View Full Version : First Day Observations From a PVP Virgin
PerlAddict
12-02-2005, 22:41
Well, you probably noticed that I found the forums today and shared my initials thoughts and discoveries in a posting frenzy that possibly rivals the attention Nick and Jessica's break-up brought ... which could go either way depending on how much or little you cared, actually.
But that's neither here nor there. Let me introduce myself - I'm a 24-year-old tech geek living in the southeastern United States. I might even consider myself a bit of a tech freak, though not nearly as much as I'd like to be (but hey, who is ever satisfied when it comes to cool new gadgets?) From shooting with a Digital Rebel XT to running temperature sensors inside the computer case in key areas to overclocking my Pocket PC to get better framerates from high-quality movies, I try and dabble in just about everything.
Which pretty much makes me the "average" guy when it comes to places like this. Seeing as the Cowon A2 just made it's debut in the US, you aren't typically going to find the 12-year-old you babysit on a Friday night messing with his or your grandmother trying to decide whether or not it's the right PVP for her this year.
So as an "average" tech user who has, until yesterday, never picked up a PVP in his life, here are some of my initial impressions of the Cowon A2, it's features, what I like, and what I would like to see improved.
1. The first thing I noticed was, obviously, the screen. I turned it on and said, "whoa." It looked amazing. Coming from a plethora of Pocket PC's like the H4355, hx2755, and a couple of other HP units, I'd never experienced a widescreen quite like this. To be fair, I picked up a Sony PSP in Best Buy and took a gander, but doing so on Black Friday was like eating a steak in front of a skinny lion ... you gotta move fast. I was impressed with it, but I don't need a portable gaming system and at the shortest glance, it was no better or worse than the A2 I have in front of me. I would like to see them side by side, but one wasn't so much better than the other at first comparison that I would feel it was inadequate in comparison. Perhaps like a toddler eating McDonald's for its first fast food experience, I've never had "the best" and have no precedent to form a solid comparison upon, so for right now, this screen is the best I've ever seen. =D So I'm extremely satisfied with my first endeavor in that respect.
2. I was also very pleased to find a firmware update had already been released, not to mention addressed one of the first issues I noticed - a lack of thumbnails while browsing pictures. Being a Windows user, I've grown fairly accustomed to my little thumbnails in the "Details" section of an explorer window, so the addition of those with firmwave v1.39 was very nice and gave me hope for future additions.
3. The first disappointment came with the joystick toggle. When I had purchased it, the area surrounding it looked more like a 4-way directional pad, which is fairly typical and easy to use. While it may not be fragile, a joystick will always put me at an unease in regards to handling the unit, as I feel like one wrong slip might send it pushed out of it's socket and leave me crying like a small child who just entered the world and realized Gilbert Godfrey was his father. But aside from that, the real reason I detest joysticks is the lack of coordination God granted me in my thumbs. I'm always going Down when I want to go Right, or clicking Back when I want to go Down. Quite frustrating after a couple of misclicks in a row. But, to be fair, this is nothing more than an issue of adjustment, and adjusting is my middle name. Be glad your parents weren't as cruel.
4. I proceeded to load an episode of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" onto the unit. Out of seven episodes, it's the only one that shows with artifacts on both my Phillips DPV642 dvd player w/divx and xvid support, as well as my computer. To my joy, it loaded up and played just fine on the A2. Outputting to the TV made the image look extremely red, which can most likely be attributed to the TV being a piece of junk itself, and also made it look slightly compressed horizontally. I confirmed the file was recorded at a 4:3 aspect ratio, and I experienced the same thing outputting other files, but with such a poor TV at my disposal, more testing remains before I can conclusively saw that the player is outputting in such a way as to slightly distort the ratio or if I'm just crazy and need to take more crazy pills to fix it.
5. I found the music player and radio to be more than adequate. The 3D Stereo effect made a tremendous difference while watching video files, as well - I was truly impressed with the sound! As for the actual mp3/music player functionality, I listened to a couple of songs and that's about it. I carry my Rio Carbon for on-the-go music, so that won't be this unit's main purpose, but it's good to know the sound quality is superb nonetheless.
6. Now comes the real letdowns. First and foremost, I was pretty psyched about the possiblities of connecting this to the Digital Rebel XT, SD450, or even the Exilim Z750 to free up more shooting space on memory cards when out of town. The Rebel and SD450 both failed - the A2 recognized they were both a "Canon Digital Camera," but errored out shortly after that. The Exilim I didn't try, mostly because to run any cables from it requires docking it in its cradle first, which drives me about as batty as a baby in a boob factory. So for the time being, no-go on the OTG transfers. I'm hopeful a firmware update will handle this.
