1src Forums - Cowon America iAudio X5L, opinions?

daver

12-04-2005, 01:34 AM

Hi folks,

I've finally narrowed down my search for a replacement audio player.
My NetMD player finally died. The optical laser head stopped moving, and the ol' shake-the-unit-hard trick didn't work. I've performed many open-heart surgeries on my MD player, but alas, the poor thing died. It served me well for many years.

Recently, I picked up a cheap MP3 discman from a London Drugs near my home. Cheap $100 CAD one, but it was defective (broke down a few days later), and I got a full refund for that. So much for the cheap alternative.

I've been doing some research during my "inspiration" breaks in my studying cycle for upcoming exams. And through these "inspiration" and motivational breaks, I've decided that I'm probably going to go ahead and get a Cowon America iAudio X5L MP3 player.

I was wondering if anybody has experience with one of these, or knows of anybody who has one or has had one. I've read many reviews, and they say that the sound quality is equal to, or even better than iPods. But there were many "fanboy" reviews saying that the iPod is the only way to go, yadda yadda yadda. You know how those kids are: too biased and stubborn to consider alternatives.

I was originally going to go with an iPod, but the price is just unjustifiable for so few features. I'm not going to fork up $300 for simply an MP3 player, when I can spend $50 more and get 10GB more storage and 30+ hours of battery. Plus, iPods don't support WMA. Also, I intend on using it as a hard disk (I know that iPods do this to), but am unaware of iPods working well with Linux (SuSE). Don't want to run any risks there. In addition, doesn't Apple have a really bad name battery life with their iPods?

p.s. Thank you to Volchitsa for recommending the "Cow on America" X5 :p. I never would have considered it had it not been for him, as Canadian retailers do not sell it (at least in store -- NCIX and Atic of Vancouver have these in warehouse).

Volchitsa

12-10-2005, 03:02 PM

Haha, hey.
What exactly do you want to know about the x5? I don't have one myself, but 2 of my pretty close friends do...
Sound quality is indeed pretty good. It also has video, which is pretty awesome, but the quality for videos is pretty bad. Comparatively. If you really want good video, then go for the archos gmini. But I remember this conversation, the fact that you'd rather have battery life..
Oh, and apple's batteries are pretty bad. As in they're supposed to die after a year. Then, apple supposedly replaces the unit, but who needs the hassle?

Another thing. If you do not need video, then there's another great alternative. The philips HDD6330.. Well. It's an amazing player, but not much features. (still beats iPod though)

And one more thing. Lately, a whole new player emerged from the depths of Zen's labs. The zen Vision:M (http://www.creative.com/products/mp3/zenvisionm/) It sure seems to be a biggie. It's like an iPod video except better. You should really take a look at this one. If you buy it, tell me all about it. :D People are really liking this one.

Canadian retailers, you mean stores? You know, cowon is not at any store here either. They're just online. (Don't know why)

Oh, and I am not a "him". ;)

daver

12-10-2005, 05:14 PM

I don't care about video at all, really. It'st just a little gimmick for me, so I'd tinker with it, but I have my TH55 for much better video quality etc. etc.

All I really want is music playback (well duh... :p), radio (no iPod that I know of can do this without paying extra $$$ for an attachment), and a voice recorder (my 256 MB card isn't enough for my TH55).

I know that iPods can do voice recording, but I don't want to spend $50 on a microphone and then another $10 for some adaptor, all on top of the $350-$400 for the unit.

If I wanted design, then I'd go with Apple, like SonyStyle brought up in the other thread. But looks don't matter for me, and I couldn't care less if it was pink coloured, as long as it does what I want for a good price.

As for the "he" reference.... I don't want to sound sexist at all, but I find that it's safe to assume that the person on the other end is a "he" on these types of forums, mostly because men tinker with battery powered, and overhauled gadgets more than women... Sorry about that! :o :o

Vishalca

12-10-2005, 05:25 PM

Daver, Staples is selling this MP3 player on their website for $249; add a couple of coupons, and you get it for $230.

http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/cat_sku.asp?CatIds=89%2C4383,3733&webid=628337&affixedcode=WW

And use coupon code: 88439 to knock off another $20

daver

12-10-2005, 06:29 PM

i've had some bad experiences with Staples shipping before. mainly, i ordered, product never arrived. Staples said they shipped it, claimed that it was insured, but nobody ever knocked on my front door.
the other time, my brother ordered an iPaq from their website. it was supposed to be brand new. when it arrived, we found out that it was refurbished, and not very well refurbished at that as well.

