Cowon D3 Review
Relatively recently, I reviewed the multimedia player Cowon X7 - then I hinted that the company was preparing a "bomb." Apparently, I had on the table exactly what was said - Cowon D3 , one of the first players on the Android OS. In general, initially it is positioned as a pocket tablet, but, looking ahead, with the same success, any communicator can be called a tablet.
')
Pit, as always, is tricky to make an invention - this time it is proposed to make a small box with two retractable drawers out of the cardboard box from the device.
For fun, I followed the manufacturer's advice - this is how another frequenter appeared near my workplace, in which all sorts of small stuff and bills are stored - flash drives, memory cards, screws, keys to the case, screwdrivers and so on. Let it look like Ikeevsky, but it fit perfectly into the dimensions of the window sill, is very IT-oriented and, most importantly, completely without delivery) By the way, in previous devices (such as Cowon J3 or iAudio 9) it was proposed to use a plastic container as a flower pot . Such solutions, I appreciate it and write down the first advantage of the device.
Well, what was inside? And it was pretty typical there:
- Cowon D3 player itself
- Power adapter (charge)
- Wire for PC connection
- Headphones and replaceable "pads" to them
- Disk and manual
The adapter (output: 5.0V, 3.0A) has a modular system - there is both a “Russian” and a “European” plug included. I will tell about the wire a little lower, in the paragraph about the connectors. The instruction is in several languages, which is why it is very uninformative - the full version of the manual is offered for download on the website; on minidisk traditionally recorded combine JetAudio.
I usually always put the headphones from the set of devices aside (as you type 5 pieces - send them to your acquaintance with the dacha, they are always welcome there), but this time I took my interest - I decided to see what Cowon puts with its wonderful devices. First, the "earbuds" barely fit in my ear - for several years I got used to the "gags"; secondly, the wires of the right and left “ear” turned out to be of different lengths (in order to throw one behind the neck), and thirdly, the wire itself was short in order to comfortably use the player from the trouser pocket ... actually, this was the end of the familiarity with the headphones) But what's surprising is that they play relatively well, so if there is no better quality, then the complete set can be used at first.
Cowon manufactures players of three different sizes - tiny “drones” with or without a screen (for example, E2 , D2 and iAudio 9 ); Medium-sized multimedia players (such as S9 and J3 ) and PMP combines, such as the X7 , V5 and A3 . The first ones are perfect for those who just want to have some music with them - for example, in the gym or ... well, anywhere. Still others, due to the large diagonal of the screen, are ideal for travel lovers, since gigabytes of content is great to let pass the time on the road. Well, about the latter Piglet very well put it - “my favorite color ... my favorite size” - such small gadgetics, who can do a lot. As a rule, they are chosen by those for whom good sound in their ears really means a lot. Well, in general, I wrote this paragraph only so that you looked into all the previous reviews and you had something to compare with) Joke.
So, Cowon D3 is an all-in-one multimedia player, with a contentedly modest size - you can always take this one with you. And “all in one” in this case is available in the most direct sense, but more on that later. The size of the player is really comfortable in everyday use - it is no more than the average communicator, so it fits easily in any pocket.
Compared to HTC HD2, HTC Gratia and Nokia N8
90% of the front side is occupied by the screen, more precisely the glass that protects it. Maybe this is not glass at all - I didn’t check for durability for various reasons (one of which is a protective factory film on the screen that I didn’t want to peel off - then I wouldn’t have stuck it normally).
The screen is glossy, which means it is brand - the factory film does not save from prints, but nothing prevents to buy a matte one.
Above the screen is the smallest speaker I've ever seen. Below - three touch buttons, "Back", "Menu" and "Home". Their disadvantage is that they are sensory and are not highlighted, which is why in the dark you can control the player only after a certain skill. But it saves the fact that there are only three buttons and they are separated by large intervals.
It is very convenient and pleasant to hold the D3 in your hand - the reason for that is the practical matte case of high-quality plastic. The back side is made of slightly rubberized material, vaguely reminiscent of "soft-touch". There is also a grid of a large speaker (this time a larger one) and a hole in the hidden “Reset” button.
Otherwise, everything is predictable, and there is nothing at all from above. On the left there is a button in the key (s) (it also locks the screen when pressed once and turns off the screen when twice) and the slot for a MicroSD card. It's nice that the device supports cards up to 32 GB - even if you take the youngest player model (8 GB; it happens 16 and 32) and buy a volume card for it, you will get a universal device in which there is enough space even for a large music collection.
On the right are two blocks of buttons. Two volume buttons are made in the form of "rocker" and located below, and above - three buttons to control the music (there, pause and here). “Pause” is located exactly in the middle of the upper block of buttons and has small relief protrusions at the edges - to make it more convenient to navigate blindly. But, unfortunately, I still cannot get used to this decision - for me the benchmark of management remains S9.
Well, the last part of the tour of the elements of the case - that on the bottom. And there are minijack (3.5 mm) for headphones, a connector for power supply from the adapter and a cap, behind which there is a connector for connecting to a computer.
On the one hand, the proprietary connector is not very convenient - you will lose such a wire by accident and find it difficult to find it among your surroundings.
But on the other hand, they made it here for a reason, just to introduce its own connector - a symbiosis of USB and HDMI interfaces, through which synchronization and charging is carried out, as well as image output via optional HDMI or AV wire (also optional - composite / SPDIF)
Looking at the player Cowon D3 I first regretted that the company does not produce communicators. Agree that in appearance this device is much more interesting and practical than most of the “shovels” that are currently on the market.
