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The Cowon iAudio A3 - Complete PMP
The long-awaited A3 has quite simply the widest range of features available in any Portable Media Player on sale today! It's a welcome return to Hard Drive based players for Cowon, whose reputation has been made with a succession of class-leading products like the X5 and A2. While the current D2 continues this legacy, some customers require the larger capacities afforded by Hard Drives and that's where the A3 comes in. The A3 uses the new Texas Instruments "Da Vinci" Chipset, giving fantastic responsiveness and speed, with the class leading reproduction we expect from Cowon.
For detailed product information, please click here. Video The A3 is compatible with the widest range of file formats in any player. It's 800X480 4 inch pixel screen offers pin-sharp images and crisp motion for video. It's also capable of 7 hours of video playback - remarkable for a screen this size, let alone one of this quality.
The A3 is available in 30, 60GB & 80GB formats - giving you ample space for movies (up to 100 full-length movies can be stored on the 60GB on average) You can also display still images in a variety of formats (JPG, GIF, PNG, TIF, BMP) up to 15 Mega Pixel original size.
Audio
This is Cowon's traditional strength and they have not let us down with the A3. As an all-in-one media player, you simply won't find another product with the quality and versatility of this one. It'll play MPEG1 Layer 1/2/3, WMA, FLAC, OGG Vorbis, FLAC, APPLE Lossless, AAC/AAC+, AC3, True Audio, Monkey’s Audio, MusePack, WavPack, G.726 & PCM straight out of the box!
All of that is worthless if it sounds poor, but don't worry about that! With a powerful 32mW per channel output and probably the best sound quality available on a portable player available today, it's going to impress!
We've not even mentioned the FM Radio yet! Built into the player, it's a top feature and the audio quality and reception is superb. You can also record the radio for listening back in the future.  Interfacing
Another common issue with Portable Media Players like the A3 is it's connecivity with other devices. Great video capability is let down if it takes hours of video conversion, or expensive extras to get the video on the player. Not the case with the A3. First off, it connects to your PC with a simple generic USB lead (no expensive replacement cost when you lose or damage it) and the PC will recognise the player as an external hard drive - simple drag & drop operation. Also, it's infuriating how much time you can waste ripping DVDs if your PC isn't ultra-fast - the A3 gives you the simplest way to get footage into the device; by plugging in the source. you can simply plug in any video output (Digibox, DVD player, Video player, games console, etc) and record into the player simply and easily. The player compresses as it records, giving you great quality without filling the hard drive up too quickly. USB Host - The A3 also has the ability to be used as a USB host device, allowing you to plug in a variety of devices, such as (UMS) MP3 players, digital cameras and external storage drives, which you can navigate with your A3 and copy files straight onto your A3's hard drive.
You've got movies on your A3 that you'd like to show on a full-size TV? Not a problem, just plug it in! It outputs in Composite video, Component video and S-video - you'll even find the correct cables in the box for each option.
Overview
To sum it up, the Cowon A3 is without a doubt the most comprehensively featured Media Player on the market today. There's almost nothing it won't play, although along with this versatility you'll get the best quality reproduction possible. The A2 was a cult hit amongst those in the know and we feel the A3 deserves to break through to the mainstream with it's list of unique features and peerless quality. - Huge Video file compatibility: AVI, WMV, ASF, MP4, MATROSKA(MKV),MPG/MPEG, DAT, MTV, (DivX 3.11/4/5/6, XviD, MPEG-4 SP/ASP, WMV 9/8/7, H.264 MP, M-JPEG, MPEG 1/2)
- Huge Audio file compatiblity: MP3/2/1, ASF, WMA, FLAC, OGG, M4A, MATROSKA(MKA), TTA, APE, MPC, WV, WAV (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, PCM)
- Fantastic Sound quality (BBE Sound)
- 800x480 Pixel 4 inch screen
- Built in Video recording and output
- 7 Hour video playback battery life (10 hour audio)
- USB Host functionality
- FM Radio (and recorder)
 CNET.co.uk Review (Rating 8.2/10): "Certainly the most capable handheld video player we've seen to date. With its unrivalled screen and codec support, its direct recording capabilities and its ability to playback DVD video files without transcoding, Cowon's A3 is a well-priced behemoth for portable video lovers, despite the advertised HD video support being so disappointing..."
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 TrustedReviews (Rating 8.0/10): "The A3 is such a multi-talented media player that it's hard to knock it too much for the battery life. If its sheer power and flexibility you're after, the A3 has no peer, but taken with the other shortcomings - its lack of style, old-fashioned physical interface and the high price of £280 - it's enough to hold it back from bursting through the finishing tape in first place..."
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 Register Hardware (Rating 85%): "The A3 is a lovely bit of kit offering superb video and audio playback, truly comprehensive file support and a screen so good you will want to marry it and have its children. The only downsides are that to some eyes it looks a little old fashioned and has controls that fail to advance the science of user interfaces. It could do with rather more ooomph in the battery life department. It isn't cheap either but we reckon it is value for money..."
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 PCMag.com (Rating 4/5): "This big portable media player does plenty of neat tricks, including recording video. It also had a big, bright screen, and its navigation feels similar to that of an Archos device, but more evolved...."
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Gadgetaoholic.com (Rating "Highly Recommended"): "The Cowon A3 is a versatile PMP destined for greatness. Though it does not have fancy features like WiFi or Bluetooth, it does one thing amazingly well: playing media files. No other players support more file formats and codecs than the A3. Add to that a gorgeous LCD screen, an intuitive interface and the ability to use it as a poor man's Tivo, there is just no end to what this little player can do...."
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