Cowon iAudio D2 (4GB)

By Edvarcl Heng, CNET Asia
Feb 7, 2007

While a touchscreen is not exactly cutting-edge, it does offer the merit of cutting through the learning curve usually associated with a new MP3 player. Often enough, having to relearn button placement and a new UI would jar the out-of-the-box experience. The D2 makes learning a breeze.

Editors' note: Following a firmware update, the D2 now supports SDHC cards as well.

Design
A touchscreen is familiar. It is also intuitive. You don't have to fiddle around with the mess of buttons at the back to hit Play. There's a juicy green button onscreen. If a player can get any more intuitive than this, it would probably be telepathically linked to your head.

	Cowon iAudio D2: Looking svelte.

At the end of the day, you would probably be using your fingers to prod the onscreen menu. We would suggest a screen protector to ward off grime and anything else you are likely to stain the display with. But new users would be taken with what Cowon calls the Touchpen. It's a triangular stylus that can be neatly grasped between the thumb and index finger. Some people may call it a guitar pick. We don't suggest you strum your Yamaha with it.

What's not cool about the Touchpen is that it's connected to the D2 by a piece of elastic cord. Sort of like a leash. Compared to a tablet PC that keeps its pet pen in a built-in enclosure, the Cowon solution is positively vulgar. Mobile phone users who like to dangle a circus of too-cute charms on their handsets would think otherwise.

The stylus serves a secondary purpose, however. By slotting its end into the back of the D2, it props up the player like a stand. There's a choice between a 50 and 75-degree angle for the stand.

Cowon obviously designed a new user interface just for the D2. We think it looks gorgeous. A floating translucent control bar manifests in the middle of the screen when this is touched during playback and disappears after seconds of inactivity. Context-based menus are situated at the bottom of the panel. Pressing one will serve up a vertical bar of options. It's a pleasure to use and easy on the eye.

Cowon tries to keep things simple with large, cheery graphics. It also takes advantage of the touchscreen with a point-and-click UI. Pressing on the playback progress bar, for example, will allow the user to quickly zip through the song with a click of the stylus.

While we noted in our previous first take of the D2 that it was missing a scroll bar for content navigation, Cowon have since rectified the omission in its recent firmware version 2.2. That's pretty prompt. We also found firmware updating on the D2 to be a snap.

The construction of the D2 is sturdy despite its plastic built. Buttons are well-constructed with good tactile feel. There's also an SD/MMC slot for a bit of memory expansion if you are so inclined.

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