X5 Movie Playback

[slag[]]

15 fps sounds manageable, if not ideal. Has anyone experimented extensively with movie playback in the X5?

I could see myself purchasing one and watching anime episodes on it. Does this seem a reasonable expectation of the X5, for those who have experienced its movie playback firsthand?

[bradavon]

I'd say so. I've not seen an X5 in action but have seen similar products in action and they've been fine (my SmartPhone for one is very similar).

I found after a few minutes I forgot how small the screen was but that's just me. I would never consider subtitled films though, no way. There are a few threads here discussing this and a couple with some sample videos.

[Fido]

Here is an example file I made, The red hand goes around once every second, a black revolution is a minute, and the grey hand revolves once evey hour. It is at a resolution of 160x128 pixels and 15 frames per second.

http://home.comcast.net/~tmetler/example.html

Don't buy video's with subtitles, but I guess that goes without saying :p

[misticaudio]

The video playback on the X5 although lower in resolution than the iRiver H300 Series is smoother. I have The Grudge and the Star Wars Episode III Trailer on mine and both play very nicely. Anime would work wonderfully.

[slag[]]

I just received my U2 on the 26th of April. I love it a lot - it's very nice, small, great sound, bright LCD, looks beautiful. It has Ogg support, line-in recording, etc - I'm sure I don't have to explain this here :P

Anyhow, while I love the player, I've been considering selling it off and saving up for an X5. The much higher recording quality, extra storage space (I'd use it to back up my hard drive, since I reformat constantly) and possibility of watching anime episodes on it, simply drive me to the edge.


The only real cons against doing this:
1) an extra $100
2) HDD-based, so no jogging with it
3) basically all my anime is subtitled

While the pros include:
1) the $100 is probably going to be spent regardless, since I need an external hard drive
2) high quality line-in, for backing up LPs (no more messing with turn tables and my computer)
3) FLAC support! no need for Ogg anymore
4) I can watch anime! (can I? are subtitles impossible to read?)


What are your opinions? Do the pros outweigh the cons? Is it impossible, or just difficult, to read the subtitles?

[Fido]

1) But look at what you get, 20GB, color screen, tons of stuff.
2) You can jog with it, the only way the harddrive would really be effected is if there is a very sudden movement while it is spinning. Just don't throw it around, jogging should be fine.
3) With subtitles, you probably wont be able to watch those on anything but a big screen, even if they are readable it would put a strain on your eyes.

1) An external hard drive would be much cheaper per gig, but it wouldn't be as portable, the X5 harddrive is really small, how important is it to you to take the files around?
2) Have fun recording everything!
3) Remember that it is battery intensive

I am going to get the X5 as soon as it comes out, I think it's the best player, and a good value too. How big is your music collection? I personally would prefer to keep all my music in one place, and not have to switch around. I say go for it, even if it doesn't work out perfectly, I think that you'll be very happy with the player.
How important is watching the anime? I really don't think the subtitles will be readable with the resolution.

[slag[]]

My music collection is rapidly expanding. FLAC files are rather large, and Ogg at any respectable bit rate is as well. I've found that 1GB is just BARELY enough. More space would certainly be appreciated.

Everything you've said has been most helpful. I'm still not sure if I'll make the move, though. It is the anime thing that is in danger of breaking the deal. I hardly have any english-dubbed anime, and don't speak Japanese well enough to ask for directions to the sex shoppe (or even the bathroom, for that matter.)

There are many pros favoring the switch, and they bear considerable weight. However, I'm fairly certain I would not risk exercising with such an expensive hard drive. With the U2, I'll probably be chucking it across the room in a month or so to switch off the light (quoting someone else from these forums.) Flash memory is excellent that way. The size is also a great plus for the U2.

I think the decision is contingent upon my ability to read subtitled anime. Which sounds like it's basically nil. One other thing that could sway my actions is actually testing the line-in quality of the U2. If it sounds as crappy as I'm sure 128kbps MP3s would sound at this point, I may well be inclined to get rid of this thing. Oh, how this forum has opened my eyes - I am a new man... an audiophile.

