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"All inclusive media manager" on by popemello
Pros: awesome sound quality, video, price
Cons: no significant marketing to topple the i-pod
Summary: Well, I'd like to keep this as brief as possible, mainly because I am currently engrossed by the player itself (listening to some Thievery Corporation with my Sennheiser HD270 headphones on this amazing gadget), and would prefer just to sit back and enjoy the quality sounds from the x5L 30GB.
I bought my wife an IPOD 40GB for XMAS - having listened to it, after putting down big bills and glaring at the monochrome, uninspiring screen, I decided to wait until something better came around for myself. I am a regular subscriber to the Engadget and Gizmodo forums, and for months (felt like minthes), I languished as I read the hype about the I-pod and all of the coat-tail riding enthusiasts. "There must be something better," I reiterated for time - seemed eternal. Finally, I saw a little blurb about the iaudio-X5. It seemed to fill that void that playing with the Creative Zen Micro couldn't fill... (please read on, it gets somewhat better...)
With my nature of investigation my lifeblood (as a physician), and my spendthrift desire leading me, I Google'd A9'd all the data I could sequester about the X5. It all looked just too good to be true. I e-mailed the company for more data - specifically about the remote control - LCD & sweet like my old Sony MD player that I still think looks so Akihabara in these grungy NYC streets - they were very helpful. I still wasn't convinced until early June and a Tsunami of a bonus lead me to search out European web sites. Babelfishing through all available info, I found out about the X5L - 30GB w/ 35 hr battery life - perfect for those marathon OR sessions (I'm an anesthesiologist- a miniscule part of my job is to supply a sometimes stimulating, sometimes relaxing, sometimes conversational stream of sound while saving lives). I had to get it.
Well, here, at long last, is the review. If you have been searching all forums, all reviews, etc., etc., trying to decide whether or not to invest in this potential underdog - my answer is, resoundingly, YES!
Sound quality - 10/10 - depending on your headphones (do you really expect packaged headphones to sound good?)
Interface - User friendly and colorful
Screen Quality - Fascinating - I can easily watch a full length feature (May I suggest a TAkashi Miike film such as "Ichi the Killer--" completely bizzare, or "Wild Zero," headed by Guitar Wolf - We'll see what kind of audiophiles we have...) on the little screen - my wife is jealous currently - she's threatening to "drop" her I-pod as I remind her of the extended warranty I purchased for her (btw Apple's customer service sucks, if you haven't experienced it yet - think different, right).
FM Radio - you can change the feed when you visit Europe and drop mad cash on necessities
Voice recorder - great to catch your chairman making the un-pc remark... great quality...
text visualization - I use it to carry my current patient lab data - avoids the necessity of carrying my Clie around
Photo viewing - cheaper than I-pod photo, I can see my beautiful wife's glaring jealous Japanese visage (and corpus) at any time that I may get lonely. She's so sexy when angry...
Settings - very easy to configure...
I wish that I could come up with some nasty, undercutting, thing to say. Maybe its because I've travelled a bit and sampled technology, or maybe its because some of my best friends agree with me, or maybe its because this thing looks just so damn good (and runs nice and cool), but I can't find anything wrong with it.
"Why not a 10?" you may ask. Well, a "10" would denote perfection, and of course nothing is perfect, just as no player should deserve a "1," as some potentially entry - level slob has rated this item based on his/her mistaken purchase of an I-river. COWON could always improve this item beyond firmware (ie. OLED screen with projector and smartphone capabilities built in), but, as we haven't quite reached that stage yet, I am totally satisfied with the investment that I've made in the X5L!
To reiterate, I've bought and tried most of the other devices on the market, and I am SO VERY happy to have bought this lovely player!!!
CHEERS!
popemello.net -
"Awesome Ipod Killer" on by tfong007
Pros: Color Screen, Sound quality, Battery life, Black shell, user forum
Cons: no case, no cradle and no remote
Summary: This is really awesome. I gave my 4th Gen IPOD to my sister. This thing blows away the IPOD. THe case looks so cool and the color screen is great. The interface is much much better than Itunes. None of the crap its simply drag and drop. The case is also very sleek. I purchased mine from Buydig and they were great. I tried from onsale and ecost but either out of stock or some bogus handling charge. The battery life is also great and the sound is fantastic both with the bose noise reduction phones, Shure e4cs or the B&O ear phones. So far I see nothing wrong with this at all. I have even used it to watch a movie while at the airport waiting for my plane. Also great for music videos. They also have a lyric function which lets u see the words. However I havent figured it out yet.
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"A must have gadget - MP3 player & USB storage" on by tvewots
Pros: Features, Open Format, Sound Quality
Cons: Stopped working, had to ship back
Summary: I purchased my 30 gig X5L through the cowon america online store, and paid $399 including next day air delivery. I loaded close to 1000 songs, roughly 5 gigs, as well as 2 dvd movies just to try out the video features for a 3 hour plane ride I had.
