Reddit mentions of Crosley CR6019A-BR Executive Portable USB Turntable, Brown

It is a Crosley but word of advice... As cute and kitschy as they look, they WILL ruin any records you play on them. The needle/cartridge gouges into vinyl and over time will destroy it. Highly recommend if she wants to play anything she cares about on it to get a different turntable.

She probably saw something like this- http://www.amazon.com/Crosley-CR6019A-BR-Executive-USB-Enabled-Turntable/dp/B00COSGOLU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1418073151&sr=8-2&keywords=crosley+suitcase

Disclaimer: I don't know anything about this topic.

Looking to buy my first turntable. I just bought the Under Pressure album by Logic on Amazon with intentions to put it on the wall (personal favorite album of all time), but started looking at more vinyls and decided I should probably get a turn table also.

After looking around, I do want to get a portable one with speakers built in, but have heard that speaker quality is going to be trash .etc. Honestly, the speaker quality does not have to be 10/10, as the speakers would only be used in a social listening situation (I Like the idea of being able to bring the turntable over to my friends houses and listen to some LP's). Most of the time I would be listening through Headphones.

I'm listening on a budget, $100 CAD (maybe a bit more if its really worth it). Things like this and this show up on Amazon.

Is it worth going with a portable setup? or should maybe buy some basic speakers and a turntable that doesn't have built in speakers? (I walk everywhere, so carrying an all-in-one unit would be much, much easier than one with separate speakers)

Also, should I make this into it's own thread or leave it here?

Thanks a lot for your help guys!

Vinyl enthusiasts of Reddit, I am a complete noob when it comes to vinyl and I need some help. I am looking at buying a vinyl record player for my soon-to-be wife as a wedding gift, but I have no idea what to look for. She has never had one, and she knows as little as I do about them, so I can't base my search off of her preferences.
I would consider her to be a very casual listener, so something really high quality with a lot of features would just be unnecessary. She really likes the briefcase players (I think that's what they're called like this one. I think something that includes speakers would be best for her, but I've also heard that it compromises audio quality (I have no idea if this is true). I'd like to keep it under $200, as we will both be just out of college and starting real jobs with no real savings yet. Any and all suggestions are welcome.

I am, among other things, a proficient audio engineer as well as well as an electronic technician, so I'm pretty well aware of the differences and limitations of analog and digital audio. Perceived issues with CD sound over analog reproduction from vinyl are pretty easily dismissible, but like religion and politics, facts and relevant information seldom play into the end argument. There are quite passable algorithms and other types of filters that have proven can simulate the "sound" of vinyl from a cd. They have been proven in double blind tests. Moreover, there is no "sound" or resolution for analog music reproduction. Its nothing more that a combination of the limits of the process creating a weighted spectrum that is familiar to some, and desirable to others. Another very amusing test was when one magazine did a double blind test with the same songs played on vinyl and cd. Participants were asked which they thought sounded better. Participants were screened into two groups, one group who expected the vinyl to sound better and one who expected cds to sound better. In both groups, the CD audio renditions were chosen by a majority of people, demonstrating that the predisposition to expect vinyl to sound better. On top of that, I'm literally talking about teenagers who buy 30-40$ records new, then record them to play on their I-Pod because their favorite band says their stuff sounds better on vinyl. If you cant see the hysterical and glaring technical flaws in this process, well then more power to you. I have over 400 albums still, and an old school Pioneer Elite table from the 70's with a Grado cart and needle, as well as a BO linear tracking table. I also know that both are limited by the technology inherent to them and neither sounds as good as a well recorded and mastered CD. Now, I will certainly say in the early days of CD they did a HORRIBLE job of mastering for the medium, and I have actually re-purchased most f my older CDs with remastered versions.

The price on these has gone down quite a bit since a year ago when my kid asked for one from Urban Outfitters.

http://www.amazon.com/Crosley-Traveler-Portable-Turntable-Black/dp/B0000DHVN7

http://www.amazon.com/Crosley-CR6019A-BR-Executive-Portable-Turntable/dp/B00COSGOLU/ref=sr_1_7?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1380903477&sr=1-7&keywords=crosley

http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=15299514d&parentid=APARTMENT_MUSIC

Note that last one comes with a USB sound card built in, converting the analog audio to PCM inherently. This turntable literally makes your records into the identical PCM resolution of a CD. Because it sounds better.....