Cowon Iaudio A2

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I got my Cowon A2 (30Gb) in February last year and am still a firm believer that this product is just as good, if not better, than an iPod. It has so many features it is astounding! I'll run through all these (or as many that i can remember) later on.

Let me first introduce the makers of this fantastic method of watching video on-the-go. Korean company Cowon are also the producers of the iAudio range. These MP3 players are ...
...also carried on onto the Cowon A2. I must admit, the sound quality of the Cowon A2 is brilliant. Very clear and crisp. This is just one of the reasons why it is great.

You can visit Cowon's website here:
www.cowonglobal.com/

So far, the Cowon A2 is Cowon's only PMP (thought that there may be more coming sparked by extra spaces under the PMP section on their website). Nevertheless, the Cowon A2 is a fantastic first ... more

Why didn't I get an iPod like everyone else? Why not an Archos? I guess I just wanted to be different like always. I wanted to buy a brand of PMP (Portable Media Player) that no one has heard of and yeah, take a gamble.
I'm glad I did!

I got my Cowon A2 (30Gb) in February last year and am still a firm believer that this product is just as good, if not better, than an iPod. It has so many features it is astounding! I'll run through all these (or as many that i can remember) later on.

Let me first introduce the makers of this fantastic method of watching video on-the-go. Korean company Cowon are also the producers of the iAudio range. These MP3 players are said to be of the very highest sound quality and that this was also carried on onto the Cowon A2. I must admit, the sound quality of the Cowon A2 is brilliant. Very clear and crisp. This is just one of the reasons why it is great.

You can visit Cowon's website here:
www.cowonglobal.com/

So far, the Cowon A2 is Cowon's only PMP (thought that there may be more coming sparked by extra spaces under the PMP section on their website). Nevertheless, the Cowon A2 is a fantastic first effort to branch away from primarily MP3 players and into the world of video.

Now, onto the gadget's features:

-=Space=-
I bought the 30Gb version which was considerably less than the 60Gb version at the time i bought it (i had saved up long enough as it was). Now, in the days of ever growing media and broadband, files are getting bigger and my Cowon is getting to the point of bursting. I can't exactly blame them for not having a bigger hard drive like the iPod but as you will see, there are plenty more points which make up for this.
You can actually use the Cowon as a mass storage device like USB key when you have to move exceptionally large files.
You can also use it as a USB host. By using a little adaptor included, you can use the cable used to hook up your other device (ie. camera) with the computer, to connect with the Cowon itself and download files directly. This may help on holidays where large numbers of photos are taken and the memory card is constantly filling up.

=-Video-=
Of course, i have to say something about the video quality. In short, it is gobsmacking. It is a widescreen so any 16:9 format videos work brilliantly. (You actually have the option to extend any 4:3 to a 16:9 ratio and vice versa.)
The whopping 4 inch wide screen (480x272 pixels with 16,000 colours) is brilliant. I can safely say that i have watched many films on this screen and not got tired of looking at it. No headaches or anything from my experience. If the video file is good, it will be displayed good.

You can even add subtitles if you would like. I have not done so because i have no reason to do so but i would believe that it is as easy as assigning subtitles to anything.

The video quality is top quality. Much better quality than i expected from such a small device. I would recommend this product just for that but no no no, i must tell you more!

[ Supported file types and codecs:
• DivX
• XviD
• MPEG4
• WMV9 Codec ]

=-Audio=-
As i said earlier, the sound quality is absolutely top notch. Very fine quality and powerful too! To emphasise certain areas of songs/audiobooks etc which you may be playing, you can set various frequency ranges on the 5 Band Equaliser. NOR, ROC, JAZ, CLA, POP, VOC and USR are the available options. I'm not too sure what they all are but i would guess that:
• NOR = Normal
• ROC = Rock
• JAZ = Jazz
• POP = Pop
• VOC = Vocal
There is also a bass booster which really makes those songs stand out.

You can sing along with you want. Add lyrics to your favourite songs and they will be displayed on screen as the song plays!
You can start playlists directly on the Cowon by selecting individual songs and assigning them to it.
Now, if i had an iPod, i would have to use headphones all the time and get to be the only one who enjoys it (or fork out £50+ for a player). Nah. None of that on the Cowon A2. It has speakers built in! Play music and watch films with everyone around you; only if you want to. There is also a headphone socket just in case you want to shut the world out.