7. Then came my most major disappointment - video recording. This is really why I purchased this unit. We'd been talking about getting Comcast DVR for $15/month, but I hate renting equipment when I know I could buy something else that could do a similar job, but I would get to keep it instead of just paying to use it. We don't need to pause or rewind live TV; we don't have 5 shows that air at once that we want to make sure we don't miss; we don't record the latest Alias episodes and upload them to newsgroups so that everyone can marvel at how a pregnant woman could ever willingly participate in hand to hand combat and still be a good mother. But then, that's acting for you. Or maybe it's not, since they cancelled the show. But I digress ... We just needed a "digital VCR," for all intents and purposes. A way to record video digitally to easily view, transport, or transfer later.
The quality was horrid. Perhaps I had set my expectations much too high, but from reading reviews, as sparse as they were, I was expecting quite a bit better from any PVP with recording capabilities. The jerkiness and seemingly massive compression was just blatantly nauseating. It looked like a stop-motion JPEG that had been compressed to ridiculous levels. I bumped the player down to the next lowest resolution from 640x480, with a bitrate of 800Kbps. Hmmm ... much better. It's not good enough quality to output to the TV still, but it at least looks viewable on the unit itself and is smooth. Which results such as this at the 3rd highest quality setting, one would only expect to obtain better results by moving up the settings. Remember, PVP Virgin here ... but as a techie, I know jumping into the wagon early means you get the privilege of sweeping out the big bugs before there's room for everyone else to sit in it comfortably with you. Such is the price we pay for the early ride. So I'm hopeful that a firmware update will streamline the encoding process to fix this, be it a less-CPU intensive method so the unit can keep up, better management of the memory buffer, whatever - if it can be improved and streamlined (and it almost always can), then there's hope.
8. My final disappointment was the ability to start recordings at set times. At first, I thought there was no way to do this, which also severely defeated the purpose of my purchase - except for rare occassions, the whole reason I need the ability to record a show is because I'm not at home to watch it. If I'm in front of the TV button and can push "Start Record," I can just as well go ahead and watch the show most times.
After reading a review, it was revealed to me that you can set an alarm that will start video recording at a certain time. It was also noted that by using the sleep function, you can end the recording at a certain time, as well. What wasn't mentioned was whether you could use the two together - starting a recording at, say, 3:00 a.m. and stopping it at 5:00 a.m. The length of the sleep timer could also be an issue for longer movies, though I admittedly haven't checked it to see what it will go up to.
Still, the ability to record two shows while you're away but skipping the lemon in the middle is absent, and something I would sorely like to see.
PerlAddict
12-02-2005, 22:42
(continued)
I chose this unit over the Archos AV500 because of aesthetics, codec features, recording hardware, the battery life, and the screen. Seeing as I could find no major reviews of the A2, I took a gamble. After stumbling upon this forum and others, I've realized a few things:
I still like the aesthetics of the A2 better, even though I don't mind the AV500's boxier look. Having a smaller unit, even just slightly, would be appealing to me, however. It also seems that most people hold the screen of the AV500 to be superior or at least equal to the A2. I was a bit suprised by that because of the color depth difference, not to mention the incredible viewing angle of the A2 (everything but viewing from beneath the unit was enjoyable at what I was consider a very harsh angle, coming from a Pocket PC background).
The reviews I read made it seem as if the AV500 had a much more limited range of codec support. After further reading, it seems this isn't true, and that it will support divx (and possibly xvid? I don't quite recall), but that it doesn't support AC3 audio. Since I do typically download videos from friends who have DVR'd it and re-encoded it themselves, it's nice to not have to re-encode it again just beacuse it used the AC3 codec for audio; but it certainly wouldn't have killed me to do so if it meant having access to a broader feature set.
CNet's review made the AV500 seem unwieldly and cumbersome to record video with, from digs on programming the units recording times to it having to be in its cradle to accept an incoming video source. Not wanting to lug a cradle back and forth just to output video when away from the house and then hooking it back up when returning home, I found the A2's solution to be an attractive one. However, it appears the AV500 has a breakout cable for recording without the hub. Thanks for mentioning that, CNet. Alas, I forgive you, but don't expect my yearly Christmas card of my dog wearing those reindeer antlers. You'll be crushed, I know, but life will go on.
And finally (since I already mentioned the screen quality several paragraphs above), the battery life - the AV500 was rated at 5 hours in many reviews I read, while the A2 boasted a length of 10, per "company research," which always seems to be under optimal conditions. Still, 8 would suffice for me, even without a removable battery. So given a 3-hour edge, I decided the A2 would probably suit my needs better. After more reading, I've come to find that actual user experience with the AV500 can yield about the same video playback and even longer audio playback with the 30GB unit, and that the 100GB (which is a little too large storage-wise and pricey for my tastes) last even longer.
--------
So to sum up, I'm very impressed with the first PVP I've ever owned, used, or even held. However, I bought it from a largely-video standpoint. I knew it was a new product and that its competition was already well-established and feature-laden. I admit I wasn't fully aware at just how much, but I still knew there would be bridges to build and cross. I'm happy with it, but I can't help but wonder if I would have been happier with the AV500.
