iPhone or iPod touch? Help me decide

[ajayritik]

My friend is coming over from US so I had asked him to get an MP3 player and suggested him to check about iPod touch or iPhone. I know many people in this forum would suggest to go for something other than iPod stuff. My budget is between 10k-15k($250-$400) and it can be stretched a little bit. I was thinking about iPhone as suggested by some of my friends but I was thinking that I may have to shell out some more money to get it unlocked here. I basically need it to play MP3 songs and video songs. Initially my budget was less so I was thinking about Creative Zen but now that my budget has increased I can go for iPod. What are the other options? iRiver, Zune, Creative? Please let me know. I' m thinking more about buying either iPod Touch or iPhone.Please help!

[slugger]

iPod touch is a PMP and iphone is a phone - meant to serve different purposes

[kumarmohit]

There are a number of factors liket consider that iPhone is not officially supported in India, the touch is. On the flip side, Apple makes you pay for iPod touch upgrades but same upgrades are free on iPhone.

[desiibond]

between ipod touch and iphone, i vote for ipod touch.

Also check this:

Archos 605 Wi-Fi Portable Media Player (80 GB) » for $321.99 at Amazon.com

http://www.archos.com/products/gen_5...global&lang=en



Cowon A3: http://www.cowonamerica.com/products/cowon/a3/

Plays:

Audio: MP3/2/1, WMA,ASF, FLAC, OGG, M4A, MATROSKA(MKA), AC3,TTA, APE, MPC, WV, WAV

Video: AVI, WMV, ASF,MP4, MATROSKA(MKV), OGM, MPG/MPEG, VOB, DAT,MTV

One big advantage with this is that you can direcly copy entire DVD on to the player without any ripping and watch it on it's gorgeous 4" wide screen.

This one's far far better player when compared to ipod's.


also has document viewer, FM, voice recorder, photo viewer (JPG, GIF, PNG, TIF, BMP, RAW)

upto 7 hour video playback time.

Price: $365.95 for 60Gb

[ajayritik]

Originally Posted by slugger

iPod touch is a PMP and iphone is a phone - meant to serve different purposes

Initially I was thinking of iPod Touch since my friend in US had bought it and said it's good. But one of my friends here in India had suggested me to go for iPhone since it will have all most same features as iPod touch. My friend here in India has some of his friends who have iPhone and are quite happy with it.

Originally Posted by desiibond

between ipod touch and iphone, i vote for ipod touch.

Also check this:

Archos 605 Wi-Fi Portable Media Player (80 GB) » for $321.99 at Amazon.com

http://www.archos.com/products/gen_5...global&lang=en



Cowon A3: http://www.cowonamerica.com/products/cowon/a3/

Plays:

Audio: MP3/2/1, WMA,ASF, FLAC, OGG, M4A, MATROSKA(MKA), AC3,TTA, APE, MPC, WV, WAV

Video: AVI, WMV, ASF,MP4, MATROSKA(MKV), OGM, MPG/MPEG, VOB, DAT,MTV

One big advantage with this is that you can direcly copy entire DVD on to the player without any ripping and watch it on it's gorgeous 4" wide screen.

This one's far far better player when compared to ipod's.


also has document viewer, FM, voice recorder, photo viewer (JPG, GIF, PNG, TIF, BMP, RAW)

upto 7 hour video playback time.

Price: $365.95 for 60Gb

I have not heard about Archos before except in the digit forums. Is it really that good? I did hear about Cowon A3 but pata nahin. The only brands I know a little more than you have mentioned and have seen is iPod,Zune and Creative.

[desiibond]

Archos 605 wi-fi is the CNET editor's choice.

Flash :

1) Creative Zen 32Gb for $299. I prefer this over touch
2) ipod Touch 32Gb for $499. I prefer 32Gb ipod touch over 16Gb iPhone. Along with it, purchase 2 yr extended warranty and you will ger support for ipod touch anywhere for 2 yrs. Same's not availble for iphone. You need to relock it andship it back to US for support.

HDD:

1) Cowon A3
2) Archos 605 wi-fi


Overall, my pick still would be Cowon A3.

[Ihatemyself]

yes archos is THE BEST PMP . the best model is 605 wifi ( biggest screen).
You havent heard about it since it is not officially distributed in india. At least not in my knowledge

Price : of 160 gb model Rs 12,536/- (source zdnetindia.com)
Links:
1. official website
http://www.archos.com/products/gen_5...global&lang=en

2. http://www.zdnetindia.com/index.php?...w&prodid=13734


I personally prefer archos to ipod touch ..u would know why if u check these links.
I would advice to stay away from iphone since it is not officially relesed in India (so services are worthless), but if u really want a phone go for it (u will have to unlock it which is very risky and makes warranty void)

[Tanmay]

Get the Cowon A3 ! Supports all major Codecs and has TV Recording too !