It worked fantastic for about 5 days, and then it died on me. I thought it had run out of battery, it was still on its first charge, put plugging it in to power and usb yielded nothing. I called support, who said that this was not uncommon, which was surprising since I had not heard of this happening to anyone else. I had to pay about $8 to ship it back, but he did say that they would overnight me a new one when they recieved it. When I get the new one, and it works well, I plan on purchasing the cradle.
The sound on this is amazing. I let my iPod using friend listen to it (with upgraded sony ear-buds), and he was really impressed with bass, clarity, etc. The different sound settings are definately nice options to play around with. He also comented on how nice the file tree folder browsing was, compared to his ipod.
Another great feature I started to really like was the alarm setting. I just it plugged into the earphone jack to my computer speakers, and it wakes me up to music monday - friday.
If you consider yourself at all computer literate, then this is the player for you. It provides way more freedom of how you use your files, and come full of features and customizable settings. -
"As close to perfect as it gets." on by RenaSong
Pros: sound quality, battery life, OTG (on-the-go) playlist creation, supports multiple file formats, drag-and-drop file loading, COLOR SCREEN, ^_^ easy navigation, FM tuner, voice recording, multilingual
Cons: carrying case and remote not included, requires (included) subpack to charge or connect to computer
Summary: I have been patiently waiting for a company to develop a fully-featured mp3 player for quite some time. Cowon is the first company to do it and get things right. I have the x5L model (a wee bit pricier, but definitely worth it for the *amazing* battery life). This player is as close to perfect as it gets. After all, when it comes to gadgets, it's all about the features, baby! ^_^ I can listen to music (mp3, wma, ogg, flac, etc.), store data, listen to the radio, see pictures, even watch movies! (okay, I haven't actually used this feature yet, but it's cool anyway). ^_^ I especially love that I can create an on-the-go playlist without need for a computer and that files can be stored windows-style (folders, directories, sub-directories, sub-folders, etc.) according to my own personal catalogue system. It may be a bit of a pain for some people with huge media libraries to set up the first time, but once it's there, it's as easy as flipping through CDs (or files on a computer). Besides, you can always create artist- or album-based folders, if that's what you prefer. The FM tuner is great (somewhat limited range, but hey, it's a radio)--it saves me a ton of money on subscription-sytle mp3 services. I haven't played much with the recording feature or photo aspect of the player--I've been too busy listening to music! ^_^ However, since I'll be starting grad school pretty soon, I look forward to making lots of use of the recording function. For those who care, it's actually slightly smaller than iPod (and yes, I mean the x5L is smaller--the x5 is even slimmer than the x5L), and I find to be just as out-of-the-box user friendly as the iPod is rumored to be. I have to give Apple props for being an industry pioneer, but for me, I'm thrilled to take it to the next level with the Cowon iAudio x5L. Do the research; you'll find it's the best all-around player in its class.
Updated
One thing I forgot to mention earlier is that I received this player as a gift (BHK--you are the best!); it has been one of the most amazing gifts I have ever received.
Since my last post, I have had a chance to play with this awesome gadget a bit more--the recording feature is really easy to use, though it does take some getting used to. The battery life is truly excellent--35 hours seems to be about right. I charged it almost two weeks ago, have used it daily (including a two long trips to Boston and Buffalo), and haven't needed to recharge yet (though I will probably do so next week sometime). Also, the build is absolutely solid. I have carried it all over the place, by hand, in bag, and in pocket, (both with and without a protective case) and to date, I have seen nary a scratch or "ding". If all of this isn't enough to convince you (i.e. - you are looking for more technical details), check out www.iaudiophile.net (note: they also recommend CNET reviews) ^_^ for a very thorough feature-by-feature review (also written by an actual user).
So, if you are looking for a feature-packed mp3 player with excellent battery life, tons of features, and solid quality, look no further than the Cowon iaudio x5L. -
"Great Player w/ Annoyances" on by Jack2466
Pros: Excellent Sound, Plug & Play Hard Drive, FM Radio, Great Battery Life
Cons: Terrible Controller, Small Screen, Sub-Pack Connector
Summary: I had previously purchased a flash player from IAudio that I was very happy with so decided to purchase the X5 after the glowing reviews on CNET. I would have rated the player significantly higher but several annoyances built into the product prevent me from doing so. The Positive - Excellent Sound, good manual settings, Acts as a Plug and Play Hard-Drive - no driver required - just drag and drop files (pics, MP3's, Videos, text), the FM Radio is a definite plus, and excellent battery life on the X5L. The Negative - I find the JoyStick Controller VERY annoying. Not to mention the two buttons on the side have multiple functions. Not Intuitive at all. I constantly find myself hitting the wrong buttons. The screen is 1.8 inches - not really useful to watch videos or even view photos. The sub-pack is necessary to connect the USB cable and power pack to the Unit. Lose that and you're screwed. If Cowon remedied these deficiencies, they would have an outstanding product that would dominate the market.
Overall a Good Player.
Cowon iAudio X5L user reviews (30GB)
Where to Buy
Pricing not available
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