Gizmodo
The Cowon Q5W could be one of the most feature-rich PMPs we've seen yet, even beating out Archos's big boys in terms of how much stuff you can cram into a music and video player. Oh, and it's not nearly as un-carriable as the Archos devices either, which is fantastic.
It's got Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a 600MHz processor, 5-inch touchscreen LCD, 40-60GB of storage, flash-player, wireless remote, FM radio, voice recorder, stereo speakers, component/composite/S-Video TV out, RAW support for various cameras, super video codec support (DivX, XviD, MPEG4, WMV7/8/9) at 720x480, super audio support MP3, WMA, ASF, OGG, WAV, FLAC, APE, MPC), and a battery life of 13 hours (audio) and seven hours (video). Best of all it's only $549 for the 40GB version and $599 for the 60GB version. Even better? There's an optional car mount in order to either use all its multimedia capabilities on, OR, use it as a GPS! Stick around for a hands-on of this in the next couple of days. [Cowon]
Comments
BOI-OI-OI-OING!!
That's some good stuff right there man.
Makes me wish I was rich!
I have a cowon d2 and its fantastic. I would buy anything they make after using a d2 for a year.
That is freaking amazing.
i'll stil buy the archos 605 WiFi, the 30GB version is only $300, cheaper if you buy it amazon...
If only it came with more HDD space...
The specs sheet on the site does not mention GPS.
more info?
We need video :o
My comments aint showing up? What up with that >.>
And with the Wifi, I'll be able to chat about Oral Sex on this boner-iffic little device. Gadget-pr0n indeed!
Cowon products are great. I have an A2 and it is better than comparable Archos gear, IMHO. The Q5W rocks, judging from the specs. Price is pretty steep, though. Maybe if I sell my A2 and my Garmin GPS ...
Yeah, it's thinner than the Archos, but for all that thickness, you get about twice the storage capacity over this.
BTW, the A3 is coming out soon with many of the same specs but without the wireless (WiFi and BlueTooth) at a more reasonable price.
Can anyone confirm whether the Q5W has GPS? That might be the deciding factor for me between this and the A3.
One last thing to mention, I have the Cowon X5 MP3 player and the sound quality from Cowon devices rocks! I did a blind listen test to several MP3s on both my Cowon X5 and a iPod, and the Cowon was noticeably better.
@Cptnodegard:
Go troll somwhere else.
I'm writing to Santa RIGHT NOW!
@Cptnodegard:
Congratulations on your successful 'blind blog test.' We don't care.
I am finishing up the Q5W review on [gadgetaholic.com]]. Hopefully, by the end of today.
Just a heads up. Even though the Q5W packs more features than any PMPs out there, its usability is very questionable. It relies heavily on Windows CE 5.0 user interface, which is not very user friendly. Also, some UI elements are too small to be manipulated by the index finger so using the stylus is a must.
By the way, the current version of Windows CE is 6.0, which was released in November of last year; WinCE 5.0 was released in 2004. So keep in mind that the product runs on a 3 year-old operating system.
Lastly, it is quite buggy. I attempted to play a .mov file on it, and the movie player just crashed on me. The unit was not able to locate my WPA-enabled wireless signal. Only when I turn the encryption off that it was able to find it. Once I turned the encryption back on, it was then able to locate the signal again. Also, the WiFi signal drops frequently.
You guys might want to hold on to the Archos 605 WiFi for now.
Again, I'll have the review ready by the end of today. You be the judge whether the Q5W is better than the 605 or not.
I've got my N810 in the mail. Slower processor than the Cowon and no hard drive, but more functionality, can connect to my cell phone for Edge connection, and has built-in GPS with maps.
The Cowon has nice specs, but it's a bit too much of a multi-media player and not enough of a general-purpose "information" device for my needs. Your mileage may vary.
can it do my dishes?
Oh, and I haven't seen that question in a while: does it blend?
@guiscard: My experience is different. After using an A2 and having to get it replaced twice after 2 defective units with 2 different problems, I think I'll pass on any more Cowon products for now. I have since replaced it with a Creative Zen Vision W. I like the user interface and features a lot more on the Cowon, but I haven't had any reliability problems with the Creative.
@yogibimbi:
The question now is: Does it SMASH?
@Cptnodegard:
Hope you got 5 bux
Looks nice... but I'd only buy something like this if it worked better than my Archos 604, had GPS, and was homebrew friendly. Specially at that price.
But it's nice to see some competition to Archos. As there are few companies with full blown PMPs, they tend to exploit their users charging ridiculous prices for every little piece of add-on on their players...
imagine someone uses an armband to wear it like an iPod, it would be nice ;))
woah there apple! what's that nipping at your proverbial heels? is it a sexy video player bogged down with flaws and a 3 year operating system? watch out, i think it's like 5 or 7 blocks away! it could strike at any moment!
i'm no windows hater, but windows CE really ruined this player for me.
I assume for the people asking about gps, that you could just buy a bluetooth gps adapter for 40 quid, and load whatever gps software you preferred onto it. Gamnin, tomtom, they all usually make standalone software that can be put on devices like this.
I had tomtom on my phone.. without having gps built into it.
@apelaw9: Trouble is, that no matter how much windows CE sucks, its still a better option to me, simply because it can be updated with software when and where i want. In that respect alone, this thing laps any apple mobile device.
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