The V5 runs Windows CE 6.0 which may not be the most visually attractive of operating systems but it provides a stable platform for Cowon's fast and fluid UI. The user interface proves that resistive touchscreens don't necessarily have to be less satisfying to use than their capacitive brethren.
The main menu buttons are finger friendly
The home screen may be a bit too Asian-cutesy for Western tastes - all the icons bar the five central ones do nothing more than provide animated decoration, for example - but the main menu buttons are finger friendly. Some of the lower-level controls are perhaps just a little on the small side but they didn't cause me any problems.
Cowon supplies a paddle-like stylus that attaches to the wrist strap should you require it, but you'll only need it should you go snooping around the Windows CE desktop.
The menu structure is very similar that of the O2, which itself wasn't much more than a touchscreen update of the A3, so things are a little basic and some operations require more touches of the screen than should strictly be necessary.
And if you want to feed it to a horse...
The UI isn't devoid of useful features, though. The tab on the video and audio progress bars makes it very easy to shuttle through long files, while the video bookmark facility is very easy to use. A handy letter M in the top left-hand corner of the screen ensures that the main menu is never more than a single tap away.
COMMENTS
No ID3 - WTF?
Even the chapest £9.99 MP3 player hanging on a hook in Tesco does ID3
ID3
It is overrated, and often incorrect. However, having spent far to long with" Tag&Rename" getting my 60GB cd collection correctly tagged. I cannot understand why any manufacturer would omit support for it in their player. If I was looking for a new media player then lack of ID2/3 support would stop me buying it.
Video fixation
I'm STILL waiting for a non iPod high storage capacity (60gb+) Audio player. I
have no need for on the move video and the video player requirement for a large screen makes the device less portable as a music player; I just want album art - no more.
So I'm sticking with my old iRiver at the moment.
i have this
the device, as some have already indicated will play aac files with some tweaking.
However, the reason you buy this machine is for video playback while you;re on the move, as i often am - and for that, it's the best I've ever seen. The first video I played on it was a 1080p file of Quantum of solace - the video was more than just amazing - in fact I still have difficulty now describing how good it really is.
And yes - the sound quality is better than any MP3/MP4 player I have had in the past - and I had 4 different ones, including an ipod.
@ tas re. AAC
My V5 wouldn't recognise .aac or .m4a AAC files. However an mp4 video file containing H.264 video and AAC audio worked perfectly so clearly it has some level of support built-in. Lack of AAC support isn't a tradition at Cowon - my A3 plays them a treat so I am at a bit of a loss to know why the same isn't true of the S9, O2 and V5. As you say, it may be a licensing issue of some sort.
