Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #142521 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Cowon
• Released on: 2004-03-31

Manufacturer's Description
First Impressions

Cowon are entering the HDD market with the iAudio M3 and immediately it looks like a serious contender. Previous solid state offerings from this manufacturer are award winners and have topped best selling lists around the world. The M3 looks set to follow.

The slim iAudio M3 and remote control come in a number of metallic finishes and look very smart. In a moment of genius Cowon decided to put all the functions on the remote control so that you don’t have to use the controls on the main HDD unit, while out and about. Your iAudio M3 stays in your pocket, out of site and safe from harm, while you openly and easily use the remote control to select your tracks, create play-lists or tune into your favourite radio channel. As a result the main unit has been de-cluttered of controls and a screen.

Housing 20GB of storage, the M3 will keep you occupied for some time and with an integrated FM tuner you could always tune into the radio to listen to something else if you manage to get through your 600+ albums. With support for M3U play-lists and multilevel folder support there many different ways that you can organise and play your music.

USB 2.0 connectivity and audio inputs/outputs through the desktop cradle mean that integration to your PC setup and your home entertainment system is a doddle. Multi audio codec support including MP3, WMA and OGG files and superb sound quality powered by BBE and Mach3Bass all add to your listening pleasure.

Box Contents

Customer Reviews

Give it a Chance
The good side:
I decided to buy the 40gb version of the M3. I found it to be an extremely easy to use player and is also a very stylish piece of equipment. Even the box it comes in looks like it has had the styling team of Aston Martin working on it! The contents of the box are brilliant, two docks (Not quite sure on the logic here but I'm not complaining - its a spare!!) adequate earphones; usb cable; ac adapter; 3.5mm cable and user manual. All of these items are very good except the user manual which I found a bit brief. It even comes with some static apply stickers to protect the screen on the remote! I was very happy using my M3 it took about 35 minutes to download all 3500 tunes to it which I thought was brilliant...but...

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....

nice player, but technical problems
First impressions were that this is a solidly built piece of kit, feels nice and is tiny (smaller than my ipod, if not by a lot). The remote feels a bit plastiky, but nothing too bad. I had heard a lot of people having technical problems with the remotes, screens cutting out and buttons not responding. Mine had these symptons after a few days and was quickly replaced by Cowon. The ssecond unit was rendered unusable with the same symtoms, and I am awaiting a third one.

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.

COWAN Systems iAudio M3 (20GB Metal Silver)
COWAN Systems
iAudio M3 (20GB metal silver colour also available in gun metal brown)

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