It was a bit anxious to turn on the device for the first time - for Cowon, this is the first experience with the Android OS and I was worried that they would not screw it up) But interest was insurmountable - I knew that traditionally waiting for a new interface and it was generally interesting to see what there such a thing and under what sauce is served.
After pressing the Power button, a white logo appears on the screen, which later begins to sparkle with all the colors of the rainbow. Immediately felt the benefits of AMOLED-display - around this logo, everything was always black, indistinguishable from the state of the device turned off. The device turns on for a very long time - about 20 seconds, after which a clock with a lock screen appears before the user.
Desktop full size. This resolution fit into the screen with a diagonal of 3.7 ".
Initially, there are five desktops ... although I’ll probably start differently. So, there is a real Android version 2.2 (or 2.3? More on this later), with all its pluses and minuses. And there are firmwares in which something changes from version to version - I will speak in the article on the example of the latest firmware, x.31 from 03/09/2011. By the way, the device has just started to be sold, and 3 firmware versions have already come to it, in which something is gradually complemented in a complex way. The firmware weighs an average of 60 MB - download the file, throw it into the root of the file system (or onto a memory card), go to the system settings and click “System Update” - in a minute everything will be ready. By the way, I was very surprised that NTFS is used as a file system on the player.
So, what I am all about. In the very first updated firmware, it became possible to change the number of virtual tables, which I did - I left only 2 tables, since 5 is a lot (I just have nothing to place on them) and more resource intensive (and therefore more brakes). On any screen, you can traditionally place anything - widgets, shortcuts or websites. Initially, there is a clock and a few icons, but all this can be moved, removed, added to your taste, therefore I will not describe everything in detail. Anyway, the article is already healthy, but I didn’t even begin to talk about the player’s capabilities ... so watch the demo video (it was recorded on the original firmware, with “brakes”, etc.), and I’ll tell you very briefly on about the software part.
Audio player
The main part of the audio player will take the image of the cover of the track, so it makes sense to have these covers available (put in the album folder or push directly into the file itself). Standard control buttons, a little awkward (due to tiny size) timeline file. The name of the track, the name of the album and the name of the group are displayed - sometimes (rarely) with Cyrillic tags there are problems. On the same screen, you can change the playback speed of the track, as well as such parameters as the equalizer, the playback area (1 file, folder or all at once) and the method of playback (sequentially or separately). Clicking on the large arrow to the right of the album image, the user enters the library - there is all the music that can be sorted into folders, songs, albums, artists and genres. The function of adding to favorites is somewhat illogical - you need to make a long tap on the file and add it from there; if you just click “to favorites” during playback, then only a bookmark will be created.
Nothing prevents to put any other music player, for the sake of interest, I set up monstrous PowerAMP and legendary WinAMP - both earned like a clock. I will even say this - I advise you to use a third-party player, because they are often updated and they have more features. And these programs are quite friendly with the hardware control buttons, so that the user does not lose anything. Moreover, when installing third-party players, widgets will appear in the system, so you can customize the look of any desktop as you like - just want the buttons, there will be only buttons; want a cover - please. The names of the tracks, by the way, will also be displayed in the status line of the player.
PowerAMP:
WinAMP:
Video player
At first glance, the built-in video player is quite simple, but upon closer acquaintance it turned out to be very functional. A similar file browser for selecting files, controlling playback speed, creating a screenshot, displaying an image on an external device, subtitles (with the ability to choose a language, color, size and position), selection of an audio track ... in general, quite thick. The player easily pulls the unconverted video up to 1080p (although it all depends on the file), but I advise you not to be a pervert and still convert the video (at least through the same Cowon JetAudio from the kit) - it will take less space on the device, it will be less resource-intensive processing and ... and in general, do not forget that FullHD only makes sense to display on a large external screen with the appropriate wire. So it might also turn out to be a good media player for a TV - instead of all kinds of popcorn and WDTV.
Well and, besides, nothing prevents to put third-party video players.
A photo
You can watch photos, there is a multitouch (no more than 2 fingers can be processed at the same time) and a slide show. There is no “apple” smoothness, but oh well, we will survive this trouble.
I forgot to say that the screen diagonal is 3.7 ", and the resolution is a decent 480x800 pixels, so you can see a lot on this screen. The color rendition is beautiful!
Radio
FM-range from 87.5 to 108 MHz, auto-search stations and the ability to record broadcast. Radio is like a radio.
On one of the desktops, there are icons of some unknown (most likely Korean) services (Google, Facebook, Twitter, MSN, Yahoo! and Wikipedia) - I first thought that these were special programs ... but these were only website shortcuts. When you launch them, a web browser opens, which I immediately replaced with Opera Mobile.
I forgot to note an interesting moment. On all virtual tables there is a line in which dd.mm.yyyy and hh.mm are displayed, as well as the number of running applications and the memory status of the device (in MB and%). But in the same line there is the Apps button, which I noticed far from immediately) It opens the player menu, which contains all the applications, if you talk about them, the story will be very long. Wow, wake up! )
Seriously, the menu contains primitive applications for working with documents, a microphone, a clock, drawing, mail, a calendar, a calculator (including a scientific one), contacts and some comics. It is not very clear why half of this list is, but if there is one, then let it be. Contacts are present only formally (this is not a phone) - you can import them from your account to Gmail or from a memory card, just so that they are at hand, well, or so that someone can write a letter, if you specify an email address.
