Newbie Cowon X7

[Skyedriver]

Hi, just want to say hello as I've just registered.
I've been looking at the X7 for about a year now and have finally decided to take the plunge, although the A5 with wi fi sounds good. It's the huge storage of the X7 that really appeals.
Must say I've been a bit worried about all the poor reviews but I'm hoping that these are from people who have even less idea than me on computers.
So unless anyone can persuade me otherwise its an X7 on order in the next day or so.
Couple of questions I would like to ask those who know a heck of a lot more than me...

Is there any more unreliability problems with the 160GB than with the 120GB?

I think, having read many of the threads on here, I'll use Kizunes three UI programmes Lynx Sense & Leaf.. Are these easy to add to the machine and do I need to get them on BEFORE I start loading music?

Sorry if these are very basic and have been asked before, I'll learn, promise.
Tony H

[checkmate134]

Welcome to the forum. Just saying, if you want to be dissuaded, you've come to the wrong place; practically all people here like their Cowon devices - it's kind of the point of this site. You've probably seen this before around the forum, but as a general rule, if you're looking for a device that excels at playing music, a Cowon is a good idea. (I'm sure I don't have to list out all the advantages Cowons hold in this category against competing devices). Otherwise, if you're looking for lots of apps or internet access, look somewhere else.

Now I'm a J3 user, and I don't follow the X7 forums closely enough, so I can't answer your first question. However, for your second question, it doesn't matter what order you copy any of your content or UCIs onto your player, as long as it all gets there in the end. As such, the UCIs can be added on after you load your music, and they can even be deleted and replaced by new UCIs without recopying any of your content. Treat the UCIs as regular files; as long as you have the right stuff on your X7 in the end. Everything beforehand is totally commutative.

As a note, at this point, there's no reason not to use Cheetah XT in my opinion. I think it completely replaces Lynx by now, and is far superior to it in every way. You'll still need Sense and Leaf though, but not for long . (Yay! for Kizu).

And don't be sorry for asking these questions. As someone else said recently, we like to help . I don't think I've seen this specific question before, but even if it has been asked, I'm sure someone would answer you anyways. As long as you make an effort to find the answers first .

[WAI]

hello Skyedriver and welcome!

both HDD models are alike as i would assume they use the same manufacturer

now as for UCI installment... just place the Files within the SYSTEM Folder as is but be sure to rename the mainmenu.swf File to mainmenu1, 2, or 3

[checkmate134]

For the X7, you can only name them mainmenu1 or mainmenu2.

[Skyedriver]

Thank you both for your helpful answers.
Re reliability, I guess it all stems back to my idea that it might be more fragile with more space in a small unit. Bit like C120 cassettes in comparison to C60. (Showing my age).
Re UI system thanks again, Checkmate suggests Cheetah, I looked at that yesterday, might have another look. That replaces some but not all of Kizunes other files.?.
I see it's still in its alpha or "development" stage, I don't want to get into too many knots. When it may be that days edition of the file and not me if you know what I mean.
Thanks again for your helpful answers
Tony H
Off to order my X7 today

[Skyedriver]

Well my X7 arrived yesterday, now fully charged.
One .avi vieo on it which works well
Now looking at getting the music on, some is mp3 with m3u files but some is FLAC and doesn't so need to try various things to sort his out.
Also on my PC I have some folders with a single album in it and some folders with a number of folders within it with an album in each.

ie G:\Music\Neil Young - After the Goldrush\tracks1 to whatever

& G\Music\Jackson Browne\Album 1\tracks 1 to whatever
G\Music\Jackson Browne\Album 2\tracks 1 to whatever
etc

Presumably I need to separate the Jackson Browne albums?

[Flip Martian]

I use a standard artistname/albumname structure so each album by that artist has its own folder within the folder for that artist.

Eg
G\Music\Artist 1 is the folder for that artist

Then folders for each album:-
G\Music\Artist 1\Album 1
G\Music\Artist 1\Album 2
etc

Works well for me.

