My little Cowon A2 30 GB Review

[proxops-pete]

So I finally got one! It was about $380 from Newegg.com.

Upon opening it, the player is safely packaged (very well, I might add) inside a case...



All extras were there... incl. leather case and strap. The tech specs are found here...

What was the first thing I did, you ask?! Well, Cowon is well-known for frequently updating firmwares for their devices! So I did just that! I upgraded to the latest version 1.61C, another painless thing to do. You unzip it to the top level of the directory. Reboot holding down lever and power button. Wait and voila!

What was important to me is > 20 GB storage, both audio AND video playback. So the fact that this player comes with 4" 480x272 res. 16.7 million color LCD was very nice! It also has the ability to be a photo viewer (also being able to be a USB HOST to download pics and such!), an FM tuner, and (currently useless) DMB TV broadcasting... Another nice feature is the voice recording capability with the mic built-in. While its performance of S/N isn't great (noticeable noise), it was fun to play with my kids and record them singing songs. It's convenient and sure even my onboard sound recording is better than this but kids are more willing to sing around this cutey!

You can also record from the radio, video in (VCR and TV and whatnot), audio in (like a CD player) ... When you hook it up to Win XP OS, it sees it as a portable HDD and you just simply drag and drop your songs and videos. Since this gem supports all 3 popular video compressions (WMV, DivX 3/4/5, and XviD), I can now bring my kids' home made videos and favorite TV shows with me!





While video and images look sharp and crisp, I do miss one thing from my long gone Creative Zen 20 GB player... ability to play mp3s by genre, and track numbers. Anyone know how to??

Also, it's nice to know that this thing can view text files. Eh... Another nice add-on is the speakers! No, it's not loud, but for light video watching (in relatively quiet environment), it works and works well! My kids loved being able to instantly hear back their recorded sessions!!

The controls take a bit getting used to but it works and is fine. It's very well made and a great all-around multimedia device! If it could take pics (even at 1.3 MP), it would be totally awesome! But oh well...

Pros: Capable of lots of things (radio, image, video & audio playback AND record, text viewer. Very crisp video display. Firmware updates.

Cons: Unable to play mp3 by genres or track numbers (ID3 tags).

Verdict: 9/10

[mikeysg]

Gadgets! Everyone loves new gadgets! I kinda understand how you feel pete, kinda remind me of the excitement I'd felt when I'd bought my Archos AV380 'bout two years back (basically the same device). Good review there BTW.....

[proxops-pete]

Gadgets! Everyone loves new gadgets! I kinda understand how you feel pete, kinda remind me of the excitement I'd felt when I'd bought my Archos AV380 'bout two years back (basically the same device). Good review there BTW.....

Thanks Mikey! So yours does Xvid and Divx video compressions as well?

[proxops-pete]

It also has auto-resume feature!!
Like the Windows' "Recent Files", it has the list of the files you have played... and remembers how much you played thru it and resumes from it! Very nice and handy feature in resuming videos...

[proxops-pete]

Oh and another li'l plus... the leather case also folds out to hold the player so you can lay it wherever and watch w/o having to hold it! Ingenious!

[rimmerchant]

nice review. you just remind I have a Icrown Iaudio 4.

just went on the website and found they released a new firmware for it

I love my 1 gig I audio 4. sound quality is sweet

[proxops-pete]

nice review. you just remind I have a Icrown Iaudio 4.

just went on the website and found they released a new firmware for it

I love my 1 gig I audio 4. sound quality is sweet

Indeed... jetAudio/Cowon makes great products...

[proxops-pete]

I must say... as I listen to music more and more, I have to admit how clear and neutral the music sounds when compared to my previous Creative Zen 20 GB. The sound is just so sweet!! Switchfoot sounds so much better with it!

[Colossus]

Sounds better to me

Get mine tomorrow!

But I was just told by my friend, I cannot watch porn on the MTA going to work

[Terry]

It's not illegal if they don't catch you

[proxops-pete]

Uh... let's not jack the thread... colossus, you have issues.

[Colossus]

I know I do, but my A2 is sitting at home waiting for me to molest it.

[proxops-pete]

welcome to the A2 club!

[Colossus]

Well its here and when I first turned it on.. OMG! Sooooo lovely... I love the blue look... I wished the leather case came with belt loops or a way to attach to my pants.. ohh well

But it was much lighter then i thought from all the people posting its weight on the egg. But its sooo sexy...

Now I am downloading a few movies, its a tad slow, got 3 hours of stargate I havent seen yet from my DVR -> PC -> A2... So that will take a bit to download.

I hope the ear buds are good, I am looking at some shure, but not sure. I cant carry my big fat cans around. So... maybe some canal or better buds, if these are subpar.

[Colossus]

Ok I will really need better buds. I cant even keep these in my ear and I dont want to use my full size cans. So suggestions?