The most useful application is, perhaps, mail (with Exchange support) - a Gmail account picked up in a couple of clicks. There is a calendar, but it was not possible to synchronize it. Anyway, I will hardly use all this, because on the same ipad for the same tasks I will simply spend less time and do everything with greater convenience. The good news is that the device has nowhere to insert a SIM card, that is, a restless android in the absence of a Wi-Fi network will not send anything to German spies, which means it will not spend money either. Nicely.
Speaking of Wi-Fi. It works (Wi-Fi 802.11b / g) without problems, pleasantly like the "tenacity" - even those grids that the phone often does not see are visible. With access to the network, freedom of action on the device becomes even bigger - the opera is the same, twitter, social networks, music ... in general, what the soul wants. There is Bluetooth, but I have not tried to connect anything to it yet.
But the most pleasant thing about Cowon D3 is, of course, the ability to install applications - I have already cited some examples above. There is no application market, so the only way to install applications is through a computer. We download the necessary applications in * .apk format from w3bsit3-dns.com and drop them into the player's APK folder - after disconnecting the wire, all applications will automatically be installed, and their icons will appear in the menu.
Here are the applications that I have installed:
- ASTRO File Manager - well, it goes without saying!
- PowerAMP on trial by advice - I didn’t like it very much, since there is a lot of superfluous;
- WinAMP - but I left it, a classic of the genre. What I need from the player. He is friends with the hardware buttons of the player;
- Opera Mobile - there were no options here! It works fine, though page scaling is sometimes strange;
- SoundHound - in case an unknown pleasant music plays somewhere;
- Trillian - I haven’t yet understood why, as I try to get rid of IM;
- Yandex.Maps and Yandex.Metro - always useful;
- Swype to enter text - everything works.
Diagnostic:
- Android System Info , Elixir , Battery Graph , ScreenShot It , Drocap2 and Multitouch Visualizer 2 - thanks to these applications, screenshots and more detailed technical information appeared in the review. From 5 virtual tables, I left only two - on one clock, a player's widget and the most frequent applications, and on the second other programs and various indicators (Wi-Fi on and its signal level, backlight, etc.) from Elixir - you can do anything.
But what is not installed - TweetDeck, QIWI Mobile, Alfa Click, FPSE. Why? I do not know, just do not put and that's it. AngryBirds set up - they work without brakes, nooo ... with a very unpleasant glitch - instead of text, there are some spots everywhere, respectively, no screen savers text, no points, no stars for levels are visible.
In principle, even this is too much for me on the player, since most of the tasks (mail-sites-maps) lie on the iPad. But nothing prevents to put other programs - I just still do not know very well in the Android environment.
Programs are programs, but I want the article to be complete - you cannot do without interface images. I took a picture of the device immediately after unpacking, but, to be honest, I didn’t want to process more than 100 of the same type RAW photos. And then I went to the fascinating world of searching for a root on a device. Unfortunately, there was no manual or utilities for rutting Cowon D3 in the network and then I decided to go from simple to complex. First of all, I installed the SDK - strange, but the player didn’t want to appear in the Device Manager (naturally, with USB Debug enabled). Other utilities - asm, Droid Explorer, MyPhoneExplorer and others did not help either, and everything was set up correctly - my HD2 was perfectly located in all cases!
When all the “legal” methods ended, almost losing hope, I decided to use the remaining option - “universal” routers like UniversalAndroot, VISIONary and z4root.Attempts did not end in success, because of what I wondered more and more, “how ?!”, and most importantly, “why ?!” Cowon made such an analo-enclosed device, because the maximum customization of the novelty should be in the interests of them. In general ... I almost started converting RAWs, when suddenly the last utility in the alphabetical list shocked me with a message - z4root made a temproot, that is, a temporary root-access that is absolutely safe for the device, which disappears after the device is rebooted! The fact that everything worked, I understood from the program Drocap2, which, in fact, made it possible to take all the screenshots in the article. If anything, I ran the European firmware 2.29, I have not tried it on 2.31 yet.
Inside is a single-core ARM processor capable of operating in the frequency range from 294 to 720 MHz. Most of the time it works just at 720 MHz, which means that the frequency can be lowered (if there is a root) and it is not bad to win in the operating time - but this is only if you don’t need any tsatski and ryushechki, which at a lower frequency to brake.
As for the memory, it is easier to see screenshots once. Built-in and non-replaceable battery, lithium-polymer.
Battery life When the rumor passed that the upcoming D3 would work up to 100 hours in playback mode, I did not believe it. And, as it turned out, I did the right thing - a big screen, a multi-tasking OS, standard device sizes ... In general, in the music playback mode, the device works “only” a little more than a day (with a periodically turning on screen), which in my opinion is not very cool - everything S9, J3 and D2 were spoiled, playing 50-55 hours at a time. On the other hand, no communicator with such a screen diagonal will be able to work a day in the music playback mode.
And the last, most important thing is the sound. He is traditionally gorgeous, it is impossible to find fault with him. And if someone tries to do this, then let him first try to listen in good headphones to all the available branded BBE presets, of which there are even more in this model.