it seems that my family doesn't have very good luck with Staples.ca, while everyone else has no problems. i guess somebody's gotta get it bad, right?

thanks anyways though!

however, for $12 more (http://atic.ca/index.php?search=iAudio&x=0&y=0), i can get it from Atic, which is located in Vancouver. i've been going to Atic for years for my computer hardware, so i trust them very much. personally, i think the extra $12 (before tax) is worth avoiding the fears of another bad Staples experience. plus, a close friend of my dad's works there as one of the manager people (i still don't know what he actually does there...:D), so he tends to knock off a few bucks here and there from the listed price. since they're the type of store that uses online and in-store pricing, they'll obviously charge you the higher price (usually in-store). not for my family, my dad's friend will charge us whichever is cheaper, before knocking off $10 here, or another $15 somewhere else... don't worry, it's all legit workings. the store just doesn't get as much profit, or my dad's friend just gets less commission, whichever way their system works.

i'm also thinking of negociating my way through a free carring case or cradle... or both. connections can really pay off ;)

Volchitsa

12-10-2005, 09:31 PM

No, if you want style/design, you still wouldn't go for iPod. You'd want to go for Philips (http://reviews.cnet.com/Philips_GoGear_Jukebox_HDD1630_6GB/4505-6490_7-31503514.html?tag=feed%E2%88%82=rss&subj=video?tag=vid&autoplay=true#mgallery) or maybe the olympus m:robe (http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_product_robe.asp?l=1&p=&bc=&product=1145).

But did you look at the new M:Vision? It's really an awesome player. The screen is gorgeous. http://www.pmpz.net/pics/newspics/creative/zenipodimage.jpg
http://dapreview.net/e107_files/public/4677_dsc03219.jpg

It's not out yet, but from what I've heard Zen is trying to get it out before christmas... I'd wait if I were you.

If $300 was my budget, I'd go for the zen.

But now I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my parents will be nice enough and get me a nice shiny cowon a2 for my birthday in 17 days... (a decent present, for once, please?)

P.S. Are those pics working? ^^^

daver

12-10-2005, 09:59 PM

those pics would work, if i cared about a decent LCD screen. to be honest, a black and white CRT monitor as an accessory would be enough for me. i just need something like a discman LCD screen at the bare minimum. at least tell me that it's playing SOMETHING, and little things like that. video isn't necessary for me, so really blotchy images and stuff like that won't really tick me off.

since it is my own money... i might think about the zen. but if it's not available on shelves by boxing day, then no point in waiting any longer. i'm going to Big White (6+ hour drive to the skiing mountains.. sigh...) soon, so i need something that can last me longer than 1 CD. X5L is still my #1 choice, unless the Zen shows up real soon.

Volchitsa

12-10-2005, 10:05 PM

Alright then. :D

Good luck, let me know if you have any news...

Volchitsa

12-16-2005, 06:23 PM

Hey, so what are you thinking? Did you buy it yet? Hopefully not, I think there's an awesome deal on eCost right now. Check it out.
Hurry up!
LINK (http://www.ecost.com/ecost/shop/detail~DPNo~589095.asp)
I don't know about eCost and Canada, but I'm pretty sure they can ship there.

daver

12-16-2005, 07:02 PM

wow, thanks much for the link.

however, i will be buying the X5L (30 GB version) from a store in Vancouver. one of my dad's good friends works there, and can get me about $15 off that model, which is selling for $400 Canadian, and he might be able to throw in a free cradle or case.

the one selling at eCost is about $50 cheaper, but after the shipping costs, it's pretty much the same price. so i think i'll stick with in-city shopping. but thanks for the link!

Volchitsa

12-17-2005, 06:17 PM

Sure thing. i noticed it, went WOW, remembered you. :D
Tell me what you think of it when you finally get it.

Hmm. They also have the 60 gb one on sale right now. Awesomeness.

Volchitsa

12-17-2005, 06:21 PM

... And every other x5 model for that matter...
Too bad a2 is not on sale. It's still $40 cheaper than retail. I'm going to get it soon.

daver

12-17-2005, 08:50 PM

... And every other x5 model for that matter...
Too bad a2 is not on sale. It's still $40 cheaper than retail. I'm going to get it soon.
speak of the devil..

i just ordered my X5L (30GB). it should arrive in store by Friday latest, so it'll be in my hands sometime this coming week. :)

Volchitsa

12-22-2005, 03:53 PM

Hahaha. I beat you. My new A2 arrived today. It is simply amazing. A bit bigger than I expected, but it's the best thing ever made...
Ahhh.

