries and a lithium charging circuit) All in all, it's a good little player. WIll it sound as good as a turntable with a MM cartridge? No, but the beauty of it is I can grab a box of 45's and go down to the beach and play them if I wished to do so :)
Here's my Crosley BTW and I'm still tweaking it to try and make it better... th-cam.com/video/pE4EqKm6jUc/w-d-xo.html
Great video! There seems to be alot of pushback. Some people just don't like to be told they spent there money on a piece of junk. Shame too. A few years ago the AT lp120 had serious problems with the anti skate. It didn't work. The AT crowd still defended these plastic made in China turntables. For alot of people at the bottom of the entry level cheap price is valued more than quality. For some reason they don't want to know they can spend a little more money and get something better.
Thank you!
@@vinylanatomy7888 I personally don't have a problem with Audio Technica. At the time the anti skate problem turned me off. Several years ago I spent alot of time agonizing over a new turntable. Everything had a issue I didn't like. I wanted to replace my 1983 Technics the only company I have ever had turntables with. Then Technics came back!! Finally the 1200GR came out. I agonized about having to buy a cartridge. The place I ordered from sold me a ortofon bronze and mounted it for me. I was saved. This was Jan 2020. A week after I ordered it Technics came out with the 1500C with a premounted ortofon red. Oh well. The 1200GR is a tank. The best table I've ever had. My first technics from 1976 got destroyed by movers along with a kenwood receiver also from 1976. Last year got a Yamaha integrated amp A-S1200. It was like $3,000.00!! So my setup is pretty good now. Funny I have 2 different 1200's from 2 different companies. Still have my kenwood 777D speakers I bought in 1976. Technics closed the plant in Japan last year and everything will be built at one facility in Malaysia. I hope the high standards are maintained!! This Yamaha amp was built it Malaysia too and it's rugged and built like a tank. HEAVY!! I had to roll the box into my house!! It's pure analog no DAC! And vu meters. OLD SCHOOL!! 😃😃
Sounds like a journey! Glad you find the set up you enjoy, that's the ultimate goal.
The anti-skating on the AT120 series is just wonky. I noticed that when I tested my LP120 USB.
However, since it plays smoothly and is reliable, I would still recommend them if their budget and needs align with it.
very informative; thank you Jojo!
Vinyl records are not as travel friendly as CDs. The prices of vinyl is not like it was in the late 60s and early 70s when you could get an album for three or four dollars.
I started collecting vinyl albums in 1968 when I was ten. The first album I ever bought was "Help!" by The Beatles. I paid $2.69 for it. By 1989 I had almost 900 albums. Everything changed when my brother came to visit me with a Sony Discman and asked me to hook it up to the auxiliary on my amplifier. He had the CD "Led Zeppelin I" and after hearing it I never bought another vinyl album. I went out the next day and purchased my own portable CD player and began replacing my favorite albums with CDs. By 1992 I had 200 CDs and sold my record collection (minus the Beatle albums) for $500. I never regretted it. Vinyl was great when that was as good as you could get, but it's not the case anymore. With vinyl, a few scratches can ruin them. You could have a thousand scratches on a CD and as long as they don't penetrate to the polycarbonate surface they'll keep playing fine. I'm still playing CDs I bought 30 years ago and they sound just as pristine and clear as they did then.
Cool story! I myself grow up with CDs. And I still love CDs even though people keep saying CD is dead, or physical media is dead in general.
For me, records are an engaging experience. I understand the limits and struggles of the format. But the fun of researching, collecting, testing, and finally enjoying it is also fascinating.
So much work - nice job
What would you suggest for stability and good sound not breaking the bank?
It depends on the budget.
@@vinylanatomy7888 let's say 3, 5 and 8 hundred. Three should be a good range to pick from.
@@rebeccalankford8573
An Audio-Technica turntable from their LP60 series. Fantastic entry-level 'table, fully-auto, magnetic cartridge, built-in preamp, tracks fairly light, no real 'setup' required.
A pair of Edifier R1280T speakers. These are POWERED speakers that do a pretty decent job of producing quality sound at a budget price. Plug in your LP60 and you're good to go.
That'll put you in the roughly $300-350 range new. Excellent entry point for vinyl. You can go with better stuff if you want to raise the bar a little bit. But even at this point, there is a profound improvement in the sound quality over those briefcase things, and it'll treat your records MUCH better.
When asking if people would like to explore more of this hobby after listening to a record on a crappy player, didn't you answer that question yourself earlier with "yes"?
I've seen many people comment that they similarly upgraded to a better player after owning a suitcase one precisely because their interest was ignited on them and they wanted to experience playing records better.
Also, don't forget that both those players are marketed at different people.
Parents buy those cheap ones for their kids to play those records that have been collecting dust in the attic, they're not hooking them up to their own Yamaha super surround systems.
At least those records are getting played again.
i have one plays fine no skipping and sounds like the artists. don't know what all the complaining is but if you want a higher end trurntable try a technics or pioneer. these type of suitcase styles are repiicas of ones that were made in the 1950's and 1960's
What's all the complaining about?? Did you watch the video?? 🤧🤧🤧
Awesome video as always i learned so much ( ◜‿◝ )
Keep it up JoJo!