In terms of quality and volume, the player is comparable to S9 and J3, the volume margin is enough for any listener. But it seems to me that this player does not reach D2 / D2 + - if in these players from some songs at maximum volume there was a little chill on the cheeks and started to prick somewhere in the pelvis, then in the case of all subsequent devices I don’t see . It is for this reason that I keep the D2 +, although for its ease of operation it is not nice to me.
I don’t want to talk about settings - there are typical Android problems, which make no sense to list them. For all the time the device has hung up only 1 time - when I connected the player to my computer through the wire and pulled it out without safe removal. Now, I always remove the USB devices only “correctly”, especially since it is easy to press a couple of buttons on the player’s screen.
There is still very little information on this player on the network - more questions than answers. Therefore, in addition to the review itself, I ran through several sites, I collected the main questions and will try to answer them.
>> What is fundamentally different than the Wi-Fi module? Has anyone tried to flash J3 with firmware from D3?
- Next) No, I did not come up with this question - see for yourself .
>> The forum stated a contradiction with the characteristics of additional flash memory, the official website indicates up to 16 GB, and on the forum up to 32 GB, where is the correct info still?
- The player supports cards up to 32 GB inclusive. Another question is that a 32 GB microSD flash drive costs 2-3 thousand rubles.
>> I understand at the moment did not create a cover for D3, but in general wherever it was, it was reported that it would be?
- At least there are already two official covers, one is plastic, the other is made of leather (well, or leatherette is not clear). Plastic is transparent, and with it - very cheap, so bad, so there’s not much sense from it - until the first fall.
But the leather is much more interesting - even with it the device becomes twice as thick, but scratches on the case will not appear soon; still from pluses - +5 to charisma and more convenient management (since all the buttons are in the slots and they do not need to grope). A few photos:
Who tried to use D3 to get online? How well does he do it?
- I tried. 5 minutes, normal flight) There are no differences from the Internet on the screen of any other communicator - here Opera Opera put the main thing in time.
What special moments can be distinguished between S9 and D3?
- Still, they are different players and just can not take them and compare them. S9 impresses with battery life (with a very large screen), performance, sound quality and ease of management. But there, for example, there is no Wi-Fi and a slot for a memory card, which is critical for many. So here it is necessary to look at the needs - give someone androids, and someone and S9 for a couple of years is enough.
How can I add a Russian keyboard?
- Perhaps it can somehow be added through the settings, but nothing prevents the use of alternative programs. I put the Russian-English Swype for WVGA resolution, everything works like a clock - the main thing is not to forget to choose it as the default input device.
Are the video / USB cables from S9 / J3 to D3 suitable?
- Not.But should come, for example, from V5.
1. Has anyone ever installed Skype on D3? If so, share your experience how to do it.
>> 2. Is it possible to install applications from the android market?
>> 3. How to solve the problem with fonts in Angry Birds?
1. Put Skype, it works. You just need to drop the installation * .APK file into the player's memory.
2. There is no original market, I did not try to install non-original ones. For the rest, see p. 1.
3. I don’t know) is
it possible to upgrade Android version to 2.2 or 2.3 on Cowon D3?
Honestly, I'm at a loss. The site says that inside 2.1, you are talking about 2.2, and on my latest official firmware all diagnostic utilities display 2.3. How to be? )
Information about the operating system. Perhaps, instead of the Android version, the program displays the firmware version.
The names of some tracks written krakozabrami
- Need to change the encoding of tags
Changed j3 to D3. Dissatisfied with scary. The screen shows ugly black. This is not black, this is some kind of dirty purple. The image seemed to me less clear. J3 had a black color on the screen that was immaculate. Picture too. In the settings found only the brightness. Has anyone paid attention to this? Does anyone have any practical advice?
- Perhaps, the marriage - on my device, black is blacker than black, which is noticeable immediately after turning on, on the splash screen. There are no problems with color reproduction and image clarity.
Has anyone tried to run psx4droid or Fpse - playstation 1 emulator for android? pliz, try to install and respond about working capacity, you really need to)
FPSE is not installed, but psd4droid is up. But now it is asking for some kind of BIOS - at the time of this writing, all links to this BIOS were not working. But for the rest, I think, problems should arise.
Extremely useful box from the device
Impeccable build quality
Appearance, practical body materials
Big bright AMOLED display of high resolution
Memory card slot, Wi-Fi, accelerometer, output for external devices
Ability to install any applications
Traditionally sound quality
The possibility of flashing
Minor slowdowns during operation
Installing applications so far only through a computer
Silent external speaker
High price
I did not attribute the battery life (days +) to drawbacks and the ease of operation - the same S9 is more interesting in this respect, but such a comparison is somewhat incorrect.
Cowon D3 8Gb - from 10 000r
Cowon D3 16Gb - from 11 500r
Cowon D3 32Gb - from 14 000r
Such are the prices. Over the hill is much cheaper.
When I was first hinted at the upcoming continuation of the D2 player, I melted into a smile and thought - “Hurray, to be another review, for which I will take it with pleasure and for the device from which I will not be ashamed.” And because he knew that it would be so!
The capabilities of this device are beyond the average needs, so first of all such a player is suitable for those who like to “dig deeper”. But this is not the end of Central Asia - Cowon D3 will equally suit everyone who wants to listen to music, even the most capricious connoisseurs of lamp sound) Do you want to watch movies thrown off in the morning on the way to work? Then you can stand in line too. There are drawbacks, but after all, Cowon is able to do work on the mistakes ... otherwise - no matter what you might say, but a good start has been made.