*load some more giggage into A2*

daver

12-22-2005, 11:29 PM

Hahaha. I beat you. My new A2 arrived today. It is simply amazing. A bit bigger than I expected, but it's the best thing ever made...
Ahhh.

*load some more giggage into A2*
*grumble grumble*
so there's been a nice little delay in the delivery of my X5L. apparently some sort of trouble with some of the computer parts on the same cargo plane, so they total cargo shipment has been delayed by a day. so maybe i won't be able to get my X5L until I return from my relative's place on the island. ho hum.

but i'm being a little optimistic this way: thanks to my dad's friend, i'm saving a few quids here and there. at first, he couldn't get any carrying cases designed for hte X5. instead he gave me a sleeve-thingy (vertical loading with a velcro latch) that's designed to fit iPods, but which the X5L fits very snuggly into. and instead of paying $400 + the $50 for hte carrying case, i paid $350 (+tax) and not a cent more. so technically, i saved $100! :D

Volchitsa

12-24-2005, 11:54 PM

Haha, good job, kid.

(My a2 came with an awesome case.) ;)

daver

12-27-2005, 03:45 AM

Haha, good job, kid.

(My a2 came with an awesome case.) ;)
i'm not a kid! :p
i just act like one, that's all

i finally got my X5L. i just opened the box about 15 minutes ago, even though i've had it for the better part of half the day. it's just charging now. but i'm excited to start playing around with it tomorrow.

the metal casing feels just like that of my old MD player. i actually prefer the black finish to the cheesy shiny silver that my MD had.

Volchitsa

12-28-2005, 12:50 AM

Oh, Don't mind me calling people "kids".. It's a long story... But someone influenced me to call everyone "kid". Don't take it personally. ;)

You got it? Awesome awesome. Go fill up that giggage!

Funny you should mention the casing. It doesn't really look as good as some other players', but god, it's durable. I mean REALLY durable.
Take a look at this proof: http://us.gizmodo.com/gadgets/portable-media/dog-bites-iaudio-144914.php
The unit powers on and works!!!

Anywho. Good luck, talk to you later, cowon buddy, kid! ;)

daver

12-28-2005, 01:18 AM

haha, we can be Cowon buddies! lol

but yeah, i saw that article at iaudiophile.net. pretty funky stuff. although, i *think* the anti-shock technology won't be working for that bloke anymore...but that's just a hunch. :D

i actually like the design/look of the X5 compared to other MP3 players i've seen and played with. mostly because of the matte-like finish, instead of a shiny red/silver/blue plastic/paint job. i'm not too big on the shiny design of things, which is one reason why i was turned off by the iPod (among other things).

i've been playing with my X5L all day, and i have to say that i'm VERY glad that you recommended the Cowon to me. i was originally going for something like the iRiver H10, but didn't really like the plastic. i don't trust things put in plastic as much as i do with metal. it's a dumb thing, i know, but i have reasons.

and the audio drivers built into this thing is simply amazing. even on my cheaper headphones (some $50 Sony studio-monitor type i used when i helped with sound & lighting for high school plays), i can clearly hear the strumming of guitars, tapping of drum cymbols, and other very hard to hear things on CD players.

anywho, i'm off to play some more with my X5L. i have yet to try video playback, but i doubt i'll ever get around to that, since i'm not all that interested in it. that's what my TH55 is for. and with this USB on-the-go feature, i can keep movies for my TH55 in the HDD of my X5 or something like that (although i don't see why i would need to...)

BTW, Volchitsa, would you recommend upgrading the firmware? right now, i'm quite happy with the firmware, but haven't found any other firmware upgrades except the newest beta which is only for DRM support (which i have absolutely no use for).

Volchitsa

01-06-2006, 06:17 PM

Hmm. Interesting how this thread didn't show up in my profile thing. Hence I thought it was dead...

But anywho. I'm glad (but not surprised) you like the player. Yep, cowon's known for good audio quality, feature-packedness, battery life, and design (durability in particular). I, for one, love their players. They're relatively cheap also. Well their hard drive based ones anyway.

I am not a fan of shiny surfaces myself.. Well not shiny, per se, but more scratchable. iPod is terrible in that. I mean why the heck would you need something that looks good because its shiny only to buy a $20+ thing to cover it?
But cowon's prety good. I mean their shiny players. My a2 has not a single scratch on it yet, and it's not like I caressed it, I didn't even use the case most of the time. And its surface is awesome. It's white and it has this pearly appearance...

