Cowon iAudio M3 20GB MP3 Player

The Bad:
After an hours use the remote control started behaving strangely, the play button would not function on it.
After four hours the player would not even boot up properly and the remote would not display anything.
Within 24 hours the player was nicely wrapped up and off to a company for exchange for a new player. Now I am awaiting a new one.

The Conclusion:
To be honest there are a lot of horror stories like mine on the iaudio.com website which should be read prior to purchase, there are also a lot of positive stories and glowing reports of customer service when things like this happen which I have to admit is true, the service is very good. In fact the player is a great piece of kit if only it was still working!!! I did not write this with the intention of putting anyone off as I truly think this is a very good player, if you get a good one. The warning here is that there are rogue players out there and if you are prepared to run the risk and if necessary return the player on the first day you will end up with a very worthwhile player. I would also go for the "brown" version as it looks better than it sounds!! Maybe Amazon should try expanding their range a little....

This less than satisfactory situation hasnt put me off the player, its showed me how good their technical support is if anything. The features work well if you have the remote working, and 20gb is ample. Make sure you have USB2 though, I dont and it takes hours to transfer my music across. The radio is nice, though reception is not the best and its ability to play OGG files places it above to ipod in my view.

If you're looking for an ipod killer, consider the M3; better battery life (almost 2x), radio, recording facilities, plays more file types, cheaper and the m3 is smaller.

I did consider purchasing the iPod and been saving up to do so, until I found the iAudio on a web site, and thought to myself at first glance this is a real good looking MP3 player and it has so many features than the iPod and even cost less too!

I slept on the decision iPod or iAudio, and I went for the more features and cheaper price competition the iAudio and have not regretted my decision, in fact I think the iAudio is a better player than the iPod if you match it feature to feature and price to price and Amazon even sold it cheaper than the other web site that was selling the iAudio M3.

First impressions, upon receiving my new iAudio M3 from Amazon I was pleasantly surprised, as the packaging was excellent, all the bits and pieces was neatly place in a plastic tray that divided the player and remote to the top half of the tray, whilst all the cables, manual, CD’s and adaptors neatly packed in the under tray.

I immediately flicked through the manual, then unpacked all the items and was surprised again! To find that it also includes the optional docking cradle and also a lovely slim black case to hold the M3 in.

First thing to do is to recharge the player so it has power to turn on, as I found this a bit fiddly at first since I was pressings all the buttons trying to get it to turn on whilst it was charging to see the menu screen on the remote. I eventually did, and quickly flicked through the available modes that included Digital audio, FM radio, Microphone Audio, and Line In mode.

COWAN Systems also included spare rubber plug socket protectors, and also two thin plastic film to place over the screen of the remote to protect it from scratches which you place on yourself. All this finer details from the iAudio M3 makes it a serious contender to the popular iPod!

Here are some features of the iAudio:-

Mp3/WMA/OGG/ASF/WAV (multi codec)
Voice Recorder
FM Radio
Direct Encoding (with the included line in cable)
The iAudio also acts as a USB hard-drive on your computer to save data files
USB2
Up to 14 continuous playback
3 Hour Charge Time
Hold Switch
136g total weight

Components included in the box

iAudio MP3 Player
AC adaptor
Adaptor Kit
Remote Control
Docking cradle (which is optional in other countries)
Earphone & ear piece covers
User’s Manual
USB Cable
Line-in Cable
Carrying Case
CD (JetShell, Jet Audio)

System Requirements

Pentium 200MHz or above
32MB Main Memory or higher
20MB Hard Disk space or more
256 colour or higher display
Microsoft Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP
Mac OS 10.x (only data transfer supported)
USB Port
CD-Rom Drive