[ Supported file types and codecs:
• MP3
• WMA (ASF)
• OGG
• FLAC
• WAV ]

-=Photos=-

Displaying those photos on this gadget with such a great screen is a real joy. All the photos are shown crisp and clear. If you would like, you can even start a slideshow of a certain folder and let it play as you either hand it to a friend or just sit back and marvel.

[ Supported file types and codecs:
• JPG
• BMP
• PNG ]

-=Text-=-

This surprised me. You can even add text files to it and read them on the go too. One slight annoyance (one of the very few), is that if the file is not a .txt, you have to use the software off Cowon's website. Cowon mTrans is what you will be needing. I am afraid that the software is only designed for Windows systems.
Visit here for the file and instructions:
(http://www.cowonglobal.com/zeroboard/zboard.php?id=C08&page=2&sn1=&divpage=1&bmenu=M&sn=off&ss=on&sc=on&select_arrange=headnum&bmenu=M&desc=desc&no=220&bmenu=M)

Once this has been done, you can read your converted files (including .pdf's) on the go. One interesting little feature is the option under the settings to allow the page to move down a certain amount in a customisable period of time (to prevent you having to move it manually down yourself). This is interesting and I haven't really got the hang of it yet.

-=Microphone=-

Another thing iPods don't have. A microphone. This built in microphone (mono only) is very good. Set it to record and it will just do it, for as long as until you press stop or until the Cowon is out of hard disk space. The quality is brilliant here too.

-=AV In/Out=-

Certainly one of the best aspects here. The Cowon has the ability to record almost anything. By using a Scart cable (not included) you can hook it up to a TV and then record anything that is on it. It is recorded to a .asf file.
You can also use the AV out option to play anything viewed on the screen, on a television or anything else which accepts scarts.
There is also the line-in option which allows you to record from any source with a headphone socket. Interesting concept which allows you to record virtually any sound with this array of recording options.

-=Radio=-

Yep. its even got one of these! You can tell it to scan automatically for any available stations and it will show on a menu as it scans, all the stations with the most clear frequencies. You can also modify the frequency yourself if you feel like it. You can even record anything directly onto the Cowon from the radio too with the built in radio recorder! Phew, thats a lot of recording!

-=Menus=-

Very easy to navigate round this device. Menus easy to see and move through. Navigation is primarily done with a little 'nipple' button which allows it to be pushed up, down, left, right and directly in which is the most common use (it is what is used to select, pause and play). The rest of the navigation is simply done by 4 other buttons (Back, A, B and C).
Feel like customising it? Yep, you can do that also. By visiting here you are able to change the loading screen (which only shows for about 5-10 seconds anyway).
(http://iaudiophile.net/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.59)

You can assign a wallpaper to show behind every menu by selecting which photo/image you want and then simply pressing A and then choosing "Set Wallpaper". It will then change. Any wallpapers made for PSP's are ideal because they are already scaled to the right size.

-=Battery life=-
Absolutely fantastic battery life!
A 4300mAh mass lithium polymer (if that means anything to anyone) rechargable battery is the culprit. This leads to a brilliant battery life of:
• 10 hours of video (i can vouch for this!)
• 18 hours of audio
(These figures are based on the company's test environment)

-=Looks=-
Very sleek and sexy design. Very solid. Has a nice engraved logo on the back saying "Cowon" although you barely see mine because i always use the carry case. The case is great. It allows the Cowon to slot in and be wrapped up but if you want to view it, you can simply 'un-velcro' the case and wrap it over the other way and 're-vecro' it and it has produced a great little stand for it to be displayed at. Certainly helps when watching videos. It also protects it thankfully!

-=Awards=-
Not surprisingly, it has won some awards. Here are the ones that i could find:
• Won 3 categories from IT Magazine CHIP's Mega Test
• Won 'Gold Logo' and 'Exclusive Logo' from T3 Magazine

-=Conclusion=-
If you are looking for a PMP, get this. It has almost everything you could possibly want and i am extremely glad that i bought this. The video and sound quality is amazing. The other options built in are astounding in their quality and number. I highly recommend this product. Even if it is only an MP3 player you want, go on, branch out, go for this one. You will not regret it! 

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