Home > Consumer Reviews > COWON A3-30SL 30GB Portable Media Player (Silver)

I have owned the Archos 605 WiFi which is a great PMP (Portable Multimedia Player). It plays videos, music, can go online and has a touch screen interface, but what it lacks is the amount of formats it supports. It is limited and you are required to purchase plug ins to access more formats and even then it's pretty much limited. Now comes a player that solves this problem and that is the Cowon A3. The A3 can play everything the Archos 605 can plus way more extra formats. It supports MKV which no other player supports (I'm throwing that out since a lot of my videos are in MKV) The screen is huge for viewing videos and the audio can be configured. Battery life is good for video (estimated 7 hours) but audio is not so great (9 hours) though I have a feeling you can get more out of it if you lowered the brightness of the LCD screen and the power saver mode to 10 sec. One key factor is it can play HD resolution (720p only) which no other player can do. Here are my few gripes (hoping that future firmware updates will take care of them, though a few are physical traits and nothing can be done)

1. No native H.264 support (a lot of my video files are in H.264 and this is something that will probably be resolved through a firmware update)
2. No touch screen interface! Using the stick can be annoying at times especially when you want it to go down but you press down on it instead.
3. Fingerprints! The Archos 605 had plastic buttons which did not smudge, whereas the A3 smudges easily.
4. No pouch included.

Even with these inconveniences, the A3 easily surpasses the Archo 605 because of the amount of formats it supports and the battery life is much higher. Also, one important factor, the charge time is much less since the Archos 605 does not include an AC adapter and only USB Charging. Charge time is 5 hours (A3) vs. 10 hours (Archos 605).

Of course I only mentioned the Archos 605 but this player easily bests the following popular players: iTouch/iPods, Creative Zen Vision W, and the iRiver. I highly recommend this for those who are into watching video, though not recommended for listening to music because of the battery life (there are cheaper and better alternative options for just music and iAudio 7 happens to be one of them)

Note: This is not a final rating as I am waiting for firmware updates and the score will change according to those updates.

Update: I still stand by when I said that there is no native H.264 support (though there was a firmware update recently it has not resolved the problems for playing the format) Once this is resolved I will post it up

Update 03/19/08: A new firmware update was just released and it improves on the following: extended music playing hours from 9 to 13 hours, improved avi playing, improved subtitles being displayed (there are a lot more but these are the major improvements that I find noteworthy) What it's still missing is being able to play H.264, specifically with MKV. There are no improvements from the last time as only a very few MKV. files work on the player and even the files that work with the player suffers from bad frame rate. Hopefully the next firmware will fix the biggest problem with this player, MKV. support and improvement with the H.264 One thing to add, I am glad they fixed the avi as it plays much better this time around.

Update 04/17/08: I installed the new firmware, a few things I noticed, H.264 with MKV. still has problems, the frame rate slows down way too much for you to view any videos in this format. Since I don't have any video formats in H.264 other than MKV. I cannot say whether there was any improvement from the last firmware, though I did notice that one of my videos that didn't load at all from the last firmware update was able to load at least this time around (but with terrible frame rate). I hope Cowon America is reading this and making sure the next update will resolve most if not all of the video play back problems that the company is claiming it can play with this player. I did notice that my videos in avi. ran much smoother than before. One last note (to Cowon America): People bought this device to play videos so make that your priority when updating the firmware, the music player comes second since many people did not fork over $300 just to play music.

Update 04/28/08: A new firmware was released on 04/25/08 (again this was an unexpected firmware update seeing how it has only been a week since the last firmware was released). This time around it is supposed to improve H.264, avi, and wmv (I'm not going to mention other updates such as improved music player and more functions added to the player since you can read it on the website). Only reason why I am mentioning the video is simply because there are still too many issues with the player when playing certain formats. This time around I was able to play a MKV. file that was unplayable from the last firmware update, though the frame rate is still not good enough to view the video. I also tested MP4 and found that there are issues with this format as well since I could not get any audio and the video was playing in loops. With AVI I didn't notice anything different from the prior update (my guess is the player has no more issues playing AVI). Another issue with the player is it is supposed to play 720p format but that apparently has not been addressed with this firmware update. I do want to say it is good that Cowon America has been focusing on releasing new firmware updates but I would also like them to know that improving frame rate on MKV, MP4 and playing 720p should be the highest priority for the next firmware update. Playing up to 24 frames per second should be a no-brainer. I will of course update this review once another firmware has been released to the public. For now my score will remain the same since Cowon is focused on releasing more firmwares to alleviate the problems with the player.

Update 06/05/08: New firmware was released back in 05/19/08; I only recently downloaded this and because of a lot things happening, could not update my review as soon as I downloaded it. As expected, better avi. playback and for the first time, 720p is playable, though only in MP4 format and the frame rate suffers as the audio and visual are not in sync. MKV. seems to be the biggest issue here, as the frame rate is terrible causing many videos in this format not showing on the screen at all. So far, I have not encountered any audio problems, as it's very clear. My advice to Cowon America, fix up the video issues for the next firmware update! 720p running in every format, and not just MP4 (with very good frame rates). Making sure MKV. works is another priority and for crying out loud, no more updates to avi! Every firmware released was about improving avi, which I'm tired of seeing as the last improvement already made it the best it can possibly be (I don't know what else needs improving for this format). Until next time (or firmware update to be exact).

