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

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.

i have always been a fan of cowon products, this just gives me reason to love them even more. this player is versatile it plays thru s-vid outputs and rca outputs. drag and drop files and arrange them how YOU want with no dumb programs like I-pod or zune. the eq gives you very nice control of the sound. it may only be 30 gig but i didn't need a lot of storage. the video is crisp and clear and even the little speakers inside sound pretty good for their size. the only drawback to it is it is a little larger than most PMP's on the market and i get teased it looks like a GPS but it's because of the inputs outputs and speakers. well i could go on, and on but you get the message. if you want simple, easy to use media player, this and others like it are your best bet.

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

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.