We live in a world of instant-gratification - we can order a burger and be eating in under a minute; we can get online and buy a copy of the song we just heard on the radio as soon as we get out of the car and sit down at the computer; we can order a movie streamed straight into our TV instead of heading down to the local video rental store. We've become accustomed to "having it right, and having it right now."
So the question is - do you appease your inner desires for instant-access, or do you have the patience and fortitude to ride the expedition express into new territory and endure the bumps along the way? That's for each person to decide for themselves.
Me, I'm a capitalist. So I might just have to buy myself some instant-gratification so I can watch it during the trail ride to an up-and-coming company's success in the field, because I've never been one to limit my experiences in lieu of missing the chance to experience it all. :)
I know it was lengthy, but thanks for taking the time to read and hope you got a little out of it. Everyone's opinion and perspective varies, so remember that this is mine - a brand new user with expectations that were, at times, slightly without base; someone with no previous affiliation or loyalty to either of the companies mentioned; and someone who has owned the unit for about 24 hours now.
First impressions are always important, but they don't necessarily determine the course of the whole relationship. This was mine. I hope yours was an enjoyable overall as it was for me.
Feel free to comment, but I've read enough of the AV500/A2 battles and flames to ask that you keep them out, because we've probably all read them before. And of course, if you have any tips or insider secrets to share, please do so - I'm all ears. :bigthumbs
- PA
adelante
12-03-2005, 05:49
First off, that was quite a hefty read! Hahaha thanks for sharing with us your initial experience with the pvp...I wasn't expecting an entirely perfect product in the form of A2 (then again what other pvp out there is) but in terms of specific requirements, it's a pretty robust gadget.
My own needs were simple: I needed something to replace my external usb hdd(I've a Samsung 40gig 2.5" hdd and a Sarotech enclosure called AivX, which allows you to play video/music files in the hdd on a TV). On top of that I needed something that can double up as a USB host device as well...Then there's this long-overdue want for a real portable media player (been relying on my O2 XDA II mini pocketpc cum handphone)...Oh and a radio feature is simply a must for me...
All these were undoubtly met by the A2 but that wasn't the only reason I went for Cowon's offering. I simply couldn't wait despite knowing that there are better products on the way. I guess you could say I'm a realist: I'm not one to wait for something better cos if I were to do that, I might as well wait forever since companies are always improving upon thier own or their competitor's products. Of course buying the A2 also wasn't without acknowledging Cowon's great support for its products ;)
Wow nice write up... cant comment for long.. busy day head of me... but Its funny... in the tearms of gadgets it seems we are practically twins... I own both the rio carbon, (a hardcore rio fanboy until they went belly up) and I own and adore a black rebel xt... I also plan to purchase an A2.....
I know the player has flaws.. but most of them can be fixed through firmware upgrade... and that is one of cowon strong suits.... I know it might be putting my confidence in a false hope... but I do believe the player well be improved through firmware upgrades...
Glad to hear you semi like your player.. and a question on the side... do you think it would work well as a portable player, it tearms of size... weight...
Nice review, PerlAddict. But am I the only one here who gets beautifully recorded videos in 640x480 / 1mbps mode? No stuttering, no jerkiness, no out-of-sync audio. Even when I fast-forward or reverse play, everything is perfect when it resumes play. I can switch back and forth from 4:3 to 16:9 with no ill effects (except for a slight stretching of the picture when recorded from a 4:3 source).
I plug the A2 into the output jacks on my DVD player/recorder (Panasonic), press the C button and start recording. Last week I recorded a replay of the final episode of HBO's "Carnivale." I brought the A2 to work and soon there were a half dozen co-workers standing around my desk "oohing" and "aahing" over my new toy. Almost everyone commented on how beautiful the video playback was.
I only wish the external speakers were capable of more volume, but the A2 -- being a PMP (Personal media player) -- was not meant to entertain an audience. :winker:
Meanwhile, with all the video problems I've been reading about on this and other forums, I guess I should consider myself one of the lucky ones who obtained an A2 that works pretty much as it's supposed to. :bigthumbs
PerlAddict
12-03-2005, 08:09
Thanks, guys. I DO tend to be just a tad bit verbose. ;) If you actually read through it all, I'm impressed you didn't fall asleep. lol.
I'm a realist when it comes to technology, too. There's not a single product that doesn't have its flaws, so you either learn to work around them, learn to search for a fix where someone else has worked around them, live with them, or upgrade. Or all of the above.
I DO enjoy the player very much, actually. But as someone who had never picked up a PVP before, I found it interesting to see just how unbased and unrealistic some of my expectations may have been.
I'm also one who will always stand in a company's corner that takes good care in concerns to keeping its products updated, which is something I seem to hear Cowon touted for quite a bit. So knowing that this is a first generation product for them, I'm actually excited to be on the front end using it rather than waiting around with nothing in my hand for them to "perfect" it.
