14 DAY TRIAL // I still don?t understand why you would hide something so nice?If I were Cowon, I would show this baby to everybody.
The company?s new player, dubbed A3, was first announced in January, during CES. This time, the fellows from Generationmp3 caught a glimpse of the unit at IFA.
When it comes to its design, the player is said to be a little bit "chunky", meaning it won?t look that good in your jeans? pockets. It basically sports the A2 look, being almost identical in design patterns and style, but having more capabilities. And there is no doubt the item respects Cowon standards when it comes to its capabilities. It boasts a relatively humble 4 inch TFT LCD 800 x 490 screen display.
Probably its best feature is the integrated TV tuner, which is definitely going to take the PMP standards to another level, not to mention the customer?s satisfaction. In fact, its video capabilities are the ones that add up to 100 bucks to the price tag. Thus, it can deal with most of the file formats, such as ASF, MP4, MATROSKA(MKV), MPG/MPEG, VOB, DAT, MTV, DivX 3.11/4/5/6, XviD, MPEG-4 SP/ASP, WMV 9/8/7, H.264 MP, M-JPEG, and MPEG ? for video playing, offering the subtitle support in SMI, SRT and SUB text type.
Besides that, it can handle various audio formats like: MPEG1 Layer 1/2/3, WMA, FLAC, OGG Vorbis, OGG FLAC, APPLE Lossless, AAC/AAC+, AC3, True Audio, Monkey?s Audio, MusePack, WavPack, G.726 and PCM. The photo capabilities include formats like JPG, GIF, PNG, TIF and BMP.
The A3 also features a built-in high quality video recorder, which enables you to digitally record all of your favorite TV shows straight form your TV without the need of a dock. Truly, the only downfall of this PMP seems to be its audio battery life, which is rated at only10 hours; however, you will get 7 hours of video out of this unit, which is not bad compared to other popular brands.
With a size of 133.4(W) x 78.5(H) x 22(T) mm and a weight of 298g (10 oz) this player is definitely going to fit your bag and suit your taste.
A3?s price tag can range from ?449 for the 30GB model to ?499 for the 60GB model.
