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.
posted Nov 22nd 2007 4:21AM
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.
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.
Does the Q5W play WavPack-files? If it doesn't, I'll get a Cowon A3 instead.
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.
it's a Cowon.
it'll play OGG, FLAC and avi, even.
@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.
Bluetooth headphones? What a disgrace. The BT is there for a keyboard and mouse.
A lot of photographers will be getting this.
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.
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.
The GPS was just a dock, right now they aren't offering it for the US and Europe.
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?
You said it.
This this is very very cool.
I wonder if anyone that has used an iTouch/iPhone has ever used Piscel or Mobile Opera...
I'm getting the 60GB when it's out.
This is fantastic.
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 ;-)
(ok yes you need SD cards added, but it's still cheaper by the gig and it's solid state ;-)
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.
Can anyone find the release date in either of these articles? They both mention it in the titles.
never mind, it's November.
Impressive, but too much dough.
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.
I have owned Archos units for years. THEY HAVE BECOME CRAP. The last 2 generations a complete garbage. AVOID ARCHOS LIKE THE PLAGUE.
Does anyone know if the Q5W will be mac compatible? I'm really torn between getting this or an ipod touch...
I will be reviewing the Q5W in the next few days. Look for the review next week on http://gadgetholic.com
Oops, it's actually http://gadgetaholic.com.