But what pleases me most of all is that this is just the beginning - under the Plenue sub-brand, Cowon is going to produce other devices based on the Android operating system in the future. We wait? Definitely!
')
Pit, as always, is tricky to make an invention - this time it is proposed to make a small box with two retractable drawers out of the cardboard box from the device.
For fun, I followed the manufacturer's advice - this is how another frequenter appeared near my workplace, in which all sorts of small stuff and bills are stored - flash drives, memory cards, screws, keys to the case, screwdrivers and so on. Let it look like Ikeevsky, but it fit perfectly into the dimensions of the window sill, is very IT-oriented and, most importantly, completely without delivery) By the way, in previous devices (such as Cowon J3 or iAudio 9) it was proposed to use a plastic container as a flower pot . Such solutions, I appreciate it and write down the first advantage of the device.
Well, what was inside? And it was pretty typical there:
- Cowon D3 player itself
- Power adapter (charge)
- Wire for PC connection
- Headphones and replaceable "pads" to them
- Disk and manual
The adapter (output: 5.0V, 3.0A) has a modular system - there is both a “Russian” and a “European” plug included. I will tell about the wire a little lower, in the paragraph about the connectors. The instruction is in several languages, which is why it is very uninformative - the full version of the manual is offered for download on the website; on minidisk traditionally recorded combine JetAudio.
I usually always put the headphones from the set of devices aside (as you type 5 pieces - send them to your acquaintance with the dacha, they are always welcome there), but this time I took my interest - I decided to see what Cowon puts with its wonderful devices. First, the "earbuds" barely fit in my ear - for several years I got used to the "gags"; secondly, the wires of the right and left “ear” turned out to be of different lengths (in order to throw one behind the neck), and thirdly, the wire itself was short in order to comfortably use the player from the trouser pocket ... actually, this was the end of the familiarity with the headphones) But what's surprising is that they play relatively well, so if there is no better quality, then the complete set can be used at first.Appearance
Cowon manufactures players of three different sizes - tiny “drones” with or without a screen (for example, E2 , D2 and iAudio 9 ); Medium-sized multimedia players (such as S9 and J3 ) and PMP combines, such as the X7 , V5 and A3 . The first ones are perfect for those who just want to have some music with them - for example, in the gym or ... well, anywhere. Still others, due to the large diagonal of the screen, are ideal for travel lovers, since gigabytes of content is great to let pass the time on the road. Well, about the latter Piglet very well put it - “my favorite color ... my favorite size” - such small gadgetics, who can do a lot. As a rule, they are chosen by those for whom good sound in their ears really means a lot. Well, in general, I wrote this paragraph only so that you looked into all the previous reviews and you had something to compare with) Joke.
So, Cowon D3 is an all-in-one multimedia player, with a contentedly modest size - you can always take this one with you. And “all in one” in this case is available in the most direct sense, but more on that later. The size of the player is really comfortable in everyday use - it is no more than the average communicator, so it fits easily in any pocket.
Compared to HTC HD2, HTC Gratia and Nokia N8
90% of the front side is occupied by the screen, more precisely the glass that protects it. Maybe this is not glass at all - I didn’t check for durability for various reasons (one of which is a protective factory film on the screen that I didn’t want to peel off - then I wouldn’t have stuck it normally).
The screen is glossy, which means it is brand - the factory film does not save from prints, but nothing prevents to buy a matte one.
Above the screen is the smallest speaker I've ever seen. Below - three touch buttons, "Back", "Menu" and "Home". Their disadvantage is that they are sensory and are not highlighted, which is why in the dark you can control the player only after a certain skill. But it saves the fact that there are only three buttons and they are separated by large intervals.
It is very convenient and pleasant to hold the D3 in your hand - the reason for that is the practical matte case of high-quality plastic. The back side is made of slightly rubberized material, vaguely reminiscent of "soft-touch". There is also a grid of a large speaker (this time a larger one) and a hole in the hidden “Reset” button.
Otherwise, everything is predictable, and there is nothing at all from above. On the left there is a button in the key (s) (it also locks the screen when pressed once and turns off the screen when twice) and the slot for a MicroSD card. It's nice that the device supports cards up to 32 GB - even if you take the youngest player model (8 GB; it happens 16 and 32) and buy a volume card for it, you will get a universal device in which there is enough space even for a large music collection.
On the right are two blocks of buttons. Two volume buttons are made in the form of "rocker" and located below, and above - three buttons to control the music (there, pause and here). “Pause” is located exactly in the middle of the upper block of buttons and has small relief protrusions at the edges - to make it more convenient to navigate blindly. But, unfortunately, I still cannot get used to this decision - for me the benchmark of management remains S9.
Well, the last part of the tour of the elements of the case - that on the bottom. And there are minijack (3.5 mm) for headphones, a connector for power supply from the adapter and a cap, behind which there is a connector for connecting to a computer.
On the one hand, the proprietary connector is not very convenient - you will lose such a wire by accident and find it difficult to find it among your surroundings.
But on the other hand, they made it here for a reason, just to introduce its own connector - a symbiosis of USB and HDMI interfaces, through which synchronization and charging is carried out, as well as image output via optional HDMI or AV wire (also optional - composite / SPDIF)
Looking at the player Cowon D3 I first regretted that the company does not produce communicators. Agree that in appearance this device is much more interesting and practical than most of the “shovels” that are currently on the market.
