Cowon V5: To Buy, or not to buy?

[fohfoh]

Language pack? I didn't know they made language packs for embedded Windows freely available. I would recommend just installing Japanese firmware, which is available from the global site..

But do as you wish

Easy dl of them in 7 ultimate.

[mgz]

according to the guy on anything but ipod this has one of if not the best sound quality even among the other cowon players

[killazys]

Easy dl of them in 7 ultimate.

download on comp and transfer to the V5?

[fohfoh]

That, or other language firmware or you're required to retag.

[killazys]

Cool, thanks for the info

Another issue, SRT subs won't display. For example, tokyo godfathers rev 2 release from niizk. they have a subtitle stream "UTF-8", labeled SRT.

I used MKVtoolnix to remove the ASS stream and set the SRT as default. Still won't display in the V5. What's going on :'(

[Mycanid]

Thanks for warning about the SRT subs not displaying ... although sorry you have to be go through it.

I guess that is one of the things I rarely find info about as regards mp3/video players - their ability to handle subtitles. I own an iPod classic myself (160gb), but thus far have only loaded audio on it.

The main attraction the V5 held for me was the wide array of video and audio formats it listed as supporting. Battery life on the S9 (never mind the J3) was better, but the S9 supported fewer formats video wise.

[killazys]

I fixed it Mycanid, it requires a separate SRT file named the same as the video: as in, you can't have it read an SRT stream from a  MKV.

The video playback on the V5 is nothing short of beautiful, though. Certainly worth it if you purchase 16GB + 16GB SDHC, which ends up being around the same price of the 32GB iPod touch.

Video on the iPod classic is terrible.. what is it, a 2.4" screen or something? I own one myself, just so I can carry my whole library with me when I go on long trips or vacations..

[Mycanid]

Ah ha ... ok then. Extra srt files are not so bad I suppose.

Yeah - regarding the screen on the iPod classic I have also thought it way too small for video. The main attractiveness of the thing is its sheer capacity.

That is another reason why the V5 has caught my eye - I liked the advertised viewing screen res!

Just to make absolutely sure, though - if subtitles [presupposing them to be English language files here] are embedded in the video file itself they also show up, yes? I can't imagine them not doing so, but just thought I would double check.

Also, the player plays separate .srt files ... what about .ass files?

[killazys]

Yes, the resolution is very high ^^ and the large screen is attractive... the best thing is it's very light for its size.

You mean hardsubs? Hardsubs are the same as anything else you see in the video, it's part of the video stream. That would work. It just wouldn't work if it was an attachment, like in MKV files..

No ASS support. Either convert them into hardsubs by using MeGUI's AviSynth script function and then muxing the audio back in, or use a subtitle editor to save the ASS as an SRT..

[Mycanid]

Yes, the resolution is very high ^^ and the large screen is attractive... the best thing is it's very light for its size.

You mean hardsubs? Hardsubs are the same as anything else you see in the video, it's part of the video stream. That would work. It just wouldn't work if it was an attachment, like in MKV files..

No ASS support. Either convert them into hardsubs by using MeGUI's AviSynth script function and then muxing the audio back in, or use a subtitle editor to save the ASS as an SRT..

Thanks for the speedy reply ... I figured hardsubs would not be a problem.

Good to know about the lack of .ass support ... who knows - perhaps a future firmware upgrade could make this possible?

In your use of it roughly how many hours of video watching time are you getting? It is advertised as "up to 10 hours" I believe....

[Proin Drakenzol]

Huh, the SRT thing is good to know.


The most video watching I've personally done before recharging is 3 hours, along with several hours of music listening. This drained the battery about 35% (65% remaining) according to Windows..

[mgz]

you also have to keep in mind that with external subs its not 100% that its not supported it may not be able to display things if its styled subs i dont know since i dont have one. But that has been an issue on my cowon o2 in the past where it played the sub files but not some styled subs

[Mycanid]

Okay - I am gonna take the plunge and purchase the 32gb V5 ... thank you for your input on this!

-----------------------------------

Okay - it has arrived!

Thus far I really like it ... am going to see what else I can do with it.

The sound quality is quite good.... The touch based control interface will take a little getting used to, I think, but it will not be a steep learning curve at all.

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I fixed it Mycanid, it requires a separate SRT file named the same as the video: as in, you can't have it read an SRT stream from a  MKV.

The video playback on the V5 is nothing short of beautiful, though. Certainly worth it if you purchase 16GB + 16GB SDHC, which ends up being around the same price of the 32GB iPod touch.

Video on the iPod classic is terrible.. what is it, a 2.4" screen or something? I own one myself, just so I can carry my whole library with me when I go on long trips or vacations..

I did a test on this as well, primarily b/c today (May 27th) Cowon released another firmware update (v.1.09) ... embedded .srt files in avi files seem to work quite nicely.

.mp4 files with .srt files as separate files of the same name work flawlessly. I was watching Princess Mononoke in mp4 format and was amazed at how BEAUTIFUL it looked!

.mkv files are a bit problematic when it comes to subtitles, however. Some .mkv files have the option for two different types of subtitles as well (.ass or .srt) ... that can create difficulties as well. It will likely take a bit of tweaking. A pity since, as someone pointed out earlier in the thread, many things available are in .mkv format.

I agree wholeheartedly with everything else killazys has said about the device. Video files are absolutely BEAUTIFUL and the subs are not difficult to read either.

In terms of subtitles. it says on Cowon's site that it supports .srt and .smi files....

Source: http://www.cowonglobal.com/zeroboard/view.php?id=B15&page=1&sn1=&divpage=1&bmenu=support&sn=off&ss=on&sc=on&keyword=V5&select_arrange=headnum&bmenu=support&desc=asc&no=694&bmenu=support

EDIT - newy: I already merged your photothread... Refrain from TRIPLEPOSTING!

[killazys]

The thing with Cowon's listed file support is that their devices tend to support more than they list. For example, AAC audio is supported..