What more could you want?

Advantages: Fantastic quality on video, audio, photos and text. Loads of extras built in
Disadvantages: Could have a larger hard drive but i'm just being picky!

...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...

Centaurus_X-3 09.05.2007 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Cowon Iaudio A2

Cowon iaudio M3 MP3 Player

Advantages: Multi-use; very very stylish; light; robust
Disadvantages: controls on the remote can be fiddly for we old codgers. Don't always work as expected.

......

bewick 02.10.2005 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Cowon iAudio M3

A great multimedia player

Advantages: Looks nice, will play anything you throw at it, excellent video quality
Disadvantages: Small hard drive

...I bought the Cowon A2 about a year ago and I must say that I am very impressed with the product. It is quite expensive compared to other portable video players out there and the hard drive is rather small also (20 & 30GB) but these things aside, the Cowon A2 is a great player. The Cowon A2 is comfortable in the hand with the buttons just at the right place if you are right-handed. Although some might say the Cowon A2 is quite heavy, I personally didn't find this. The player is attractive, a mix of white and silver, but is not as simplistic as say the iPod. The words 'Portable Multimedia Player' are written on the front which make the Cowon A2 look more technical. Navigating the player is a breeze although the joystick is not the most sturdy I have every used. There are also four other buttons, labelled 'Back', 'A', 'B' and 'C...

afraser 01.02.2008 (29.01.2008) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Cowon Iaudio A2

Cowon's wonderful little PMP

Advantages: Small player, huge touchscreen, packed with features.
Disadvantages: Maybe not as pretty as some, awkward stylus.

...I purchased a Cowon D2 about 3 weeks ago after deciding that I wanted a new mp3 player, and I wanted more than can be offered in your average stores. I took the risk of choosing a product that can only be purchased over the internet, and which is made by a company, Cowon, which I had not heard of before. As of now, I am extremely pleased about my taking of this risk. The main competition for the D2 is the iRiver Clix 2, however I chose this player mainly due to its slightly larger screen, at 2.5 inches, and because I found the idea of a touch screen appealing. Looking at that picture, the first thing you will notice is probably the screen. It is the same size as the screen you will find on an Ipod Video; however at 16 million colours it is a much higher quality. And it really is a very high quality screen. The photo viewing and video...

jabond007 01.06.2007 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Cowon D2

Speechless. It's amazing!

Advantages: Ipod Killer, Looks Stunning, Light, Accessories
Disadvantages: Price, Some people may not like remote

...and also check out the Cowon site. They have a great flash tour of the unit showing you all angles. Please leave comments on this review and feel free to post questions on the Guestbook. Whatever you do don?t buy an ipod over this, I?m glad I didn?t *****NOTES AFTER ONE MONTH USAGE***** 1)The sticky protective coverings that come supplied are like 1mm too small in terms of width to cover the entire screen 2)When you plug the unit into its cradle and connect it to the PC and switch on Windows XP it takes a long time to load. I'm not quite sure why this is 3)When switching the unit on you can see a moving loader icon, there to entertain you for the few seconds the unit spends loading. You can download free ones and make your own off of the iAudio website. 4)After instlaling the latest firmware, you can now... 1) read .txt files...

dippy38 17.06.2004 (15.08.2004) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Cowon iAudio M3

The Quiet Competitor to the Heavyweights

Advantages: No restrictions, vast format support, colour screen, video support
Disadvantages: occassionally clunky interface, poor firmware following, video support is flawed

...The IAUDIO X5 is not a MP3 player your average consumer has. Its not been marketed to anything like the extent of Apple's iPod. It has relied on word of mouth, and its loyal fanbase that has tracked the developments of Cowon's product lines over the years. My experiences are based on owning the 20Gb model since August 2005. The X5 is beautifully crafted - very slim, a distinct lack of buttons and a sleek black finish. One of its biggest selling points to me was its unmatched format support - Ogg Vorbis compatibility was a must for me, and instantly limited the selection of MP3 players to a tiny number. In addition, the X5 plays other more common formats - MP3, WMA etc. with no problems. Please note, however, that the player does not as of yet support DRM. From a moral perspective I actually considered this a selling point, and found...

barneyboo 08.03.2006 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Cowon iAudio X5

iPod? Nah. This is better. WAY better.

