Cowon V5 Released:

[samurai7]

Originally Posted by Scottyyy

That post wasn't there when I replied. I clicked reply and then went back to the original post to check for a release date once more.

ahh I see

[kobashi]

good video support but I still dunno about this as I not keen on WinCE. It seems like a PMP that istation would be releasing to be honest.

Plus I wanna see how it sorts music as didnt the O2 only support tree folders with no ID3 tags option?

[paz101]

i was finking of getting the s9 to replace my d2- but ive decided to hold out and wait for the release of the cowon v5 HD fingers crossed the wait wont be too long, but it looks a promising device:

heres a website that shows alot of what it could potentally do, wont know for sure how well it actually is able to perform without waiting for a few reviews- but on its potental it looks stella. its in i fink korean so there is alot i dont undrstand but there are a few things that are in english: cowon v5 hd

from what ive read it fixes everything wrong with the last few cowon players. touch wood thats actually the truth

[dfkt]

Originally Posted by paz101

from what ive read it fixes everything wrong with the last few cowon players.

Yeah, and pigs fly.

[paz101]

one thing i really do hate is their non interated stylises- i mean if ur goint to have one they could at least build it into the player itself- but wats done is done :|

[paz101]

Originally Posted by dfkt

Yeah, and pigs fly.

you think its going to me another messy launch with crippling fw?

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by paz101

you think its going to me another messy launch with crippling fw?

If you're a betting man, I'd bet yes

[paz101]

for me looking at the screen shots it looks more like an attempt at a tablet pc rather then a souped up pmp- but all i care about is if it can play my movies, music etc without the need to convert- if it can handle avi's, mkvs etc sound as good as the d2- have dab/dmb that actually works in the uk and a logical menu system i'll be happy.lol i guess that i am asking a lot.

[dfkt]

Originally Posted by paz101

you think its going to me another messy launch with crippling fw?

Most definitely. As seen from the UI screenshots, the V5 clearly builds on the Q5W forefather (not the O2 or A2/3), which in itself was an even bigger disaster than the O2. Pair that with Cowon's implementation of WinCE, and you know it's going to be endlessly flawed.

The aforementioned UI is horribly disgusting as well - seems they couldn't think of a few dozen more mismatched colors and infantile icons to jam in there. Not to mention it looks even more finger-touch-unfriendly than the O2 - if that's even possible. Certainly not made by the team responsible for the (pre-2.50) S9 or i9.

Cowon just can't seem to find one clear path to go down... like a headless chicken they err around between Linux, WinCE, proprietary embedded POSIX systems, Telechips, Wolfson, Texas Instruments, and so on. If they would follow ONE path, they might actually reach a point where they don't release trail-and-error players (that don't even get better despite dozens of firmware updates), but they might create something mature for once.

[paz101]

out of curiosity which would you consider a stand out up and coming pmp that looks like it can deliver on the promises?

[dfkt]

None - they all suck. The O2 might be among those that suck the least. It's a sad state of affairs we're in. Let's see how much the V5 is going to suck, if it's more or less than the O2... that's the best we can hope for.

I'd also keep an eye out for future RAmos players and some other less pathetic Chinese manufacturers. Contrary to more "western" companies these Chinese players actually support codecs/containers that make sense, and they're quite a bit cheaper. Of course they got their fair share of showstopping flaws as well.

RAmos sure has a better grasp of UI design already than the much more expensive and reputed Cowon PMPs: http://mp4nation.net/blog/2009/08/ramos-t11rk-ui-shots/ (Both the RAmos and the O2 of course rip off the iPod Touch to some extent, but at least the RAmos looks "2008", while the O2 looks "1999".)

