[Cowon A2 review]

[JKing]

After much debate and research, I recently ordered the COWON A2 (Order #13767) over the Archos AV500 and Creative Zen, the A2?s major competitors. Basically, I made my decision based on reviews on CNET.com both by the editors and peer reviewers and forum reviews. First of all, it seems that the Creative Zen did have the better picture quality with almost 50% more pixels but it also had a smaller screen and the inability to record off the TV or other forms of media. That ruled the Creative Zen out. I was left with the choice between the A2 and the AV500. At this juncture, I used the comparison specs provided by the COWON website. In order to make sure it was not biased, I compared the specs with the ones from CNET.com and they matched up pretty well. Overall, the A2 and the AV500 had very similar qualities. However, it seems that AV500 did not handle as many file types (without conversion) as the A2 did. That was the seller for me. Now on to my review of the product:

Delivery
I opted for the UPS Ground delivery since I don?t typically find it necessary to pay more just to get it a little earlier. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it would be delivered to me within 4 days of the order (UPS Ground = 3-7 business days). The duration of time included the usual packaging time by the company before it is shipped by UPS where the 3-7 business days actually starts. That means it took the minimum time to get to me: 3 business days. Great!

Packaging
In one of the reviews I read, the person said that the packaging was not great. I found it to be ok and was pleasantly surprised again at how nicely the actual box looked. Everything was packed nicely and orderly. Awesome!

Use
I had many expectations for the A2 and I would have to say that most of them were met. The main issue I had was how many video file types it would handle. I basically tried all the various video file types that I had and all worked. I have tried recording off different medias and it turned out fine. The overall picture quality was clear and crisp. The volume was a little low but it is tolerable. The navigation of the player was easy to learn except sometimes it was hard to push the joggle lever (it would go up instead of opening the file). The transferring of the files and recording were a breeze. The battery life is holding up (haven?t really tested it too much but I have been using it for 4+ hours of videos, recording, and transferring and only 1 bar is gone). Right on!

Overall
Great player and looks sleek! Even the carrying case is nice. The only real complaint that I might have is that the manual is a little ambiguous and lacks a deep explanation of certain features. I also found some minor errors in the content as well as spelling. However, this is a minor setback. I would recommend this player to anyone that is looking for a portable media player. Great bang for the buck!

Revision of my previous review
I wrote the above when I first received the player but after further testing I found that some of the files did not play. These were .wmv and .mpg files that worked even onWindows Media Player. I have called technical support and they say that there are some files that need to be converted. I was hoping for a player that primarily did not need files to be converted. Fortunately, the person from tech support told me that there might be a new firmware coming out in a week or so that will have huge changes that possibly could correct this. I still like the player and will probably wait for the firmware. Hopefully, it does the trick.

[dadship12]

Nice review.

How well does the A2 record and playback tv shows? One user said that it had a be a really low resolution in order to get sufficient frame rates and I am wondering if you had better luck.

[JKing]

I agree to some degree about the low resolution of recorded videos. When a recorded file is played on the A2 LCD, the picture seems fine but a little choppy. When using the AV line out to a TV with the same file, the quality is worse. Nevertheless, the video is watchable.