My D2 arrived today, impressions inside

Bman · 01-19-2007, 00:14

Hi everyone. Been a huge fan of Cowon players since I got my U2 about a year and a half ago. Ordered a D2 on Tuesday and it arrived this afternoon. Here are my first impressions, for anyone interested.

Raves:

The player starts up very quickly, slightly faster than my U3. Sound is, naturally, superb. Being able to jump straight to wherever you want in a track is delicious. (Haven't tried that with any VBR files yet, however.) Skipping around within and between files is very snappy. Based on a couple quick tests, the microphone seems quite good also.

The screen is crisp and beautiful. I'm really wishing I had a screen protector for it. I used my fingers to navigate for a while, but the fingerprints sent me back to the stylus in a hurry. The left-right viewing angle is better than the up-down angle. This is a good thing, since having it the other way around can really mess with your eyes (as was the case on my Sansa).

The new UI graphics, particularly the medium and huge fonts (as seen in the FM tuner), look very sharp, as do the icons all around the interface. Video looks great and plays smooth. Album art on MP3s seems to work fine, though I haven't tested it extensively. It displays my own podcast's art fine, so that's really all I cared about.

Grumbles:

While you can still add files to the dynamic playlist from the file browser, the ability to delete files has apparently been removed. I use this a lot on my U3, so I definitely miss it here.

You can change the font color, but you can't change the color of the rest of the UI elements (e.g. buttons). It would be nice to be able to change those too. Further, only the small font changes colors; the larger fonts don't.

English text doesn't wrap properly in the text browser. It's a minor thing, but it looks silly nevertheless.

The touch-based UI is nice, though it feels a bit like a first pass to me. I'm hoping they'll give it some attention in a firmware update at some point and really embrace the touch screen aspect. For instance:

Having to double-tap the icons in the menus feels less natural to me than single-tapping them (compare to the settings screen on a Nintendo DS, for instance).
The file browser and text browser seem like they should have real scrollbars instead of buttons.
Following on from that, it would be nice to be able to drag the EQ sliders instead of adjusting them with buttons. An on-screen volume slider in addition to the physical buttons would be nice too.
At least in music player mode, it would be more convenient to just have the play/pause/forward/back controls and the menus always on screen and available, instead of having them appear and disappear each time you want to use them. Most of the controls are already visible in music player mode, but they aren't controls, they just display what's going on.
For example, there's (what looks like) a play button right in the middle of the screen, but it doesn't do anything. If you tap it, then the real play button appears. Why not just make the one that's always visible the actual play button? Same goes for the repeat/shuffle/boundary icons that are always visible: just make them toggle through the choices for those settings when you tap them. The BBE/M3S/etc indicators along the bottom could pop up a slider right above them to adjust them without having to change screens.

Anyway, despite the minor gripes mentioned above, I really like my D2. I'm glad Cowon came through and delivered the touch-screen MP3 player that Apple couldn't.

I leave you with a picture of my new D2, next to my not-quite-new-but-close U3:

Yeeze · 01-19-2007, 00:25

Wow thank you very much for your little review!!
I hope they will fix the things you mentioned above with a future firmware upgrade

mikey · 01-19-2007, 00:30

Excellent, have you inserted an sd card yet? Be interested in what happens if the content appears automatically
Congrats btw!

ghosty · 01-19-2007, 00:34

thank you very much for the review. There is something I would like to know too.

About random play on D2, is it a true random, or is it a psudo random? Does it randomize everytime start the play list?

My guess is that it would be a true random play since it has a clock, but then, it really depends on how the developer impliment that.

Enjoy your D2, I am still waiting for it to be avaliable in my country.

Bman · 01-19-2007, 00:46

The content on an SD card is available right away, though you do get kicked back to the main menu (and the currently playing track stops) if you're in the music player or file browser when you insert the card. Didn't check what happens when you're in video/text/picture/etc.

No idea about the random play. I never use that, so someone more familiar with it will have to answer.

cb1021 · 01-19-2007, 00:49

if my movies are 700mb .avi files, how big do they become after i conver thtem for the d2?

thanks for your anwsers.

MaxSt · 01-19-2007, 02:25

Yeah, and how you convert the videos, anyway?

