Cowon A2 - Reliability? Service?

syncman · 25-07-2007, 6:07 PM

I've been agonising about the A2, Archos 604 and 604 Wifi for weeks now. I love that the A2 needs no other extras (dock, plug-ins) and it looks gorgeous. The reviews I've read are good and the build quality seems fine.

What I'm unsure about is -:
1. If I needed to send it for repair, where would I have to send it (I'm living in the UK)?
2. Whilst people who have a problem are more likely to post, does anyone have any idea regarding the actual reliability/life expectancy of the A2?
3. How many timer recordings can you set up on the unit.
4. I've found a silver one at £235 but I would really like the black finish. anyone know where I can find one?

I'm new to the forum and its great that I've actually found one that covers the equipment I'm interested in.
Thanks for your help.

Tejstar · 26-07-2007, 8:57 AM

As far as I am aware, Cowon do not officially support the UK. If something goes wrong then I've heard of people sending units back to Korea, which you may or may not be happy with.

Personally, the warranty issue is the main thing that has put me off these players. However, I'm not sure how reliable they are, as with most products nothing normally goes wrong with them. It's just the risk that it does though, the only time you don't have warranty.

Graham · 26-07-2007, 9:46 AM

I've found myself in exactly the same situation - the Archos 605 looks good too - I'm not sure how much the improved resolution of the 650 (800 x 480 over 480 x 272) would be noticeable on a 4.3" screen, but it can't hurt.

However, with the 605 you've got the (supposedly) contrast-sapping touchscreen in comparison to the non-wifi 604, plus the fact that the latter has a removable battery.

The Cowon A2 is supposedly great with a long battery life and all the extras included (the Archos doesn't have a wall charger included or even the ability to charge via mains power without buying an add-on, which is ridiculous), but as you say the warranty issue is there. I notice that purelygadgets.co.uk offer an extended 18 month warranty free which they say is in-house, so I guess that would be the safest bet?