Video playback? Well yes, I guess it's not the major feature of the x5. (unlike A2)

What I found quite interesting is that the a2 is exactly the size of my NX80. It feels a bit bulkier since it's not "folded" in half, but still. I even sometimes use a2's case for NX80. It fits perfectly.. :D

Oh, btw, check his out! New cowon model. iPod nano killer! :D
Link1 (http://dapreview.net/comment.php?comment.news.2773)
Link2 (http://dapreview.net/comment.php?comment.news.2799)
I think this one is a great success for cowon. Or will be soonly.

Firmware. Are you sure the only advantage of the new version is drm support?
If it is, then it's not worth it.
I'm waiting for new firmware releases for a2. I need quite a lot of features that will hopefully be added with upcoming firmware releases. (Like it was with other players including x5)
If you don't need the firmware, why install it and waste insignificant amounts of memory on hd? ;)

Another thing I found is that 30 gb is not enough. :-/

Well anyways. Good luck once again.

hmm. P. S. I do not work for cowon and Steve Jobs is not my family's enemy... ;)

kiteandcamera

01-07-2006, 08:03 PM

daver

01-09-2006, 03:23 PM

I have been following this two-person thread with interest. Kepp us posted on your expereinces with the Cowon units. I am steering clear of them because of the huge amount of negative activity in their user forum. It scares me to read about folks having to return one, two and three units to get one that works or that customer/tech service is useless and unresponsive.as i see it, many of the complainers in their forum aren't actually Cowon owners. i've talked to some of the people there (the ones you can tell are actual owners for some time), and some of the people who complain all the time are actually iPod owners and Apple/iRiver fanboys trashing about "hard drive failures" and "broken screens", etc. so take everything with a pinch of salt, because anybody can say anything. heck, i could go to an iPod forum and do the exact same: but i have a brain, and i don't intend on being a jerk.

think of it this way, everybody complains that Sony PDAs are bad, support sucks, and all that stuff. but have you had any problems with your NX73 (the one in your avatar)?

Firmware. Are you sure the only advantage of the new version is drm support?
well, obviously there are bug fixes in the newer versions, but i have yet to find any. but i just updated the firmware to version 2.10 -05, which is the version prior to the DRM support. so far, there's nothing really new, except now there are up and down arrows displayed when i want to make changes in the settings, like the screen brightness/contrast, or the BBE settings, etc.

Volchitsa

01-09-2006, 11:22 PM

I have been following this two-person thread with interest. Kepp us posted on your expereinces with the Cowon units. I am steering clear of them because of the huge amount of negative activity in their user forum. It scares me to read about folks having to return one, two and three units to get one that works or that customer/tech service is useless and unresponsive.

Whoa there.
That's... most likely inaccurate. Like Daver pointed out...
I mean I've heard/read/experienced a lot about many players including Cowon and iPod and such. Ad from that, I can tell that very few people have problems with cowon. If you go on a general dap site, you will see that most copmplaints come for other brands such as archos. Cowon is pretty.

And hey, if it's THEIR user forum, it would make sense that all the people that have problems would accumulate there. And that might seem like a lot of people, since they're all in one place. I mean any brand is sure to have faults and accidents and such. But when you look at the big picture, compare different brands, you will hopefully see that cowon is indeed pretty reliable.

And Daver -- I would not compare Sony and Cowon. Especially with respect to their customer service. I have had personal experience with sony's customer service and it's horrible. Virtually inexistant.
Cowon, on the other hand, has truly amazing cs. They'd replace the unit immediately, no questions asked. They have one of the best customer services I've known... (from reading other people's experiences, not my own.)

daver

01-10-2006, 01:00 AM

Whoa there.
That's... most likely inaccurate. Like Daver pointed out...
I mean I've heard/read/experienced a lot about many players including Cowon and iPod and such. Ad from that, I can tell that very few people have problems with cowon. If you go on a general dap site, you will see that most copmplaints come for other brands such as archos.
keep in mind that i never said that those complaints really were from iPod owners just trying to make up stuff. but that many other forumers at iAudiophile have creeping suspicions that they are. i only believe them because many complaints don't have plausible proof to support them.

