ABI O2 Preview

[EnzoTen]

So far im not that impressed. Here is my preview of the Cowon O2.

[CrowdAds]

[The DarkSide]

Originally Posted by EnzoTen

So far im not that impressed. Here is my preview of the Cowon O2.

Oh, no, say it isn't so!

[Loba]

so...it's a A3 with downsized screen repackaged into touchscreen body. uh huh.

[The DarkSide]

I'm hopin' the S9 isn't a big "NO". GAWD, this is a pain.

[FURR]

Originally Posted by EnzoTen

So far im not that impressed. Here is my preview of the Cowon O2.

EnzoTen, with Firmware updates i'm sure COWON can fix and add features along the way. just give them time friend. looking into for the review btw.

Also, a user just noted this issue which is interesting... he states the tape holding the battery isn't strong enough but it could be his player.

Link

[EnzoTen]

@FURR
yeah i agree they will fix these problems in firmware updates, but i just think its terrible that they released an unfinished product. And how long do those who paid $300 for this product to get an update? Will Cowon release poinless features before fixing core bugs like they did with the D2? And will it even ever get fixed, the A3 still doesnt playback what they advertised to playback.

Dont get me wrong, there is lots to love about cowon- sound quality, breadth of codecs, countless features... but i am becoming more and more disenchanted with all the firmware fiascos and outdated UIs. I dont see them improving this anytime soon. The only device i have ever seen bricked (as in completely dead) was one of my old Cowon's the U3. because of a firmware update bug.

There is a good reason Cowon doenst sell at major retailers, you really need to know what you are doing in order to maintain the player.

Anyway, thats my rant... =) I really want cowon to do well, i have always liked them- but these firmware issues are causing me to shy away from them. im tried of getting burned. oh and that really sucks about the battery...

idk, any other Cowon fans feel me? Is my rant legitimate?

[no9]

Originally Posted by EnzoTen

There is a good reason Cowon doenst sell at major retailers, you really need to know what you are doing in order to maintain the player.

Anyway, thats my rant... =) I really want cowon to do well, i have always liked them- but these firmware issues are causing me to shy away from them. im tried of getting burned. oh and that really sucks about the battery...

idk, any other Cowon fans feel me? Is my rant legitimate?

I can't speak for everyone but it's legit. For 300 bucks you can get plenty of other players with less glitchs and a better UI out of the box. When I opened my D2 and saw the Commodore 64 Tron style UI I had a few choice words for what people called the "best choice". Most of these issues will most likely be solved soon enough with firmware updates and when FURR and the guys start getting flash UI skins rolling. Your spot on with the statement that most people would be totally lost trying to maintain Cowons players. I've had plenty of players and I've never put as much work into any of them as I have my D2. That being said I also with those other players don't have a choice of UI's either. A little tweaking and I could use a different UI every day if I wanted to and that's not all bad either. If the O2 goes the same slow route that the D2 went sure I'll be pissed, but in the end there's not alot out there that I would trade my D2 for. I didn't get my D2 until pretty much all of the glitchs were worked out so I can see how anyone who went through that would be saying "here we go again". Hopefully the O2 crew will put in some overtime and learn from the epic failures of the A3 and the early D2 and pull it together soon enough.

[FURR]

on my take with the firmware... i haven't had many problems with the Firmware for my D2. there actually isn't that many bugs in the Firmware if you think about it. the only bugs i can see which are minor is the File Limit and some tag Issues. i have never and i mean... NEVER had any Tag issues but i know they are there. other then the bugs we at iAudiophile.net just been getting "How to install Themes and Flash Skins" and "my Tags aren't working right". those our the users fault because they are new at this and a lot of times we get the "I don't know how to install Firmware" deal. so, really there isn't that many bugs. it's just the users.

[davidw89]

ATM it's only good for music..for video it apparently sucks.

[The DarkSide]

I don't know about bein' a music player, no id3 tags, horrible file viewing system, lackluster video performance (and this was MADE to be a video-centric player). Hope they fix the UI up a bit, and the video glitches as well. My biggest fear, and what may make me leave Cowon completely as a customer, is if the S9 is as haphazardly done as all the Cowon players have been. They have such great potential, but they release unfinished players, then take at least a year to get them running ALMOST right. The D2 seems to be the best so far, and there are still people who complain.
To quote no9: "When I opened my D2 and saw the Commodore 64 Tron style UI I had a few choice words for what people called the "best choice"." He's right.
As mush as some will defend Cowon, they seem to release players that have some of the best hardware in the business, and then fudge it all up with crappy FW.

[Lawliet]

*sigh*

I'll give it a few more weeks and if it doesn't shape up I guess I'm getting the iTouch 2G.