Turn on and work
It was a bit anxious to turn on the device for the first time - for Cowon, this is the first experience with the Android OS and I was worried that they would not screw it up) But interest was insurmountable - I knew that traditionally waiting for a new interface and it was generally interesting to see what there such a thing and under what sauce is served.
After pressing the Power button, a white logo appears on the screen, which later begins to sparkle with all the colors of the rainbow. Immediately felt the benefits of AMOLED-display - around this logo, everything was always black, indistinguishable from the state of the device turned off. The device turns on for a very long time - about 20 seconds, after which a clock with a lock screen appears before the user.
Desktop full size. This resolution fit into the screen with a diagonal of 3.7 ".
Initially, there are five desktops ... although I’ll probably start differently. So, there is a real Android version 2.2 (or 2.3? More on this later), with all its pluses and minuses. And there are firmwares in which something changes from version to version - I will speak in the article on the example of the latest firmware, x.31 from 03/09/2011. By the way, the device has just started to be sold, and 3 firmware versions have already come to it, in which something is gradually complemented in a complex way. The firmware weighs an average of 60 MB - download the file, throw it into the root of the file system (or onto a memory card), go to the system settings and click “System Update” - in a minute everything will be ready. By the way, I was very surprised that NTFS is used as a file system on the player.
So, what I am all about. In the very first updated firmware, it became possible to change the number of virtual tables, which I did - I left only 2 tables, since 5 is a lot (I just have nothing to place on them) and more resource intensive (and therefore more brakes). On any screen, you can traditionally place anything - widgets, shortcuts or websites. Initially, there is a clock and a few icons, but all this can be moved, removed, added to your taste, therefore I will not describe everything in detail. Anyway, the article is already healthy, but I didn’t even begin to talk about the player’s capabilities ... so watch the demo video (it was recorded on the original firmware, with “brakes”, etc.), and I’ll tell you very briefly on about the software part.
Audio player
The main part of the audio player will take the image of the cover of the track, so it makes sense to have these covers available (put in the album folder or push directly into the file itself). Standard control buttons, a little awkward (due to tiny size) timeline file. The name of the track, the name of the album and the name of the group are displayed - sometimes (rarely) with Cyrillic tags there are problems. On the same screen, you can change the playback speed of the track, as well as such parameters as the equalizer, the playback area (1 file, folder or all at once) and the method of playback (sequentially or separately). Clicking on the large arrow to the right of the album image, the user enters the library - there is all the music that can be sorted into folders, songs, albums, artists and genres. The function of adding to favorites is somewhat illogical - you need to make a long tap on the file and add it from there; if you just click “to favorites” during playback, then only a bookmark will be created.
Nothing prevents to put any other music player, for the sake of interest, I set up monstrous PowerAMP and legendary WinAMP - both earned like a clock. I will even say this - I advise you to use a third-party player, because they are often updated and they have more features. And these programs are quite friendly with the hardware control buttons, so that the user does not lose anything. Moreover, when installing third-party players, widgets will appear in the system, so you can customize the look of any desktop as you like - just want the buttons, there will be only buttons; want a cover - please. The names of the tracks, by the way, will also be displayed in the status line of the player.
PowerAMP:
WinAMP:
Video player
At first glance, the built-in video player is quite simple, but upon closer acquaintance it turned out to be very functional. A similar file browser for selecting files, controlling playback speed, creating a screenshot, displaying an image on an external device, subtitles (with the ability to choose a language, color, size and position), selection of an audio track ... in general, quite thick. The player easily pulls the unconverted video up to 1080p (although it all depends on the file), but I advise you not to be a pervert and still convert the video (at least through the same Cowon JetAudio from the kit) - it will take less space on the device, it will be less resource-intensive processing and ... and in general, do not forget that FullHD only makes sense to display on a large external screen with the appropriate wire. So it might also turn out to be a good media player for a TV - instead of all kinds of popcorn and WDTV.
Well and, besides, nothing prevents to put third-party video players.
A photo
You can watch photos, there is a multitouch (no more than 2 fingers can be processed at the same time) and a slide show. There is no “apple” smoothness, but oh well, we will survive this trouble.
I forgot to say that the screen diagonal is 3.7 ", and the resolution is a decent 480x800 pixels, so you can see a lot on this screen. The color rendition is beautiful!
Radio
FM-range from 87.5 to 108 MHz, auto-search stations and the ability to record broadcast. Radio is like a radio.
On one of the desktops, there are icons of some unknown (most likely Korean) services (Google, Facebook, Twitter, MSN, Yahoo! and Wikipedia) - I first thought that these were special programs ... but these were only website shortcuts. When you launch them, a web browser opens, which I immediately replaced with Opera Mobile.
I forgot to note an interesting moment. On all virtual tables there is a line in which dd.mm.yyyy and hh.mm are displayed, as well as the number of running applications and the memory status of the device (in MB and%). But in the same line there is the Apps button, which I noticed far from immediately) It opens the player menu, which contains all the applications, if you talk about them, the story will be very long. Wow, wake up! )
Seriously, the menu contains primitive applications for working with documents, a microphone, a clock, drawing, mail, a calendar, a calculator (including a scientific one), contacts and some comics. It is not very clear why half of this list is, but if there is one, then let it be. Contacts are present only formally (this is not a phone) - you can import them from your account to Gmail or from a memory card, just so that they are at hand, well, or so that someone can write a letter, if you specify an email address.
