should I buy a D3 or not?

[nodirectionhome]

Effectively skipping the J3, it's very tempting.


http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/...ack.12564.html

[CrowdAds]

[dfkt]

With the wealth of info you provide about your personal preferences, wants, needs: toss a coin.

Depends on what you want - the J3 is (IMO) the best audio player you can get at the moment, and a great video player to boot. It's a very mature product.

The D3 is an Android experiment rushed to market, with less than stellar firmware as of yet, as we've seen in all the videos that got posted. If you want Wifi and apps, it's the D3, or any other Android player from any brand (Archos, Samsung). However only the D3 has enough hardware buttons, and BBE, compared to the rest of the Android PMP competition.

[nodirectionhome]

well, on that site it's only £50 more than an 8Gb J3 - size doesn't matter so much to me as they are both expandable.

But the better screen, plus wi-fi and apps make it pretty appealling. As long as it's not as problem-ridden as other Cowons ie the o2, v5, x7 etc. then it looks like a winner.

[deadohiosky]

i find £50 quite a steep investment for a wifi chip/antenna and better resolution (well, and dmb).

it depends on what you're looking for: a dap with video capability or an mid with bbe+ eq.

i'd rather get myself an android phone or an archos43, better hardware specs (i don't think that there's a snapdragon with 1gz inside, rather 500mhz or even less and/or underclocked) and better implementation of android for sure.
and then a clip+ or whatever, maybe even a J3 8GB, don't know what your budget is

[nodirectionhome]

The reason I held off on a J3 was that I have an android phone with a better screen - a Cowon with BBE that also plays HD video and has wi-fi for when I need it is really appealling.

current Samsung and Archos android offerings look crap (at least to me), compared with the D3.

[meetooman]

Watching the Galaxy players looking so beautifully like modern touch phones while reading this other thread, I was again wondering again why if Archos' new Android line and Samsung's latest Galaxy Wifi seduce me, I never liked the Cowon D3. Since the first shots I saw, I have found the D3's design uninspired and somehow outdated.




I have finally found the visual reference:


National Panasonic Cassette Recorder by vicent.zp, on Flickr

[dfkt]

The Samsung looks like any generic iPhone ripoff design to me, nothing exciting about it at all. All a matter of taste, of course - but from a design point of view, I'd take the D3 over any other Android device, just because it has enough tactile buttons to be useful as an audio player on the go.

[musichound]

IMO, if you want a DAP that also has WiFi and supports apps, the iPod Touch is the best route to take as long as tactile controls are noy your main concearn. However, if music is your main preference, look no further than the Cowon J3. The D3 appears to be too overpriced for what the Touch can already do. Another alternative would be to get the Archos 43, which I think is a beter bargain than the D3.

[nodirectionhome]

Since I started this thread I've lost all interest in the D3.

I want separate dedicated music players and I have those in the clip+ and the Sony.

Video, wi-fi and anything else I'll just use a phone.

[globiboulga]

This is exactly what makes the D3 so frustrating. It is by far the best sounding player I've heard from Cowon; it is exactly that a fantastic dedicated music player. It beats my S9 hands down.

It seems that it's the rest that kinda corrupted the overall experience. Coupled with the poor CPU choice by Cowon, that gives you that underpowered Android experience which... ruins the music part by having these noise cut-outs and reboots / freezes.

I am now torn... I thought I'd sell the D3 down the line and get a 7" android tablet which does what you point (video, Internet, books) WAY better. But I don't want to wait 12 month for Cowon to deliver something that will be sub-par compared to the competition, except for the sound experience.

I know these guys want to start a mini-market here on ABI, I think they should be way more involved with their community and let us help them getting their plenue strategy right. Over wise, I think It'll just go down to waste...

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by globiboulga

It is by far the best sounding player I've heard from Cowon;

Originally Posted by globiboulga

It beats my S9 hands down.

Really? If I understand correctly, that would also make it sound better than i9 and J3....that's quite a statement!

