I got a chance to use a coworkers Cowen S9 last week. Seemed very comparable to the Zune HD in PQ and SQ though it was not a side by side comparison. If I had to choose between one of these it would be a real coin toss as the Zune has more functionality especially WiFi while the S9 has a longer battery life.
However, both now lose the screen war since I’ve had a chance to really watch one. The 3.3” screen is just too small. Cowen has released the V5, still no WiFi, and I’ll likely revisit the Archos 5 and 7 to see if it was just the display model that was so buggy.