wsj doesnt want poor people to have access to news, remove the paywall you cowards

200+ gram vinyl is very popular these days, likely due to the popularity of suitcase style record players and their 7 inch platters. thicker vinyl handles the platter overhang better

right on
i used to tell folks that cheap record players were an excellent way to test themselves & see if they had a sprouting interest in more of what the hobby has to offer. i hope you get the most out of it & i think when you do upgrade, youll be really satisfied with the quality shift
take care

these lp60's are perfectly decent turntables for the price, the kind of sound quality that lets you enjoy vinyl but isnt leaning into audiophile territory, could last the rest of your life too. the all-in-one is a functional option but the other would be something to aim for in the future id say

well upon further investigation it seems like they dont make the base model LPGO anymore, only the bluetooth version. i know the normal LP60X is around $150 msrp, would be cheaper if you could get it used but thats inconsistent

if you want to go cheaper, i think logitech has a set of powered speakers for around $40 which wouldnt be bad, and i think walmart has a version of the lp60 called the LP-GO which is around $100, but im not fully sure why; ive never had one in my hands to find out

the combo i used to sell the most of new was the AT-LP60X and a set of edifier bookshelf speakers. i believe the cheapest speakers they sell are around $70, and if youre lucky you can find one of these record players used for around the same price

idk all the different models of them, but everybody used to make them: sony, realistic, optimus, "akai", etc.
the tell is the presence of "start" and "stop" buttons on the front of the unit, a full sized platter, and an AT3600 cartridge/stylus. upgrade the stylus and replace the belt and youre gold

oh ya man, if the vintage style novelty doesnt matter much to you id go with this one for sure. its likely identical on the inside

id say as a CD/cassette player, these things are perfectly fine! cant really go wrong with cheap players on those formats

id consider this style of record player to be the gold standard of cheap. companies have been making them since the 90's and the oldest ones ive seen have still worked excellently, plus since they have used the same cartridge since the start, theyre upgradable with modern styli. $20-50 used

ya theyre definitely cozy looking units, but i think its with malicious intention, to trick older folks into believing its similar to anything theyd have bought in the 60's & charge semi-premium prices despite the manufacturing cost overall being around $20. these things are rotten but they work

in some cases, the radio style ones will have a full sized platter so theres no overhang on your records & that helps a ton, but the rest of the mechanisms (tonearm, cartridge, "plinth") will be identical to a briefcase style turntable

id avoid victrola, they tend to price gouge for much cheaper lower build quality versions of these things. this "no name" brand version is likely better quality. not by much, but somewhat. "apples and oranges"

it destroying records is mostly a myth, but it wouldnt matter much between the two because they likely use the same record player mechanism. ive never seen one of these all-in-ones that doesnt have a near identical mechanism to a briefcase style record player

a used AT-LP60 and a set of computer speakers would blow a briefcase/radio style record player out of the water quality wise, good rec

there are briefcase style record players that are under $50 on amazon that will have a near identical record player mechanism that the 8-in-1 has. not great by any means but it will play records

i worked at a record store for ~6 years and i saw a lot of this type of unit come in non functional months after purchase; we chose not to sell them for this reason. personally id say if you just want a foot in the door with record players, go cheaper

this may be the only thing thatll do what youre looking for. i dont know of many high-quality manufacturers who include extra features like recording to mp3 but a lot of companies using cheap OEM's will include features like this to add some amount of extra value despite very poor quality control