Being a movie fan I enjoy watching films on the go and after becoming bored with the annoyingly small screen on the iPod Video, I decided to purchase one of these just after they came out. So far I am very pleased with the video playback performance due it having a nice, big, high resolution touch screen. Also after buying and downloading some plug ins from the Archos website I can watch a huge range of file formats on it. (Slightly annoying that I had to pay for them but hey.) Also there is plently of room for films and music on the 30GB although it would have been nice to see a slightly bigger hard drive option. On the music side of things, the archos is not iTunes compatible and so music syncing cannot be made automatic - you have to manually drag and drop all your new songs into the music folder on the Archos. Once the music is on the Archos its not bad its just a bit boring to get them there in the first place. The winning factor that really made this win in my eyes over the iPod is the built in wifi, enabling you to connect to any wifi access point in the world to browse the web or check your emails. The last few points are the few minor but annoying comlpaints about the Archos. Firstly, the stylus that is used on the touch screen can only be stored in the designated hole in the supplied case, meaning no other cases have anywhere to store the stylus. Personally I think there should be a hole in the Archos its self. The final point is the optional (but not really optional seeing as you sort of need one) DVR station, allowing you to record programs directly from your TV or play back through your TV. Archos have very cleverly forced another £50 out of you buy making it an extra, compared to older models. Also it is quite hard to install and use without quite a lot of knowledge in this sort of area. Despite this Archos is definetely the way forward in the portable media player industry - it is interesting to see how iPod have just released the new iPod Touch, with a big touch screen, video and music playback, Web Browsing WIFI and the ability to record from your TV - Funny That!
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(+) Great screen quality and size, built in speaker and stand. (-) The only downside is that it is fragile, and can be hard to get used to the on screen keyboard.
The ARCHOS 604 is the perfect companion for people on the move: its 30 GB* hard drive ... more
capacity allows you to store up to 130 hours of video5 encoded with a PC, the equivalent of 85 movies5. Play them on the built-in 4.3" LCD color screen or playback on...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
The ARCHOS 604 is the perfect companion for people on the move: its 30 GB* hard drive ... more
capacity allows you to store up to 130 hours of video5 encoded with a PC, the equivalent of 85 movies5. Play them on the built-in 4.3" LCD color screen or playback on...
Postage & Packaging: £4.39 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Oct 14th, 2007
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