[MetalheadGautham]

Cowon A3 is the best...
I am not that sure of Archos 605, as I am unaware of its features.

[ajayritik]

Any idea about iRiver? From the reviews I read about Cowon A3 its mentioned that its a little bulky and not so compact and little cumbersome with the joystick/control. But Video and Audio are good it seems.

Originally Posted by desiibond

Archos 605 wi-fi is the CNET editor's choice.

Flash :

1) Creative Zen 32Gb for $299. I prefer this over touch
2) ipod Touch 32Gb for $499. I prefer 32Gb ipod touch over 16Gb iPhone. Along with it, purchase 2 yr extended warranty and you will ger support for ipod touch anywhere for 2 yrs. Same's not availble for iphone. You need to relock it andship it back to US for support.

HDD:

1) Cowon A3
2) Archos 605 wi-fi


Overall, my pick still would be Cowon A3.

What is the difference between Flash and HDD? I'm sorry dude if this is a stupid question but I'm really not aware of these terms wrt MP3 players!

[desiibond]

one problem with Archos 605 is that many of it's features are enabled by purchasing plug-in's or optional hardware. that is why I prefer cowon A3 over Archos 605 wi-fi. Anyways, you need to pay around 90$ for the plug-in's that are most important like vob playback.

[MetalheadGautham]

Originally Posted by desiibond

one problem with Archos 605 is that many of it's features are enabled by purchasing plug-in's or optional hardware. that is why I prefer cowon A3 over Archos 605 wi-fi. Anyways, you need to pay around 90$ for the plug-in's that are most important like vob playback.

exactly.
and cowon is rather encouraging to the RockBox team to develop better alternate firm ware for its PMPs, so even A3 may get a RockBox support. But it hardly needs it. Cowon is recomended by Audiophiles for a reason. They ensure that the latest High End Formats like MusePack are supported. Go to a site like www.hydrogenaudio.com and see how thankful audiophiles are to cowon for their PMPs.

[ajayritik]

So maybe I have to decide between Cowon or iPod touch I think. But the only problem is I haven't heard about it much. So if at all I'm not so happy with it I may have to sell it and in that case I may not have good prospective buyers.

[desiibond]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNR-_GqOyFE

much

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_WWSBFkFsI

[aritrap]

Whatever you buy, never buy the Apple iPhone. It is only an overhyped piece of junk.

[desiibond]

I have used Zenvision:W for few days (borrowed from my friend) and this itself is a superb player, certainly better than any ipod. here , the techtree author says that A3 is better than Zenvision:W. If I were you, I will go for Cowon A3.

Moreover, this one plays 720p video, can connect it to your HDTV using the provided componenet cable, record TV shows using line-in cable and lot more features are there. take a look at the below content.

Anyways, it's your decision.


Techtree says:

Conclusion

As far as comparing this wholesome PMP to the others goes, I can't pass a verdict on the ones I've never tested; therefore, for me, this one steals the show with all its features put together. Compared to the previously reviewed Creative Zen Vision W, this is a complete step ahead. Probably a price of 20K for the 30GB version would've been more apt for this.



The A3 can play HD content, but it's restricted to 720p. It finds it difficult to process WMV-HD, whereas, 720p MKV and AVI files played on A3 pretty well. While all standard format videos would start playing in a couple of seconds, the 720p videos would take its toll on the player; although the difference in startup times was just about 4-5 seconds.

If you are a video buff, believe me, A3 is the way to go. All that you can play on ipod's in mp4 and it's a headache converting each and every video you have to this format.

A3 comes with component video cable to connect it to your TV and also has Hi Quality cable to connect this to HDTV.

The A3 provides lots to fidget around with in order to adjust the video to your liking. All of the adjustments can be done with the video playing in the background -- be it aspect ratio, panning & scanning, video playback speed, subtitle adjustments. Hence, the result for every change is instant. Even while having the PMP connected to an external screen, you could make the changes on-the-fly and settle with what looks best on in a matter of few seconds. You can also take a screenshot from a video playing and it'll have the shot saved in the Photos Mode under Screenshots; this is a nice addition something that even Windows Media Player doesn't offer.

It's powered by a DaVinci AV DSP processor of Texas Instruments. The processor is a dual core and enables smooth decoding of various codec. You can connect the A3 to an HD TV and enjoy HD-quality video. If that wasn't enough, this PMP can even record video through a TV Line-In

The player has a 10 Band Equalizer to create personal settings with Mach3Bass, BBE, 3D Surround and MP Enhance. It's crazy enough that the A3 records video from an external source, therefore, you shouldn't be surprised to hear this -- the A3 records audio in lossless FLAC format through its Line-In.