Allen, I think the player works extremely well as a portable unit. I typically carry a backback nearly everywhere I go in lieu of a briefcase or laptop bag, so it's very easy for me to stash it, but it fits comfortable in a coat pocket, as well. A belt clip would be nice, though my current belt would probably slide through the flap that velcro's to the back of the case fairly easily. I'm a small fellow, so it probably wouldn't fit in the front pocket of my jeans that comfortably.
It's a bit heftier than I initially expected, but it also gives it a very sturdy feel. It feels adequately substantial in my hand, though given its weight and the fact that it has two speakers at each of the topside corners, I generally hold it with both hands while viewing or prop it up using the case.
And it's nice to find someone else with the same love for gadgets. =D Admittedly, I justify many of the purchases by getting them for the girlfriend - she had her Rio first, then later bought me one. And the Rebel XT and SD450 are hers. I bought her a Minolta Xt before that, and was using a Minolta DiMage F100 for myself before getting the Casio Exilim Z750.
But without a doubt, my favorite gadget ever is this Dell 2405FPW 24" widescreen LCD. Hummina hummina hummina! It's gorgeous. It doesn't even feel huge to me anymore ... it just feels "right."
Cameraz - Great to hear yours is working so well. It lends some good hope that a firmware update will improve things for the other crowd, since the hardware is obviously capable. I'm looking forward to see what the video looks like once it works as Cowon intended. And I'm really hoping for some sort of simply calendar to be able to schedule recordings. I have faith Cowon is doing the very best to make this product shine. :) Though I WOULD like to record in 16:9 mode - my Sony PC350 has a widescreen recording setting that I almost alway shoot with. I ripped straight from the camcorder to the A2 yesterday, but it naturally ripped in 4:3. Viewing the video on the Cowon itself, I could just manually set playback to be at 16:9 and it stretched the image back out, but when I transferred the file to the laptop, it was back to 4:3 again since WMP didn't have any options to manually force the aspect ratio (at least none that I found while quickly skimming through the menus, since I'd never had a use for such a feature before). All in good time, though, I'm sure. All in good time.
You guys have a good weekend, and thanks for indulging my novel-esque posting style. I promise I'll try and be more concise in the future. Key word being "try." ;)
- PA
Only one way to tell which is finally right for you. Both Sharper Image and Fry's stock the AV500 units. Both have liberal return policies. Why not get one and try it out. Give the quality of your review, I would be interested in reading your "Side-by-side" comparison.
PerlAddict
12-03-2005, 15:54
Hmmmm. We don't have either of those stores around here in a bricks & mortar form, and the AV500 doesn't seem to be listed on Outpost.com (Fry's).
I DO see it on Amazon.com for $449.99, and they have a 30-day no questions asked return policy that I've had good experiences with before. Hmmmm. We're headed to New York in 13 days, and it'd be nice to have the money. But if I ended up liking the AV500 more than the A2, I'd have to eBay it since ZZF has a "return for exchange" only policy. Wonder what my chances would be of getting about $400 back from it.
Anybody know if the Archos will support USB-to-Go from a Canon Digital Rebel XT?
Gonna have to sleep on that for a day .... =)
Yes, the new firmware for the AV500 supports P2P mode which is what Canon uses for its cameras. I have the 5D and have used it directly with the AV500 (will work fine).
PerlAddict
12-03-2005, 21:14
Last question - I seem to recall reading that the battery life on the 30GB version was about 8 hours video, 21 hours audio. I thought I read somewhere that the 100GB had a longer lasting battery, though - roughly 15 hours of video playback?
Can anyone confirm or deny that?
It is long, though I haven't measured it myself. Gone several days without having to recharge and this is with watching a movie or two and many hours of music playing.
johnny33
12-04-2005, 07:11
(continued)
.............................................
Feel free to comment, but I've read enough of the AV500/A2 battles and flames to ask that you keep them out, because we've probably all read them before. And of course, if you have any tips or insider secrets to share, please do so - I'm all ears. :bigthumbs
- PA
Feel detered by your above comments, I especially should've been viewed as a participant of your so-called AV500/A2 battles even though I'd came out here just to defend the A2 which isnt my favorite PMP anyway. But I keep A2 in my collection and I forgo Archos 500 because obviously A2's merits far exceed that of the Archos 500.
I didnt just try it out with Archos 500 but I did own both, and then made the decision of forgoing one after some long-time trials & tests of both units. I took some loss by having put up the Archos 500 at eBay. I think only those who have had thorough trials with both should be more suitable to defend either of the units.
I have no insider secrets of the A2. But why A2's recording format is ASF? Because Iaudio designers may have wanted the recorded video to be small, not only to conserve the A2's disk space, but also ASF format can enable 4-hour recording while Archos 500 about only 2-hour recording because of the 2G file-size limitation. I'd always repeated here when I came out to defend the A2: To me there's slight or no difference in quality when playing the recorded video on the 4-inch LCDs of both the A2 & the Archos 500, except Archos 500 colors appear brighter but A2 is no slouch in that department either.