[Skyedriver]

Thanks
That seems to be working for me to
Hope I'm not speaking too son but all this rubbishing the X7 by various people seems totally unfounded
Whats so complicated?
Yes I am having to learn what to do with it, how to jump from track to track, store stuff etc. but hey, I've been doing this on a trial and error basis since 1989 on Autocad, Microsoft Office etc

[Flip Martian]

For the most part once Kizune's GUIs are installed and the FW is uptodate, its excellent. The only bugbear I have is the touch sensitive screen which is sometimes less than accurate about where it registers a touch. Quite often I've touched over "music" and it registers "video". A minor pain but the pluses outweight the minuses. Using it as it comes out of the box though, there are more negatives there I think.

[Edster922]

Originally Posted by Skyedriver

Thanks
That seems to be working for me to
Hope I'm not speaking too son but all this rubbishing the X7 by various people seems totally unfounded
Whats so complicated?
Yes I am having to learn what to do with it, how to jump from track to track, store stuff etc. but hey, I've been doing this on a trial and error basis since 1989 on Autocad, Microsoft Office etc

Please keep us up to date with how your X7 fares. I am also considering it since I just found out today, much to my dismay, that I must've forgotten and left my Cowon D2+ in a rental car already returned! ARGH. But have long lusted for the X7's massive storage space, so maybe if all the horror stories do not pan out, this might actually be a blessing in disguise!

[CD1947]

Hello, I am keen to try Cheetah XT on my X7 but I can't find the step-by-step instructions! I found them once and I remember bits, but not everything! Can you point me towards them, please.

[Skyedriver]

Originally Posted by Edster922

Please keep us up to date with how your X7 fares. I am also considering it since I just found out today, much to my dismay, that I must've forgotten and left my Cowon D2+ in a rental car already returned! ARGH. But have long lusted for the X7's massive storage space, so maybe if all the horror stories do not pan out, this might actually be a blessing in disguise!

Edster:
So far so good, still using the Cowon UI and agree its a bit odd sometimes along with the touch screen scrolling up and down (Thats what annoys me most) but other than that it has been fine. Young son watched about 6 or 7 hours video split over two long journeys, he likes it, the sound is fine and it holds loads of stuff.
Planning to get a leather case now (didn't originally as I wasn't sure if the X7 was going to be reliable)
Will update again in the near future but go get one, they're better than you think. I wonder if a lot of the criticism about breakdowns is more to do with the user!
ps FIL's Kindle failed after 6 months but thats another story.

[Skyedriver]

Well, it was working ok last night when I added an avi file to it (which didn't work as it happens, got a failed message) but this morning, nothing. Won't switch on, won't show a usb connection, cannot see it when linked to a pc, nothing.
Looks like its reputation may be correct. 1 month old - dead.

[Skyedriver]

Further update
Left it conected to a pc (USB) for a couple of hours, it was completely dead when disconnected but quite warm.....
reconnected to the pc an hour later and it comes partly alive with a low battery warning.
Noiw this has not been used for anymore than a few hours since it was fully charged. Could it be discharging itself?
I assume "Sleep Mode" is off?
leaving it for a few more hours now, on pc. Mains charge at home unfortunately.

[Edster922]

Originally Posted by Skyedriver

Well, it was working ok last night when I added an avi file to it (which didn't work as it happens, got a failed message) but this morning, nothing. Won't switch on, won't show a usb connection, cannot see it when linked to a pc, nothing.
Looks like its reputation may be correct. 1 month old - dead.

OH NO!!! Sorry to hear about that.

I am still hemming and hawing over buying this thing...would definitely blow $27 for the Square Trade extended warranty.

Just got a $50 refurbished Sony 764 player with bluetooth headphones for gym use, only 8GB and no microSD extension unfortunately. The sound is very good but not quite as good as Cowon. But having it slows my hand with regards to the X7, at least for the time being.

But you are still within the standard Cowon warranty, right? If you bought it from Amazon, they might well do an exchange or refund even if you've passed their usual 30 day return period---at least one user I've read of, was able to do that. God bless Amazon!

PS. Just curious...did you let the battery get low, by any chance? This seems to be the most common cause of this device bricking, apparently.