Cowon Q5W gets reviewed: needs work

Now that the Cowon Q5W is finally on sale in the US, reviews are starting to spring up, and sadly, it looks like we'll have to put off our newfound love affair for a while -- while the device is sexy and the feature list is there, it seems like the interface just isn't up to snuff. The folks at Gadgetaholics are first off the line with a review, and while they praise the extensive feature list and codec support, it seems that the three-year-old Windows CE 5.0 OS just isn't quite as touch-compatible as that five-inch screen would have you believe, with the use of a stylus required for several features, including the onscreen keyboard. Worse, the Cowon shell runs as an app on top of the OS, requiring some unfortunate mode and context switching to change settings and run other apps. Video playback was also marred by glitches, including an inability to play certain supposedly compatible files and a hard lockup when attempting to load an unsupported .mov file. In the end, regardless of Q5W's impressive screen size and feature list, it looks like the Archos 605 might be a better bet -- we hope it can forgive us for straying.

[Vossa @ Feb 1st 2008 10:29PM]

I just ordered the Q5W... the selling points for me were the video codec support, and the ability to connect component and S video right from the unit. Archos 605 needs a docking device, and the video support is not as broad. So when you buy the Archos plug in, the docking bay, and cables... you are beyond the cost of the CoWon... it would be great to have one of these WiFi units be able to send images to a wireless projector. My plan is to use the Q5W as a video server to a mini projector with good video quality (which apple Ipod does not have).
:-)

[Paddalren @ Feb 9th 2008 9:53AM]

What about the surfing? Whit the Archos 605w it seems that you have to put another €30 ($30) to get the browser. Is this included in the Cowon? And I am NOT interested in YouTube but general browsing.

And second important thing. On my Cowon X5 you cannot use the device when charging via the USB. Is that possible with this device? This will really extend the battery life from my perspective.

Regards
Erik

[o rly @ Dec 4th 2007 7:22PM]

I'd like to know why Cowon couldn't use Windows CE 6.0 or a Linux platform.

[Macha88 @ Dec 4th 2007 7:23PM]

As with most cowon products i have owned (read:a2) the 6th firmware revision is where they work out all the kinks....

[David @ Dec 4th 2007 7:30PM]

They should have totally used Linux like before.. WinCE is just junk.

[Rofl @ Dec 4th 2007 8:26PM]

I'm pretty sure it's the same reason Sharp moved their Zaurus line to CE. It's to use third party applications such as GPS (which was featured on their website) and reference guides.

[Bazirker @ Dec 4th 2007 7:47PM]

I wish someone over at Cowon would realize they make amazing hardware and absolute junk for software. Designing the hardware is the hard part (no pun intended) while creating a half-decent interface for their DAP's should be a piece of cake...perhaps Cowon agrees and therefore the interface is an afterthought? Either way, I love my X5, but the stock interface is by far the weakest aspect of the player. Yay for Rockbox stepping up to take care of the things that Cowon didn't!

[Eriloman @ Dec 4th 2007 10:34PM]

Well it's easier for Cowon(and less costly) to put together a player with amazing hardware - Cowon and many of these DAP companies in Korea and China don't have the money, resources of the time to spend on building a good UI, unlike Apple, Samsung, Creative etc.

Only one touch screen DAP type plater will probably stand out from that region and that will be the Meizu M8 (ok its also a phone) - but look how freaking long its taking them to come out with it, simple because they don't have the resources to build fast a good UI. It's also no motivation or encouragement that they're in an industry where things get old and out dated within a matter of weeks.

A really good touch touch screen player which is easy to use and probably very under rated is the Hacha PA20, it simple but performs well in all the functions it does and its only about $140 for a 4GB version:
http://www.mp4nation.net/products/index.php?PID=xmas

[Eriloman @ Dec 4th 2007 10:49PM]

wrong link, correct one below:
http://www.mp4nation.net/products/index.php?PID=OEMPA20

[Jeremy K. @ Dec 4th 2007 8:29PM]

Way to be descriptive man...