The most useful application is, perhaps, mail (with Exchange support) - a Gmail account picked up in a couple of clicks. There is a calendar, but it was not possible to synchronize it. Anyway, I will hardly use all this, because on the same ipad for the same tasks I will simply spend less time and do everything with greater convenience. The good news is that the device has nowhere to insert a SIM card, that is, a restless android in the absence of a Wi-Fi network will not send anything to German spies, which means it will not spend money either. Nicely.
Speaking of Wi-Fi. It works (Wi-Fi 802.11b / g) without problems, pleasantly like the "tenacity" - even those grids that the phone often does not see are visible. With access to the network, freedom of action on the device becomes even bigger - the opera is the same, twitter, social networks, music ... in general, what the soul wants. There is Bluetooth, but I have not tried to connect anything to it yet.
But the most pleasant thing about Cowon D3 is, of course, the ability to install applications - I have already cited some examples above. There is no application market, so the only way to install applications is through a computer. We download the necessary applications in * .apk format from w3bsit3-dns.com and drop them into the player's APK folder - after disconnecting the wire, all applications will automatically be installed, and their icons will appear in the menu.
Here are the applications that I have installed:
- ASTRO File Manager - well, it goes without saying!
- PowerAMP on trial by advice - I didn’t like it very much, since there is a lot of superfluous;
- WinAMP - but I left it, a classic of the genre. What I need from the player. He is friends with the hardware buttons of the player;
- Opera Mobile - there were no options here! It works fine, though page scaling is sometimes strange;
- SoundHound - in case an unknown pleasant music plays somewhere;
- Trillian - I haven’t yet understood why, as I try to get rid of IM;
- Yandex.Maps and Yandex.Metro - always useful;
- Swype to enter text - everything works.
Diagnostic:
- Android System Info , Elixir , Battery Graph , ScreenShot It , Drocap2 and Multitouch Visualizer 2 - thanks to these applications, screenshots and more detailed technical information appeared in the review. From 5 virtual tables, I left only two - on one clock, a player's widget and the most frequent applications, and on the second other programs and various indicators (Wi-Fi on and its signal level, backlight, etc.) from Elixir - you can do anything.
But what is not installed - TweetDeck, QIWI Mobile, Alfa Click, FPSE. Why? I do not know, just do not put and that's it. AngryBirds set up - they work without brakes, nooo ... with a very unpleasant glitch - instead of text, there are some spots everywhere, respectively, no screen savers text, no points, no stars for levels are visible.
In principle, even this is too much for me on the player, since most of the tasks (mail-sites-maps) lie on the iPad. But nothing prevents to put other programs - I just still do not know very well in the Android environment.
Programs are programs, but I want the article to be complete - you cannot do without interface images. I took a picture of the device immediately after unpacking, but, to be honest, I didn’t want to process more than 100 of the same type RAW photos. And then I went to the fascinating world of searching for a root on a device. Unfortunately, there was no manual or utilities for rutting Cowon D3 in the network and then I decided to go from simple to complex. First of all, I installed the SDK - strange, but the player didn’t want to appear in the Device Manager (naturally, with USB Debug enabled). Other utilities - asm, Droid Explorer, MyPhoneExplorer and others did not help either, and everything was set up correctly - my HD2 was perfectly located in all cases!
When all the “legal” methods ended, almost losing hope, I decided to use the remaining option - “universal” routers like UniversalAndroot, VISIONary and z4root.Attempts did not end in success, because of what I wondered more and more, “how ?!”, and most importantly, “why ?!” Cowon made such an analo-enclosed device, because the maximum customization of the novelty should be in the interests of them. In general ... I almost started converting RAWs, when suddenly the last utility in the alphabetical list shocked me with a message - z4root made a temproot, that is, a temporary root-access that is absolutely safe for the device, which disappears after the device is rebooted! The fact that everything worked, I understood from the program Drocap2, which, in fact, made it possible to take all the screenshots in the article. If anything, I ran the European firmware 2.29, I have not tried it on 2.31 yet.
Inside is a single-core ARM processor capable of operating in the frequency range from 294 to 720 MHz. Most of the time it works just at 720 MHz, which means that the frequency can be lowered (if there is a root) and it is not bad to win in the operating time - but this is only if you don’t need any tsatski and ryushechki, which at a lower frequency to brake.
As for the memory, it is easier to see screenshots once. Built-in and non-replaceable battery, lithium-polymer.
Battery life When the rumor passed that the upcoming D3 would work up to 100 hours in playback mode, I did not believe it. And, as it turned out, I did the right thing - a big screen, a multi-tasking OS, standard device sizes ... In general, in the music playback mode, the device works “only” a little more than a day (with a periodically turning on screen), which in my opinion is not very cool - everything S9, J3 and D2 were spoiled, playing 50-55 hours at a time. On the other hand, no communicator with such a screen diagonal will be able to work a day in the music playback mode.
And the last, most important thing is the sound. He is traditionally gorgeous, it is impossible to find fault with him. And if someone tries to do this, then let him first try to listen in good headphones to all the available branded BBE presets, of which there are even more in this model.
In terms of quality and volume, the player is comparable to S9 and J3, the volume margin is enough for any listener. But it seems to me that this player does not reach D2 / D2 + - if in these players from some songs at maximum volume there was a little chill on the cheeks and started to prick somewhere in the pelvis, then in the case of all subsequent devices I don’t see . It is for this reason that I keep the D2 +, although for its ease of operation it is not nice to me.