The other capabilities of the player lets it read various image and documents formats. It even covers the RAW format under images, and Microsoft Office files along with the standard PDF and TXT files.

[Ihatemyself]

OK after reading so many reviews
+1 for cowon A3

[kumarmohit]

Damn it Why did I not see the Archos thing before purchasing the 160GB iPod. Is it available in India?

[Tanmay]

ajayritik, dont think much bro.....just get teh Cowon A3, Im sure you won't be disappointed ! Cowon is known to have the BEST Audio Quality among any other player. And now with its awesome sharp LCD Screen its the best Video Player too.

Just go for it.....

[girish.g]

does a3 have a touch screen

[ring_wraith]

Archos is by far the best PMP out there.
If you need style and a gorgeous interface, get the iPhone
If you just want a good MP3 player and not a PMP, the iRiver Clix 2G is super pwnage.

[desiibond]

Originally Posted by girish.g

does a3 have a touch screen

nope. it's vanigation is using joystick and four functional keys.

[girish.g]

Originally Posted by desiibond

nope. it's vanigation is using joystick and four functional keys.

did you mean navigation?

[desiibond]

lol. yes.

[ajayritik]

One big plus with A3 is that it supports lot of models but without touch screen it doesn't look so sleek. Is the brand very popular? Any idea whether this is available in India? From where should I ask him to buy if at all he has to buy?

desiibond you still have not told me the difference between flash and hdd! Friends what would be the best place to buy these from? Amazon?

[desiibond]

^^ Touch screen is not an important factor for PMP's. Yes. the brand is very popular in US. If you remember jetaudio application, that's developed by Cowon and expanded to America as JetAudio Inc. Later changed name to Cowon America. South Korean company doing pure music since 1995.


go to deals2buy.com to find out best deals for this player. You can check the following stores:

1) buy.com
2) tigerdirect.com
3) walmart.com
4) amazon.com
5) circuitcity.com
6) newegg.com
Differences between flash and HDD:

1) flash reduces size of the player
2) flash is faster than HDD
3) flash is much more costly
4) you get 160Gb HDD (hard disk drive) for the price of 16Gb flash. and 80Gb HDD for the price of 8Gb flash.

Moreover, Cowon D2 is flash player that competes directly with ipod touch:

Video & Audio Player / FM Tuner / Voice Recorder / Text & Photo Viewer-2.5 inch 16 million color 24bit TFT-LCD - QVGA (320x240) Touchscreen-SD / SDHC Memory Expansion-Up to 52 hours (Music) of continuous playback (Movie 10 hours)**-DRM-protected content Support (PlaysForSure, etc.)
Audio: MP3, Ogg Vorbis, WMA, FLAC, APE, WAV, AAC (only on older firmware versions)
Video: MPEG4-SP (DivX, XviD, ...), WMV9 - 320 x 240, 30fps
Photo: JPEG (no size limit)
Screen: 2.5", 24 bit (16 million) color, 320 x 240, TFT-LCD
Dimensions: 78.0 x 55.4 x 16.6 mm (3.07 x 2.18 x 0.65 inches)
Weight: 91 g (3.21 oz)
Rated battery life: 52 hours for music, 10 hours for video
Other features: Touch screen, SD/SDHC card slot, TV-out, FM radio, voice/line-in/FM recorder, BBE sound enhancements, user-configurable effect presets, text viewer, date/time/alarm, bookmarks, on-the-go playlist, deleting files on the player
Dimension: 78.0 X 55.4 X 16.6 mm
8gb for $200, transcend 8Gb SDHC card for $33 at amazon.com
comes with a handy stylus/kickstand

If you need a flash player and don't worry about converting every single video you have and you get into MP4 format for ipod, you can go ahead and get ipod touch but belive me, ipod touch's video clarity will not where be near to cowon A3's.

[ring_wraith]

^^ I hope you mean that the iPod touch has so-so Video Quality.

@OP, if you are an audio/video phile [i.e. Sound and Video Quality are of prime importance] then DO NOT get the iPod touch, considering that it has only "okay" sound quality and the videos aren't great either.

If you do need great sound and video quality, nothing beats the Cowon D2. If you want what is positively the best video experience out there, get the Creative Zen Vision W.

If you want a great balance of both and a truckload of features, get the Archos 605.

[ajayritik]

What is the difference between Cowon A3 and Cowon D2? Is it only that the latter has touch screen? what about the price and features comparitively? which is better of the two mentioned?

[desiibond]

nope. Cowon D2 supports less number of video and audio formats. Much ni line with zenvison:W and far more than ipod's.

Originally Posted by ajayritik

What is the difference between Cowon A3 and Cowon D2? Is it only that the latter has touch screen? what about the price and features comparitively? which is better of the two mentioned?

Cowon A3 is better than any current generation PMP.

[napster007]

where can i get archos in delhi??