Customer Reviews

iAudio G3-1024SW 1 GB MP3 Player with FM Radio and Voice Recorder White

5 star:		(63)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This review describes the complete thought/research cycle for deciding a digital player. It includes hdd based, flash based, different flash based capacities, features, battery life etc. The features etc for any player are already available on the detail pages and else where so I'm not including those, instead doing the comparison exercise. I've also written this review for other flash players which I considered in the comparison.

I've been using iRiver SlimX iMP-CD350 CD/MP3 player for quite a while now and decided that its time to move to a smaller player which is more versatile and portable. I'm just not a CD person, and as soon as I buy a CD, I rip it and get the files all over my computers/laptops.

There are lot of smaller digital music players available in the market. My first decision point was to decide between HDD (hard disk drive) or Flash memory based players. HDD based are available from 4GB to 60 GB and since it has a mechanical drive, it's not suited well for my activities (gym/running etc). While flash based don't suffer with this draw back, they come only in 128MB, 256MB, 512MB, 1GB and 2GB. I wasn't buying a player to make it a permanent repository of all my music and having up to 1GB of music (16 hours of CD quality, 32+ hours otherwise) was good enough for me. For this reason, I decided to go with Flash based player. Plus, most flash based players have direct USB connectivity and some of those can also be used as a regular flash disk for document transfer and storage.

Next step was to decide the capacity. I was inclined for a 2GB player since it'll store even more songs, but found some warning in iAudio (Jet Audio) site where a 2gb version can store only up to 450 (files + folders) and the player cannot address the last 260MB memory of the player. I had also used a flash based 2gb usb storage device which had similar storage problems. So, I went with 1GB version and decided to give more time for 2GB+ technology.

Next was feature sets and brands. I had following things in mind in terms of features: formats capable, battery life, firmware upgradability, and FM player. I considered Creative (MuVO Micro N200), iRiver (iFP 799), Apple (iShuffle 1GB), and JetAudio (iAudio 5, G3, U2).

iRiver had drawbacks were not being able to work as USB storage device, limitation on Ogg audio and MP3 VBR files. Apple was not just my thing since it lacked a display, FM tuner etc and accessories like FM player are added cost/size/weight too. Creative was also limited only on WMA amd MP3. It seemed like most of the players but iAudio/Jet Audio have format limitations.
Jet Audio (iAudio) had most of the formats available (MP3, WMA, WAV, Ogg Vorbis, ASF etc), firware upgradable, trendy size, good reviews, USB storage device and good choices. And, I was totally bought on iAudio.

The last step was to decide on the model. I considered iAudio 5, G3, and U2 version. The main differences are 5 is based on 'AAA' batter and lasts only 15-20 hours, G3 is slightly wider but less longer model with 'AA' battery and supports up to 45-50 hours on one cell, and U2 was similar to '5' but had internal Lithium Polymer battery and the same 15-20 hours playback time. U2 model also lacked Ogg Vorbis format capability.
If I was travelling long distance and not able to charge LiPolymer battery, it's a waste. And, 15-20 hours just doesn't turn not ecnomical with 'AAA' battery, so I ended up with iAudio G3 1GB player and I'm very satisfied with the player itself.

Everything about G3 player is great but it has a slightly longer start-up time. It has great radio reception, great sound quality, small enough size, USB sturage device, ok microphone, ok recording.

All in all, a great player.

Pros:
-Full support of OGG format (All rates) including vorbis gain, MP2, MP3, WMA protected or not, PCM and ADPCM Wav.
-Fast USB transfer.
-Excellent Sound quality.
-Playlist and bookmarks for audiobooks.
-Long lasting, easy, future proof and economical use of standard AA battery.
-Decent File Manager, that lets you drag and drop song sets by Playlist (M3U), Label your FM stations and see before transfering if the selection will fit in memory.
-Intuitive Navegatiion and great ergonomics.
-Smaller than the picture shows.
-Jetaudio keeps adding and improving things with firmware upgrades.

The Bad:
-The FM recording is not that excellent, unless you use the ADPCM Wav mode, but it is still 32KHz and not 44Khz.
-Boot-up times could be a bit faster. (9 seconds is too slow)
-Mic could be more sensitive, but is not that bad.
-No memory card expansion, so get the largest capacity model you can afford.

The bottom line is, G3 is a great player, I highly recomend it.
It can easily be one , if not the best Flash based players in the market despite this few shortcomings. For the Record, I have owned Iriver and Creative players in the past.
Also if you need more than 1Gig Jetaudio is plannig to release a 2Gig version soon.
Thanks for reading.

