q5

Prizefight: Cowon Q5W vs. Archos 705 WiFi

In the past few months, these two mastodons of Wi-Fi portable media stampeded through the CNET office, leaving a trail of awestruck and dumbfounded reviewers in their dust. It seemed only natural to pit these two behemoths against each other in a prizefight worthy of their intimidating giantism.

Will the Cowon Q5W's Bluetooth and GPS functionality beat out the Archos 705 WiFi's 7-inch touch screen and higher storage capacity? Click through to witness our prizefight's five rounds of gadget-on-gadget brutality.

Cowon dropping prices all over

Was it something I said? I know I called the Cowon Q5W portable video player pricey, but let's not be dramatic about it. Chalk it up to a prespring cleaning, I guess, but Cowon has dropped the MSRP on all its products--even the A3 and the Q5W, which I just finished reviewing. New pricing is up on its JetMall site, where the company is also offering the Q5W's GPS cradle free with purchase (reg. $199). Most notably, Cowon has shaved $40 off the price of the Q5W and put the 16GB version of the iAudio 7 down to $… Read more

Cowon Q5W reviewed

The moment the Cowon Q5W portable video player hit my desk, I knew I would be in for a long review. After legions of iPod fans called foul when Apple failed to deliver a high-capacity touch-screen video player last fall (a 16GB iPod Touch just won't cut it for some folks) Cowon's long-promised 60GB Q5W seemed like the perfect cure. The Cowon Q5W is no mere PVP, however, considering that Cowon saw fit to infuse it with a treasure trove of coveted features such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, composite video output, MSN Messenger, and even GPS navigation.

So why … Read more

Photos: Cowon Q5W

It's been just a few days since Cowon's announcement of the U.S. availability of their supercharged Q5W portable media player, and we already have one in the office to play with. It's a real beauty. Take a look at Crave's photo gallery of the Cowon Q5W to see if it's the megagadget it claims to be.

Cowon Q5W pricing and U.S. availability

Cowon America has officially announced that the specs for their long-awaited ubergadget, the Cowon Q5W (formerly the Cowon Q5), will be identical to the specs on the version released in Asia. The Cowon Q5W should be available in the states by the end of November (next week). The Cowon Q5W (the extra "W" denotes its wireless capabilities) will retail for $549.99 (40GB) and $599.00 (60GB). That may seem pricey compared to the latest generation of Archos PVPs, but one look at the Cowon Q5W's specs and you'll realize that the gadget is on another … Read more

Cowon retires iAudio X5 MP3 player; X7 set for summer debut

MP3 player manufacturer Cowon has announced that their iAudio X5 MP3 player will soon be discontinued. To fill the void, reports claim that Cowon will release an iAudio X7 model sometime this summer. The X5 has enjoyed a loyal following since it debuted in 2005, due partly to its excellent sound quality. There's no word on exactly what the X7 has in store. Plenty of rumors abound and even a suspicious mock-up has surfaced.

Here's what we do know. Cowon's latest D2 MP3 player uses a touch screen. Cowon's upcoming Q5 uses a touch screen. The … Read more

Cowon Q5 gets official: not your ordinary PMP

We first got a glimpse of Cowon's super-portable media player, the Cowon Q5, back at CES 2007, but details were pretty foggy on specs, pricing, and availability. However, things are clearing up as the company has announced final pricing and specs for the United States, and the forecast for this PMP looks quite rosy.

First, the Q5 will come in two models: a 40GB version for $499.99 and a 60GB version at $549.99. Both devices are expected to ship by the end of Q2 (sorry, Cowon didn't get any more specific than that), and they … Read more