It’s not a turntable, nor has it ever been marketed and sold as such. It’s a record player. Yes, there is a difference. You are comparing apples and oranges.
My friend, go to Crosley.com and see what they call it...
@@vinylanatomy7888 Face facts. It is not a turntable, my friend. Once again, your comparison, weighted unfairly, is apples and oranges. And you know it.
I understand a "turntable" is different from a "record player."
And the video is about how different they are and why they can sound so different.
Since they are both designed for playing records, I don't think comparing them or showing the differences is unfair.
And I did point out the advantage of the suitcase styled player too.
@@vinylanatomy7888 I’m thinking you don’t listen to music, but, to your gear. This is supposed to be fun, not science.
@@ArthurJS123 How do you describe listening to gear vs music? After all the gear is playing music, some ppl may analyze/dissect the sound ie the speakers, moving ear up or down the speaker to see if woofer and tweeter levels are equal. I've been watching GR research on how he analyses speakers, upgrading crossovers from cheesy parts to quality parts and redesign of Xover circuit
hi there jojo it's j frye i have a very bad feeling that I do not want chuo denshi ceramic stylus on my turntable i want to stick with audio technica stylus on my kenwood turntable.
This is the best video explaining why Crosley record players are not worth buying!
My crosley is 👍
IMHO, actually, the Crosley Cruiser Deluxe is decent compared to the original Cruiser record player because the Cruiser Deluxe has a "Pitch" control knob where you can control the pace (i.e. tempo) of the record that you're playing regardless of what type of record that you're playing, be it 33 1/3, 45 and 78. The original Cruiser didn't have a "Pitch" control knob. IMHO, Crosley has a few decent record players, aside from this one, which are the Crosley Collegiate (which reminds me of the record players that were used in schools that teachers played records on), the Crosley Advance USB turntable, which you can hook up to your computer to make MP3 music files of your music or it can also be used as a stand-alone turntable and last but not least, the Crosley Tripper, which I got for Christmas last year. The latter two also have "Pitch" control knobs where, again, you can control the tempo (i.e. pace) of the record that you're playing. I am enjoying my Crosley Tripper very much. I actually have it at the right tempo for the records and it sounds very good, IMHO. Thanks for uploading the video as I thought it was very informative and entertaining.
Glad to hear from people who enjoy their Crosley :)
I'm going to review some "traditional" style Crosley turntable soon ;)
Pitch control doesn't make up for the poor quality build or poor sound. These might be fun when your 12 years old playing with your easy bake oven and Ken and Barbie dolls.
Remember the days when LP's cost LESS than 5 bucks each?Was TRUELY a "Hi-Fi" bargain.Not so now.Think many record collectors just buy the records because of the cover art.And when you buy like 2 records-equal to the price of the "suitcase"TT.
I don't hate them, but I won't buy one. They're cheap plastic crap, not that there's anything wrong with that. But there should be a company that can build something with a retro style that's a quality product. Heck, I even wish they'd bring back automatic changers so I could stack a few albums up like I can on my vintage Fisher 125 made in 1968. Yes, it has a BSR turntable and uses an idler wheel but it has a metal platter and uses a Pickering V-15 moving magnet cartridge and it also has screws to adjust tracking force and where the needle drops. I also have NOS styli for it for playing modern microgroove records or wide groove 78's (I also have modern microgroove 78's and they sound awesome on it). A friend of mine repaired the tuner/amplifier of the system replacing the caps and I restored the turntable as it and it's controls were locked up as the lubricant had basically turned to cement. It now performs wonderfully but every couple of months I have to remove the turntable to clean out the control pots and then hit them with a shot of D5 Deoxit and that's really getting old, lol.
What a journey! Keep spinning my friend.
Sir, you're getting down
to the nitty gritty.
You're comparing a suitcase record player to a turntable? Why? If you want to compare Crosley vs Audio-Technica you'd need to compare the Crosley C8, or at least the C6 vs the AT. This video is pointless. It's like comparing a bicycle vs a BMW and pointing out the obvious differences
Pointing out the short comings of these suitcase players is not pointless. Not everybody wants to start at the bottom. I bought my first technics when I was 18 when I joined the service when I was around people who had good stereo equipment. I had no idea what a good turntable was. At least some people might get a better start into records and stay if there entry into vinyl is a good experience.
I wish people would stop saying "These suitcase players bring more people into the vinyl community." I, for one, don't want that. They seem to be driving up the cost of records & making it harder to find the selections I look for. And they're increasing the kitsch factor and those silly multi-colored records they seem to be attracted to. Just give me the record on regular black vinyl, thanks. I'm trying to get music I love. I'm not "collecting." This isn't a hobby for me.
It doesn't make sense people spending a lot of money on new or collectable records when they're not going to get the full enjoyment and sound quality that records are capable of and the potential of damaging valuable records. I remember having the same or similar record player in all in one systems back in the early 90's and buying a brand new record and playing it having it skip. Then the poor sound quality made me shy away from records as I'm sure it did with other people until I started getting decent second hand turntables and starting to realise the full potential of vinyl records.