Advantages: Amazing sound, good codec support, small in size
Disadvantages: Lack of included accessories

...When I bought it in March this year, the iAudio X5 was my third HDD player in the space of about 18 months. I'm sorry to say I followed the crowd and started with a 20gig iPod. Don't get me wrong, I thought (and still think) the iPod looked great, sounded pretty good and was a doddle to use, but by god was it restrictive. And it still is - I didn't realise it at the time, but my opinion now is that iPods are almost like cassette walkmans, only without a radio. My second player (having sold the iPod after needing a bigger hard drive) was an iRiver H340 - now THAT was more like it!! Sure, it didn't have the iPod looks and if truth be told it was a bit of a lump, but it beat Apple's flagship hands down in everything else from features, to sound quality and all sorts beyond. You could even play video on it. Plus it had a radio!! Sadly...

great_badir 18.08.2006 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Cowon iAudio X5L 30GB

This MP3 player should outsell the ipod

Advantages: Outstanding value for money and extremely slick design
Disadvantages: FM radio is not very clear

...When i decided to buy an mp3 player I immediately looked at the ipod and read many reviews about it complaining of things such as a short battery life and the cost. I searched the internet looking for a cheaper, better alternative to the ipod. I respect apple for capturing the market so completely but found with a little time looking that there are far better, cheaper options out there, and the Cowon iaudio M3 is one of them. The initial thing that drew me to this mp3 player is the sleek style and the fact that it has a remote with screen which the ipod does not have, so to change tracks you don't need to take the player out of your pocket. The battery life was also quoted as almost double that of the ipod and although I'm not sure it lasts the 13-14hours quoted it certainly has never let me down. The stylish dock makes it very...

chris.johnston1 02.11.2005 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Cowon iAudio M3

D2 - YOU NEED TO...Get one now!!!

Advantages: Battery life, excellent sound, ease of file transfer, customizable themes, SD slot
Disadvantages: DAB disappointing, menu not the easiest to navigate

...Being a bit of a self confessed gadget geek, something that seems to be on my annual to do list is the purchase of a new MP3 player. Being something that I use on a daily basis, the sound quality had started to become more of an issue to me than the features of the player. Since it is for listening to music after all, I wanted to really make the most of it. I done my usual Internet research and when I googled the words 'sound quality', I was happily pointed in the direction of the Cowon D2. Reviews could do nothing but praise this little gadget, and it certainly sounded impressive. With it's high quality touch screen and sound that is supposed to be one of the best, I immediately typed it into Amazon to find how much it cost. I found out they were many other features to write home about. Fair enough there was the absence...

lea20 07.03.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Cowon D2

Excellent portable music player

Advantages: UMS, good sound quality, very user friendly, good customer support
Disadvantages: relatively common phone jack problem, screen is realistically too small for movies and pictures

...out a few things, good and bad. The good: - all of the above is true. I use some reasonable Grado headphones and can notice a difference in sound quality between my iAudio and friends' iPods. (the iAudio wins). - you can connect other devices directly to it, meaning if you run out of space on your camera, you can copy your photos via USB cable to your iAudio in the middle of your camping trip. The bad: - there is a common fault with the headphones jack. Mine wasn't immune, and started cutting out, first one channel then the other. I emailed my country's (New Zealand) customer support people and got a quick response, but decided to void my warranty and take it apart myself anyway. A simple soldering job did the trick, the instructions for which I found on (I think) the Cowon web forums. - occasionally the shuffle feature bugs up...

ianopolis 14.10.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of iAUDIO X5L