^_^

[Fido]

I really wouldn't worry about excercising with it, eXity says he dirt biked with the M3, much more intense than walking, but some have also claimed that it doesn't work that well. From what I've heard the X5 sounds even better built than the M3, so I wouldn't worry about jogging with it at all.

And I think you mean iAudiophile.

[Aewon]

The video playback is excellent for a player of this size. Watching DVDs arent a big deal--that is unless, you want to search and seek around. Seeking is very slow, especially if you're trying to watch a 2-hour movie.

And um, I'm not sure if it's the videos, but when loaded on to the player, the audio and the video are distorted by a split second. It seems that the video is slower than the audio. I'll check back on this.

- Aewon

[Fido]

I'm sure the video playback is good, but is the resolution high enough to read subtitles? That's what slag is asking.

[BlackFlag79]

Aewon, have you updated to 2.03? Apparently they fixed the sync issues with videos.

[austinv]

i never had a sync issue to begin with. hmz.

[slag[]]

Hrmm, well I'm interested to hear if anyone who has an X5 believes reading subtitles may be possible.

And I did actually mean "audiophile" - while iAudio is a great company, I feel no strong bond to a company merely because it is currently producing the best product on the line. What matters far more is finding and grabbing the best sound out there, wherever it is.

[zaphanathpaneah]

Glad to hear someone emphasize this. It's only business.

[slag[]]

Right, it's just business. Maybe if I had dealt with Cowon America personally, I would feel differently - but in this case, it is simply a commonplace exchange of goods. In no way does this warrant a profound love or devotion.

I'm extremely interested in hearing firsthand from someone who has an X5 their judgment on subtitle readability. Realizing that these people are quite few and far between, I'll hope that at some point someone will offer their expert opinion. It would be in my best interest to sell the U2 as soon as possible, while it is still in "like new" condition and before a price drop occurs. At this point I should be able to experience very minimal losses if I sell it (since SunTec gave me such a great deal!)

[bradavon]

Don't buy video's with subtitles, but I guess that goes without saying :p
I'm sure you do 95% of DVDs have subs. Not to mention many, many English language films have captions to describe something such as a location. Why does it btw?

I take it you mean non-English DVDs? If so you're really missing out but as I'm wasting my time I'll leave it at that.

The video playback is excellent for a player of this size. Watching DVDs arent a big deal--that is unless, you want to search and seek around. Seeking is very slow, especially if you're trying to watch a 2-hour movie.
How slow? Please explain.

']Hrmm, well I'm interested to hear if anyone who has an X5 believes reading subtitles may be possible.
I'm very sure it's possible but the font would be so small. It's possible on my SmartPhone which is similar spec. but I wouldn't want to do it for anymore than the odd caption.

[Fido]

I was just joking around, I call companies as I see them, cowon seems exceptional, if their quality goes down, I wont deny that.

I mean videos that are primarily subtitles, captions are typically bigger, because they're part of the movie, but subtitles are typically smaller so it wont disrupt the film, also if the subtitles aren't put over a solid color it would make it harder to read because it will blend with the background when the movie is resized. I don't think the X5 will be good for subtitled films, although someone who has the player should test this.

You'll be having to read the subtitles the entire movie and it will be harder making you focus more on the words, and you may miss action from the actual movie.

[Aewon]

Subtitles would take up quite a large part of the screen, so I doubt that it would be reasonable--but yes it would work. You would probably have to be very close to the screen if you make it any smaller though.

Eh.... Let's just say that for a... 2-hour movie, it would take about half a minute to seek through it. It's just an estimate and from memory, but if thats not right, that's what it feels like.

[bradavon]

That's not to bad 7.5 seconds to search the first 30 mins.

[Aewon]

Err, maybe a minute. lol. I'm not sure, I erased movies off of my x5l.