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» Cowon A5 - aka "Cowon Z2 'Video Edition'" |
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Feb 27, 2012 - 10:07 AM - by Kizune
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Did you know that the Cowon A5 emerged shortly after the Z2's revelation? It's true, I mentioned the player in the Z2 rumor thread when I had my "anti-Cowon phase" - but my post soon fell into oblivion.
Now Cowon has finished the A5's product page. The first time I opened it, I'd have almost thought I accidentally opened the Z2's product page - the specifications of both players are almost identical!
The only differences I found so far...
... the A5 has a 4.8" LCD screen, 480x800 (Z2: 3.7" AMOLED, 480x800)
... better battery: 40h music, 10h video (Z2: 22h music, 8h30 video)
... very chunky design probably due to the larger battery (reference picture)
The other specs are the same. The A5 has the same CPU/GPU/VPU combination, also uses Android 2.3 GB, supports the same audio and video formats and utilizes JetEffect 5.0 + Lossless Mixer.
In my opinion the A5 is just the "video edition" of the Z2 - the large screen makes it ideal to watch videos on-the-go and the battery is way better than that of the Z2.
However, the screen is only an LCD one and the resolution is 480x800. Come on, Cowon, the A5 is able to play HD videos smoothly... why do you kill this feature with a low-res LCD screen?
Even compared to other companies' players, the A5's battery is very good. Recently, the Z2's battery life was compared the the battery life of Samsung's Galaxy Player 5 which provides 8h video and amazing 60h music playback - of course the conclusion was that the Z2's battery life is worse. But the A5 is a video-centric player and in that aspect, the A5 lasts 2 hours longer than Samsung's Android player.
So if you often watch videos on-the-go, the A5 might be a good choice for you - the large screen and the good battery make it a decent video player.
Even if you don't watch videos that often, the A5's battery life is a lot better than the Z2's... however, it's a very large and chunky player and if portability or a superior screen technology (Z2's AMOLED vs A5's LCD) are important to you, the Z2 should be your choice.
Cowon A5 Discussion Thread
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0 Replies | 2,200 Views
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» [POLL] Cowon Z2 & XDA |
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Jan 23, 2012 - 1:13 PM - by Kizune
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Bill726 recently sent me a PM in which he stated that he informed the XDA developers of the Z2. Well, he just sent me another message:
In other words...
1. Register in the XDA forums (unless you already have an account there)
2. Open said thread
3.a. If the Z2 is not in the top list: Submit a post which says that you vote for the Z2 (it's in the 2nd post ATM)
3.b. Otherwise vote for the Z2 the usual way (by using the checkboxes in the list box)
If you'd like to have the Z2 + Cyanogen Mod, then VOTE!
And even if you don't plan to buy it or if you don't want to use CM on the Z2, many Z2 owners would appreciate it if CM was available for their player. Voting for it increases the chance that CM gets developed for the Z2. Also, it's an optional ROM... if you don't want to use it, you don't have to.
The registration and the voting only take 5 minutes at the most.
If you don't want to use your own email address, there are several trashmail services available, such as http://www.trash-mail.com/. You have to confirm your account, though, so remember your trashmail address until you've received the confirmation.
Mini FAQ
Do you have to register there? Yes.
Do you have to use your own email address? No, there are several trashmail services available. You have to confirm your account, though, so remember your trashmail address until you've received the confirmation.
Do you have to use CM? No, it's optional.
Does posting a vote hurt? No, except you hate thankfulness of Z2 owners who'd like to use CM.
Are there any disadvantages if you vote? NO!
So, is there any reason not to vote? NO!
But if this poll is a success, you'll be able to use a custom ROM on the Z2 that performs way better than the stock firmware. As dfkt said, having a choice is a good thing, not a bad thing.
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52 Replies | 3,935 Views
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» Cowon Z2 launched in Korea |
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Jan 19, 2012 - 6:50 AM - by Kizune
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The waiting is over, Cowon officially launched the Z2 "Plenue" in Korea, which is apparently the Cowon D3's successor (of course, the naming scheme is as stupid as always) and comes with a lot of changes.
First off, the Z2 does NOT have Android 4.0 ICS, it still uses Android 2.3 GB. But who knows, maybe we will see an update to ICS in the future?
