The haptic touch screen user interface of the Cowon P5 looks much more friendly than the gloomy GUI found on its predecessor.
(Credit: Cowon)
Cowon has released photos and specs of a new portable video player
dubbed the P5. As a successor to their Q5W mega-gadget released last
year, the P5 adds a few new tricks to the Q5W's features and wraps it all up in a less intimidating design.
Offered in silver, red, and black, the Cowon P5 includes a 5-inch touch screen with a 800x480 resolution and a new haptic feedback feature. In the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink tradition of the Q5W, the Cowon P5 includes stereo Bluetooth, FM radio, TV-output (component, composite, and S-Video), stereo speakers, USB and USB-host ports. Noticeably missing from the P5 is the Q5W's built-in Wi-Fi, however, Cowon's Korean Web site seems to imply that a USB Wi-Fi dongle can be added to enable Internet browsing.
Like any Cowon product, the P5 promises outstanding file playback support, including MP3, WMA, ASF, OGG, WAV, FLAC, APE, and Musepack on the audio end, AVI, ASF, WMV, MPG, OGM, DivX, Xvid, MPEG4, and WMV9 for video, and JPG, BMP, PNG, and RAW photo support.
The core of the P5 is built around a 700MHz RMI Alchemy AU1250 processor with 128Mb of RAM and either 40GB, 60GB, or 80GB hard drive configurations. Cowon rates the P5's internal battery at an impressive 9 hours for video playback, but a mere 14 hours for audio.
The Cowon P5 is still running off the embedded Windows CE 5 operating system that failed to impress us in the Q5W, but it appears Cowon has overhauled their own skinned interface with a lighter, friendlier design that looks similar to the interface we liked so well on the Cowon A3. Let's just hope the new haptic feedback system makes the P5's onscreen keyboard easier to use than its predecessor's.
No pricing or availability has been announced for the U.S., but according to Generation MP3, Korea will see the P5 by the end of the month starting around $430.
Which super-size Wi-Fi portable video player will win over our panel of three experts?
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's 16GB iAudio 7 MP3 player can now be had for $209.
(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)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 $209.
(Credit:
Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)
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 did the Cowon Q5W super-gadget score a respectable, but not outstanding, 7.0 rating? Well, the short answer is that despite its impressive feature set, the Q5W is complicated to use and too expensive compared with the competition. For a more in-depth analysis, read my full review and browse the slide show.
What is the Cowon Q5W? Is it a PVP, a tablet PC, or an in-car GPS navigation system?
(Credit: Corinne Schulze / CNET Networks)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.
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