[Jesse S @ Dec 4th 2007 9:51PM]

The Archos 605 hisses like CRAZY, I can't use one.

[-TrEaT- @ Dec 4th 2007 11:12PM]

cowon really needs to just spend a few days on a OS and use its amazing hardware to blow the competition away. as far as that hacha PA20 goes it is a very interesting device. has anyone used one? it seems the it has a great list of features for a very low price. but it may suffer from the same issues cowon does. neither of the archos 605's i own hiss. jesse must have used a defective unit.

[JohnTitor @ Dec 4th 2007 11:35PM]

don't go begging back to the 605 Engadget, instead wait for that rumored HSDPA player Archos is supposed to release next year

[Constable Odo @ Dec 4th 2007 11:39PM]

Same here. I'm waiting for a 32GB iPod touch to take the place of my 5G iPod 30GB. My portable music collection is only around 20GB but once I start loading on season episodes of TV programs or miniseries, I start pushing against the formatted limit of the iPod. As bad as I want a touch, I'm not wasting money on a 16GB version. I'm willing to wait until next year.

What is amusing is that although this Cowon has a features list long enough to choke a horse, it's interface is hampered by a crappy OS.

I'm glad I have guys like you to thank and save me from buying stuff that might be good but isn't. I guess I'll just stick with the iPods. I darn sure don't need a player that freezes while I'm watching videos or listening to music. I just wish Apple or a third-party would add DivX and XviD codecs, but no such luck.

[Josh L @ Dec 5th 2007 12:22AM]

... Or get one of these and put Rockbox on it. I don't know why (or how) you could ever go back to an iPod after you've seen how much better just about every DAP manufacturer's hardware is.

[Jason @ Dec 5th 2007 9:14AM]

WiFi, windows CE and no browser?

How does Youtube work?

What about Google Docs?

[PenaltyKillah @ Dec 5th 2007 8:41PM]

Heh, everyone's love affair with the lusty player is gone. I knew it's just not that glitzy once I saw the words "CE 5.0".

[jin @ Dec 7th 2007 4:40PM]

The video has just been posted. Go check it out.

[newmiracle @ Dec 9th 2007 4:36AM]

I dunno, this review seems kind of over critical. Did anyone bother to even READ to gadgetaholic review? Here's a snip:

"[Update] I guess, I didn't make myself clear when I wrote about the poor user interface on the Q5W. I've seen many articles that misquoted me on this. Let me make this clar: Cowon's own user interface is not that bad. It is decent. However, having to deal with Windows CE's own interface is my major concern."

and also, video freezes only seemed to happen with unsupported codecs like quicktime and inability to play high def wmvs (most likely because of screen resolution differences, etc). Another quote:

"Playing videos is what this player excels at. As advertised, the movie player can play movie files encoded in DivX, XviD, WMV and MPEG4 at various bit rates. At 30 fps and 720x480, the movies plays on the Q5W as smooth as silk. The 600 Mhz AMD Alchemy kept the frame rates up to the maximum without dropping any frames for most of the movies I played."

I'm not trying to be a fanboy here- but the tone of your summary strikes me as way more negative than the article itself. Not to say that I'm ready to trust buying this device yet. $600 is alot to drop (for me, at least). What I'm really waiting on is a review of the functionality of CE for apps like emulators, music creation software, shareware and freeware gems, etc. etc. etc. This is why it seems so much more appealing than archos, which has a proprietary OS. But if it's too sluggish to actually run any of that stuff or can't run them at all because of weird proprietary issues- there's no point to that $600 price tag, now is there?

Maybe I didn't read it in the same tone as you, but I have to say I think you guys are a little off base. Whats driving me crazy is that reviews and comments following them are wildly differing. "Touching with fingers is fine," vs. "Stylus REQUIRED". Can I get a straight review of this things ANYWHERE?