I was looking for something pretty specific in my pmp decision, and it's the one thing that kept me away from the other leading pmp company, archos. The ability to record from any external source straight to the player with just some av cables, no dock needed. With archos you pay hundreds of dollars for the device, then another hundred for a dock to record directly. These pmps are expensive enough, that you shouldn't have to shell out more money to record easily. But with the cowon, it's ready to record right out of the box, no computer necessary. It's as simple as connect a few wires to your tv or cable box or dvd player, go to the record menu, and start recording. That's it. You can record directly your favorite tv shows, dvds etc. Everything you need is in the box and the interface is extremely self explanatory.

My easiest experience to date putting movies on a pmp, especially since in addition to the pvr capabilities, the cowon will play pretty much any video file, and if it's not native, you can convert it. For a video player this is as good as it gets for what I need. In terms of music, it's nice, but you're not jogging with this thing. It's a harddrive player, not some tiny flash device.

This is for the videophiles. And I certainly wouldn't call this bulky for a video player. With a beautiful 4in widescreen, in terms of length I put a standard notecard on it, and just a tiny bit of player shows, so it's barely longer than a notecard, it weighs 10.5 oz. and it's about an inch thick. Basically picture carrying around a slightly heavier, shorter, thinner paperback book. I think this player is actually pretty compact, it's just people are so used to smaller flash players, this is a shock. Another non issue; the toggle is not as difficult as some people are making it, and is as confusing as a video game controller, it's never been a problem for me.

With the cowon, you've got a video player and recorder plus. It also works as a usb host device, so you can transfer files from some other device directly to the cowon, again no computer necessary. Do all of the out of the box with an arhcos! The only thing hindering this player in my opinion is the price, the player was initially 350 for 30gb, which was crazy. The price has come down on amazon, and some sellers even more, look around and you should find this player in the upper 100s which is a good deal.

Oh yea, the first thing you'll want to do when you get your a3 is invest some money into a good case. Hard drive players can be delicate, and the a3 is an expensive item to replace if dropped (or if the brilliant screen gets damaged). Amazon has a couple options; the cheapest is a screen cover and a hard case, their most expensive option is a genuine leather case. For me personally, neither met my needs. There's a company zcover that's online and has cases as well which I preferred. It's a personal choice though; just get something to protect your investment.

Excellent pmp!!! All the cons i alredy knew it. So no surprises

Battery life is pretty good!!! awesome display!!! sound quality is good!!! easy to use!!! excellent recorder(tv, voice, radio) and all what you need is in the box!!! USB HOST so i transfer files from the pen drive of my friends directly, without any computer involve!!!

Cons:
Well, the joystick is bad, but not that bad when you get use to it!!

This pmp does not read word, excel or pdf!!!! can read it only if you convert it to "csd" format. But after you convert it it looks fine!!!

The fact that you can't save playlist!!! so you have to remake the playlist. I hope this get fix with a new firmware

This is a great PMP. Took my first trip with it and the only issue was that the little joystick is sometimes hard to use to select the item you want. I did read that in a review before so it was not a suprise. The picture quality is great.

COWON A3-30SL 30GB Portable Media Player (Silver)

This is my very first portable media player so I can't comment on how it compares to iPods and Zunes, etc., but I am very happy with my purchase. While I've only had this item a month, it has done everything I've asked it to do. I primarily use it to watch movies and listen to music.

My music files are on MP3, AAC and Apple Lossless (I have an iMac as my primary computer) and it plays them beautifully. I love the equalizer and BBE options on this player which really make my music sing. I like the playlist function, but most of my files are in folders - I don't use ID tags, so the lack of this function is not an issue with me as it is for others.

My movies are encoded from standard dvd's in m4v/h.264 format using Handbrake with resolutions of 720x480. They look beautiful on the A3! I do not encode my hi-def videos (I'd rather play them on actual hd-dvd and blu-ray players), so I can't comment on hi-def playback. Movie sound is encoded as AAC. I've had no problems with lag or sound not synching with the movie.

Battery life seems very close to advertised (I updated firmware via the Jetaudio website), and I have generally been able to watch 2 videos and about 4 hours of music while losing 2 bars on the battery (4 bars total).

You can read a document (after encoding it using the CSD software) fairly easily while also listening to music. If you turn off the player while still in the document, when you turn the player back on you will return to the same place in the document - nice. If you leave the document to possibly watch a movie, you can go to the Recent Files folder afterward and click on the most recent document file to pick up where you left off - very convenient.

All in all, I am extremely happy and have recommended this player to family, friends and co-workers.