dunno if ur still herw waitin for an answer or not but i do have a cowon A@ and can share a bit of info on it.
1> yes the audio is great and is better than that paticular archos, (had a chance to compare at the local Sound Advice, retailer let me load a few songs and listen to them back to back) ?the BBE is great and really makes a difference in the sound. plus its pretty powerful and drives my 80 ohm beyer Dt770s well enough (avg heaphone ohm is 16-32)
2.Screen is clean and clear though not a fan of DIRECT sunlight but is still watchable. Watching movies doesnt hurt the eyes once you adjust and pictures look great. all menus are clearly visible and readable
3.now as for recording the cowon does a pretty decent job of recording television thoit took me while to get it going. have never tried to record from anything other than straight fromt eh TV/cable box so i cant comment on DVD/VCR recording.
4. as far as firmware upadates goes cowon releases them on an almost weekly basis with minor to major improvemens from control \sensitivity to file support. ud have to check the lastest for details as i havent upgraded ina bit.
5. as far as cons for the cowon goes the biggest gripe i had (early on ) was the lack of sorting ability (artist, album, etc)thoi think there was a fix for that but dont quote me on it. tho u can make on the go playlists or bookmarka spot in the music if u so choos.
a big plus would have to be he constuction of the cowon. it feels very solid and sturdy and has survived multiple colision with carpet,concrete and tile) and dont worry about the joystick its plenty strong
thtas about all i have on the criteria u mentioned, if you have any other questions just send me an email and ill answer themas best i can peace
I have been looking at these to players for about a week now and I still can't decide which to get
The archos and the cowon are about the same price ( about 380 with the archos dvr dock)
It seems that the cowon has better audio, and a better screen but i can not tell seeing it is impossible to find these in any store to look at
The archos does have 50 more gb's though it has a worse battery life
all the techs on the screen seem the same though i hear the scrren of the a2 is better, though the archos is slightly bigger
I plan to record some dvd's on to either of the two devices so i was also wondering which has a better recording setup and recored video quality
I know there have been firmware updates for both of these units though i am not sure if they have made large imporvments on the battery life, video/ audio quality ect.
So i am really just wondering if anyone has had some hands on experience with either of these players, mabey both, and are willing to share their insights, becuase i feel i can get some honest responses here
P.S. Can US residents record video from their TV, i have heard mixed things, just wondering
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