My little Cowon A2 30 GB Review

**proxops-pete** · 07-18-2006, 01:27 PM

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** · 07-18-2006, 01:49 PM

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** · 07-18-2006, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.....

Thanks Mikey!

So yours does Xvid and Divx video compressions as well?

**proxops-pete** · 07-20-2006, 10:57 AM

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** · 07-22-2006, 12:04 AM

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** · 07-22-2006, 12:21 AM

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** · 07-22-2006, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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

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

**proxops-pete** · 08-03-2006, 05:44 PM

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** · 08-03-2006, 06:18 PM

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** · 08-03-2006, 07:47 PM

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

**proxops-pete** · 08-04-2006, 01:42 PM

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

**Colossus** · 08-04-2006, 02:34 PM

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

**proxops-pete** · 08-04-2006, 02:36 PM

welcome to the A2 club!

**Colossus** · 08-04-2006, 08:04 PM

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** · 08-05-2006, 12:06 AM

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?

07-18-2006, 01:27 PM	#1
proxops-pete Capt. Picard Fan Mod Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Houston, we have lift off! Posts: 9,528	My little Cowon A2 30 GB Review 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 __________________ C2D E7200 @ 3.2 GHz\|Zalman CNPS9500 LED\|Gigabyte GA-P35-S3G Silver Cooler Master Wave Master\|4 GB A-DATA PC2 6400\|Antec TruePower Trio 550W Asus HD 4850 512MB\|Catalyst 9.7\|Acer 20" X-Fi XtremeMusic\|Klipsch ProMedia 2.1\|Sennheiser HD-580 Logitech WingMan RumblePad USB\|Logitech G5\|Win XP Pro SP2\|APC SmartUPS SUA1500 My Blah-g \| Heatware & eBay \| the Gamer Planet \| Xfire

07-18-2006, 01:49 PM	#2
mikeysg Fraggin' Necromorph butts Join Date: May 2003 Location: USG Ishimura Posts: 8,315	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..... __________________ Sharky Extreme 3DMark Team 3DMark03: 117658 3DMark05 : 27033 3DMark06 : 22979 3DMark Vantage : P20360 Intel C2Q X9650 @3.9ghz \| Asus P5E \| 6GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800 \| TRUE 120 Black \| PC+Sapp HD5870 CFX \| Team 128GB SSD (OS) \| 2x 150GB WD Raptor + 500GB WD Caviar \| X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS + Z-5500 + Razer HP1 \| Logitech G15 + G9 \| SilverStone OP1000 PSU \| Soldam XR-1 Black Knight \| Benq FP241W + 2x G2400WD \| 64bit Win7 HP Please Help Us Save Ana http://www.jpages.net/HelpAna.htm

07-20-2006, 10:57 AM	#4
proxops-pete Capt. Picard Fan Mod Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Houston, we have lift off! Posts: 9,528	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... __________________ C2D E7200 @ 3.2 GHz\|Zalman CNPS9500 LED\|Gigabyte GA-P35-S3G Silver Cooler Master Wave Master\|4 GB A-DATA PC2 6400\|Antec TruePower Trio 550W Asus HD 4850 512MB\|Catalyst 9.7\|Acer 20" X-Fi XtremeMusic\|Klipsch ProMedia 2.1\|Sennheiser HD-580 Logitech WingMan RumblePad USB\|Logitech G5\|Win XP Pro SP2\|APC SmartUPS SUA1500 My Blah-g \| Heatware & eBay \| the Gamer Planet \| Xfire

07-22-2006, 12:04 AM	#5
proxops-pete Capt. Picard Fan Mod Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Houston, we have lift off! Posts: 9,528	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! __________________ C2D E7200 @ 3.2 GHz\|Zalman CNPS9500 LED\|Gigabyte GA-P35-S3G Silver Cooler Master Wave Master\|4 GB A-DATA PC2 6400\|Antec TruePower Trio 550W Asus HD 4850 512MB\|Catalyst 9.7\|Acer 20" X-Fi XtremeMusic\|Klipsch ProMedia 2.1\|Sennheiser HD-580 Logitech WingMan RumblePad USB\|Logitech G5\|Win XP Pro SP2\|APC SmartUPS SUA1500 My Blah-g \| Heatware & eBay \| the Gamer Planet \| Xfire Last edited by proxops-pete; 07-22-2006 at 12:05 AM.

07-22-2006, 12:21 AM	#6
rimmerchant Great White Shark Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 8,483	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 __________________ C2D Q6600 @ 3.2 ghz, EVGA 9800GX2 1gb, FireMV 4x DVI 256meg, Enermax Liberty 620watt PSU, Gigabyte GA-965PDS3 mobo, 4x2gb OCZ DDR2 800mhz, 32gb SSD + 320g Maxtor SATAII HD+ WD Raptor X 150g, SB Xi-Fi Extreme Gamer, WinTV PVR 150, 16x DVDRW Liteon, Logitech Cordless MX3100 desktop w MX1000 mouse + G9 laser mouse, Logitech cordless rumblepad 2, Sennheiser HDR100 wireless headset, ATI Remote Wonder II, Logitech QuickCamPro 9000, Triple 24" Widescrn LCD + MATROX TRIPLEHEAD2GO, WinXP prosp2

