Heres a few comments from another source:

http://tinyurl.com/abk4t

Why I'm not satisfied: Far from having "solid controls" and "a 5-way joystick, which is as good as Ipod", the iaudio's physical controls are one of its biggest problems. The joystick is tiny and hard to manoeuvre, and even from my short use of the player I can tell that using it for long periods of time would be cause for annoyance and even border on causing mild physical pain. Although I have not heard of anyone else having this next problem, mine also shipped with a broken joystick, which would stick while moving it to the left. The play, record and power buttons are also on the side, which is slightly less convenient than the ipod (although I didn't find this to be much of a problem). Compared to the ipod and its click wheel (which also gives faster scrolling speed), the X5's controls are inadequate.

The iaudio's other largest problem (the killer for me) is its interface. It is hard to navigate and cannot be searched by artist or album (this is a problem that cowon said they would change early August but hasn't) so you have to organize everything into folders on your computer by hand. Ideally, it would be good to do this anyway if you really respect your music collection, but if you have a lot of music on your computer this can be EXTREMELY time consuming. I have also heard it can be done with third party software but haven't looked into this yet. It also displays the file name (eg. 02harvest.mp3) instead of the song name (Harvest) which can be a real inconvenience if your songs have messed up or inconsistent filenames (as many of mine do).

As a mac user, I cannot use mini discs for quality portable audio recording. the iAudio is one of the FEW mp3 recorders which will work with a mac. Thus, I purchased one hoping it would perform as a high quality recorder and player. The device is limited because it does not record in WAV format (uncompressed). Altho iPod plays WAV it won't do live recordings except in mono with very low bit rate.

The line in requires a mic amp as well as the adaptor. Too many connections for a delicate device. The controls are too difficult and the device is too complex for easy use. Would depend on hard drive mechanisms only thru warranty period. Non removable battery, thus, a throw away. I would say the same for many such devices.

__________________
"What you hear in a great jazz band is the sound of democracy. “The jazz band works best when participation is shaped by intelligent communication.”
Harmony happens whenever different parts get to form a whole by means of congruity, concord, symetry, consistency, conformity, correspondence, agreement, accord, unity, consonance…….