[globiboulga]

If it did not sound THAT good, believe me it would have been sent back for a refund. I thought about it and it's only because of the sound (and the knowledge that Cowon churns firmware updates regularly) that I kept it... I thought it was the placebo effect and my unconscious desire to justify my purchase, but one day going to work I found the D3 flat out of battery and went to grab the S9 I have in my bag as backup instead. It was clear then that it had nothing to do with the delusional effect of me being pissed off: the S9 did sound noticeably flatter than the D3. I find the mid-range significantly "richer" on the D3.

From the time I bought the D2, I've always been left wanting when comparing to what I got with the X5... Bought the S9 after the D2 and again, the sound was still not there... The D3 is just better... It's a shame it's plagued by an immature OS (the Cowon version of Android) and an under par CPU...

This is exactly why I wrote this rumbling about the Cowon tablet on the forum... If it was not for the sound, I'd go with the HTC Flyer, but I now would love to have a serious, sable, powerful 7" offering from Cowon. That would basically be the perfect entertainment device for me.

[musichound]

Globibougla, the D3 has the same audio processor as the J3 and X7, so I doubt if the D3 sounds different than those two. Not that sure of the S9, however.

[globiboulga]

I thought so for the X7. I did not know about the J3... If that's the case, then one has to recommend a J3 as music player for the time being...

I don't think I am the only one here mentioning the sound improvement compared to the S9 though...

[dscans]

I have the D2, S9 & the J3, in addition to the newly purchased D3. To my ears, they all sound different, though the S9 & the J3 sound so alike as to be indistinguishable. The D3 beats them all in terms of SQ. That's about the only redeeming feature of the D3, however.

It's adequate as a movie player, though the app has an unfortunate propensity to freeze, requiring a pin through the reset hole. Oh yeah, I also can view MP4 videos straight on the D3 without converting, seeing that it has the decoding muscle to view 1080p files (supposedly - never tried any to be honest). Surprisingly, the screen does seem to lose out to the S9 & the J3 in terms of contrast and saturation, the AMOLED screen notwithstanding.

[musichound]

Originally Posted by dscans

I have the D2, S9 & the J3, in addition to the newly purchased D3. To my ears, they all sound different, though the S9 & the J3 sound so alike as to be indistinguishable. The D3 beats them all in terms of SQ. That's about the only redeeming feature of the D3, however.

Did you ABX your players before stating this? If not, this is only hearsay and a placebo by product at best.

[dscans]

Originally Posted by musichound

Did you ABX your players before stating this? If not, this is only hearsay and a placebo by product at best.

Sure I did. I am intimately familiar with the J3's sound signature, because I have used it almost every day ever since I bought it. Played the same series of songs on both the J3 and the D3. And believe you me, I am not so in love with the D3 that I was subconsciously trying desperately to justify my purchase by imagining that its SQ is better

[mikey_mike]

I too am sitting on the fence on this one. I current have the S9 16GB and love it. Audio is superb.
I have to somehow try justify its price for Android and WiFi.

[Mawnz]

dscans can you post some details on how exactly the D3 sounds better than the J3? Ive already returned one and considering a J3 or do you think it's actually worth it?

[brent8577]

i've decided on the D3 because it'll save me from having to buy blank discs. i need a pmp because my Droid 1 headphone jack barely works, stopping the music when the cord moves. my Alpine AV LCD gives random "disc error" and i have to eject + insert until it decides to work again. the USB is fine, aside from not marking where the track was when the power goes off. that might just be the broken iriver clix. the last model does all of that, but for about $75 more (adding HDMI cable) i can get HD with HDMI out. i won't have to convert videos with subtitle files for my PS3. the PS3 uses Cinavia DRM protection which blocks certain videos i try to play. it also won't play HD files. the largest one i've had so far was 14gb. this will help me a lot, but i won't have the money until June so i'm watching what people say the updates are doing. keep us informed, please.