| The iAudio A3 is Cowon's flagship PMP with a very | | | | conceals a 3.5mm composite AV output, a 3.5mm |
| thorough list of supported codecs in both music and | | | | composite AV input, a proprietary jack made for |
| video. The 800x480 16.7 million color screen is crisp | | | | connecting an included S-video and component-video |
| and will do justice to your video collection. There is a | | | | output cable, and a USB jack for transferring files from |
| lot of good going on with the A3, and it's probably the | | | | your computer or hosting devices, such as digital |
| best PMP of its size on the market. | | | | cameras or USB memory sticks. |
| The video player is smooth (load times are a second | | | | The A3's 4in, 800 x 480 resolutions, 16m-colour TFT |
| or two), but navigation is a little wonky with the 4-way | | | | screen is little short of a work of art and makes nearly |
| stick taking the place of a directional pad. It's not too | | | | every other comparable personal media player on the |
| bad, but occasional down-clicks for selecting something | | | | market look like an Etch-a-Sketch. Supporting video |
| didn't get registered, or got registered as an up click | | | | resolution up to 1280 x 720 - so we are talking HD |
| instead. Photo viewing is also sweet on the bright and | | | | here - it's simply a thing of beauty. Bright, clear and |
| ample display, and the transition time between photos | | | | crisp with solid blacks, it is by some way the best PMP |
| is negligible. The only problem comes from the | | | | screen we've seen, besting even the Archos 605. |
| navigation stick and trying to cleanly press down on it | | | | The iAudio A3 can connect to a TV with a composite |
| without moving the stick in another direction as well. | | | | video cable, and also comes with a component output |
| Its predecessor, the Cowon A3 includes two stereo | | | | for much better video quality. As the player's audio |
| speakers and a mono microphone on its top edge, a | | | | volume was so low, we had to turn the TV's volume |
| power button on its right, a hold switch that doubles as | | | | up to maximum. It can also record directly from a |
| a video-out switch on the bottom, and a 3.5mm | | | | composite or S-video source, and recorded video had |
| headphone jack on the top left edge. Below the A3's | | | | few artifacts when viewed on the player's screen. |
| headphone jack is tethered a plastic door that | | | | |