but it's quite easy to catch the fake user reviews on places like Amazon, where you get things like
"this mp3 player totally sucks. when i got it, it didn't even work. i just sent it back. don't waste your money. this thing is crap. get an ipod instead."
(notice how i replicate the use of non-caps, like many ipod fanboys/girls tend to do in their attempts to trash other products through their stupid online reviews)

And Daver -- I would not compare Sony and Cowon. Especially with respect to their customer service. I have had personal experience with sony's customer service and it's horrible. Virtually inexistant.
Cowon, on the other hand, has truly amazing cs. They'd replace the unit immediately, no questions asked. They have one of the best customer services I've known... (from reading other people's experiences, not my own.)
when i made that very weak comparison, i was merely trying to say that many people have complained about Sony Clies for reasons XYZ. but in the end, Clie users (and fanboys/girls as well) don't really have problems (unless caused by the owner) with their units. unless of course it's a defective unit, which is always covered by the warranty (which is incentive for Sony to take even more of their sweet time). some people complain about Cowon's support, but both of us have yet to find out how good/bad it really is. but i highly doubt it's worse than Sony's [teaching monkeys advanced calculus is probably easier than dealing with Sony support].

kiteandcamera

01-12-2006, 08:48 PM

I ordered an iAudio X5L 20GB today from newegg. Thanks for keeping this thread alive. The Cowon is an interesting line of A/V player/recorders.

daver

01-12-2006, 09:41 PM

I ordered an iAudio X5L 20GB today from newegg. Thanks for keeping this thread alive. The Cowon is an interesting line of A/V player/recorders.
i'm pretty sure you won't regret your purchase.

so far, i'm very pleased with my X5L - especially the battery life when compared to my friend's iRiver H10 (can you believe that my 30GB X5L only cost $75 more than the retail price of an iRiver H10 at FutureShop?). and no complaints here about the song browsing method. in fact, i prefer the file-tree method of file browsing to the ID3 tag.

i was also very pleased at how fast i could copy files to the hard drive. i came from a NetMD which took about 10 minutes to transfer over 2 full CDs worth of music (about 160 minutes: 2x 80 minute CDs). now, it takes barely 1 minute to copy 500MB. i copied over ~12GB of music to my X5L in about 5 minutes.

anyways, i'll shut up now, and let you wait for your X5L.

Volchitsa

01-13-2006, 11:41 PM

i'm pretty sure you won't regret your purchase.

so far, i'm very pleased with my X5L - especially the battery life when compared to my friend's iRiver H10 (can you believe that my 30GB X5L only cost $75 more than the retail price of an iRiver H10 at FutureShop?). and no complaints here about the song browsing method. in fact, i prefer the file-tree method of file browsing to the ID3 tag.

i was also very pleased at how fast i could copy files to the hard drive. i came from a NetMD which took about 10 minutes to transfer over 2 full CDs worth of music (about 160 minutes: 2x 80 minute CDs). now, it takes barely 1 minute to copy 500MB. i copied over ~12GB of music to my X5L in about 5 minutes.

anyways, i'll shut up now, and let you wait for your X5L.

Hey, yeah, I would NOT want to browse by ID3 tags... I was playing with an iPod and ID# tag browsing was so crazily annoying. Especially if the tags are messed up or in another language... I prefer just folder browsing, I know where everything is in my A2.

Another feature that is very much valued these days is gapless playback. I mean people buy worse players just to get that feature. That, i also do not get... What is a second between songs? (cowon doesn't have it, btw, just a note)

I do like how it acts as a hard drive and doesn't need software. I find iTunes very annoying. USB OTG is a bit slower, but very very useful.

Oh, kiteandcamera, That's awesome. You'll love it, good luck! :D

daver

01-14-2006, 12:49 AM

Hey, yeah, I would NOT want to browse by ID3 tags... I was playing with an iPod and ID# tag browsing was so crazily annoying. Especially if the tags are messed up or in another language... I prefer just folder browsing, I know where everything is in my A2.
it's not that i hate ID3 browsing, it's just that i'm more partial to file-tree directories. like, i have a LOT of MP3s that don't have ID3 tags. some people call me crazy, but i just don't bother properly labelling MP3s with ID3 tags if i don't have the time. so if i had an iPod, i'd have maybe 3 songs properly categorized, and about a billion songs in the "unfiled" area of the ID3 categories. so much for ID3 browsing huh?

