Cowon A3 in the wild at last

Cowon's been pretty shy about its A2 followup, which was announced at CES this January, so it's nice to finally see someone putting the A3 through its paces. GenerationMP3 got a hold of the unit at IFA, and while it's a bit chunky for a modern player, there's no denying the capabilities -- or the sheer wonder of that 4-inch 800 x 480 screen. Apparently DMB only comes as a €100 option ($137 US), which is a bit of a low blow, given the €449 pricetag for the 30GB player, and €499 for 60GB ($615, $684 US), and there's still no exact word on release date, but we're sure the A3's hefty codec support and extensive features will win over few fans. Video is after the break.

[Via dapreview.net]

Preview Cowon A3 par generationmp3
Uploaded by gmp3

[Ian @ Sep 9th 2007 11:41AM]

It's still clunky, and the user interface looks kinda ugly. :( Also, having documents on a mp3 is just wasting space. I like the mobile t.v though.

[chris @ Sep 9th 2007 5:03PM]

id say its very windows media player'esque - quite pretty, shame about its physical appearance (i.e. the clunkyness :P).

[humpty @ Sep 9th 2007 11:45AM]

Cool background music.. like being at a rave.

[Fara @ Sep 9th 2007 11:45AM]

Now we just wait for a X7. If it's gonna be released.

[Miles Pulsford @ Sep 9th 2007 9:11PM]

And by that you mean, just buy the Q5 now, because there is nothing more sexy.

[Alan Partridge @ Sep 9th 2007 11:53AM]

"but we're sure the A3's hefty codec support and extensive features will win over few fans"

I might be being pedantic but is that a mistake? Because that sentance reads as if people will not like it because of the extensive codec support

[Valgas @ Sep 9th 2007 12:32PM]

My thoughts exactly Alan. I love your name btw. Very sexy.

[Jim @ Sep 9th 2007 12:43PM]

Reminds me of a song... "what a difference an "a" makes...."

[alex @ Sep 9th 2007 12:00PM]

There's no wifi on this thing.

[Homeboy @ Sep 9th 2007 12:49PM]

So?

Just because the iPod touch has WiFi doesn't mean that the all the other PMPs on the market must have it.

There are tons of features Cowon A3 has which the iPod Touch hasn't

[jere @ Sep 9th 2007 12:59PM]

Did he say ipod touch?

[angelsvairwaves1 @ Sep 9th 2007 1:30PM]

Archos has wifi, so does iPod touch. pmp's can make great use of wifi (except, of course, zune) and i think a $650 player should have it.

[1234321 @ Sep 9th 2007 2:43PM]

^then there's the Sansa Connect, well it's not a PMP, but it still makes better use of WiFi then Zune

[1234321 @ Sep 9th 2007 12:07PM]

Yup it turned out quite expensive. And people wonder why their rival Archos charges for optional codecs, managing to get the 605wifi half the price of the A3. Well at least we can still see that Cowon is capable of making great players.

[Jeff Goldberg @ Sep 9th 2007 12:13PM]

As much as I loved my A2, I'm not even considering another player of that thickness. The price also kills the deal. I might go the dark side for a *gasp* iPod Touch :/

[SteveMB @ Sep 9th 2007 4:06PM]

Are you crazy? It's $400 for a 16GB iPod Touch.

[sam @ Sep 9th 2007 12:30PM]

Cowon has terrible customer service in the US, unfortunately. I haven't able to use my D2 for over two months, and latest e-mail hasn't even gotten a response, as opposed to before when the RMA form didn't work right.

[Al @ Sep 9th 2007 3:33PM]

I dunno I guess you got unlucky. I had my A2 RMA'ed twice and service was pretty fast and good. Granted phone support was not the best. Also, the second time it was rma'ed I was out of warranty.

[sam @ Sep 9th 2007 6:47PM]

There's phone support?

[Rahul @ Sep 9th 2007 12:38PM]

Well, I did like my Cowon X5, sound quality was amazing and I liked the ultra basic drag and drop transfer.

I did not know Cowon customer support was bad.

I got an Archos 604 WiFi, the cheaper 4GB version with the SDHC card slot for $199.

Unfortunately, the player was crashing when using certain instances of the WiFi, right out of the box. The player would also randomly shut off even when plugged in. (Not a low battery issue)

SO I tried to upgrade from firmware 1.3.04 to 1.3.08, now I have a bricked player...

