songyop

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Great performing do-it-all PMP!

Dec 22, 2007

Rating: 9 out of 10 (Spectacular)
Pros: Can play just about any media files, DMB (TV viewing) in Korea, Compact design despite 5" screen, HD TV-out, 60GB disk space
Cons: Slightly heavy, No USB charging, Heats up easily
Opinion:
I got one during my visit to Korea and am enjoying it tremendously.

Design:
Although slightly heavy compared to MP3 players, as a PMP, it is quite compact design despite the large 5" screen display. The PMP design well maximizes the screen display without adding any clutter of buttons and etc. that you see in many other PMPs. Due to innovative touch screen menu design, there are not too many external control buttons but I didn't experience any problem operating the unit. The optional leather case works as a TV stand as well as a protective cover. It's quite handy to have this protective cover when viewing the movie on the desktop or on the plane.
The unit can feel heavy after holding it for more than 10 minutes and the stand design of the leather cover helps much.

Performance:
Audio- Plays just about all file types and produces very good sound on my Shure E100 earphones. All standard controls are well laid out in the control interface and customizable equalizer with some standard presets are very nice. Due to large screen display, there is more than adequate space to show the album cover, sound control and the list of music. This list can be displayed with small or large text to make it easy for the pen or the finger touch operation.

Although only available in Korea for now, the DMB (Satelite) TV Viewing capability was simply great!
I was able to watch the TV programs and the general election process on TV in the restaurant and yes, even in the moving taxi! FM radio works great as well.

Watching video files on Q5 is very enjoyable. 5" screen makes it quite good to watch movies on this unit on the airplane. I was able to watch three movies and listen to songs without recharging the unit. The rated movie viewing hours on Q5 is 7 hours. I didn't fully test the capacity but it should not be too far from the specs as I could watch more than 5 hours on the airplane at least.

Viewing photos on Q5 is also very nice. Because Q5 supports USB hosting function, you can view photos from your DSLR cameras directly on Q5 unit using its larger display.

I haven't fully tested Q5's Windows CE capability, but it should not be any different than any other Windows CE-based PDA. If anything, I expect it will be better due to larger screen display that makes it easier to view MS Office documents without scrolling all the time.

Other than the unit's weight being a little heavy, this PMP really delivers what I need. I got it to study a foreign language, watch recorded TV programs in-between travels, view photos occasionally and to have enough memory space to have a collection of my photos and music files. Q5 meets all my requirements in style!

I had considered getting an Apple IPOD Touch prior to getting Q5 unit, but the lack of file compatibility(most of my music and video files need encoding process prior to using them on IPOD- very time-consuming, lack of memory space (16GB total), lack of ease of use with PC (Q5 is a just another portable harddisk when it comes to using it with a PC), optional DMB, Navigation, FM Radio support swayed me away from the IPOD to Q5 instead. Q5 has been worth the decision so far!!!