I bought the 1 GB model for $249, and the first thing to point out is that I could have gotten a 20 GB iPod for only $50 more. But with the G3, I have an outstanding voice recorder and FM radio built in. Sound quality is amazing, with a great range and incredible bass. The player is tiny, with dimensions comparable to a Zippo lighter. Although the iAudio U2 is more attractive and has the same features for the same price (and probably the same chip set), I chose the g3 beacause it is supposed to last 50 hours off of one AA battery. The U2, on the other hand, uses a polymer-lithium battery that holds a charge for 15 hours, and when the battery gets old, you either have to spend a lot of dough to replace it or you're left with an expensive paper weight.

Not only is the sound quality excellent in playback mode, but the voice recordings that you make with the built-in microphone sound very clear, too. However, the microphone is fairly sensitive to background noise (i.e., when you bump or rub the case). There's a line-in jack for recording from an external audio source, and I imagine that you can probably plug in a lapel microphone to minimize background sounds.

The radio reception is fairly good. There's also a built-in equalizer that allows you to customize the sound (with presets for rock, pop, jazz, classical, etc).

In short, my complains with the G3 are fairly minor. Yes, its more expensive than many other flash players out there, but few players have so many features, and again, the sound quality is outstanding. And did I mention the tiny size and incredible battery life? If you're looking for a mp3 player for the car or for just walking around, get an iPod, but if you want something that's truly gym-worthy, with a built-in recorder and FM radio, you probably can't do better.

[Edited 4/10/2006] This is a great player. The price used to be about 40% more than other players with the same capacity when I first bought it in November 2005. Now (April 2006) the price has come down to about the same as others. I bought another one as a gift.

This player is especially good for audio books, while other players seem to ignore the special needs of audio books and only work with songs. There are four important audio-book specific tests you must perform if you want to use the player for audio books:

Test 1. Mid-track resume

Some audio books come with long tracks. If you stop the player in the middle of a track and turn it off, when you turn it back on, does it start playing at the exact same spot where you left off? Some players will start at the beginning of the track. Fast forwarding is not a good option for long tracks. You need a player that resumes in the middle of a track.

iAudio G3: pass
Sandisk SDMX1: pass

Test 2. Multi-track play order

Sometimes the audio books come with many tracks. These tracks MUST be played in order or else you will have a scrambled book. However when you copy an entire folder of files to the player, the computer doesn't necessarily copy them in file name order. Track 5 may be copied first, followed by track 1. If the player can't play them in order, the audio book tracks become useless. Believe it or not, some players will only play the tracks in the order they were copied to the player.

iAudio G3: pass
Sandisk SDMX1: pass (only if the file names start with a number)

Test 3. Bookmark

If you have both audio book tracks and music tracks on the player and you want to switch from book to music, will you be able to save a bookmark for your book and get back to where you were after you are done listening to music?

iAudio G3: pass
Sandisk SDMX1: fail

Test 4. Low bit rate support

Net Library supplies "radio quality" WMA files encoded at 4kbps. The low bit rate files are a lot smaller than the "CD quality" ones and therefore you can fit more content on the player. For audio narration, "radio quality" is very acceptable, but many players can't play files encoded at that low bit rate.

iAudio G3: fail
Sandisk SDMX1: fail

Peace and Liberty "votelibertarian" (Greensboro, NC United States) was incorrect in saying that this player comes with an armband. You get a free armband if you order from the manufacturer's online store. If you order from Amazon, you don't get an armband. Most other players include an armband, this player should've included an armband as well.

If you never had a MP3 player, PDA or Cell Phone before, let me warn you that recharging will become part of your daily chores.
This is a problem no many talk about, but is real.
The beauty of the G3 is that the recharging problem practically disappear and it is always ready to rock your songs. I charge my set of 4 AA NiMH every month.
The G3 gives you Great Power Autonomy. Zero battery hassles. You can use regular AA alkaline or NiMh rechargeable that you can swap in an instant for uninterrupted fun. Try that with any Ipod or any Internal battery based MP3 player.
On vacation? in a remote place? nowhere to recharge ?, no problem, just bring a few AA Batteries or buy Alkalines anywhere.
So why bother with hard disk based players or other DAP that use internal rechargeable. !?!?!?

You can take it everywhere, drop it, kick it, and it still will play.
No moveable parts to worry about, (is uses flash memory)
If you go to Cnet reviews, forget what they say, they don't know what they are talking about. Yes I was shock to read their G3 review myself because is so innacurate. And I thought CNet was a good source.