I am hoping for a fix this coming Monday, but if Archos does not post new firmware for this player by Friday, I will probably just send it back and turn into an iSheep and get the touch or that 80GB classic. Or perhaps a Creative? X7?

I kind of like it when I get an electronic item that works correctly out of the box...

[Rahul @ Sep 9th 2007 1:04PM]

Doh! I meant 605 4GB

[1234321 @ Sep 9th 2007 2:32PM]

dude if it's bricked you should call up for the Warranty
you can't firmware upgrade if you can't even turn it on

[lo-kii @ Sep 9th 2007 12:53PM]

hmm... I just placed an order for the archos 605, and i'm excited about that, I was waiting for apple to make their 'big' announcement and being not really impressed with storage space and the changes to the ipod touch, I settled on the archos. this cowon has great codec support but the price is pretty high imo. it looks cool though.

[GazzyC @ Sep 9th 2007 2:35PM]

Ahh but the question is will it blend and can it play Doom?

[silverblackvoid @ Sep 10th 2007 2:27AM]

go troll go

[Charlie Waldbaum @ Sep 9th 2007 2:41PM]

i would love to win this...pick me!

[Red_Planet @ Sep 12th 2007 8:16PM]

ello

[Andrew H. @ Sep 9th 2007 3:40PM]

anybody else read the title as "cow in the wild"?

[bob e @ Sep 9th 2007 4:56PM]

nice...

but that thing looks the size of a VHS tape!

[Sam @ Sep 9th 2007 5:02PM]

Hmm, I don't see any reason to upgrade my A2 for this.

[Royel @ Sep 9th 2007 8:57PM]

Very nice looking.
Can't wait to get my hands on that.

[Napes22 @ Sep 10th 2007 10:36AM]

I own the A2, and to be honest, Cowon got lazy. I love the player, but they didn't change a single thing on the A3. Same interface, same thickness, same weight - you can't sell the same product with new icons and expect it to be well accepted by the existing customers. If I get another pmp, It'll probably be the archos touchscreen player.

[peau @ Sep 11th 2007 3:16PM]

I have an A2 which I love. I agree that the $600+ price is ridiculous (being that I got my 30gb for about $500 with tax and shipping in Nov 05). The biggest differences for the A3, which I wish the A2 had are the component output, better resolution support, and (the best addition) support for vob files. Im geting the Q5 though, if and when ever it ships.

[Tommy @ Oct 6th 2007 12:19PM]

I own the A2 and the 605 160GB wifi touch-screen from Archos. The Sound quality from the Cowon just CAN NOT BE BEAT. I have it paired with Shure SE530 PTH buds which have been fitted for my ears (from an Audiologist) and the Archos lacks more than I can describe. But I have the iAduio 7 for music. I have the Archos for Video ...and Cowon has an issue that no one seems to be bothered with. The perfect playback of 4:3 on Cowon is about 1-2% wide when comparing it to Archos (and others players such as iPod video). It can not be adjusted. That and 160GB vs Cowon 30GB??? do the math. Touch screen vs joystick and 3 buttons??? Again Cowon is simply the best for audio but for video it needs help. For the all-round player, and based on support and options, not to mention a DVR station from Archos and 14-day advance TV Guide, I have put my Cowon a@ on eBay. But yes, keeping the iAudio 7 for music only.

[Tommy @ Oct 6th 2007 1:14PM]

I own the A2 and the 605 160GB wifi touch-screen from Archos. The Sound quality from the Cowon just CAN NOT BE BEAT. I have it paired with Shure SE530 PTH buds which have been fitted for my ears (from an Audiologist) and the Archos lacks more than I can describe. But I have the iAduio 7 for music. I have the Archos for Video ...and Cowon has an issue that no one seems to be bothered with. The perfect playback of 4:3 on Cowon is about 1-2% wide when comparing it to Archos (and others players such as iPod video). It can not be adjusted. That and 160GB vs Cowon 30GB??? do the math. Touch screen vs joystick and 3 buttons??? Again Cowon is simply the best for audio but for video it needs help. For the all-round player, and based on support and options, not to mention a DVR station from Archos and 14-day advance TV Guide, I have put my Cowon a@ on eBay. But yes, keeping the iAudio 7 for music only.

[transws6am @ Nov 12th 2007 9:43AM]

I own an Archos and it is complete garbage. The worst made piece of crap I have ever owned. Don't believe me? Look up Archos's reputation on the net.