Anyway, these are the Z2's specs:
CPU/GPU: 1GHz ARM Cortex A8, 800MHz VPU (for FullHD playback), 320MHz Mali 3D GPU
RAM: 512 MB
Screen: 3.7" AMOLED 800x480
OS: Android 2.3 Gingerbread
WiFi: IEEE 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth: 2.1 + EDR, A2DP / AVRCP / OPP Profile
Battery: 22h Music / 8h30 Video
Dimensions, Weight: W x H x D - 62.8mm x 116.5mm x 11.8mm; 116g
Available Memory: 8GB, 16GB, 32GB
Other: microSD Slot, G-Sensor, Radio, Microphone, Speakers
Supported Audio: MP3/2/1, WMA, OGG, WAV, ASF, FLAC, APE, M4A
Supported Video Containers: AVI, WMV, ASF, MP4, MKV, MPG, DAT, TS, TP, TRP, 3GP
Supported Video Codes: DivX, XviD, H.264, WMV 9/8/7, MPEG1
Audio Effects/Enhancements: JetEffect 5.0
> 44 Presets + 4 User Profiles
> 5 Band Equalizer
> BBE+: BBE, Mach3Bass, 3D Surround, MP Enhance
> Special Effects: Stereo Enhance, Reverb
> Lossless Mixer
> Playback Speed: 50% - 200%
Prices:
8GB: 259,000 KRW -> 228 USD
16GB: 299,000 KRW -> 264 USD
32GB: 339,000 KRW -> 298 USD
Links:
- Official Product Page
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182 Replies | 17,930 Views
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» Cowon J3/D2+/... with 64gb+ (micro)SDXC card |
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Dec 06, 2011 - 11:55 AM - by Kizune
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Great news for memory junkies who own a Cowon J3: Earlier today, Anything But iPod member kp-j3 confirmed that 64gb microSDXC cards work perfectly fine with the DAP.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by kp-j3, anythingbutipod.com
SUCCESS! 
(Your mileage may vary)
Using firmware 2.26, and a SanDisk 64GB Mobile Ultra MicroSDXC Class 6 card.
I formatted it in fat32, and loaded up approximately 6000 songs on it. I was using sleep mode, so the manually initiated database rebuild attempt did not work, it just blew out the old database for my 32gb card. Turned sleep mode off, shut down. Started and database built with no issues.
Went from approximately 5800 songs with 32gb internal 32gb external to almost 9000 songs with a 32gb/64gb combo.
It seems a little slower starting song 8890, but I guess it's because it's at the end of the card. |
Update, 2011-12-08:
Another user from iAudiophile.net, quokka, confirmed that a 128gb SDXC card works with his Cowon D2+.
It might be possible that all newer Cowon players which have a SD/microSD card slot support the new (micro)SDXC cards at least up to 128gb memory.
However, only SDXC cards are supported that follow the SD 3.0 specification since its interface is identical to the SD 2.0 specification.
SD article on Wikipedia:
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Secure Digital, Wikipedia
Compatibility with SDHC
SDXC host devices will accept all previous families of SD memory cards. Conversely, SDHC host devices will accept SDXC cards that follow Version 3.0, since the interface is identical,[27] but the following issues may affect usability:
- SDXC cards that follow Version 4.0 will use the exFAT file system, which the host device might not support.
- An SDHC host device will not test the capability bits newly defined for SDXC cards. It will therefore not be able to use the new features of SDXC, such as transfer speeds above UHS104.[28]
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Anything But iPod member razorblader explained another difference between SD 3.0 and SD 4.0 which makes it impossible to use SD 4.0 cards on Cowon's current players:
Quote:
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Originally Posted by razorblaider, anythingbutipod.com
[...] Future SDXC cards which conform to SD v.4 standards will have an extra contact pin and will be incompatible with the current SDHC slots but the current bunch of SDXC cards conform to the v.3 standard and are essentially SDHC cards with higher capacities than 32 GB.
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In order to make 3.0 SDXC cards work on your player, all you need to do is formatting the card with FAT32.
Please note that there is no way to distinguish SD 3.0 and SD 4.0 cards except you count the pins, so unless there is a remark about the used SD specification, it's risky to buy SDXC cards just to use them on your J3/D2+/...
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59 Replies | 9,574 Views
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» Cowon D3 Firmware 1.52 Beta - Update to Android Gingerbread |
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Jun 03, 2011 - 10:55 AM - by Kizune
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Today, Cowon decided to release a beta firmware update for the Cowon D3.
Major improvement: Android is updated from 2.1 to Gingerbread 2.3.3.
List of all changes:
General:
- Android is updated to Gingerbread 2.3.3
- Improved stability
- Improved performance
- Added control buttons on the system status bar: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, memory clean up, sleep mode
- New Apps: Kakaohtok, Internet Phone
Music Player:
- Added sleep timer
- Added usability of ringtones
- Improved speed of file browser
- Improved album art quality
Comic Viewer:
- Added Navigation Buttons
Discussion Thread
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Original Download
Mirror (MediaFire)
Mirror (File Savr)
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1 Reply | 5,392 Views
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» News Archive |
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Title, Username, & Date |
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Cowon D3 Plenue Review
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