My jetAudio 6.2.7 doesn't have an option for D2...

victorvd · 01-19-2007, 04:45

You have to update it. (preferences -> autoupdate -> check for updates)

Kam3 · 01-19-2007, 05:57

how is the up/down viewing angle though? that's one of my main gripes with my ZVM. it looked like Creative put the screen in backwards since the typical holding angle was not good for video. My U3's screen was pretty crisp at all angles though so imagine Cowon knows what they are doing.

Bman · 01-19-2007, 10:41

Tilting it forward (top towards you) holds up very well. Tilting it backwards (top away from you) causes the display to begin to darken and invert around 45 degrees or so. With it right on the desk in front of me, it looks fine at both angles on the stand, but tilt much beyond that and it begins to go.

Shin · 01-19-2007, 14:45

hi i just wanted to know does the D2 play 1 hour + movie files and if so is it skip free by means of when it plays the movie usually it plays the file but the sound comes in a few seconds late or sometimes the other way round can you spcifiy if the player does this or not? thanx.

IceDragon7 · 01-19-2007, 15:19

When you convert the video to D2 format and play it on the computer, the size of the video (as in screen size) is that about the same size as how big it is on the player?

MossMoses · 01-19-2007, 16:00

I got mine yesterday and it is working okay except for JetShell and the sd card. The 4 gb Ritek SD card that works fine in my camera acts all flaky on the player. Sometimes the card doesn't show up on the player when it is inserted. When it does and I try to view pictures or videos on the card, the player locks up. I guess the player is finicky about which sd card you use. That sucks! The card works fine in my camera. JetShell keeps giving me a "device not present" error message even though the player is connected to the computer and I can browse files on it from Windows Explorer.

Other than those minor gripes, it is really nice.

mikey · 01-19-2007, 19:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by MossMoses

I got mine yesterday and it is working okay except for JetShell and the sd card. The 4 gb Ritek SD card that works fine in my camera acts all flaky on the player.

Have you any music files on this sd card?, how are they?, you just mad us all panic

as ive bought my 4gb cards in advance

edit answered in this thread

http://iaudiophile.net/forums/showthread.php?t=12713

pixels · 01-19-2007, 21:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by OP

You can change the font color, but you can't change the color of the rest of the UI elements (e.g. buttons). It would be nice to be able to change those too. Further, only the small font changes colors; the larger fonts don't.

It would be awesome to have a fully customizable GUI. I'd tweak the colors to be an awesome mix of red and black. This should be a plausable firmware upgrade, no? Submit it to Cowon!

01-19-2007, 00:14	#1
Bman Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 5	My D2 arrived today, impressions inside Hi everyone. Been a huge fan of Cowon players since I got my U2 about a year and a half ago. Ordered a D2 on Tuesday and it arrived this afternoon. Here are my first impressions, for anyone interested. Raves: The player starts up very quickly, slightly faster than my U3. Sound is, naturally, superb. Being able to jump straight to wherever you want in a track is delicious. (Haven't tried that with any VBR files yet, however.) Skipping around within and between files is very snappy. Based on a couple quick tests, the microphone seems quite good also. The screen is crisp and beautiful. I'm really wishing I had a screen protector for it. I used my fingers to navigate for a while, but the fingerprints sent me back to the stylus in a hurry. The left-right viewing angle is better than the up-down angle. This is a good thing, since having it the other way around can really mess with your eyes (as was the case on my Sansa). The new UI graphics, particularly the medium and huge fonts (as seen in the FM tuner), look very sharp, as do the icons all around the interface. Video looks great and plays smooth. Album art on MP3s seems to work fine, though I haven't tested it extensively. It displays my own podcast's art fine, so that's really all I cared about. Grumbles: While you can still add files to the dynamic playlist from the file browser, the ability to delete files has apparently been removed. I use this a lot on my U3, so I definitely miss it here. You can change the font color, but you can't change the color of the rest of the UI elements (e.g. buttons). It would be nice to be able to change those too. Further, only the small font changes colors; the larger fonts don't. English text doesn't wrap properly in the text browser. It's a minor thing, but it looks silly nevertheless. The touch-based UI is nice, though it feels a bit like a first pass to me. I'm hoping they'll give it some attention in a firmware update at some point and really embrace the touch screen aspect. For instance: Having to double-tap the icons in the menus feels less natural to me than single-tapping them (compare to the settings screen on a Nintendo DS, for instance). The file browser and text browser seem like they should have real scrollbars instead of buttons. Following on from that, it would be nice to be able to drag the EQ sliders instead of adjusting them with buttons. An on-screen volume slider in addition to the physical buttons would be nice too. At least in music player mode, it would be more convenient to just have the play/pause/forward/back controls and the menus always on screen and available, instead of having them appear and disappear each time you want to use them. Most of the controls are already visible in music player mode, but they aren't controls, they just display what's going on. For example, there's (what looks like) a play button right in the middle of the screen, but it doesn't do anything. If you tap it, then the real play button appears. Why not just make the one that's always visible the actual play button? Same goes for the repeat/shuffle/boundary icons that are always visible: just make them toggle through the choices for those settings when you tap them. The BBE/M3S/etc indicators along the bottom could pop up a slider right above them to adjust them without having to change screens. Anyway, despite the minor gripes mentioned above, I really like my D2. I'm glad Cowon came through and delivered the touch-screen MP3 player that Apple couldn't. I leave you with a picture of my new D2, next to my not-quite-new-but-close U3:

