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 If the Cowon iAudio Q5 was a super car, it would be the Bugatti Veyron. Technologically advanced, super powerful, exclusive, and reassuringly expensive. Your jaw is probably not quite off the floor having looked at the price. The Q5 is not so much an MP3 player or even a Portable Media Player, it’s more akin to an ultra-mobile media PC. It runs a mobile version of Windows (WinCE 5.0 Professional) as its operating system – this means you’ve got the familiarity of MSN Messenger, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Word.
Some may regard the presence of the ubiquitous Windows logo as a bit of hindrance – worry not, Cowon have integrated their own software which auto-loads spritely once Windows is up and running. Before we examine Cowon’s unique Wing Click interface, the Q5’s majestic 5 inch 16 million colour widescreen LCD screen is quite simply jaw dropping. Probably the best complement one could pay to the clarity, the richness and the vibrancy of its reproduction, is that colours look real. They are not oversaturated for dramatic effect like in other big name brands, the screen is not too bright, it’s balanced to perfection. The entire screen is touch sensitive, in some other portable media players this leads to a slight opaqueness due to the extra layer of protection needed on the screen’s surface – the Q5 features none of this.
The touch screen interface is unfussy, straight forward and immediate. You can navigate either using your fingers or the extendable stylus stored in the top right hand corner of the player. The Q5 does not employ fancy unnecessary menu graphics, this is a serious performer. Via the Wing Click GUI, you can easily flip modes, features and settings by the category grouped icons that appear vertically to the left and right of the screen. This simplicity of operation is extended to the built in file viewer, music and movie playback systems and other built in applications. You’re only ever a couple of clicks away from extensive customisation options and playback choices, but the interface remains impressively clear and uncluttered.
As with many Cowon products, the Q5 supports one of the widest range of music and video formats available. As well as all of the usual, the Q5 can also playback OGG, FLAC, APE, MPC and WAV files – lossless file formats that will really show off the depth of your music. Video file support is equally as impressive with AVI (DivX, Xvid), ASF, WMV, MPEG, MP4 and OGM support – all supported natively without conversion.
When you’re paying a premium for the best quality player, you also expect top drawer sound quality. With 34mW per channel sound output, a powerful built in speaker along with one of the widest range of sound customisation options available including BBE, Mach3Bass, MP Enhance, 3D Surround and a 5 band customisable equalizer – it’s fair to say that the Q5 sounds nothing short of spectacular.
The Q5 as you’d expect does not skimp on functionality, the player features a full USB 2.0 Host socket, allowing you to download data directly from USB devices such as digital cameras. Due to the Q5’s integration with Windows CE, the built in Wi-Fi module allows you to browse the Internet, download music and video content via Wi-fi from your PC, chat via MSN Messenger and pretty much everything else you do normally on the Internet.
The pop-up virtual keyboard is highly responsive, but Cowon also have built in a USB port on the side of the Q5, making it simple to plug in an external keyboard or mouse. You won’t have the problem of headphones wires either; the built in Bluetooth allows wireless Bluetooth headphone support. Further cementing its role as a truly ultra-mobile multimedia power-horse, the Q5 comes as standard with a TV-Out socket for high resolution Component or Composite output. Not only that, included in the box is a fully featured wireless remote controller – you don’t even have to get out your chair to control the player!
Battery life has always been the Achilles heal of such visual masterpieces, Cowon have somehow managed to squeeze 7 hours of video playback and 13 hours of audio playback. With such a huge 5” screen, such battery life is truly impressive.
As I finish writing this review using WordPad on the Q5, log-onto the Internet via a Wi-Fi Hotspot, open up Internet Explorer, check the latest news on BBC, before logging into my webmail to send the finished piece, I’m reminded again about the power of the Q5. The is not just a portable media player, it’s an ultra mobile PC. When you start to consider the Q5 in this league, it’s hard to consider any other portable media player on the market. There’s no question that the Q5 is a considerable sum of money, but when you consider its versatility, the future expansion possibilities (a GPS module is rumoured), the sheer quality of the device – it’s no wonder the Q5 is considered by this reviewer at least, as the ultimate ultra-mobile media centre available on the market today.
 CNET.co.uk Review (Rating 8.0/10): "Cowon's Q5W is, without question, one of the most capable media players we've ever seen. Despite minor issues with navigation and a complicated interface, this will be the portable video connoisseur's new best friend. Its unrivaled support for different media types, combined with terrific picture and sound quality, make this an extremely expensive but extremely desirable PMP..."
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 IT Reviews: "The Cowon iAudio Q5W is certainly impressive, with excellent connectivity, control and media support and a very nice 5-inch display. You're paying a lot for all of this, though, and when all's said and done it just doesn't feel as friendly, as nice to use or as inspiring as the high-end PMPs from the Archos range. We can see that some users might prefer the flexibility of an accessible operating system, though, so if you're willing to pay the price these benefits might just tip the scales in Cowon's favour..."
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