Cowon V5 HD set for South Korea debut on January 1

Cowon has finally made its latest and greatest PMP official, and the spec sheet does not disappoint. Mixing appealing curves with a 4.8-inch display, the V5 HD offers 720p video playback that can be channeled out via HDMI or Composite outputs. On the software front, there's the usual litany of wide-ranging file compatibility and basic apps -- cortesy of Windows CE 6.0 -- as well as a world clock, RSS reader, Flash games, voice recorder, and an optional T-DMB tuner. We still don't know what's doing the dirty work under the hood, but you won't be wanting for storage, with integrated memory options up to 32GB being augmented by SDHC expandability. Battery life is rated at 10 hours of video or 45 hours of music, and the Korean landing date is January 1 with prices starting at 299,000 KRW ($256). Until then, you can check out more pictures after the break.

[Thanks, The DarkSide]

[s604567 Posted Dec 21st 2009 5:36AM]

Love the UI. Not sure about the last pic, though, looks a little boring.

[voodoo Posted Dec 21st 2009 5:49AM]

I would be very interested in the actual video capabilities.

720p doesnt mean a lot, because you could be talking about less stressful codecs like Xvid, WMV HD, or H.264 baseline.

If this player can handle 720p x264 high-profile (in a MKV container) at typical bitrates (up to 8000kbps) that would be pretty sweet. Even the Archos 5 Android can't do that.

[k2001 Posted Dec 21st 2009 6:08AM]

@(Unverified)
Alot of Chinese PMP have MKV playback. Some even go up to 1080p. The catch is you have to deal with their buggy ui

[Edobe Posted Dec 21st 2009 7:10AM]

@k2001 Cowon is South Korean,

[rafa Posted Dec 21st 2009 8:19AM]

@Edobe He is right, I was waiting for this player, but now I am somekind of disappointed. I will order a Ramos T11TE.

[saturnblackhole Posted Dec 21st 2009 8:46AM]

@rafa but the ramos oniy has 16 gb this pmp has 32gb

[rafa Posted Dec 21st 2009 10:38AM]

@saturnblackhole yes but you have to pay 235€ or $340 for this unit. That is much compared to 130€ for the ramos.

It would be interresting what the other specs are. I mean this is really just a little information we have.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 21st 2009 11:02AM]

@(Unverified)
the Cowon O2 supports mkv @720p

[rafa Posted Dec 21st 2009 11:16AM]

@(Unverified) The Ramos is cancelled, now I wait for the Cowon V5. you know what!!! It has spdif out, that is what I have waited for.

Tank you cowon :)

[rlawlals Posted Dec 21st 2009 8:15AM]

Hm... only problem is, will it fit in my pocket? Hopefully, it has a AMOLED screen, and wifi would only be in my dreams.

[Johnny Tremaine Posted Dec 21st 2009 8:46AM]

Many Cowon devices have fantastic specs, but they tend to fall down on the software and execution side of things.

[zuluedison Posted Dec 21st 2009 10:55AM]

@Atkins

A great example is the cowon O2. It has fantastic specs and is a powerful device, but it crippled by its firmware. The interface is hard to use (small touches) and obvious features (such as using the BBE settings in video mode) aren't implimented.

a great article about the flaws of the o2 can be found here
http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37194

[ironyisoverrated Posted Dec 21st 2009 1:12PM]

@(Unverified) Have to agree with you. I've had two Cowon players so far, and the UI is always the weak point.

The first, my U3 (still in use for the gym...), was a definite winner. Besides sound quality, which is my first priority, it was super durable and though the UI was a little quirky, it was fairly straightforward and functional so I got used to it. OTOH, there is the S9 I bought to replace the U3. Sure, it does sound great, but the initial firmware that came with the player was buggy to the point that I almost returned the player two days after receiving it. The player made harsh noises, got stuck, and turned off randomly. IMO, releasing a player with software that dysfunctional was a thumb in the eye of their customers. Subsequent FW updates made the player much more stable, but the interface is still not nearly as smooth or responsive as it could be and navigation is not intuitive. Most importantly, it took a user designed interface upgrade to provide even basic playlist support.

I give Cowon lots of credit for placing a premium on sound quality, broad format support (at least on the audio side...), and issuing frequent FW updates. That said, their stubborn refusal to put any attention towards content programming has caused me to consider getting a Zune or Sony. Buyers have to be wary as Cowon is one company that too often promises more than they can deliver.

[NYNY Posted Dec 21st 2009 9:38AM]

That menu looks interesting to say the least. Has quite a lot going on. As for the UI it's not too bad, rather clean look to it. Hardware look ok.

[willowtwf Posted Dec 21st 2009 9:47AM]

it must have wifi or most/all of the apps wouldn't really have a function. you can't email without wifi, etc.

but get rid of this windows ce nonsense and throw android on it already.

[Quikboy Posted Dec 21st 2009 12:13PM]

@willowtwf: And what is just so awful about Windows CE 6.0?

[Vlad Savov Posted Dec 21st 2009 9:58AM]

@Atkins My Korean is still rather poor, but I'm pretty sure the PIII is the minimum spec of compatible computers, rather than what's inside the V5.

[brockorr Posted Dec 21st 2009 1:05PM]

Dear Cowon, could we move away from CE [and Flash UI's]? And towards something more open like Android please?

[TranceChaos Posted Dec 21st 2009 3:56PM]

I hope it has AMOLED