A3 or Q5?

[dasber]

Hi everyone.
Fr long I have been following both threads for A3 and Q5, because, though they both are PMP's, there are some differences. I still have not decided which one to buy. I have seen some comments on both threads about people also having same decision problem: which one to get?
On A3 side, it seems a very good PMP, if it will be the A2 "update". With new CPU, it should get better performance in reproducing some codecs and avoid this interference upper stripe, when playing TV In recordings.
It is expected to have firmware updates, as others have been having.
On Q5 side, we have bigger screen, WiFi+Bluetooth, Win CE (honest question: is this an advantage or disadvantage), still did not understand if will allow easily TV-IN recording or if it will need extras for that.
Of course there are more differences, but for now, those are the ones I would highlight.
Would you guys share a little?[rolleyes]

[mikey]

Basically if you want more than a pmp that you can browse the net with, and do more in CE and have the cash and dont mind a little bigger machine to carry go the q5. That is what im doing if and only if the wifi and bluetooth are built in, and a 60gb plus model is released.

[maratus]

Hello.

Will Q5 features be enough for you? Do you want either PMP with some features (Hi-res LCD or Win CE for applications) or powerful All-in-one device (like PDA or tablet-PC)?

Q5 looks like very complex device (hardware) and it should be rather power-hangry compared to A3.... IMO


I'll get 80Gb (or 60Gb) A3 for maximum battery life and capacity/price ratio.
And of course A3 is smaller

[cjcox]

The A3 is smaller, but as others have already pointed out, not too much smaller. The Q5 is advertising some pretty amazing battery runtimes (for the class of device that it is).

The Q5 also has the advantage in that it will probably ship roughly around the time they said it would... I personally wouldn't count on seeing ANY A3 until late July if not August (or even later).

[dasber]

Thanx for sharing, guys. Yeah, it seems the A3 is fully complete, pocket size PMP + TV recorder, radio and radio recorder, it looks like having nice GUI and long lasting battery. Is the screen size enough to see movies and read subtitles without having our nose on its surface? Q5 has a bigger screen without being so much bigger PMP. Because, as Mikey pointed out, if I only want a PMP, A3 should be enough and Q5 should be considered for extra functions. The timing could also be an issue. Q5 is about to be released, A3 seems still is a question for all. I travel a lot, so this is a real good company.
Thanx again

[cjcox]

I own an A2... right now the A3 is the same size... the A2 is an awesome player even today. I can't use the Q5 just because it runs that "other" OS.

[.N.]

Good topic.

I do not understand the obsession with screens, and whether these devices can play movies. Who wants to watch a movie on a 3" or 5" screen? Who has the time to setup and record a program to a HD at home, then transfer it to PMP, then watch it somewhere on a tiny little screen?
This sounds ridiculous to me. I hope the companies which are jumping on this bandwagon know what they are doing.

I started gravitating towards COWON and this forum because I am searching for a good music player. Cowon appears quite a bit ahead of others in this field. I wish they would stay the course. I am watching in dismay though that instead of focusing on this area, they started piling up "fancy" features of dubious value. So APE gets hacked, battery life goes down, size goes up, price soars .. all so that I could watch TV on 3" screen?! No thank you. I do not even watch TV on a 42" screen.

My last hope is that A3 will be the purists player. All I am looking for are:
1) sound quality
2) codecs
3) battery life

I would buy X5 in a flash, but it appears it will never support APE or AC3, so I just have to wait now...

As the release gets more and more delayed, I am beginning to suspect that they have attempted to pile up quite a bit on it, and hence the technical troubles.

I wish they would do all the "piling up" on Q5, and leave A3 alone.

Q5 will be excellent for people who have no TV, no email, no navigation and no laptop, but are otherwise awash in cash.

[doniago]

I do not understand the obsession with screens, and whether these devices can play movies. Who wants to watch a movie on a 3" or 5" screen? Who has the time to setup and record a program to a HD at home, then transfer it to PMP, then watch it somewhere on a tiny little screen?

You might understand it better if you faced a long train commute to work every day...

The A2's screen has been more than adequate for watching a movie. Sure it's not great, but who would expect it to be? It does however get the job done, and of course if you're not in the mood to watch a movie, you've got music or radio to play with.

