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S9, now in 32GB with firmware 1.20 [or 2.20]
comment: 26 | Monday, April 13 (2009) 07:27PM | Posted by Design Fabulous


As of today, the 32GB Cowon S9 is on sale for 379,000KOR (286USD). Cowon is also throwing in a shield case and TV out cable for free (valid for one month). Sadly, Cowon has announced that they won't be releasing a DMB version due to the extra room taken up with the additional SSD.

via moveplayer



Cowon has also released the 1.20 firmware (3.20 for DMB). Here is the list of improvements:

- a new notepad utility (screenshots above)
- multiple page support for the widgets screen
- redesigned clock widget
- bug fixes for music(APE, etc) playback
- enhanced playback capabilities for high resolution videos
- improved playback for video files with corrupted frames
- fix for unstable volume when watching DMB with jeteffect

Cowon Homepage

Cowon have now released firmware 2.20 for non-korean S9's, fixes are all the same as the korean version but if you don't use that firmware then this one is for you

FW 2.20 Download
Comments

aliquis

Comments: 48
 		Apr 13 (2009) 08:15PM  

So will everyone who have wished for it get it now?



TheDarkSide
Location: Qns Vlg - NYC - USA
Comments: 298
 		Apr 13 (2009) 08:18PM  

I'm just waiting for it's release in the US, that's all. WOOT, my wait is almost over!!!



Step666

Comments: 149
 		Apr 13 (2009) 08:37PM  

Poor Sarah and Niney - I have a sneaking suspicion their beautiful relationship is going to come to an abrupt end...



Dopamino

Comments: 11
 		Apr 13 (2009) 09:47PM  

Holy crap I want it.



Saijin_Naib
Location: Warren, NJ
Comments: 893
 		Apr 13 (2009) 10:28PM  

Freaking nice, especially at this price-point. Heavy competition for the P3, although I do like the haptic and BT features it offers more.



Barron

Comments: 44
 		Apr 14 (2009) 12:01AM  

woo ive been waiting for this for ages. Does anyone know if its out in other parts of Asia cos im in Singapore at the moment



Sternfan91
Location: Northern New Jersey
Comments: 89
 		Apr 14 (2009) 12:34AM  

hmm...I really am liking my Fuze+Line-out dock+Mini3...but would this with an interconnect and the Mini3 be better??



1yen

Comments: 5
 		Apr 14 (2009) 01:08AM  

is it wishful thinking to the assume gapless playback will be added in a future firmware (or is it already there)?



docpar
Location: NYC
Comments: 67
 		Apr 14 (2009) 01:36AM  

BAAAAALLIIIIIN
I hope it comes out in the U.S. soon. Anyone have an idea of how long it generally takes?



mac404

Comments: 10
 		Apr 14 (2009) 02:28AM  

Cowon hasn't added gapless to any players as far as I can remember. Highly doubt it.



GO

Comments: 6
 		Apr 14 (2009) 10:11AM  

'fraid I can't get excited about Cowon players any more.

I own a Cowon D2 and back when I bought it, I thought it was gonna be the best player ever.

However, Cowon's software interface is shoddy at best - requiring countless taps for the simplest of actions - and their firmware updates nearly ALWAYS disappoint (there are bugs they've known about for years now and haven't done a thing about).

I have since switched to the Zune (80), which is, in my humble opinion, the best PMP on the market today, AND getting better all the time. Build quality is top-notch and the software interface (both desktop and in-device) is second to none.

If the current generation Zunes don't do it for you, my recommendation would be to hold onto your hard earned cash and get the Zune HD when it comes out later this year.

Just my 2 cents' worth.



SarahV

Comments: 54
 		Apr 14 (2009) 10:23AM  

.... anyone want to buy a used 16GB S9? He's housebroken and everything...



docpar
Location: NYC
Comments: 67
 		Apr 14 (2009) 10:27AM  

Hey guyo,

Its funny because I have the exact opposite views as you. I went from the Cowon A2 to the Zune 80, and thought of it as an overall downgrade. The only things the Zune has over the Cowon are looks and memory (main reason i got it).

Also, Zune software is probably the most unreliable software I have ever seen - even worse than the average-at-best cowon software. I had nightmares with it, starting from the fact that it didnt support my version of windows xp (had to use a "trick" that took 1 hr to do to install it) to the fact that it randomly changed the tags and album arts. It also doesnt embed album art, but rather hides them as hidden folders all over your C drive.

But with cowon, you can pretty much use any method/program of file management and media transfer.

Thats why I'm going back to cowon with this S9 so i can once more have top notch sound quality (zune doesnt hold a candle to it), battery life, and vast file support.



Step666

Comments: 149
 		Apr 14 (2009) 02:18PM  

.... anyone want to buy a used 16GB S9? He's housebroken and everything...

