ARCHOS breaks another record with the new Gmini XS200 - an extremely small 20GB hard-drive based audio player with a competitive low price. The 20GB ultra-compact music player... more
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A review by MAFARRIMOND on Archos Gmini XS200 20 GB April 17th, 2005
Author's product rating:
Sound Quality
Excellent
Ease of Use
Very Easy
Look & Design
Good
Range of Features
Diverse
Value for Money
Good
Advantages:
Easy to use and carry, huge capacity, good sound quality, a resume feature !
Disadvantages:
No carry case, the ear phones could be better
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
I have long wanted an mp3 player. I could envisage so many scenarios that I could use it for: gardening, the gym, the admin part of my job, cleaning out the owls etc, etc. I read the reviews with envy and heeded their words for the time when I would be able to purchase one for myself.
So when payday arrived at the end of the month, I determined to treat myself. Off I went to the local shopping center only to be faced with so many on offer. Which should I buy? Well, with my personal requirements in mind, I examined make and type closely. I wanted a handy size for carrying, a large enough capacity, a decent battery-life, something that would be robust, good sound quality, the ability to stop and resume (for audio books) and most importantly something that would be easy to use. Out of all that were on display, only one really stood out that achieved all requirements, the Archos Gmini XS 200.
And as a plus, Dixons even had this on offer. And so I paid over my £159.99 and received my mp3 player neatly packaged in an opaque Blister Pack displaying all the contents. Eager to get started, I tore at the packaging but no avail - that pack would not be opened. And so I had to wait until I got home and armed with a sharp pair of scissors finally got into the pack.
Included in the pack was the mp3 player itself, a USB 2.0 cable, an AC adapter, ear bud headphones and a multilingual quick-start sheet.
The Gmini fits tidily into your palm, 3" high x 2.3" wide in x 0.7" deep, perfect sizing. At 4 ½ ozs in weight, it is a little heavier than the ipod but not uncomfortably so. Enclosed within gunmetal brushed aluminum case with a chrome inset and buttons, it may not look as colourful as the ipod but it is more classy.
One of the best features of the Gmini is its large 2" LCD screen with a bright green back light that enabling displays to be read easily and makes navigating and controlling relatively easy.
Immediately below the screen and to the centre is a five-way joystick with by two buttons on either side. Basically the right hand button turns the device on and the left hand button switches it off whilst the four-way joystick in the middle controls navigation. Yes they also have a little more functionality, for instance when on, the left hand button allows you to skip tracks and holding the right button down will lock the controls so you can't accidentally change anything if you knock it.
To the top left of the screen are three clearly labeled LEDs that indicate power (blue), drive activity (red) and charging status (continuous green for charging / flashing green when done.). On the right hand side is a power socket and a standard mini USB port and a standard 3.5mm headphone jack on the top.
The opening screen has four icons to select from Music, Browser, Resume, or Setup. From Music, you can browse songs by artist, album, title, genre, year or by play list. Browser displays all the files stored and Resume returns you to a bookmarked spot (particularly good for talking-books). Setup leads to five-equalizer sound quality control, enables you to play only a single track, an album or a play list and displays free space available.
To load the Gmini you simply connect it to your computer using the USB 2.0 interface. Convert your CDs into mp3 or wma files. Transfer them across using drag-and-drop (The Gmini boasts the fastest file transfer system of all mp3 players 10.13MB per second). Run the ARC Library update utility and all the music is integrated into the ARC Library allowing you to browse your music by Artist, Album, Genre, Title or Year. You can then create your own play lists if you wish by simply selecting the tracks you want from your library on the left and adding them to the play list on the right. There is even a virtual keyboard so that you can name or rename your play lists, tracks or albums.
With the 20GB capacity approximately 5000 songs can be stored on the Gmini.
To play the music, the four-way joystick controls the playback and volume. Pressing the joystick in will pause/play the track, flicking it left will skip backwards and flicking it right will skip forwards. Pressing the joystick up and down will increase and decrease the volume.
Whilst playing, the screen displays a wealth of information, from the details of the song, artist and album, the track length; time listened to and time remaining. There is a right and left graphical equalizer displayed.
At all times the volume is displayed with a range from 0 - 99 and a battery life indicator. The battery life is approximately 10 hours and takes about 20 minutes to charge. Ample for my need! The supplied headphones are the ear bud variety and have an independent volume control. However, there is no clip to attach them to your clothing so they hang rather loosely.
The sound quality is good and the volume is sufficient (even over the lawnmower).
The only niggles I have is that it does not come with a carry case: this would have been very handy. The earphones could have done with a clip to attach them to clothing so that they don't dangle.