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01-19-2007, 00:25	#2
Yeeze Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Tyler, TX, USA Posts: 315	Wow thank you very much for your little review!! I hope they will fix the things you mentioned above with a future firmware upgrade

01-19-2007, 00:30	#3
mikey a2/d2er Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Melbourne Posts: 1,044	Excellent, have you inserted an sd card yet? Be interested in what happens if the content appears automatically Congrats btw!

01-19-2007, 00:34	#4
ghosty Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 3	thank you very much for the review. There is something I would like to know too. About random play on D2, is it a true random, or is it a psudo random? Does it randomize everytime start the play list? My guess is that it would be a true random play since it has a clock, but then, it really depends on how the developer impliment that. Enjoy your D2, I am still waiting for it to be avaliable in my country.

01-19-2007, 00:46	#5
Bman Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 5	The content on an SD card is available right away, though you do get kicked back to the main menu (and the currently playing track stops) if you're in the music player or file browser when you insert the card. Didn't check what happens when you're in video/text/picture/etc. No idea about the random play. I never use that, so someone more familiar with it will have to answer.

01-19-2007, 00:49	#6
cb1021 Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 16	if my movies are 700mb .avi files, how big do they become after i conver thtem for the d2? thanks for your anwsers.

01-19-2007, 02:25	#7
MaxSt Very Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 1,047	Yeah, and how you convert the videos, anyway? My jetAudio 6.2.7 doesn't have an option for D2...

01-19-2007, 04:45	#8
victorvd Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 115	You have to update it. (preferences -> autoupdate -> check for updates)

01-19-2007, 05:57	#9
Kam3 Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 96	how is the up/down viewing angle though? that's one of my main gripes with my ZVM. it looked like Creative put the screen in backwards since the typical holding angle was not good for video. My U3's screen was pretty crisp at all angles though so imagine Cowon knows what they are doing.

01-19-2007, 10:41	#10
Bman Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 5	Tilting it forward (top towards you) holds up very well. Tilting it backwards (top away from you) causes the display to begin to darken and invert around 45 degrees or so. With it right on the desk in front of me, it looks fine at both angles on the stand, but tilt much beyond that and it begins to go.

01-19-2007, 14:45	#11
Shin Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 4	hi i just wanted to know does the D2 play 1 hour + movie files and if so is it skip free by means of when it plays the movie usually it plays the file but the sound comes in a few seconds late or sometimes the other way round can you spcifiy if the player does this or not? thanx.

01-19-2007, 15:19	#12
IceDragon7 Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 79	When you convert the video to D2 format and play it on the computer, the size of the video (as in screen size) is that about the same size as how big it is on the player?

01-19-2007, 16:00	#13
MossMoses Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 46	I got mine yesterday and it is working okay except for JetShell and the sd card. The 4 gb Ritek SD card that works fine in my camera acts all flaky on the player. Sometimes the card doesn't show up on the player when it is inserted. When it does and I try to view pictures or videos on the card, the player locks up. I guess the player is finicky about which sd card you use. That sucks! The card works fine in my camera. JetShell keeps giving me a "device not present" error message even though the player is connected to the computer and I can browse files on it from Windows Explorer. Other than those minor gripes, it is really nice.