Cowon iAudio 7: Awesome

When people ask me what I do, and I tell them I work with computers, their reaction is always the same. “Oh so you are a geek (and they quietly laugh at their quite original joke)?” Whether their question is rhetorical or not I always answered back, “not really, I don’t own an MP3 player, a digital camera, any gaming systems or any other tech toys like that.” They promptly shut up. When I bought my car, the salesman asked, “you own an MP3 player, right?” and I just answered yes to move the conversation along because I knew he was trying to sell me on the audio in jack that came with the car – wow.

Anyway, being a huge music fan, although definitely not an audiophile, I began my search for a music player. Required for this were the following, in order or importance:

- Flashed-based (just because players are made with hard drives, doesn’t mean that hard drives are meant to be carried around)

-Able to fit close to if not all of my 275 CD collection

-No music store lock-in (similarly, plays as many files types as possible)

-Not overpriced

Major pluses are as follows:

-No software required

-Works with Linux (I think most players these days can be made to work, although maybe not supported to work with Linux)

-FM Radio

-Great battery life

-Plays OGGs

So I did my research and after a short time, I found the perfect candidate: the Cowon iAudio7. As I read through the specifications for the unit, absolutely everything was a “pro”. So I dug deep, made the purchase and I couldn’t be more pleased. As I type now, I have my computer speakers unplugged from my computer and plugged into my tiny new friend.

In the end, if you are looking for a portable music player (MP3 player as most people call it) don’t just stick with the big guys, you have to check out the Cowon iAudio 7.