JetAudio iAudio X5 20GB MP3 Player (20GB Internal Hard Drive)

• Reviewed by: anthony7852

  Strengths: good sound quality, small and light weight

  Weaknesses: cant play music while viewing photos

  Overall: cowon presents iaudio x5/x5l is definitely better than any of ipod. even though there is a problem with photo viewer and music player, i think overall its a great mp3 player. it has everything you need: fm tuner, photo, video, music, etc. its really hard to describe in words... so why dont you try it out too?

• Reviewed by: tbalsh

  Strengths: Very small player and hard driver.

  Weaknesses: Screen is a little small.

  Overall: So far so good! I have tried to find very good portable hard drive and also have some function of player, like MP3, MD something like that. This is really good player!

• Reviewed by: qnv

  Strengths: nice sound, crisp color, compact and sleek looking

  Weaknesses: cumbersome since you need to carry with you the little adapter if you want to charge the unit, or transfer files, buggy recording feature

  Overall: One of my major needs is to record Dharma lectures that are to be kept for life. I was utterly disappointed to find out that the internal microphone records in mono, not stereo (this is not disclosed on the product specification list; it's only listed in one sentence in the product manual). When it records, there is no screen to show how strong the signal is coming in. When I tried to use external microphone (lapel Sony microphones), it doesn't record at all. When I plug the unit to the mixer, or another unit, then the sound comes in in stereo. Wonder if any other users are experiencing the same thing. I went to Cowon.com and couldn't find any FAQ or product update. The HOLD button doesn't work; the unit keeps on playing. Also, when the screen goes off (after a few seconds or so) to save power, there is no LED light to remind me that the unit is still ON. I forget to turn it off, and often find myself with a dead unit by the time I need it. This design with the little adapter is really cumbersome; it's bad enough that I have to remember to bring the power adapter. Now I have to remember to bring this little adapter too if I want to transfer files because the USB plug is on the adapter. Points off for ease of use.Overall, I think it's a good product, but for my needs and usage pattern, I would not purchase it again, mainly because of the little adapter and mono recording features.Sep 15,2005: just got confirmation from iaudio TechSupport: a) it is impossible for x5 to record in stereo technically by now; and b) x5 doesn't support any other microphone right now, x5 only supports internal microphone record. Disappointed news, but at least they answer my questions.

• Reviewed by: neilbjam

  Strengths: The additional features, in addition to a great design. The conversion software for video is also a major strength

  Weaknesses: Ear buds are definitely too large. No carrying case

  Overall: I've had for about 2 weeks and all the features operate without glitches. The radio reception is good, video quality is appreciative and the software is pretty easy to use. Everbody I meets likes it and thinks its way better than an Ipod. the best kept secret since deepthroat.

• Reviewed by: Sabyasachi

  Strengths: 1. Great sound quality 2. Color screen is really good 3. Music can be copied into the drive using the windows explorer. No additional software required 4. Small in size with a classy matt finish

  Weaknesses: 1. Player has no ports. Need to use an adapter to charge the player or transfer files 2. Can't listen to music while seeing pictures

  Overall: The sound of this player is awesome. The equalizer and the BBE can be used to enhance it even more. It sounded better than the iPod. The color screen is also vibrant. Pictures looked great. The player shows up as an external hard drive in the windows explorer. So transferring music and pictures is a matter of drag and drop. The build quality is good with a black finish, infact looks much better than the white iPod. I haven't used the USB OTG feature, but it can be quite useful. The movies were played smoothly without any jerks. On the downside, an adapter is needed to charge the player or transfer files. So if you lose it, you are in trouble. Also you can't listen to music while seeing pictures. Maybe this will be fixed in future firmware upgrades. But overall a excellent buy for 300 bucks.