Cowon's N2, successor to the A2 throne

It's been a hell of a long time since Cowon launched its Engadget Award-winning A2, but we freaking finally have a worthy successor to their flagship media player, and like so many other Korean-built devices it's no slouch when it comes features. Now Windows CE 5-based, the Cowon N2 features a friggin' massive 7-inch 480 x 234 display (with a 500:1 contrast ratio, and 420cd/m² brightness), 500MHz AMD Alchemy processor, 128MB DDR2 SDRAM, 32MB Flash memory, built in SiRFStarIII GPS, DMB video, dual SD slots (à la the Tapwave Zodiac), USB On-The-Go, 4W stereo speakers, AV and camera ins, FM transmitter, IR, and the usual extensive codec support (MP3, WMA, Ogg, ASF, AVI, WMV, DivX 3/4/5, XviD, MPEG-4, video up to 720 x 480 / 30fps). You're not going to get all this without sacrificing space and weight, though; the N2 weighs in at a hefty 540 grams (1.2 pounds), and eats up 191 x 120 x 26mm (7.5 x 4.7 x 1 inches) -- nowhere near the smallest overachieving media player around. What's worse, it still doesn't appear to support raw MPEG-2 / VOB, nor H.264 -- which is a bummer, since if any media player should, it is this one -- but something tells us those brave enough to suffer the inevitable 2nd mortgage required to own one of these won't be left in the lurch. (Click on for some more pics!)

[Thanks, Daiken]

[BC @ Oct 1st 2006 4:35PM]

How big is the HD?

[Sandy @ Oct 1st 2006 4:35PM]

What? No internal HDD? Not interested!!!

[scott @ Oct 1st 2006 4:49PM]

Um, I use a pmp because it's smaller than my 10.4 inch laptop, this isnt smaller than the laptop and doesnt do near as much...

Come on guys, follow the archos 400/402 way of life, make this thing worth lugging....

[maxxwizard @ Oct 1st 2006 4:50PM]

Well...looks like I have to upgrade.

[Chris @ Oct 1st 2006 4:58PM]

So sexy.

[EdZ @ Oct 1st 2006 5:16PM]

This doesn't seem to have any relation to the A2 other than having a '2' in it's name and being made by the same company.
1) It doesn't have a HDD
2) It's not portable
3) with GPS and DMB built in it seems to be aimed at a different market (in-car navigation/media player/ doodad).

[Sam @ Oct 1st 2006 5:30PM]

You're right, its definitely aimed at the car market. It even has an FM transmitter.

[Truitt @ Oct 1st 2006 5:38PM]

i own that lumix camera. that is all.

[3rdsun @ Oct 1st 2006 5:52PM]

they should've made this into a UMPC with all the specs

[Vizion @ Oct 1st 2006 6:01PM]

This isn't a successor to the A2...

[Blake @ Oct 1st 2006 6:06PM]

Who do they think they're going to entice with a resolution that god-awful on a screen that big. 3-4 inches, maybe. 7? They must be going for the "people nowadays buy everything over the internet without using it first" crowd.

[Jeff T @ Oct 1st 2006 6:11PM]

if you follow the link, it labels it as "Car Navigation & DMB", implying its initial use of being in a car. besides, one of the pics shows it hanging on a windshield. definately nothing like the A2

[Vizion @ Oct 1st 2006 6:21PM]

Blake, you clearly aren't familiar with 7" devices like the AV700 from Archos that has the exact same resolution. No one complains about it because it's the standard for that size screen.

[Matt @ Oct 1st 2006 6:34PM]

too bad it has a windows os in it (garbage) now if only apple made them..

[tekdroid @ Oct 1st 2006 7:29PM]

no FLAC support (traditionally a Cowon strength)? Driving?
No successor to A2.

[Taz @ Oct 1st 2006 7:32PM]

I love my A2... the best thing about it is the battery lasts 10hrs playing video - it outruns any other PMP on the market. I'll stick with that

[Batman @ Oct 1st 2006 7:40PM]

I love my A2 but that thing looks just a little too big for the Mobile Video market.

[Philip @ Oct 1st 2006 7:59PM]

ebgadget, look at this line in your news post 128MB DDR2 SDRAM, 32MB Flash memory

[Rock Stone @ Oct 1st 2006 8:35PM]

weird that it isn't higher rez

my PSP delivers 480 x 272 on a 4 inch screen...

[TZK @ Oct 1st 2006 10:39PM]

AMD dosnt own the Alchemy brand of CPUs anymore.

[Stratos @ Oct 2nd 2006 11:07AM]

thats smoking

[DrNick664 @ Oct 2nd 2006 12:54PM]

i thought pmp standed for PORTABLE media player

[Jaqian @ Oct 4th 2006 5:56AM]

This is poor tabloid journalism. A catchy headline to get your attention but no substance to the story.

Obviously Ryan Block hasn't used an A2 before otherwise he'd realise they are completely different devices.

No hard drive? How can it be expected to replace the A2 then, with a few crappy SD-Cards? I don't think so.

Jaqian