Why I chose A2 over Archos 500? Because Archos 500 recorded AVI-files cannot be played in the A2 and A2's recorded ASF-files cannot be played in Archos 500, so I gathered the longer recording capacity in A2 (plus many other merits in A2), the better. I cannot verify if Archos-500 recorded AVI-files can or cannot be played in other PMP brands such as Istation v43 because I'd forgone my Archos 500 already. I do miss Archos 500 somewhat because its recording video quality is one of the best.
I'm impressed by your verbose & long piece, and I hope you'd enjoy your A2 as much as we do. For your A2, I suggest you off the 'Power Save' function in the SETUP>SYSTEM>POWER: after doing this you may find your Joystick-toggle more responsive & your uneasiness associated with it may have swept away somewhat. As for the OTG transfer: I dont understand too why the users dont use something like a card-reader to connect to A2 via its USB host -- i.e. A2 reads & transfer data from a card-reader via the USB host at its side; so far me having no problem with Sandisk (SD), compact-flash, or even memory-sticks from my digital cameras or other gadgets. Lastly, as for the recording glitches with 640*480 mode, I have the same problem too with my A2 so I too dont understand why cameraz's A2 could've overcome that.......
Keep up your good works, PerAddict: I didnt fall asleep on your lengthy piece, and hopefully you wouldnt have fallen asleep on mine too. (Just wonder why your review piece wouldnt have appeared in the Cowon America User Review of A2:
http://www.cowonamerica.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=11 ) :bigthumbs
PerlAddict
12-04-2005, 11:58
Thanks, Johnny. For the record, when I said "battles," I meant one-sided posts that didn't look at both players objectively - something which you've always put a lot of time into testing so that you COULD give an objective opinion. Which is great to hear.
Does the AV500 not split up files automatically? I know the latest firmware update for the A2 said files would be split at 1.8GB while recording long videos - very handy. If the AV500 doesn't do the same, that's a pretty major oversight given its massive harddrive and recording capabilities.
If I was to express a partiality for either file format, I'd probably chose ASF, but I don't mind AVI's for viewing purposes.
Thanks for the suggestion on the Power Save feature. I turned it off, but alas, my problem stems more from the fact that I am apparently inept at using my thumbs rather than the A2's responsiveness. It moves just fine - the problem is that I often hit the joystick in the wrong direction, since it's easier to misclick than with a directional pad that has a center button. So that will just take time to get a feel for. I bought my father a Zen Micro for Christmas and I've been messing with it this week. Kind of the same deal - that touch pad navigation drove me batty the first day, but now I'm starting to get a feel for it (no pun intended).
I'm going to give the card reader a try. It's just one more piece of luggage to haul around, though. I can live with it, but I look forward to a firmware update that will support plugging directly into the camera.
Thanks for all the info and advice!
Yes, the AV500 does indeed split files across the 2gb boundary. Plus I believe one of the encluded utilities will join/split them for you as well (however, I have not used this utility - so take that with a grain of salt).
Lastly, as for the recording glitches with 640*480 mode, I have the same problem too with my A2 so I too dont understand why cameraz's A2 could've overcome that.......
Like I said in my post, I must be one of the lucky ones. :bigsmile: My A2 plays back video perfectly in 640x480 and 1mps. I'm very happy with it.
... And, no, I'm not sellin' it!!!!! :p
johnny33
12-04-2005, 21:02
............................................
I'm going to give the card reader a try. It's just one more piece of luggage to haul around, though. I can live with it, but I look forward to a firmware update that will support plugging directly into the camera..............
yeap, PA, do that. I'm using a USB2.0 Card Reader
made in Taiwan whose size smaller than my
American Express so it's not any large piece to carry
around besides my Exilim EX-S500 (of course I still
have to carry a connecting USB cable plus the USB
host to connect to the A2).
So far A2 recognizes the SD-card from Exilim S500
which I insert into the Card-Reader. The only downside
for A2's OTG transfer is that it can only copy one file at
a time now, but not a whole folder. Keeping
fingers crossed if Iaudio would fix that in future firmware
fixes but guess that may not be their immediate priority.
Keep up the good works, PA: the more the genuine
users like you speaking out here, the more erudite users
would come out to share insights which would benefit all
here too:hi:
johnny33
12-04-2005, 21:04
Like I said in my post, I must be one of the lucky ones. :bigsmile: My A2 plays back video perfectly in 640x480 and 1mps. I'm very happy with it.
... And, no, I'm not sellin' it!!!!! :p
yeap, you're one luckiest fella.....
but still wondering why one unit could've performed
such, while all the others like us dont ?? ~~
yeap, you're one luckiest fella.....
but still wondering why one unit could've performed
such, while all the others like us dont ?? ~~
"All the others like us don't?" Did you take a survey of the hundreds (more likely thousands) of owners of A2s to see how their video playback performs?
