Before you can choose the right MP3 player, you need to decide what you want from it. If you want a fashion icon which oozes street cred and has a host of trendy accessories, buy an Ipod. If you want an MP3 player to play MP3s on, I'd recommend you to buy the Archos XS202.
Archos have an established reputation for their hard discs. I had one of the early Archos JukeboxMP3 players before I bought an XS202. The early jukebox may have suffered from flimsy buttons and below power AA Ni-Mh batteries, but despite all the use and abuse it took, I never had a single disc problem. I am confident that my XS202 will last similarly.
When a single product is as dominant in its market sector as the Ipod you really need a reason NOT to buy it. Compared to the Archos I can instantly think of two good reasons. Firstly the Archos is about half the price as a similar spec Ipod. Secondly, the Archos does not rely on iTunes ! I have used this software with a relative's Ipod and it drives me up the wall ! iTunes will automatically synchronise your ipod with your music library on your computer - great if you have all your music organised in one place on one computer but useless otherwise.
Transferring and organising music on your Archos couldn't be easier. The XS202 appears on your computer's file manager as an extra disc - transferring files and folders is a simple drag and drop process. (This also means you can use the XS202 as an external portable disc to transfer any sort of files between computers).
Once on the Archos, music can be sorted and accessed by title, album, artist, year, genre etc etc. This does mean you may need to invest a little time getting the ID3 tags sorted properly. Playlists are also fully supported and can be built on your computer and again simply dragged and dropped onto the MP3 player.
In use, the XS202 is simplicity itself. The main menu has 4 icons for "music" "browser" "resume" and "setup". Music lets you search your music by tag info (artist, album etc etc) while browser searches the disc content just like your windows file manager.
Sound quality is very good and the battery life should be plenty for most people. Many players now boast more than 20Gb, but in real life, 20Gb of MP3s is an awful lot of music. If you're honest, you probably don't really NEED any more.
The downside, if it is important to you, is that the XS202 will never greatly impress your mates. The screen is monochrome and the design is neat, functional but hardly fashionable. Similarly, in use it lacks some of the more advanced features of its competitors, but still provides all the really useful functions you actually need.
To summarise, if you want an MP3 player that does its job effectively and at a good price, buy the Archos XS202. If you want a fashion accessory, don't !!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: Many easy to use options, small with large capacity, memory stick tendencies. Disadvantages: Monochrome screen, possible weak screen, rubbishy headphones come with it.
Advantages: feats on your pocket , cheap , hard live resistent , lots of storage , plays anything , beautifull color and easy operation Disadvantages: I have not found mayor problems here... it works as a computer
Dec 5th, 2006
very helpful by (83%):
helpful by (17%):
