Cowon W2 MID prices and full specs revealed
The Atom-based Cowon W2 didn't shake things up in the MID world when the teaser page went up the other week, but perhaps that was because the full specifications and pricing information weren't revealed along with it. That's what the optimist in me would've continued to think, anyway, if it wasn't just brought to my attention by Stellist Design that the complete set of specs and pricing for four different configurations are no longer unknown.
Although previous speculation suggested that the Windows 7 slate could be outfitted with an SSD to complement its 1.33GHz Atom processor and 1GB of RAM, it now appears that 60GB and 80GB hard drives will be the only options, with prices starting at 599,000 won (~$533).
Looking at the rest of the specs and prices, all of which you can see below, I don't think the Cowon W2 has a very bright future in the MID space. It brings nothing new or exciting to the table and doesn't one-up the competition, which most will immediately identify to be the Viliv S5 (I'd throw the Viliv N5, UMID M1, and UMID BZ as keyboarded clamshell variants in there too), so I'm not sure it will be a viable alternative for anyone but Cowon loyalists.
Full specs:
- 1.33GHz Intel Atom Z520
- 1GB DDR2 SDRAM
- 4.8" WSVGA touchscreen
- 60GB, 80GB 1.8" hard drive
- Windows 7 Starter, Windows 7 Home Premium
- Bluetooth 2.0, 802.11b/g
- 2 USB ports, 1 mini USB port
- Skype, Jet Toolbar (voice and dock)
- 143.6 x 88.1 x 27.5 mm (5.65" x 3.47" x 1.08")
- 450 g (15.87 oz)
- Battery life: up to 230 hours sleep, 10 hours idle, 7 hours video playback
Prices:
- W2 60GB w/Windows 7 Starter: 599,000 won (~$533)
- W2 80GB w/Windows 7 Starter: 659,000 won (~$587)
- W2 Premium 60GB w/Windows 7 Home Premium: 679,000 won (~$605)
- W2 Premium 80GB w/Windows 7 Home Premium: 739,000 won (~$658)