[paz101]

Originally Posted by dfkt

RAmos sure has a better grasp of UI design

the interface does look quite nice- heres a lil vid review the problem is these players dont tend to have a europen relase and i wouldnt wanna really import- and still getting one is oft an even bigger gamble, not as much coverage/ after care/ as good a following. and as you say everything has their annoyances.

the problem is western pmp/mp3 players tend to have great ui's very intuative and mouthwarteringly sexy.lol but their bloody codex support is abysmal or you have to use rubbish like itunes. but with eastern pmp/mp3 players the reverse is true!! and sumtimes wat they claim they can do is usually a stretch of the truth- so its sooo annoying trying to figure out what will give you the best of both worlds.

idealy there'll be sumthing that comes along that can play everything you throw at it without being a pain to use or post a bomb. fingers crossed it'll be this year

[Thomasj]

from Cowon website
http://eng.cowon.net/board/bbs_press...E03&number=111

COWON to launch HD PMP 'COWON V5 HD' December 21, 2009, Seoul – COWON SYSTEM (President Park, Nam Gyu, www.cowon.com) announced that they would launch an ultra HD 'COWON V5 HD' which supports HD Video and HD TV-OUT on January 1 (Fri.) next year.

'COWON V5 HD' to come is an upgraded PMP of the next generation to open an era of portable HD video. Now you can find a powerful function of playing even HD (H.264) video beyond the limits of existing PMPs and enjoy excellent HD video in your hand through the large and high resolution touch LCD (800 x 480) with 4.8 inches and 16.7 million colors.

In addition, HD TV-OUT will allow you to make excellent use of it as a portable HD video player. 'COWON V5 HD' provides you with a HDMI terminal which transfers HD contents to the other devices with no losses. You can enjoy HD videos conveniently through the large screen connected to your digital TV in your house. So it can stand comparison with DVD players.

Also 'COWON V5 HD' provides you with excellent selections when you enjoy music. As it is equipped with renowned BBE+ and JetEffect 3.0 with innovative Reverb effect applied, you can experience real audio sound and enjoy music conveniently through the embedded speakers without earphones.

The moment you grip it, you will find it very light and slim with an excellent ergonomic design. Having an excellent grip with the slim body of 15.7mm thick weighing 197g, it is easy to carry around with you.

Moreover, the bright and interesting UI made for a puzzle type under the concept 'Life is Love' is amusing as well as easy to use. You can move icons from this device to the other places you want easily, configure menus optimized for your usage patterns and touch icons to see cars transformed into robots and hearts jumping around.

'COWON V5 HD' allows you to play music 45 hours continuously and videos 10 hours to the maximum with its embedded battery. So you can use it freely in your business trips or holidays. It supports a slip mode up to 300 hours which is directly available with no additional booting process. Also, you can extend its battery capacity using SD card slots as needed.

With a variety of useful functions for learning, it includes 'E4U DioCic English-Korean/Korea-English Dictionary' by YBM Sisa, 'Avdic', an audio/video language program that shows subtitles simultaneously when playing videos, and 'Dotester', a select e-learning test book by Doosan Dong-A. In case of a DIC model, it has many kinds of dictionaries such as English-Korean/Korea-English, Japanese-Korean/Korean-Japanese, Chinese-Korean/Korean-Chinese, English-English and Korean.

Besides, it supports not only DMB but also a variety of convenient functions such as MyPlus (RSS Viewer), sound recording, book-view/cartoon-view, calculator, notepad, converter, digital photo frame, world clock, office guru, flash, games, mobile games from SKT, etc.

President Park said, ''COWON V5 HD' is a next generation PMP which will open a new market for portable HD video devices. As we have made great efforts to create this device for upgraded performance and quality, we expect that it will play a great role to lead PMP markets next year.'

On the other hand, 'COWON V5 HD' will be available in four vivid colors such as white/black/silver/pink under three model types of standard, DMB and DIC.

[Thomasj]

I wonder does the v5 have a fm radio?

[cukee]

A little short video review

You Tube

You Tube

[Heathie89]

^ The interface is a mess!

[dfkt]

UI looks a bit less vomit-inducing and slightly more "modern" than the disgusting O2. But it also looks more ass-backwards, overly complicated, and even more finger-unfriendly. Never thought that's actually possible, considering how terrible the O2 already is, usability-wise.

[The DarkSide]

Wow, totally cluttered interface.

[EddieE]

I'm fairly convinced a completely different team works on Cowon consumer daps (D2, S9, i9 etc) and their PMPs.

I imagine the latter team being some kind of community project to give people with learning difficulties something to do with their time...

[dfkt]

I wish those hacks would Eat Their Own Dogfood, so they know how awful and unusable their firmwares are. That's the only surefire method to ensure quality in a player. I bet iPod firmware developers actually use the players they designed...