You sound pretty much to me like you don't believe me, but that's OK :moonu: ... I'm happy as a pig in you-know-what that my A2 works beautifully, and feel sorry that yours doesn't. Sounds to me that you have a defective unit which I definitely would demand that Cowon replace while it's still under warranty.
Now excuse me while I go watch the episode of "Desperate Housewives" that I recorded last night. :rock:
johnny33
12-05-2005, 21:37
"All the others like us don't?" Did you take a survey of the hundreds (more likely thousands) of owners of A2s to see how their video playback performs?
.........................
Now excuse me while I go watch the episode of "Desperate Housewives" that I recorded last night. :rock:
No need for that, man.
If you look around this forum, I was one of the few such as Pynux & hongkongie who possessed A2 before Cowon-America's release, and then frequented here to try to be helpful to the prospective owners of A2. Pynux first reported the glitches at the 640*480 mode recording & I just concurred here with his finding. I myself dont use 640*480 mode & am happy just to use 480*272 mode of recording at the A2. I was also the 1st to document here somewhere on how to use PAL & NTSC modes from your home DVD to record to A2, then enjoy full-frame (i.e. filled to the 4 corners of the LCD) video display without distortions at the A2's screen.
I do believe you, cameraz. And you've got to believe me that I have no jealousy or whatsoever of your A2 able to record & play videos at the 640*480 mode beautifully.
Now if you can excuse me 2: I'll go back to my A2 to watch "Lost" at the 480*272-mode there, because small talk here doesnt seem prosperous to me and i'll shun from these small talks in future to concentrate on technical issues here & try to be helpful to any newbies of A2 that may come along here. :notworthy
genocide
12-07-2005, 10:40
lol this thread really force me to read every single of it ^^;
guess it would be my turn to do such review after getting my a2,comparing to my current zv :D
nevertheless,great review dude !!!
Im not tryin to instigate anything, but why doesnt cameraz upload one of his recored shows somewhere so the other people with A2's could see if it works on theres.... Just a thought, maybe there could be something going on :)
mallrat68
12-08-2005, 13:19
Like I said in my post, I must be one of the lucky ones. :bigsmile: My A2 plays back video perfectly in 640x480 and 1mps. I'm very happy with it.
... And, no, I'm not sellin' it!!!!! :p
I thought it was a firmware problem not a hardware issue? so how can yours work fine? do you mean it plays videos you put onto the A2 at 640x480/1mps or are you saying your unit can record ok at 640x480/1mbps and playback is also fine?
I thought it was a firmware problem not a hardware issue? so how can yours work fine? do you mean it plays videos you put onto the A2 at 640x480/1mps or are you saying your unit can record ok at 640x480/1mbps and playback is also fine?
You guys need to take a break. Why are all you doubting Thomases coming out of the woodwork? I live in Massachusetts. If any of you want to come to my house to see my A2 in action, I will welcome you. :hi:
PerlAddict
12-08-2005, 15:46
I thought it was a firmware problem not a hardware issue? so how can yours work fine? do you mean it plays videos you put onto the A2 at 640x480/1mps or are you saying your unit can record ok at 640x480/1mbps and playback is also fine?
"All technology is not created equal." It's as simple as that. There are probably lots of non-problematic units out there.
Creating tech is a process, and like any process, there are x-factors involved that can contain slight variances from unit to unit and batch to batch. I remember when buying my Dell monitor, a lot of folks with the "A01" revision of the hardware (which was the "same" monitor, for all intents and purposes, mind you - all of us were clicking "Buy" on Dell's 2405FPW, which is about the extent of the control we had on what hardware actually arrived at our door) were having problems with backlight bleeding. I got mine in the mail and feared the worst when I saw my hardware was from the A01 batch, but it is absolutely perfect. So just take that for what it's worth.
yeap, PA, do that. I'm using a USB2.0 Card Reader
made in Taiwan whose size smaller than my
American Express so it's not any large piece to carry
around besides my Exilim EX-S500 (of course I still
have to carry a connecting USB cable plus the USB
host to connect to the A2).
So far A2 recognizes the SD-card from Exilim S500
which I insert into the Card-Reader. The only downside
for A2's OTG transfer is that it can only copy one file at
a time now, but not a whole folder. Keeping
fingers crossed if Iaudio would fix that in future firmware
fixes but guess that may not be their immediate priority.
I just got my A2 2 days ago, having returned the 60Gb version of the Archos AV500 last week. I bought a PMP primarily as a photo backup/display unit, and, while the A2 is better overall, I think the AV500 is better for photographers. Photos look a bit better on the AV500 screen, and display/zoom is better/faster too. The biggest issue is with USB OTG file transfers.
I have a 1Gb Compact Flash card, and use a card reader to connect to the USB Host (OTG) of the AV500/A2. The AV500 transfers files at 900KB/s, while the A2 only manages 240KB/s. This is unusably slow, and would take over 1 hour to copy the 1Gb card!
