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
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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
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Review of Cowon iAudio M3

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

...I bought the iAudio X5L for a few main reasons, based on various reviews I'd found from trawling the internet. These were: - it connects to a computer as a Universal Mass Storage device, meaning none of your annoying iPod/Sony/whatever identification issues. It's just an external hard drive that plays your music, pictures, videos, records, etc. etc. - which leads me to the second reason: functionality. Its menus may not look pretty but it's dead easy to use, and can playback music in just about any format (including OGG and FLAC, for example, as well as your basics). Also can view movies, pictures, and text files, and you can record sound directly onto it. - good sound quality may not be so important for a portable music player, but it's there anyway. - ridiculously long battery life (on the X5L). Since buying it I've also found...

ianopolis 14.10.2008 · Read review
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Review of iAUDIO X5L

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
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Review of Cowon iAudio M3

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
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Review of Cowon iAudio X5L 30GB

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
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Review of Cowon iAudio X5

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
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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

......

afraser 01.02.2008 (29.01.2008) · Read review
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Review of Cowon Iaudio A2

Digital Cube

Advantages: Storage space
Disadvantages: A little too heavy and bulky

...an editor on the software CD but I haven't tried that. Doubt I will either. Sound quality - coming form the H10, I was initially disappointed. There's no user-definable which is a poor showing for a device with that much power available. the best sound I can get is with the 'rock' preset and SRS WoW off. with srs's trubass on it just distorts which is a shame. Anyway after a few days im getting used to it. the lack of bass wont be a problem for most people, and id say the detail it reveals far surpasses that of my h10 and is right up there with the iaudio x5's so, im happy with it. It has a warmer midrange and a better, sharper (but not overly bright) top end. If your a bass head, it might not be your cup of tea. While I think about it, the supplied earphones are crap. To summarize, it majors on detail but lacks in the bass department...

lucasade1 30.08.2006 · Read review
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Review of Digital Cube I-Station T43 PMP 30 GB

Late adopter finally takes a bite of the Apple

Advantages: Sexy bit of design, user interface is great, refurbished bargains to be had
Disadvantages: Apple stopped making them, boo!

.... If you had a personal cassette player in the 80's then you referred to it as your Walkman whether or not it was manufactured by Sony and was a genuine Walkman. The same can be said for Ansaphone, Hoover, Post-It etc. etc. etc. For my money Apple have achieved this with the iPod. People aren't walking around talking about how they must remember to pack their iRiver or iAudio or Zen jukebox when they go on holiday - at least the people I know aren't. As far as I can see Apple dominates this market for two key reasons. The design of these players is beautiful. They are simple, functional, small and lightweight. It doesn't matter what you're wearing you'll probably have a pocket that this will fit in. If you don't then you can clip it onto your clothes or bag or attach it to a lanyard (sold separately of course) and chuck it around...

timparlow 31.05.2006 · Read review
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Review of Apple iPod mini 4 GB