Trust me I've been buying MP3 players since day one and this has to be the BEST.
Best Sound Quality in the market.
Carry 40-50 CDs (650 songs) with this baby. This is a LOT of music !!

G3 is one of the rare players that supports the more advanced OGG Vorbis format from Q0 up to Q8.
Why OGG Vorbis is important?. Because you can fit more songs by compressing more without degrading the sound quality, and the format promises to still improves in the future.
Truly useful features like Playlist and Bookmarks for Audiobooks and language training etc.
Full of other features, FM Voice and Line-In recording in MP3 or ADPCM format, FM timer recording so you don't miss any show, etc, etc.
Very Open and simple approach. No need to install additional software. Just drag and drop songs from your computer to the G3 or vice-versa and you are ready to go.
You can even access the G3 system files such FM labels, Sound customization and Playlist and change stuff with a simple text editor like Notepad, if you want to do that.
Jetshell (the program that is bundle) allows you preview capacity left, import song selections by M3U (playlists), label FM stations, Compress songs using the highly acclaimed Fraunhofer encoder, etc. It is way beyond of what the IRiver manager, for instance provides.
Great Design, Very small compared to what it seems in pictures, put 3 AA batteries together and is that small. The unit ergonomics are great, the buttons are recessed so they can NOT be accidentally activated, unlike others player I've used.
A small detail but worth noting. Battery is not dependant on battery door. . Many MP3 players have the conductive battery contacts in the battery lid, if the battery lid gets broken those players are effectively dead. But not with the G3, the battery can break and it still can function.

Negatives:
The MP3 direct hardware recording/encoding could be of better quality. But who needs that if you rip you own CDs or buy already encoded music.

The other two alternatives I can recommend are the Iriver IFP-899 and the Samsung MT6Z (I tried both). But for several reasons these are not as good as the IAudio G3. I also tried the Lexar LDP-600 and it was pure garbage.

I'm giving the G3 5 Stars because is the best alternative available today in the market. (August 2005)
However it is in fact 4 Stars b/c is no perfect.

I bought this as a replacement for my iRiver 390 256MB MP3 player. The iRiver is still going strong, but it has taken up permanent residence in my car. As good as the iRiver player is, this one is even better. It appears to have all the features of the iRiver and then some ...
If you are looking for a portable mp3 player to listen to audio books or other spoken-word audio files, this player has two features you'll really appreciate:

1. Bookmarks - You can be in the middle of an audio file and 'bookmark' your place in the file, switch to another file, and then come back to the original file and continue exactly where you left off last time. As far as I know, there aren't many portable players that have this feature, but it appears that most (if not all) the newer iAudio players do, including the U2. (Note: You may have to upgrade the firmware on the device to get this feature, but mine came with the firmware already installed)
2. Skip length - Probably the coolest feature I have ever seen in a portable player. Basically what this allows you to do is to disable the previous/next track option while audio is playing. Anyone who has ever been listening to a long audio file and accidentally skipped to the next track when they meant to simply fast forward (because they accidentally PRESSED the fast forward button instead of HOLDING it) will know exactly why this feature is so useful.

Simply put, if you are looking for a portable flash player to listen to audiobooks with, this is definitely a solid choice. Either this, or the iAudio U2. I believe that the G3 and U2 are largely the same, except that the U2 is much smaller and has a rechargable battery that doesn't last as long.

I spent about 4 weeks of solid, in-depth research comparing various mp3 players. The main criteria for my new player were as follows: small, lightweight, NO rechargeable battery, long battery life, FM reception, great sound quality. After a few hours online, it became clear that only a few players would satisfy my priorities. You see, my iPod's battery just died and I was fed up with watching my mp3 player die a slow and agonizing death. The Creative MuVo, Samsung Yepp, iRiver 790, and Cowon iAudio G3 rose quickly to the top of a very long list of potential candidates. The bulkiness of the iRiver and the weaker battery life eliminated that. The non-mac compatability and short AAA battery life eliminated the Creative, and the tiny screen eliminated the Samsung. Leaving only the Cowon G3 as a suitable buy. It was one of the best decisions I've made.

Here's what makes the G3 so great.
1. Sound quality. The 95 dB signal/noise ration allows crystal clear sound. Additionally, the JetAudio featuers are simplay amazing: surround sound, 3D enhancements, BBE (which brings out detailed frequencies lost in mp3 compression), and fun modes like playing songs at variable speeds!

