Cowon A2 media player reviewed

oh yes. this could be the one i've been waiting for (literally... i've got an IOU from saint nick for an mp3 player). the A2 is currently only available in korea, but PMP Maniac got their hands on one and has posted a review complete with photos. seems that it's got standard (i.e. great) Cowon audio playback, solid video quality and good battery life ("We actually got through 3 full movies and half of the 4th movie before the player shut itself off.").

The Cowon A2 is an excellent entry into the fast growing market of new generation Portable Media Players. It offers an excellent 4� LCD, high capacity battery, stylish and strong design and many features that are desirable by users looking for a quality player/recorder. Recent firmware updates by Cowon have addressed some issues that were present early on such as frame buffering in video playback.
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The Cowon A2 is a serious contender and should be placed high on your list for consideration.

read review | lots of pictures | action pics

Official Specs:

• Size: 133 x 79 x 22mm, 298g
• LCD: 4 inches, 480 x 272 pixles, 16:9 format, 16 million colors (32-bit!)
• Video output: NTSC & PAL
• Built-in stereo speaker and microphone
• Output: 32mW per channel, 95db signal-to-noise ratio
• FM radio, 25 presets
• 4300mAh Lithium battery, internal, good for up to 10 hours video playback, 18 hours for audio
• 1.8-inch hard drive, 20 or 30gb
• USB 2.0 and USB 2.0 Host
• Supports video formats: AVI, ASF, WMV, DivX 3.11/4/5, XviD, MPEG-4 SP, WMV9... at up 720x576, 30 fps
• Supports AC3 6.1 channel output for movies
• Music support: MP3, WMA, OGG and WAV
• Custom 5-band EQ and 7 presets, plus BBE, Mach3Bass, MP3 Enhance, 3D Surround
• Picture support: JPG, BMP and PNG up to 4 mega-pixel
• View text files
• Audio line-in, mic, and radio recording to MP3, up to 192kbit
• Lyrics display
• Comes with case, AV cables, USB Host plug, USB and mini-to-mini cable, and earphones
• A wired remote will be available as an option