Coby recalls 12,000 DVD boomboxes due to fire hazard

We've all broken down and done a little late-night discount pharmacy gadget shopping, so we promise not to judge -- but if you've got a Coby DVD boombox stashed away in your place, you might want to run and unplug it real quick. Coby's just issued a recall of 12,000 TF-DVD170 and TF-DVD176 DVD boomboxes sold between May 2006 and October 2007 because they have the unfortunate habit of overheating and starting fires. This isn't the first time we've mentioned the words "Coby," "overheat," "fire" and "recall" all in one post -- looks like 2006 was a bad year to be a Coby fanboy.

[Jeff @ Nov 10th 2007 3:54AM]

KA-BOOOOOOOM!

[toronado455 @ Nov 10th 2007 4:49AM]

Or should that be "COBOOOOMY!"? (-:

[lexxdiamons @ Nov 10th 2007 10:12AM]

or maybe KA-BOOOOOOOM BOX!

[ugg.tryptophan @ Nov 10th 2007 6:41PM]

12,000 gifts for mother-in-law

[Lester Nelson @ Nov 10th 2007 5:57AM]

2006? Did you really just say 2006? We're nearing the end of 2007, guys! Haha. It's all right. I still occasionally write "2004" on my checks.

[The Procastinator @ Nov 10th 2007 6:10AM]

The phrase

"Flaming Bag of Poo"

comes to mind...

[Patrick @ Nov 10th 2007 6:21AM]

What did anyone expect from a brand that was started because they thought the name "Coby" looked enough like Sony, that they might actually fool people into buying their stuff instead of the name brand.

Which is not to say Sony's stuff is all that great, but it's usually better than Coby's.

Coby's only claim to fame is that they're often the cheapest brand of junk electronics in stores like Family Dollar or Dollar General or Woolworths, but lately they've increased their price points so much that the stores that birthed them no longer even carry the brand. Now Coby is showing up in places like Target but it's only because the price points went up, not because the products are any better than the old $14.99 walkman clones Coby used to sell, the ones with headphones that made you deaf and hurt your head, before they just broke and fell off.

[Eric @ Nov 10th 2007 10:45AM]

Good point, but when I was a lad of 16, we had a discount store that carried a brand called Goldstar. They made mostly crap VCRs that worked for a year or so, but were so cheap you didn't feel bad about tossing them in the dumpster. That company went on to merge with Lucky to become Lucky/Goldstar. We know them in the states as LG

And now you know... the rest of the story...

So don't think that Colby can't get better. They already know how to make stuff cheap. It's much easier for them to improve quality than for someone else to lower costs.

[Jesse S @ Nov 10th 2007 5:54PM]

LG still isn't that good. Their monitors and TV's are mid-end at best, and there are much better choices to choose from when it comes to appliances.

[BrettB @ Nov 10th 2007 10:03AM]

Is there such a thing as a Coby fanboy? Just wondering.

[nevertrustafinn @ Nov 10th 2007 10:11AM]

There's linux fanboys. why shouldn't there be coby fanboys. at least coby works right out of the box and looks good.

[Mark @ Nov 10th 2007 10:27AM]

and burns your house down

[Natedog @ Nov 10th 2007 11:34AM]

Looks like soooommmebody likes paying for his software... and isn't intelligent enough to install something that's now every bit as easy to install as Windows.

[BrettB @ Nov 10th 2007 11:51AM]

What does Coby have to do with Linux? My impression is that it is just a cheap electronics manufacturer. Not exactly the kind of company with fanboys. If I'm wrong, my bad. Sorry if they happen to make something you own/like.

[strider_mt2k @ Nov 10th 2007 12:40PM]

The Coby/Linux comparison was...well, sheer jackassery, sorry.

Coby = POS Discount Consumer Electronics

Linux = Alternative Operating System for computers and non-sheep

Coby isn't an operating system, and Linux isn't a Piece Of Shit.

[joe @ Nov 10th 2007 12:56PM]

Linux and Coby both don't have any decent games.

[applefreak @ Nov 10th 2007 1:52PM]

Dell is shiping PCs with Ubuntu 7.0 skip the whole instal thing
as a bonus, it looks great too

[Flalex @ Nov 10th 2007 3:20PM]

doomboxes

[John @ Nov 10th 2007 3:48PM]

Far be it from me to stand up for an ish brand like Coby, but I DO have one of their digital pic frames, and the display is really quite nice, as good as a lot of other that in most cases cost well over a $100 more!

[Fruition @ Nov 10th 2007 3:55PM]

I had the misfortune of buying one of Coby's product's once. I had left my headphones at home and was about to board a four hour train ride, and I needed a replacement pair, and this was the only brand the train station's gift shop sold.

When I plugged them into my laptop, I was suprised they worked at all. But, they were still really crappy. Since then, I've always made sure to bring mine with me, for fear that another Coby product might be in my future...

[Jade Robbins @ Nov 10th 2007 6:01PM]

I personally wish they would have recalled due to "ugly".

[Cody @ Nov 10th 2007 10:41PM]

I'm betting the fire thing was just a ploy to get them off of shelves.

[floyd @ Nov 12th 2007 2:35AM]

Another China recall,,quality is out the window there isn't it.

[Steve Savage @ Nov 14th 2007 2:21AM]

The best quality Communist China products available.

Remember back in the 1960's when "cheap" Japanese goods flooded the USA market...only back then were were so ignorant we didn't realize that their goods were better than ours.

Now its the other way around, the USA is getting flooded with cheap Communist junk. So THAT's how they plan to win the war against the west, bury us in lead-impregnated happy meal toys and consumer electronics that burn down your house.