2. Interface. After around 10 minutes of fiddling around with it, the three button controls and 4-directional pad allow for easy navigation and toggling among different modes.

3. Battery life. This baby really gets close to 40+ hours off a single AA battery. I've had my device for over three weeks and just changed the battery for the first time a few days ago. Even at higher volumes, the G3 can rock out for several consecutive marathons.

4. Portability. At about 3/4 of an inch think, its way slimmer than the iRiver or other AA products, except for the Samsung Yepp. However, the Yepp's screen lacks the 4 lines that I find very convenient for easy navigation.

5. Great recording features. This baby can record up to 128 kbs via the line in, mic, or FM tuner. I set it up during a conference (in a library) and it recorded our whispering voices very perceptibly.

6. Durability. The biggest complaint I found about the G3 was it's "flimsiness" and "plasticky construction." Please, this device is solid. The plastic casting is sturdily constructed, and personally, I favor the plastic to a heavier material, e.g. metal! Additionally, it comes with a sleek plastic casing that sunggly wraps around the device protecting it from drops, scratches, or whatever else you might do to aggravate it.

The only problem was that it didn't come with an armband, so I ordered the neoprene Tune Belt armband for $10 through Amazon as well. Both devices came on time and the G3 wears like a dream. I must divulge that my first g3 didn't turn on, for whatever reason, but Amazon shipped another within 2 days and I've had no problems whatsoever. So that may be something to watch out for :)

I hope this helped. Go with the Cowon G3. You won't regret it.

This product is nothing less than amazing.
I've ordered numerous things online but never thought to writew a review until now. That's how good this thing is.

Sure, it's short on space, but I still haven't filled the 250 songs it holds.

The radio...superb.
The features....superior to everything out there.
The sound quality....breathtaking. That includes the voice/line-in/FM recorder.
The customizing...unlimited.
The battery? One AA battery (they send a free one) that lasts 2 weeks if used 4 hours a day.
The size...about the size of a beeper. Tiny...but HUGE, HUGE sound.

Beats the iPOD, Creative, etc. in EVERY category, it even works with 98SE.

Add in the on-the-fly playlist, the ability to drap and drop your files (even if they're in folders already) from your PC straight to the G3 as it shows up as a removeable drive, this thing is flawless.

I am updating my original review entered on December 2. The original review is attached to this update.

I contacted COWON for an RMA, which was provided within less than a day. I sent my unit back on December 3 and received the repaired unit on December 12.

The customer service, both on the telephone and online was excellent.

MY ORIGINAL REVIEW:
I ordered my G3 2GB last July, 2005. Now the beginning of December it will not power up at all. It showed only minor signs of problems; signs I recognized only after it died completely.

I tried reloading the firmware and all the troubleshooting pointers that the Cowon site and the phone techsupport folks walked me through. Still, nothing. The play/pause button has lost it's "click" feeling indicating that it may be an actual hardware, switch problem.

It is within the product warranty. I have requested an RMA from COWON.

If you are considering this product, I would suggest being conservative and invest in only the 1GB version, not the 2GB. And probably purchase the additional warranty. The warranty recommendation comes from a person who NEVER considers such warranties, knowing that they are generally money-makers for the manufacturers. However, after researching this problem and chatting on the Cowon forums with other customers with problems, I would purchase the warranty, as the product is not inexpensive.

I will add more after my entire replacement/repair ordeal is finished. Wish me luck! It was, after all, five stars only yesterday.

OK, I've had this player for almost a year now; it still works like a charm. I paid $199.99 for mine, so the price has gone down. I was able to use it right out of the box. I was and continue to be amazed at the sound clarity, regardless of what kind of headphones I have used with it. It's pretty user-friendly, and the battery life absolutely cannot be beat. I was on a LONG bus ride recently and my friends' players couldn't keep up, and with no charging capability for them in sight, I was the lone holdout by the end of the trip. If my battery dies, I just replace it with a new one that I keep in my little leather case (actually a coin purse thingy).
Here is my one concern: A few months ago, the player froze up--there was NOTHING I could do to get it turned on. I did eventually get it fixed (after a week or so, and I don't even remember what I did), but in the meantime, I frantically tried to get a hold of ANYTHING resembling customer service. Guess what. There is NO customer service whatsoever. There is a website with a semi-helpful forum (it didn't help me with my problem, but whatever), but if you want to talk to a human, forget it. For this reason, I probably wouldn't buy from this company again, despite the fact that I like this particular product.
Bottom line: The player is pretty good, but once you buy it, you're on your own.