08-03-2006, 05:44 PM	#8
proxops-pete Capt. Picard Fan Mod Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Houston, we have lift off! Posts: 9,528	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! __________________ C2D E7200 @ 3.2 GHz\|Zalman CNPS9500 LED\|Gigabyte GA-P35-S3G Silver Cooler Master Wave Master\|4 GB A-DATA PC2 6400\|Antec TruePower Trio 550W Asus HD 4850 512MB\|Catalyst 9.7\|Acer 20" X-Fi XtremeMusic\|Klipsch ProMedia 2.1\|Sennheiser HD-580 Logitech WingMan RumblePad USB\|Logitech G5\|Win XP Pro SP2\|APC SmartUPS SUA1500 My Blah-g \| Heatware & eBay \| the Gamer Planet \| Xfire

08-03-2006, 06:18 PM	#9
Colossus By the Power of Greyskull Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Reading, MA Posts: 21,015	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 __________________ Intel QX9650\|Asus Rampage\|Asus EAH5970\|8GB G.Skill\|(2) WD Velociraptor 300GB (RAID 0)\|(4) WD 1TB Caviar Black (RAID 5)\|PC P&C 1.2kw\|Lian Li V2010B\|(2) BenQ FP241WZ 24" LCD ReadyNAS Pro 12TB NAS Server (X-RAID2) ReadyNAS NV+ 6TB NAS Server (X-RAID)

08-03-2006, 07:47 PM	#10
Terry Great White Shark Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 10,131	It's not illegal if they don't catch you __________________ Member of TSGG & ITG HEATWARE Follow me down the rabbit hole: Spoiler Down we go! Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler almost..... Spoiler just a couple more clicks to find out what the Matrix really is Spoiler You are spending too much time on Sharky Spoiler one more click to find out the truth about TSGG Spoiler actually, 2 more Spoiler Dude? Spoiler Gal? Spoiler If sig allow 500+char, you would have found out… Game Over

08-04-2006, 01:42 PM	#11
proxops-pete Capt. Picard Fan Mod Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Houston, we have lift off! Posts: 9,528	Uh... let's not jack the thread... colossus, you have issues. __________________ C2D E7200 @ 3.2 GHz\|Zalman CNPS9500 LED\|Gigabyte GA-P35-S3G Silver Cooler Master Wave Master\|4 GB A-DATA PC2 6400\|Antec TruePower Trio 550W Asus HD 4850 512MB\|Catalyst 9.7\|Acer 20" X-Fi XtremeMusic\|Klipsch ProMedia 2.1\|Sennheiser HD-580 Logitech WingMan RumblePad USB\|Logitech G5\|Win XP Pro SP2\|APC SmartUPS SUA1500 My Blah-g \| Heatware & eBay \| the Gamer Planet \| Xfire

08-04-2006, 02:34 PM	#12
Colossus By the Power of Greyskull Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Reading, MA Posts: 21,015	I know I do, but my A2 is sitting at home waiting for me to molest it. __________________ Intel QX9650\|Asus Rampage\|Asus EAH5970\|8GB G.Skill\|(2) WD Velociraptor 300GB (RAID 0)\|(4) WD 1TB Caviar Black (RAID 5)\|PC P&C 1.2kw\|Lian Li V2010B\|(2) BenQ FP241WZ 24" LCD ReadyNAS Pro 12TB NAS Server (X-RAID2) ReadyNAS NV+ 6TB NAS Server (X-RAID)

08-04-2006, 02:36 PM	#13
proxops-pete Capt. Picard Fan Mod Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Houston, we have lift off! Posts: 9,528	welcome to the A2 club! __________________ C2D E7200 @ 3.2 GHz\|Zalman CNPS9500 LED\|Gigabyte GA-P35-S3G Silver Cooler Master Wave Master\|4 GB A-DATA PC2 6400\|Antec TruePower Trio 550W Asus HD 4850 512MB\|Catalyst 9.7\|Acer 20" X-Fi XtremeMusic\|Klipsch ProMedia 2.1\|Sennheiser HD-580 Logitech WingMan RumblePad USB\|Logitech G5\|Win XP Pro SP2\|APC SmartUPS SUA1500 My Blah-g \| Heatware & eBay \| the Gamer Planet \| Xfire

08-04-2006, 08:04 PM	#14
Colossus By the Power of Greyskull Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Reading, MA Posts: 21,015	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. __________________ Intel QX9650\|Asus Rampage\|Asus EAH5970\|8GB G.Skill\|(2) WD Velociraptor 300GB (RAID 0)\|(4) WD 1TB Caviar Black (RAID 5)\|PC P&C 1.2kw\|Lian Li V2010B\|(2) BenQ FP241WZ 24" LCD ReadyNAS Pro 12TB NAS Server (X-RAID2) ReadyNAS NV+ 6TB NAS Server (X-RAID)

08-05-2006, 12:06 AM	#15
Colossus By the Power of Greyskull Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Reading, MA Posts: 21,015	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? __________________ Intel QX9650\|Asus Rampage\|Asus EAH5970\|8GB G.Skill\|(2) WD Velociraptor 300GB (RAID 0)\|(4) WD 1TB Caviar Black (RAID 5)\|PC P&C 1.2kw\|Lian Li V2010B\|(2) BenQ FP241WZ 24" LCD ReadyNAS Pro 12TB NAS Server (X-RAID2) ReadyNAS NV+ 6TB NAS Server (X-RAID)

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