[Lawliet]

Originally Posted by EnzoTen

@FURR
yeah i agree they will fix these problems in firmware updates, but i just think its terrible that they released an unfinished product. And how long do those who paid $300 for this product to get an update? Will Cowon release poinless features before fixing core bugs like they did with the D2? And will it even ever get fixed, the A3 still doesnt playback what they advertised to playback.

Dont get me wrong, there is lots to love about cowon- sound quality, breadth of codecs, countless features... but i am becoming more and more disenchanted with all the firmware fiascos and outdated UIs. I dont see them improving this anytime soon. The only device i have ever seen bricked (as in completely dead) was one of my old Cowon's the U3. because of a firmware update bug.

There is a good reason Cowon doenst sell at major retailers, you really need to know what you are doing in order to maintain the player.

Anyway, thats my rant... =) I really want cowon to do well, i have always liked them- but these firmware issues are causing me to shy away from them. im tried of getting burned. oh and that really sucks about the battery...

idk, any other Cowon fans feel me? Is my rant legitimate?

Yeah, I totally get where you're coming from. These half-assed firmwares out the box is getting just bonkers. First The Archos 5 and now the Cowon O2? What the hell are they thinking? Maybe for the next model they'll just sell you the box full of bits and you'll have to put the friggen player yourself >_>

Cowon does try their best to keep the firmwares coming but still... it'd be nice to have a player that you don't have to grudigingly wait for a month until the player finally becomes worth the money you already paid for....

[The DarkSide]

I guess I'm being a bit critical myself, so maybe we should just fall back and see how the O2 develops. EnzoTen (Grahm) does give some pretty fine, unbiased reviews. Can't say we all agree, but then, who does? Only players he liked, and I didn't, was the Zen and X-Fi. I will take his review on this as the best that were going to find, and cnet can, without a doubt, KMA!!!!

[Scarpad]

I bought the A3 a few weeks ago and could'nt be happier, the screen is fantastic, it sounds great, and it's played all the video I've thrown at it, plus it still fits ok in my pocket.

[RoD]

This is really a let down. Personally, I'd say the O2 could be one of the best players around. These firmware issues are a major dissapointment. What good are those fine specs if you mess it up with crappy firmware? They really have to fix this. This is just unacceptable, in my opinion.

[sprockkets]

Keep in mind ANY apple ipod/itouch can only play h264 SIMPLE profile, i.e., no cabac, no b frames, nothing special or fancy features of the format, making it useless for just about any user made encode. It also cannot support Xvid/Divx MPEG-4 ASP features like qpel and GMC, and again, a big part of the format, b-frames, making it again, useless without re-encoding.

At least, the 02 is supposed to support MPEG4-ASP and H264, but it does not mention what profile level. The A3 later down the road supported the high profile (nice!).

[DaremoS]

Originally Posted by EnzoTen

So far im not that impressed. Here is my preview of the Cowon O2.

I've appreciated a lot your comment about SQ, as no other review have pay attention to this... which is important for audiophiles. It seems that this point haven't disappointed you.

I feel that users haven't understood what really Cowon O2 is. In fact it's not an A3 or D2 replacement... it's just a device capable of play all possible formats in the most simple and basic way, not spending resources in fancy or sophisticated elements... due to this GUI is very lean and simple and it have been removed all the elements that aren't in that direction, like FM radio for instance or elaborated catalogs based in ID3. If somebody wants more than this simple features then it have to go to A3.

What really surprised me in your review is the poor response in video dept, but just to save conversions and displaying of subtitles are some steps further for normal PMP users. And even more surprising is the bad responsiveness you noticed on its touchscreen.

I believe that this thing will be fixed as other member wish... but it has to be forgotten than lots of new features will be added... IMHO it's not an uncompleted FW, the device was designed so and so it doesn't take the niches of other Cowon products, let's say that is a different concept from Cowon or maybe the way they understand low priced... not bad at all for a device equipped with a TI DaVinci chipset. Some user claims that it's expensive with this array of features... it's a surprise that Cowon is expensive?.

To extrapolate that S9 will be as ascetic as O2 is also wrong... just the announcement that S9 will have FM radio, Flash support, beside the AMOLED screen and bluetooth shows that is a more sophisticated player... and so will be its price.

[Zzbog]

Hey, please, please, shed some more light on SQ problem!!
Is it worse than D2? On par with?
What about bass roll-off?
I use triple.fi as my music enhancement device, so I'm a bit scared.

Can you please, please, post some VS cases?

Like O2 vs D2. O2 vs Sony. O2 vs Fuze.

The clash of main players in the SQ field, I mean..

[DaremoS]

Originally Posted by Zzbog

Hey, please, please, shed some more light on SQ problem!!
Is it worse than D2? On par with?

Don't be lazy... Take your time and read the review

What about bass roll-off?

That's simple a myth or just a graph... the ears is what really counts

[WalkGood]

Enzo, did you upgrade fw and test or is she on journey to Austria already?