Cowon W2 spec'd, priced, and dated for Korean consumers
By Ross Miller 
posted January 17th 2010 6:48AM
posted January 17th 2010 6:48AM
posted January 17th 2010 6:48AM
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@oldpass56
Nice bezel.
@000000
It's a MID. How else would you hold it without a bezel?
@oldpass56 Cowon is up next to make a move in the mobile computing department with a certification page having leaked out to reveal more about the Cowon W2. This MID, or better known as a Mobile Internet Device, will run off an Intel Atom processor while featuring Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity much like other Cowon devices luke the X5, Not too shabby in my opinion: http://bit.ly/cowon-x5-verdict
@shenliam The leaked sheet contains no image, no real specs and no launch date. The tablet speculation only arrives once you consider Cowon's MO, paired with Atom. Yeah, definitely a stretch, but an interesting one to consider on this lazy, post-Halloween Sunday afternoon
More details of this vague PMP: http://bit.ly/cowon-w2-details
if it had 3g, i would have ditched my shift for this but naa Shift is the best purchase i have done in years!
I'll stick with my S9, thanks.
What? Not comparable?
@Gad Get
Can you fit the 80GB that the COWON will take on your S9? I know lossless takes up a TON of room and I am all for a bumped up capacity (and if you are not running lossless your S9 it is being wasted....).
@New Reformation He is saying the Cowon is not comparable to the S9 and he is right, if anything you could compare this to the S5 with more battery life, and the S5 does come with a 60 GB hard drive.
Me ill stick with my 1-2 punch with the Viliv X70EX (32 GB with 3G) and my Archos Android 500GB PMP.
That is all going to change once the Viliv U5 is released. Viliv U5 is probably the best UMPC I have seen in a long time.
question: what is it that a 1.3ghz windows tablet can accomplish that a half competent smartphone cant?
@alzrnb
for starters.. you can have your favourite browser, favourite OS, run full flash (i mean not mobile version), download music from where ever you want, play music using your fav player, connect to which ever bluetooth device you like ( shift can pair with my sony xplode player) unlike iphone which is not compatible with some bluetooth stacks. use keyboard you like (when you are not on move, ofcourse)
@rakeshin ok, browser and flash I'll give you there. but the keyboard on a blackberry or E series will be better on the move than this, and with 3G you can download music in more places on one too
@alzrnb
Endless support of video format. With the ablility to chose from zune, apple, amazon and many other stores.
@alzrnb Unlike a lot of MIDs, this is more one of those PMPs that use a desktop OS to give it extra functioning, like browsing, etc.
@Atkins I wonder how fast Lightroom 2 will be on that beastly machine.
@alzrnb It also opens great oppurtunity to run windows comparable software. Question - what is the best tablet device running windows 7, because the cowen is one of cooler ones that I have seen
@revoltracers This is kinda my point essentially, all these "proper computer" programs will be so painful to use on that kind of processor, Lightroom is slow enough on a dual core 2.4ghz let alone that thing.
Until they have real power I don't see where the market is for these things
@alzrnb In Korea, TV programming is available in hi def online. Also, there will be a digital TV version, for live broadcast TV. Those advantages don't really extend to the U.S. Korea's internet infrastructure is also still dependent on IE, although less so now than a couple years ago. All that adds up to a Windows OS on a PMP form factor for getting all kinds of video content.
So I don't expect this device to be popular in the U.S.
It could be a cool device, but its too expensive.
@voodoo
It's a UMPC/MID, why are you expecting PMP prices? The 64 gig ipod touch is 400(ish), this device has 80GB and a lot of other benefits.
why all these 4,3"+ devices? i want a (more) pocketable device with 60+gb of storage!
Looks nice is the nicest thing I can say about this.
Put maemo on it and I think we might have solid GOLD.
It's a cowon so surely it must have some graphics accelerator? Else it's just a dull weak nameless mid.
Also it only has BT2.0 not 2.1? and not n wireless, just b/g? and a pretty dated atom? What gives? Did this slip in through some timehole from the past?
@Wwhat I never felt that 802.11g was too slow... On fast servers I easily hit 20Mbps, and is your Internet connection so much faster than that? (Mine is, since I saw it hit 90+Mbps.) And what are you going to do with Bluetooth 2.1 anyway?
@revoltracers
People want N not so much for internet speeds, but for cross network speed, and the better coverage N provides. Or at least that's why I want it.
No wireless N is a no-buy. Sorry COWON. I was really looking forward to your next MID replacement but I'll stick with my s9 until something better comes out.
@Solidstate89
Although wireless N is important for future devices, I cannot think of all that many places that use it now. Any place with free wireless is in G, not N. Maybe you have your household set up with N, however I do not know how often I would use a 4.3 inch screen in my house since I have computers.
On the other hand, this is not the device I would leave my S9 for.
What BigJayDogg3 says, if it's n the rest of the network can be n too, and the BT2.1 makes it use much less power, important for mobile devices.
And it's just weird that it's all so outdated really and introduced as new, it would be OK if it was on current devices, but new stuff should be more up to date surely.
As for internetspeed, yes I have significantly faster internet than 20mbps.
Good.
Is it a full touch screen Win 7 based PC?
I trust Cowon's technology.
My Cowon D2's battery life is super fvcking strong. sound quality and equalize function are superb.
@ju1bxmmh
There's that, good sound quality, and format support, can't neglect those things as being important.
i want to use this instead of printing lecture notes for uni.
how appropriate are these to use as a tablet to write notes on with powerpoint slides.
Is it just me or does this look a lot like a Sony VAIO U minus some buttons and a wide screen? Even the buttons have the same 90 degree angle graphic printed on them.
W2, I deem you, "Fatboy Fatty."
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