I don’t want to talk about settings - there are typical Android problems, which make no sense to list them. For all the time the device has hung up only 1 time - when I connected the player to my computer through the wire and pulled it out without safe removal. Now, I always remove the USB devices only “correctly”, especially since it is easy to press a couple of buttons on the player’s screen.
FAQ
There is still very little information on this player on the network - more questions than answers. Therefore, in addition to the review itself, I ran through several sites, I collected the main questions and will try to answer them.
>> What is fundamentally different than the Wi-Fi module? Has anyone tried to flash J3 with firmware from D3?
- Next) No, I did not come up with this question - see for yourself .
>> The forum stated a contradiction with the characteristics of additional flash memory, the official website indicates up to 16 GB, and on the forum up to 32 GB, where is the correct info still?
- The player supports cards up to 32 GB inclusive. Another question is that a 32 GB microSD flash drive costs 2-3 thousand rubles.
>> I understand at the moment did not create a cover for D3, but in general wherever it was, it was reported that it would be?
- At least there are already two official covers, one is plastic, the other is made of leather (well, or leatherette is not clear). Plastic is transparent, and with it - very cheap, so bad, so there’s not much sense from it - until the first fall.
But the leather is much more interesting - even with it the device becomes twice as thick, but scratches on the case will not appear soon; still from pluses - +5 to charisma and more convenient management (since all the buttons are in the slots and they do not need to grope). A few photos:
Who tried to use D3 to get online? How well does he do it?- I tried. 5 minutes, normal flight) There are no differences from the Internet on the screen of any other communicator - here Opera Opera put the main thing in time.
What special moments can be distinguished between S9 and D3?- Still, they are different players and just can not take them and compare them. S9 impresses with battery life (with a very large screen), performance, sound quality and ease of management. But there, for example, there is no Wi-Fi and a slot for a memory card, which is critical for many. So here it is necessary to look at the needs - give someone androids, and someone and S9 for a couple of years is enough.
How can I add a Russian keyboard?- Perhaps it can somehow be added through the settings, but nothing prevents the use of alternative programs. I put the Russian-English Swype for WVGA resolution, everything works like a clock - the main thing is not to forget to choose it as the default input device.
Are the video / USB cables from S9 / J3 to D3 suitable?- Not.But should come, for example, from V5.
1. Has anyone ever installed Skype on D3? If so, share your experience how to do it.>> 2. Is it possible to install applications from the android market?
>> 3. How to solve the problem with fonts in Angry Birds?
1. Put Skype, it works. You just need to drop the installation * .APK file into the player's memory.
2. There is no original market, I did not try to install non-original ones. For the rest, see p. 1.
3. I don’t know) is
it possible to upgrade Android version to 2.2 or 2.3 on Cowon D3?Honestly, I'm at a loss. The site says that inside 2.1, you are talking about 2.2, and on my latest official firmware all diagnostic utilities display 2.3. How to be? )
Information about the operating system. Perhaps, instead of the Android version, the program displays the firmware version.
The names of some tracks written krakozabrami- Need to change the encoding of tags
Changed j3 to D3. Dissatisfied with scary. The screen shows ugly black. This is not black, this is some kind of dirty purple. The image seemed to me less clear. J3 had a black color on the screen that was immaculate. Picture too. In the settings found only the brightness. Has anyone paid attention to this? Does anyone have any practical advice?- Perhaps, the marriage - on my device, black is blacker than black, which is noticeable immediately after turning on, on the splash screen. There are no problems with color reproduction and image clarity.
Has anyone tried to run psx4droid or Fpse - playstation 1 emulator for android? pliz, try to install and respond about working capacity, you really need to)FPSE is not installed, but psd4droid is up. But now it is asking for some kind of BIOS - at the time of this writing, all links to this BIOS were not working. But for the rest, I think, problems should arise.
Advantages and disadvantages
Extremely useful box from the device Impeccable build quality Appearance, practical body materials Big bright AMOLED display of high resolution Memory card slot, Wi-Fi, accelerometer, output for external devices Ability to install any applications Traditionally sound quality The possibility of flashing Minor slowdowns during operation Installing applications so far only through a computer Silent external speaker High priceI did not attribute the battery life (days +) to drawbacks and the ease of operation - the same S9 is more interesting in this respect, but such a comparison is somewhat incorrect.
Cowon D3 8Gb - from 10 000r
Cowon D3 16Gb - from 11 500r
Cowon D3 32Gb - from 14 000r
Such are the prices. Over the hill is much cheaper.
The end
When I was first hinted at the upcoming continuation of the D2 player, I melted into a smile and thought - “Hurray, to be another review, for which I will take it with pleasure and for the device from which I will not be ashamed.” And because he knew that it would be so!
The capabilities of this device are beyond the average needs, so first of all such a player is suitable for those who like to “dig deeper”. But this is not the end of Central Asia - Cowon D3 will equally suit everyone who wants to listen to music, even the most capricious connoisseurs of lamp sound) Do you want to watch movies thrown off in the morning on the way to work? Then you can stand in line too. There are drawbacks, but after all, Cowon is able to do work on the mistakes ... otherwise - no matter what you might say, but a good start has been made.
But what pleases me most of all is that this is just the beginning - under the Plenue sub-brand, Cowon is going to produce other devices based on the Android operating system in the future. We wait? Definitely!
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/115435/
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