Cowon's US-bound Q5W gets price, release date

Good news for those not-so-patiently awaiting the launch of Cowon's totally hopped up Q5W (formerly known as the Q5) -- the US-bound uber-PMP is set to launch next week for slightly more jack than we heard earlier this year. Specs wise, we're looking at a 5-inch WVGA (800 x 480) display, 128MB of DDR2 SDRAM, 64MB of Flash memory, 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, WinCE 5.0, a voice recorder, photo / text viewer, USB connectivity and support for more file formats than you can shake a flip-out antenna at. 'Course, such a well-spec'd unit won't come sans a premium, so don't be too shocked when you see that the 40GB version will run you $549.99 while the 60GB iteration demands an extra $50.

[Kasi Viswanath @ Nov 22nd 2007 5:32AM]

Hmm, Finally, the wait is over. This really is a good device. I had a Cowon A2 and I am very happy about it. This would be a very decent upgrade.

[E71 @ Nov 22nd 2007 4:42PM]

What's wrong with Cowon? They keep making all these cool video playing devices yet put some crappy small-size hard drive in them... and that's why Archos will always beat them. Put a 160GB+ drive in this and it'll rock.

[Torgrim @ Nov 22nd 2007 5:37AM]

Does the Q5W play WavPack-files? If it doesn't, I'll get a Cowon A3 instead.

[Mark @ Nov 22nd 2007 5:59AM]

First, could we get rid of the spammer comment at the top of this thread?

Second, wifi and bluetooth - so BT for the headphones, but wifi for.... web browsing? syncing? OTA downloads? All the above?

Price is a bit dear, but I like this a lot more than the iPod touch. Gimme a PMP that plays .ogg and other formats, and I'm in love.

[Anders @ Nov 22nd 2007 7:05PM]

it's a Cowon.

it'll play OGG, FLAC and avi, even.

[Mark @ Nov 22nd 2007 8:52PM]

@Anders - yeah, I know, I wasn't clear about that - I know Cowan plays those formats, and that's why I own a U2 DAP player. It was a nudge towards Apple not supporting better codecs on their devices, and the reason why I'll never own an iPod until that changes.

[Jesse S @ Nov 23rd 2007 2:16AM]

Bluetooth headphones? What a disgrace. The BT is there for a keyboard and mouse.

[CosterMonger @ Nov 22nd 2007 10:13AM]

A lot of photographers will be getting this.

[Foley @ Nov 22nd 2007 10:45AM]

I've been waiting all year for this. I wonder what happened to the GPS that used to be available as an option. I would love to be able to dock this in my car and use it as a nav also. It's available in Korea, hopefully the have that option here too.

[o rly @ Nov 22nd 2007 12:49PM]

It's running WinCE and has BT so possibly a GPS program and a BT GPS receiver (like many Windows Mobile solutions); not as good as an internal option like the rumoured HPSDA & GPS, but still a possibility.

[Jesse S @ Nov 23rd 2007 2:17AM]

The GPS was just a dock, right now they aren't offering it for the US and Europe.

[Thunderbuck @ Nov 22nd 2007 11:30AM]

This is rapidly approaching my ideal for a PMP. Lots of storage, broad codec support, and a big, beautiful screen.

GPS would be nice, and if it had the interface and web-browser functionality of an iPod Touch, it would be well-nigh perfect.

When's THAT device coming?

[strider_mt2k @ Nov 22nd 2007 11:36AM]

You said it.

This this is very very cool.

[Jesse S @ Nov 23rd 2007 2:20AM]

I wonder if anyone that has used an iTouch/iPhone has ever used Piscel or Mobile Opera...

[Joshua @ Nov 22nd 2007 2:06PM]

I'm getting the 60GB when it's out.
This is fantastic.

[R-R @ Nov 22nd 2007 3:12PM]

Uhm, nokia n800 has all that for almost a 3rd of the price and the n810 has more for less too...
Oh and are both extensible linux platforms, not crappy windows ones ;-)

[R-R @ Nov 22nd 2007 3:13PM]

(ok yes you need SD cards added, but it's still cheaper by the gig and it's solid state ;-)

[Jesse S @ Nov 23rd 2007 2:18AM]

It also sounds crappy. If this is anything like the X5, it will be the best-sounding portable on the market. And no internal HDD == bust for movies and lossless (I know, lossless is a waste for portable use) music.

[pyro @ Nov 22nd 2007 3:30PM]

Can anyone find the release date in either of these articles? They both mention it in the titles.

[pyro @ Nov 22nd 2007 3:33PM]

never mind, it's November.

[DP @ Nov 22nd 2007 6:37PM]

Impressive, but too much dough.

[Richard @ Nov 23rd 2007 3:45AM]

Looks nice but I still have the Archos 705 WiFi and Nokia N810 at the top of my list of PMP's for this xmas.

[transws6am @ Nov 24th 2007 1:11PM]

I have owned Archos units for years. THEY HAVE BECOME CRAP. The last 2 generations a complete garbage. AVOID ARCHOS LIKE THE PLAGUE.

[Berto @ Nov 25th 2007 4:17PM]

Does anyone know if the Q5W will be mac compatible? I'm really torn between getting this or an ipod touch...

[Jin Kam @ Nov 29th 2007 1:33AM]

I will be reviewing the Q5W in the next few days. Look for the review next week on http://gadgetholic.com

[jin @ Nov 29th 2007 1:34AM]

Oops, it's actually http://gadgetaholic.com.