Wow, discarded with all the care and attention one would give a used condom...



SarahV

Comments: 54
 		Apr 14 (2009) 03:03PM  

Don't make Niney feel any worse than he already does



Design Fabulous

Comments: 1038
 		Apr 14 (2009) 03:28PM  

Guyo, I'm sorry but I really think that the Zune is far from being the best PMP in the market. First of all, the display is really quite poor. Have you seen the AMOLED display on the S9? Also, the S9 supports an endless list of file formats, both audio and video - like a real PMP.

I personally think you are looking for the simplest DAP in the market, which is the iPod by the way.



GO

Comments: 6
 		Apr 14 (2009) 06:03PM  

docpar - note that you moved to the Zune from the Cowon A2, which has PHYSICAL button navigation, whereas I moved up (yes, up) from the touch interface-equipped D2. One of my biggest gripes with the D2 has been that its touch interface is far from responsive, a fact made much worse by Cowon's inability to devise an efficient user interface (I once counted and was horrified by the number of taps required to get your entire music collection to play back in shuffled mode...).

As for your experiences with the desktop software - could you have been one of the early, frustrated adopters during the first Zune 30 days? I have never had anything but the smoothest of user experiences with the Zune desktop software on XP.

ID3 tagging and Album Art embedding - I always use MediaMonkey for these tasks, so again - have never had problems in that department.

Sound quality - agreed, the D2 has an edge over the Zune, but stating that the Zune "doesn't hold a candle" to the D2 is a gross overstatement, in my opinion.

Design Fabulous - I wouldn't call the Zune's display poor. Quite the contrary. It shares the same resolution with the D2 (320x240) and, while this resolution is stretched across a larger physical screen, it's also sharper due to the Zune 80's glass surface and excellent backlighting. Used with source materials in the proper resolution, the Zune's display always looks fantastic to me. Also, the D2 has had numerous on-and-off problems with audio sync during video playback. The Zune has never exhibited such problems and flawlessly plays back my collection of mp4s.

Your final statement regarding my looking for the simplest DAP - an iPod no less - seems like a snide fanboy jab and is completely out of context in the serious exchange of opinions I was hoping to establish (if I misinterpreted you here... my apologies). Just to quiet your mind, we have a couple of iPods (2g and 3g nanos) around the house and an iPhone, too. The Zune by far exceeds all of them as a PMP. I wonder - have you actually owned a Zune before? I at least spend some cash and time on a player and get to know it firsthand before (regretfully) expressing criticism.

Yes, Cowon has some very compelling strengths - good hardware design... unparalleled battery life... excellent format support. However, I think that what really matters in the end is user experience. You get to appreciate it far more when your music library grows into its multi-Gigabyte stage. With the Zune's cross interface, everything is truly a breeze to get to, whereas with the Cowon D2 (can't speak for other Cowon players), it's always a nasty, cumbersome chore.

Again - just my 2 cents' worth.

[ edited Apr 14 (2009) 07:39PM ]



Step666

Comments: 149
 		Apr 14 (2009) 06:36PM  

Don't make Niney feel any worse than he already does


Just don't tell him what's going on, then one day when he's not expecting it, leave him in the woods to fend for himself - it's how we got rid of my annoying sister



TheDarkSide
Location: Qns Vlg - NYC - USA
Comments: 298
 		Apr 14 (2009) 08:13PM  

My family is trying to do that to me, but their afraid I'll take all the electronic gizmo's with me!!!



docpar
Location: NYC
Comments: 67
 		Apr 14 (2009) 08:55PM  

G0 - yea, i heard a lot of bad things about the touch screen of the D2. I heard its the one where you press "into" the screen, rather than the one the ipod has which responds to electrical impulses or something. I guess I forgot to take into account the great UI of the zune vs the supposedly cumbersome one of the D2.

About the software, I wasn't one of the zune 30 early adopters. The first thing that happened to me when I finally found a zune 80 on sale (back when it first came out) and opened the box ready to set it up was a message on the zune software installation screen saying my Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 was not supported by the zune software (of course I had to have the only XP version that the zune software didn't support!). So I had to find a way to trick the software that I had some other windows - took me over an hour and luckily I found some random guide online to help me out. Also, whenever I want to update software, I have to reinstall everything again!

I guess I should have used media monkey like I always did, but how should I have known that the Zune software is bad at tagging and album art? The zune software is a great concept, but it has many bugs, in mine at least. For example, for some funny reason, it makes the album art some random U2 album cover automatically for every song/album i put on, and sometimes i cant even change it! It also splits up albums if the composers are different, but artist same.......Maybe only I get this because the software is not to support my windows (I still don't get why microsoft decided this as it apparently can lol)

Finally, on the sound quality, the simple fact that Zune doesnt have an EQ already puts it in a different league than a cowon in terms of sound. Also, Zune seems to have a lower power output or something (my cowon sounds much more rich and powerful).