I've written to Cowon Q&A, and they say that 240KB/s is "normal" - that's ridiculous for a 12Mbps potential (the A2 is 6 times slower than possible).
Can anyone else comment about speed of USB OTG file transfers?
thanks,
Claude
johnny33
12-09-2005, 06:43
I just got my A2 2 days ago, having returned the 60Gb version of the Archos AV500 last week. I bought a PMP primarily as a photo backup/display unit, and, while the A2 is better overall, I think the AV500 is better for photographers. Photos look a bit better on the AV500 screen, and display/zoom is better/faster too. The biggest issue is with USB OTG file transfers.
I have a 1Gb Compact Flash card, and use a card reader to connect to the USB Host (OTG) of the AV500/A2. The AV500 transfers files at 900KB/s, while the A2 only manages 240KB/s. This is unusably slow, and would take over 1 hour to copy the 1Gb card!
I've written to Cowon Q&A, and they say that 240KB/s is "normal" - that's ridiculous for a 12Mbps potential (the A2 is 6 times slower than possible).
Can anyone else comment about speed of USB OTG file transfers?
Claude
Did you read through all the quasi-official reviews of the A2 in this primarily A2 forum, before your decision to trade in your Archos 500 for the A2, if your proclamation of your buying a PMP primarily as a photo backup/display unit only?
A2 is known for its all-round feautres, but ironically it is weakest in its photo-displaying capacity! One proof is that Iaudio added in the thumbnail function in its recent v1.39 firmware update only, while the Archos 500 already had the built-in 9-photo display capacity plus more zooming power in its photo-display function; not to say Archos 500's displaying photos much more faster & accepting larger-mega bytes Jpegs than A2 can accept.
I too was an owner of Archos 500 before, and then put my Archos 500 up at eBay in embrace for the A2. So I knew what I got before making such decision. Claude: you said it in your other thread here clearly: ".....Your main reason for returning the AV500 was because the A2 could display progressive JPEGs, Text files, had a built-in radio, could record radio/line in/mic at MP3 (as opposed to plain WAV), and was DivX certified.....Having tried the A2 after the AV500, I'd say the A2 is a much better built device..." So here you're: A2 is a all-round gadget while Archos 500 is especially good at photo, or perhaps better at video scheduling & screen quality.
I aint here to defend the A2 again, but I just am here trying to do equal justice to both Archos 500 & A2, so that the readers can decide wisely for their X'mas gift or whatsoever :bigsmile:
Keep up the good works there, Claude, cos' I respect you a genuine user torn between the Archos 500 & the A2 (and you know my choice there already)...
Lastly, as for the OTG-transfer:you're right that A2 is pretty slow especially I'm using a Card-Reader myself too to transfer files but not the direct plug-in of my gadget into A2....Again, the thing that I dislike about A2's OTG-transfer is that it can transfer only one file at a time; while Archos 500...amm, not sure if it can transfer a whole folder (if it is, then Archos 500 has a big plus there) :hi:
I usually spend ages reading reviews and deliberating any purchase I make, so surprised myself at jumping in and getting the AV500 having seen it briefly in a store. I knew I could return it easily, so wasn't fussed.
However, I bought the A2 in a rush, as I (naively) thought it was as good as the AV500, with extra features. I didn't find this site, so based my decision on what other reviews I found. Had I found this site, I would probably have waited for a better device...however, I'm going on 2 holidays this winter, and really wanted a PMP to store all of my photos, and view videos/photos, so rushed to get something ASAP.
I'm off on the 1st holiday tonight, so will try to find out from the retailer if I can return the product. If not, I guess I'm stuck with it, and will learn to cope with the slow OTG transfers, and poorer photo browsing. :(
cheers,
Claude
johnny33
12-09-2005, 07:04
I usually spend ages reading reviews and deliberating any purchase I make, so surprised myself at jumping in and getting the AV500 having seen it briefly in a store. I knew I could return it easily, so wasn't fussed.
However, I bought the A2 in a rush, as I (naively) thought it was as good as the AV500, with extra features. I didn't find this site, so based my decision on what other reviews I found. Had I found this site, I would probably have waited for a better device...however, I'm going on 2 holidays this winter, and really wanted a PMP to store all of my photos, and view videos/photos, so rushed to get something ASAP.
I'm off on the 1st holiday tonight, so will try to find out from the retailer if I can return the product. If not, I guess I'm stuck with it, and will learn to cope with the slow OTG transfers, and poorer photo browsing. :(
cheers,
Claude
I sympathize with your plight re A2 & Archos 500, Claude. From what you've written around here: I too agree Archos 500 is a better gadget for you to carry around during your holidays.
I also miss the better displaying capacities of the Archos 500 alot: i.e. strips of thumbnails at the side, 9-photo or 3 photo display of thumbnails, & more zooming features....Now plus the faster OTG-transfer rate of files that you reported here...well, it's ideal for the travelling photographer....