As for it taking time...it's not as though you need to monitor every step of the ripping process...when I got my A2 I'd rip 3 or 4 DVD's and convert them while I slept or watched tv.

Of course, there's probably a lot of people who watch downloaded material instead...no recording required.

[maratus]

Good topic.

I do not understand the obsession with screens, and whether these devices can play movies. Who wants to watch a movie on a 3" or 5" screen? Who has the time to setup and record a program to a HD at home, then transfer it to PMP, then watch it somewhere on a tiny little screen?

PMP is good for viewing photos and powerful device is comfortable to work with. Good LCD (800*480 is perfect, 480*272 is pretty good) is a must.

Fast USB on-the-go Host and lots of storage..... How many devices are capable of doing such things? A3 and Q5 should be almost perfect though.

P.S. Canon M30 or Epson P5000 are better for working with 13-16Mp files (Jpeg and RAW) and have 648*480 TFT LCD, but they don't provide convenient interface for music and video as well.

[Hess]

Being my an A2 owner I really don't see the advantage of me buying an A3 for a few extra features, so I will be buying the Q5. Keep my A2 as mentioned for music and the core feature and use the Q5 for the net and the gps, etc.

[dasber]

Good topic.

all so that I could watch TV on 3" screen?! No thank you. I do not even watch TV on a 42" screen.



I understand why the movie issue is not so important to you, because i seems that, generally speaking, these are not your interests. That's ok. But for me, I travel a lot, with A3, I can have with myself, anywhere, anytime a couple of movies I'd like to see, or radio or any other entertainment, while on an airplane, hotel, train, whatever.
The recording function is also very nice, because you can rip it directly to your A3 and if it suits, you can play it through TV-Out back to TV screen, so, it really replaces the DVD recorder or even the VHS recorder. Besides, it records from TV directly. Having some paid cable channels, they are encrypted, but if you record them from TV, which means, after the decryption from cable box, you can still record it (I think).

[dasber]

Being my an A2 owner I really don't see the advantage of me buying an A3 for a few extra features, so I will be buying the Q5. Keep my A2 as mentioned for music and the core feature and use the Q5 for the net and the gps, etc.

I will buy my first PMP. If I would own A2, I would probably think like you, but for first PMP, the question is in fact A3 or Q5

[mssx]

watching videos on a 4" screen is a whole different experience altogether! i am a college student and i travel a lot by public transport. having portable video is great for me. yeah it does not rival home theatres but that is not what this device was meant to be in the first place....

[Mindlessbeing]

I can't complain about a 4" screen... heck, I used to watch movies (with subtitles!!!) on my N-Gage's 176*208 1.8" screen with 4096 colours and a dimmer backlight than a broken LED. :P

People think 4" is small because they don't realize you're holding it right in front of you, it's not sitting at the other end of the room.
I don't think anybody under normal circumstances will watch movies on their PMP in their room (if they have a tv) or in their living room... unless of course if their TV's broken, the person shouldn't be watching tv, there's no electricity all the time (my case), etc...

Anyway, I'd really want to get the Q5 for the Wifi, but the battery life is holding me back... The A2 (and A3's) battery lives are just sooo much better, and like in the Archos series, the Wifi in the Cowon will probably hog a poo-load of battery)...

However, if Cowon would add the possibility of changing batteries yourself, hell, now that'd be a great move for the Q5 sales.

For now, my mind's on A3.

[Bluebear12]

I have only been following the Q5 posts as this player seemed to have more of the features I wanted:
-Wifi
-Office Viewer
-Text/Comic viewer
-Windows ce
-Wireless Internet browsing
-Divx


However after reading some potential damming new from here Link (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/08/31/ifa_cowon_iaudio_wireless/)
I am a little unsure of the price. This is far to much for me especially if I am importing to Australia. This is well over AU$1000 for a basic model. [cursing]

In short:
"Cowon said the Q5 will arrive in Europe late September, priced at €649 ($886/£439) for the 40GB version and €699 ($954/£473xc) for the 60GB model. The A3 comes out at the same time, priced at €449 ($613/£304) for the 30GB product, €499 ($681/£338) for the 60GB model"

I might be swayed to consider the A3 which although does not look as slick as the Q5, has TV recording, or I might even change camps and buy the Archos 605 Wifi.