I think comparing a cowon to a zune is like comparing a lamborghini to a mustang - they are both obviously above average, but still in different leagues in the main respects. I love my zune for its big screen, tough as nails build, good looks, GREAT memory, great controls, great UI, and above average sound quality.



Step666

Comments: 149
 		Apr 14 (2009) 09:36PM  

@docpar: the terms you're looking for are 'resistive' and 'capacitive'.
The iPhone/iPod Touch uses a capacitive screen (along with a handful of other devices such as the G1) but most touchscreens are resistive.

I can't speak for the D2 in particular as I've barely used one but with regards to this general misconception that resistive screens are in some way inferior to capacitive ones, it's a pile of bull.



docpar
Location: NYC
Comments: 67
 		Apr 14 (2009) 10:30PM  

Step666

thanks a lot for the info man! I knew there had to have been proper terms for them. So I'm guessing something like a nintendo DS or basically anything that can work with a stylus is resistive? If that's the case, then I too can see how they can't be inferior than capacitive screens.

So I'm guessing the S9 is capacitive.



Design Fabulous

Comments: 1038
 		Apr 14 (2009) 11:56PM  

^ There really aren't that many capacitive displays in the DAP market right now. The Samsung P3, Cowon S9, and iPod touch are basically the only ones that have it right now.

And yes, resistive is anything that works with a stylus. Capacitive devices on the other hand require you to use your fingers. There are some negatives with capacitive though - you can't use it with gloves on and making memos - or pressing tiny buttons is very difficult. I've actually seen some styluses that work with capacitive displays though, so they might open up more possibilities.



GO

Comments: 6
 		Apr 15 (2009) 05:57AM  

Hey, docpar - we're in violent agreement here, I guess

I never knew about the problems Zune software created for XP Media Center 2004 users and that DOES sound like a bummer. I've only ever installed mine (yes, even the Zune 30 software way back when - we've got several Zunes in the household today) on standard Win XP and on Windows Vista Media Center edition, and have had NO problems whatsoever.

Absence of HQ on the Zune - can't blame you for complainin' about that. Seems like a strange omission, even though I almost always turn HQ's off - just a matter of personal taste, I guess.

Tagging - I have gone through a long and painful path of trying lots of applications (iTunes, id3Tag-IT and even the Zune software, among others) and have always been disappointed. I finally gave MediaMonkey a spin and it truly hit the spot. I am now able to properly tag all my tracks and albums so that they show up intact on all the media player brands we own (Zune, iPod, Cowon, Sansa and Sony Ericsson phones).

And I guess I should be more accurate in my assessment of the Zune. Like any other PMP, it is NOT perfect. It's just the perfect balance FOR ME. That's probably why I'm less inclined to even consider the S9 and am totally stoked about the coming Zune HD.

G'day.



Step666

Comments: 149
 		Apr 15 (2009) 04:08PM  

@DF: yeah, there are some special types of stylus that will work with capacitive screens (like this one) but they're just not as practical as normal styli due to them having to have a large tip that can interact with the capacitive screen.

Also, because they don't have a distinct point to them, I can't imagine it being particularly easy to use for handwriting (not that any device that uses a capacitive screen is likely to have handwriting recognition software).


And the pièce de résistance - proper resistive multi-touch.
Mactards can take their iPhones and...



undesign

Comments: 786
 		Apr 19 (2009) 02:19PM  

Any word on when stores in Canada can start ordering these, or when orders will come in? There are about 5 shops that I know of in Canada that carry them, but will only settle for a 32gb Titanium version of this bad boy.

I'm fairly sure Cowon stated that they'll start shipping it mid april with some extra goodies (video out cables and free case) for one month, and its already a little past mid april. I've been raving about the sony x1000 but a 32gb S9 is very convincing.



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TheDarkSide
Personally, I didn't buy any of those clips, great deal nonetheless - enjoy!!!!

DaHarder
TDS...

I couldn't help myself - In for 3 of those WOOTs - LOL!

DaHarder
Yea! It's here Android 2.1 for the DROID

TheDarkSide
Sandisk Sansa Clip 8GB MP3 Player for $32.99 on woot: [Linky]

Dominic
lol

Step666
[Linky]

TheDarkSide
Forgot the link: [Linky]

TheDarkSide
OMG!!!! I can't post the meaning of my name, but #2 & #3 is actually me. But, I did get a decent amount of action cause I'm great @#1,............

Dominic
That's great...my skills are average at best

Step666
Yeah but my one's true


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