Another feature that is very much valued these days is gapless playback. I mean people buy worse players just to get that feature. That, i also do not get... What is a second between songs? (cowon doesn't have it, btw, just a note)
i wholeheartedly agree (ok, not wholeheartedly, but i still totally agree) with this. if you want gapless playback, the get an iPod, or any other MP3 player that has this. still, it would be nice to have it, but it's way low on my "must have" list. only one up from ID3 browsing.

I do like how it acts as a hard drive and doesn't need software. I find iTunes very annoying. USB OTG is a bit slower, but very very useful. i've had my X5L for less than a month, and i've already used the USB OTG to the full extent:
while up at Big White last week on a ski trip, i used my X5L to store all the pictures from my ex-gf's digital camera. her SD card is only a 64 MB that came with her Pentax, and the 30GB HDD in my X5 was obviously more than enough room to store her pictures to make more room on the SD. so at the end of each day, just a simple copy and paste of a folder was all i needed to free up space on the SD card for the next day. i really love this feature. although, it does longer than i thought it would (i think it's only USB 1.1, but whatever, it's definitely a feature not found on many other popular devices :p)

also, i really like how Cowon provides you with 2 screen protectors. maybe they learned something from all the complaints about scratched iPod screens? (i don't mean to hammer specifically on iPods here, but everybody knows about iPods and their scratch stories)

kiteandcamera

01-19-2006, 09:10 AM

daver

01-19-2006, 12:51 PM

My X5L arrived two days ago. It is a handsome unit and feels substantial in my hand. The included earphones are nothing great, but I guess one should expect that with most A/V players.

I agree with daver about the ease of use of the file system. I am so used to using Windows Explorer for file management on my PC that the Cowon file structure was easy to get used to.

One bad decision was to also order the remote for the X5L. It is difficult to use and the screen is awful. I would recommend that you avoid purchasing one of these unless you want to buy mine.

Screen resolution for jpegs or video is, at best, mediocre. A bit disappointed in that.

This unit is best for music and moving photos off filled up digital camera storage cards. The internal HD is fast; battery life incredible.
i was considering the remote, but i figured
a) i didn't need a remote control, i much prefer the layout of the buttons (i use my left hand with the unit; i don't know why, but it just feels better, maybe a hangover habit from my MD?)
b) it's kinda pricey for a remote control. i could get 4 universal TV remotes for $20 each, or pay $60 for a single unit remote that i probably wouldn't use (i tend to lose remotes often)

the screen resolution for pictures and videos is bismal after getting used to my TH55. however, considering that it's only about 2-inchs (don't know the actual size), i can't really complain since i don't view images or videos. i've only a few videos on my X5, and they're commercials, so no biggie for me (gotta love those Molson commercials!)

a little while back, i was considering an iPod Mini, mostly because of the cheap price (Cowon was non-existant to me last summer). i found that the only good thing about ID3, IMHO, is that you can find your artist faster if you just want to listen to a certain band/artist. for example, i have practically every Pennywise and Millencolin song in existance on my X5. if i wanted to ONLY listen to either band, it'd be a pain to stack through hundreds of MP3s. i guess with ID3 it's much easier to selecting tracks?

Volchitsa

01-21-2006, 12:39 AM

I really need a remote for the A2... First, it's pretty bulky to take it out all the time. I relied very heavily on my SlimX's remote... Second, to be able to easily control the unit, it needs to be not in the case, which I do not like. Third, it can get a bit dangerous taking out the expensive unit and lighting up the gorgeous screen in public, say, in the metro. But last time I checked, they didn't have remote controls for it yet. Another thing which is making me worry a bit is the lack of the remote control port thing on the unit. I mean, on most other ones there's a port next to the earphone one. And if not, the remote is pretty simple (not a lot of options, no screen, etc.) Which makes me wonder. Could the iAudio CW300 remote work for it?

Oh wow. I just went to the cow on america site to find the link and guess what. They have the a2 remotes. How sad that they are so much less functional than the remotes of their previous players!... Maybe they thought the a2 is supposed to be used mostly for videos anyway... Actually it's not that bad. Since the remote is $30 cheaper. Nice, I think I'll get one soon. (Kinda looks similar/same as the CW300 one, doesn't it?)

Yeah, the screen on the X5 is not the best... If you wanted to use it for video, you should've gone with the gmini instead.. I know to Daver battery life mattered more though ;)

My music's sorted in folders by artists...
Speaking of which. A CD player I once had, had an option of actually searching for tracks. I don't know exactly how it works, but pretty phenomenal for a CD player. (Sony, no big surprise) About time they should include a simple search option on 30 gb players, don't you think?