And Now that the readers around here can see I aint always defending the A2 senselessly.
Enjoy your holidays, Claude; & hope you can resolve this issue soon. :hi:
Cheers / johnny
Well, I've started finding out more about the iStation v43, and it seems even better than the AV500 and A2. It doesn't record video, but I'm never going to use that feature (will be a show-stopper for lots of people though). Side by side screen comparison shows the v43 is better than the A2, and as it's Linux based with an AMD CPU, can play MPG, show photos at the same time as music/radio, and has thumbnail/zoom support.....oh, best of all it has USB 2.0 high speed OTG, without the need for a mini-to normal USB adapter...
I'm phoning my A2 retailer right now.... ;S fingers crossed!
johnny33
12-09-2005, 08:12
Well, I've started finding out more about the iStation v43, and it seems even better than the AV500 and A2. It doesn't record video, but I'm never going to use that feature (will be a show-stopper for lots of people though). Side by side screen comparison shows the v43 is better than the A2, and as it's Linux based with an AMD CPU, can play MPG, show photos at the same time as music/radio, and has thumbnail/zoom support.....oh, best of all it has USB 2.0 high speed OTG, without the need for a mini-to normal USB adapter...
I'm phoning my A2 retailer right now.... ;S fingers crossed!
Specs-to-specs, Istation v43 is hard to beat & can be seen as King of the PMPs currently available, but I have reservations because Digital-Cube (v43 korean maker) is notorious for its scant attention to foreign users & its inattentive customer services in the past. Nevertheless, v43 is also Digital-Cube 3rd PMP manufactured so hopefully it'd improve this time.
Still, more observations needed for the v43 --> my 2 cents...
Good luck with your switching to Archos 500 again, Claude :bigthumbs
well, I think I've been uncharacteristically hasty in buying a PMP (although I've been researching which one to buy for half a year!). I've called the retailer here in the UK, they're letting me know about getting a refund (fingers crossed), and I'll probably just go without a PMP until there are more hands on reviews by US/EU users of the v43. I reckon it's going to be by far the best PMP for me, and should be available in a couple of months, so I'll wait.
thanks for the support! The A2 is still great, and I wish I could keep it, but the poor USB OTG speed and photo browsing is a show-stopper for me.
cheers,
Claude
Claude,
Talk to some i43 users first. I did. The Archos and Cowon are true Consumer Electronics devices. They do what they do with a minimum of fuss and bother. The i43 strikes me as more of a "hackers" device. While it claims a lot of features, none are particularly well polished and working at the level of either the Cowon or Archos. If you want it to simply "work", you may be frustrated with it.
From what you are describing, it seems what you want is the Epson P2000. I have one along with my PMP and I use it for photos extensively. It plays audio over the images, is lightening fast at copying photos through both a CF and SD slot in the unit. It will display them MUCH faster than any of the other units mentioned - will even display RAW files. It will also play video, though not as well as the Archos or Cowon.
Worth checking out.
yes, I know about the Epson P-2000. I first saw it back in June, and almost bought it - stock has since evaporated (not selling well enough for retailers to stock). I wasn't convinced about it though - the interface was a pain to use, and it felt quite large/heavy. The screen was fantastic though, and copying/viewing photos worked well. I think I preferred the idea of a device that could play (and manage) MP3s well, and play downloaded XviD files without conversion.
I'll have to talk to v43 users, and wait for more reviews. I don't mind a device that isn't "consumer" friendly - I'm happy configuring and tweaking settings/software to suit my needs. True, it may not be as polished, but hopefully linux/open source updatability will help, although it does seem rather good from first reviews.
Do you know of any forums/review sites where I could happily contact one or two v43 owners, and ask them some specific questions about my needs for the device?
How well does your P2000 play/manage MP3s, and videos? Will it play most XviD files, or only files carefully converted for the P2000? Battery life was also an issue (3.5 hrs?) - I have to ask myself, do I just want a good photo backup device, or an all-round neat gadget that can also backup and show photos? I know that photos are the main reason I need a device, but can't miss out on video, mp3 and TXT features now that I've seen them!
thanks,
Claude
johnny33
12-09-2005, 09:17
From what your description of your primary needs for a PMP re photography & OTG-transfer, I tend to concur with Peters' choice of the Epson P2000.
But you yourself has analysed above, Claude, Epson P2000 does have many deficiencies in interface, codec support, MP3 playing quality, & txt reading etc. Peters had also acknowledged that P2000 cannot play video as well as Archos & A2... ++
The P2000 is NOT a PMP!
However, no PMP can come close to it for handling photos. This is why I have both the Epson and the Archos.
qwerthh2k
12-09-2005, 15:08
I don't care about i43 because I really want video recording here!!
Anyway, it really seems to blown away A2 and AV500, as well as Maxian T600, but this last one has not been avaiable overseas!
qwerthh2k
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