Overall I have been very pleased with my Gmini and do recommend it. It is small and unobtrusive. It is easy to load and to remove music. Holds more than enough music. It is easy to play and the resume feature is a great bonus. The battery life is adequate. It is very robust (no scratches yet). The sound quality is excellent. The price is reasonable.
Advantages: Small, Cheap, Lightweight, Excellent Sound. Disadvantages: New Model Available
OK, so I know that there are a few models out now that are newer than this one, if not superior. But I have this one, I like this one, and i really think this one is a superb peice of kit.
First, the design. This thing is STURDY. I've dropped it countless times, even onto concrete (admitedly not while it was turned on) and it is still in perfect running order, maybe with a few more scratches but nothing serious. I have no doubt that if it were an ... ...stopped working by now. It is sleek, too, with a metal casing that is moderm while not appearing pretencious *cough*the new sony*cough*, and the mirrored band around it really finishes it off nicely. The screen is huge, so its not like an i-pod where you can barely see much at all - this thing is high visibility.
The menu system can be slightly confusing at first, but anyone with some common sense can work it out in a few minutes and have it nailed ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Small, stylish, easy to use, excellent value for money, stores documents as well as music. Disadvantages: Headphones aren't very good
...As it stands, the Archos retails on the Dixons website at £159.99.
For that you get a stylish stainless steel MP3 player, with a large crystal clear LCD screen (with backlight). On the front, it has only one toggle which controls the whole system. It does everything (think sony erricson phones with the control stick in the middle), and is silver to match the rest.
On top of that, you get a fast 2.0 USB connection, which makes transfering onto the ... ...it as if it was just another file or drive on your computer (which essentially it is).
Its light weight at 120g.
But this is the main selling point, it has 20GB!!! Thats a huge amount of memory. In comparison, the mini I-pod, (which costs an extra tenner!) only has 4GB. Thats five times more memory space, holding upto 5000songs. The 20GB I-pod is currently selling at about £210!!! You do the maths.
In addition, i must also add that this MP3 player ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Small, cheap and easy! Disadvantages: Not amazing headphones.
Ive never been a fan of ipods. I think its something to do with everyone having them and the high price. So when i saw this mp3 player, that offered 20Gb of harddrive at a cheap price i couldnt resist. The harddrive space is big enough to satisfy any music fan. I havent even come close to filling it up. Also its just so small!! Most cheaper mp3 players with as big a harddrive space tend to be formed a bit like bricks but this is small and light, ... ...I heard rumours prior to buying it about the screen freezing but i honestly havent experienced this, despite lots of use and the only criticism i have is the head phones you get with it, especially when walking around near traffic etc, but i think im just fussy when it comes to the sound, so replaced them with some i already had and now its fine. Other than that, this is great. Its simple to use...it works like a harddrive so you can store other ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Sound Quality
Ease of Use
Look & Design
Range of Features
Value for Money
somewhat helpful
26.08.2008
(27.08.2008)
Great value buy! Review ofArchos Gmini XS200 20 GBby
chinchillla
Advantages: Cheap, Easy to use, Great value for money! Disadvantages: Battery life often less than 10 hours
This MP3 player has a huge hard drive for a very good price. It is very easy to use, all the instructions come both in a booklet and on the MP3 player itself. Has Playlist , Queue, Random and Shuffle facilities, as well as the ability to custom set your own Equaliser or choose from one of the pre-set styles.
Not the best vsiually designed product but does have an attractive blue light and is very durable . Included is a charger with british and ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Advantages: Massive memory and with good heaphones it beats the ipod Disadvantages: Poor quality headphones and lack of accessories
...are poor quality on the Archos but this is easily remedeed by purchasing a better set. I highly recommend buying headphones by Sennheiser. As long as you spend a little extra on some good quality phones you will be very impressed with the Archos mp3 player. The functions and features are well laid out and easily accessible and the memory is ample for most users. I have stored my entire music collection on this player and categorised it so I dont ... ...over 10gb of stored music, you tend to forget whats on it and where! This is not a problem I found with the Archos player.
Overall I rate it at 8/10 whilst I would rate the ipod at 7/10 as the sounfd quality of the ipod is a lot worse. ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
ARCHOS breaks another record with the new Gmini XS200 - an extremely small 20GB hard-drive based audio player with a competitive low price. The 20GB ultra-compact music player offers a huge hard-drive capacity to load up to 300 hours of music - that's up to 5000 songs!
Connections
Connector Type:
1 x headphones ( mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm )
1 x USB
System requirements
OS Required: Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition, Microsoft Windows XP, Apple MacOS 9.2, Apple MacOS X 10.2.4
Peripheral / Interface Devices: CD-ROM, USB port
System Requirements Details: Windows 2000/ME/XP - Pentium III - 233 MHz - RAM 32 MB
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