When I think gadgets, I have in my mind sexy objects that do multiple things and do them well. That cause people walking by to look over my shoulder as I use them. That make my geek friends green with envy. That are designed to do something and that do it so well you’ll never regret your choice.
These are the holy grails of gadgets. They are not perfect but they are designed so well that their imperfections are slight bothers and not major hindrances. The Archos 605 WiFi is such a gadget. I’ve got in my hands the 605 30 GB unit along with the DVR station for TV recording and playback. This review may be a bit long but if you’re thinking of getting a PMP, are on the fence about the Archos or are thinking iPod touch, you’ll want to read this as I’m going to get as in depth as I can.
Let’s start with the basics. The Archos 605 WiFi (I have the 30 gigabyte model) comes in four flavors. 4 GB flash with an SD card slot, 30 GB, 80 GB and 160 GB. From the name you can probably tell that it’s WiFi enabled. The 30 GB unit weighs in at a little less than half a pound. It’s my strong suggestion that if you purchase this unit, you get the DVR station as well, and you’ll want to pick up a few of the plug-ins too.
That might by one con with this – depending on how you look at it. You’ll pay $279 for the Archos 605. This is not a bad price at all for what you’ll be getting. Then you’ll have to pay about $90 for the DVR station. You’ll also want the Opera web browser plugin which will run you $30 and probably the Cinema plugin for $20. That’s $419 total. This seems like a lot – seems like a bit of nickle and diming as well. However, you can pick and choose what you want. As a stand alone player, the Archos is great, with the above added, it’s brilliant.
Now let’s dig into this PMP (Portable Media Player). To start with, the Archos is sharp looking. From it’s 4.3 inch screen to it’s right side buttons, this thing just looks sleek. It fits nicely in the palm of my hand. The touch screen is a thing of beauty – through some process of manufacture, fingerprints just don’t end up as smudgy blurs on the screen. The screen itself is a 4.3” inch TFT LCD which sports a resolution of 800×480 and sixteen million colors. While watching a movie, the image is sharp and crisp, even with the touch screen. It’s bright and easy to see, even in direct daylight or with the unit tilted away. The touch screen is a joy to use. While the unit comes with a stylus, unless you’ve got unnaturally large fingers you won’t have a problem simply using your digits.
Built in WiFi is one of the features that really makes this device. If you have a windows machine using Windows Media Player 11 it’s just a few quicks away from serving all of your media (movies, music and images) over the net via UPnP. Other operating systems can be set up to use this as well. If you have a media server anywhere in your house and a wireless network, you can expand the Archos’ capacity almost indefinitely. With the DVR station you can stream movies from your computer right to your television. With the browser plug-in you can surf the web with the touchscreen keyboard, storing your favorite sites and even using Opera’s tabbed browsing functionality. You can also access the content portal to purchase and download content. In addition to this, when I first turned on my Archos and connected it to a WiFi network I was prompted to check for new firmware. It automatically detected that it was at an earlier version and updated itself to the newest version.
The menus on the main screen are easy to navigate through the touch screen. I find it far easier to use than the buttons on the side with the possible exception of fine-tuned fast forwards in movies. From left to right, top to bottom the icons are movies, music, pictures, files, content portal, web browser, widgets and recorder. Let’s go through them and we’ll explore the Archos as well, with pointers towards what can be done.
Movies: Here’s where you can watch your movies. That’s simple enough. Touch the icon and you’re brought to your selection of movies stored on the device. Movie playback on the Archos is much more powerful than this however. You can purchase movies through the content portal (we’ll get to that in a bit) and you can watch your recorded content as well (again, more on this later). You can do a lot with movies and this device. It is of course illegal to steal content, but fair use does state that you can make a copy of your DVDs. If you do this (here’s one way with Linux) and you have the Cinema plugin for sound, you can copy your movies to MPEG-4 (DiVX) format as a file up to 2GB in size and transfer it to your Archos. The picture is clear enough that with my most watched videos, I’ve archived them on the unit and I simply use this and the DVR station to watch them on my tv now. It’s also great to be able to watch the Lord of the Rings extended edition trilogy while on the train. I’ve got all three of them on the Archos (that’s about 11 hours of film), Transformers, The Holy Grail and 300 on my Archos. And I’ve still got about 20 GB of space to spare. Everything included content recorded from the television plays crisply and clearly. I have run into a bit of a ghosting problem with some rapidly shifting scenes in a transcoded movie but this is an artifact of lowered frame per second rate, not of the Archos itself. If you can live with that you can easily store 40+ movies on your device and still have room for 20 or 30 CDs.
A few neat movie features that spotlights the little extras you’ll find all over this device. You can place one bookmark per file and up to 10 bookmarks on the device. If you’re in the middle of a movie or show and have to attend to something else, simply bookmark it and come back later. You can also pause your movie and grab a screen capture to use as your wallpaper. Additionally each movie has a few seconds as an animated thumbnail. You can choose the starting point for this from anywhere in the movie as well.
Music: With 30 GB of space, you can store a lot of music on the Archos. Music can be organized a number of ways, depending on how good or if it’s ID3 tagged. To play music, you’ve got to have it in a play list. This can be a bit clunky as the method for creating a play list isn’t terribly good. You find a song, and click the add to play list icon. There’s not a good way to add say 500 songs at once, unless you choose the Add All to the play list. Once play lists are set up however, it’s easy enough to access them. You can play the songs in order or repeat them. Pretty standard stuff. The Archos also comes with a 5 band equalizer and bass boost, all of which you can control through presets or custom settings. Sound quality with the included headphones is good.
Pictures: You can store tons of images on your Archos and bring them around for anyone to see. Create folders to organize them and then play slide shows with different transition effects. One neat bit of functionality is the ability to play sideshows while listening to music at the same time. With the DVR station (are you convinced you need this yet? No? You will be) you can also stream both to your TV.
Files: Here’s where you can access all of the files on your Archos, see how much space you have left, create or delete new folders and rename or remove files and folders. There’s a tabbed file browser with two tabs, left and right for ease of navigation. This is one area where the stylus is more useful as the files and folders are fairly small. While the Archos is connected to its proprietary USB cable to your computer, you can set it to two modes. The first is ‘Charge Only’ where you have full functionality while the battery slowly charges. The second is USB transfer mode. Here the buttons on the Archos are disabled and you can move files back and forth.
Through the settings menu on the Archos you can set your unit to one of three USB preferences. The first is Windows Media Device. With this you can automatically synchronize your media library with the Archos. The second mode is PC Hard Drive. In this mode you can connect it to your computer as a simple mass storage device (i.e. a USB hard drive). In this mode the Archos does not automatically update its ARClibary, so it won’t know what you’ve moved on there until you manually update your unit. This mode is good for Macs and Linux as well as older Windows systems. The final mode, the one that I use is PC Hard Drive (Auto-ARClib). This acts the same as the previous mode but when you disconnect it your ARCLibrary will automatically update to reference newly added content.
Content Portal: The content portal is where you can go to purchase plug ins for your device (like the Web browser), Archos accessories and content from third party providers. CinemaNow is the big one available. As a test I purchased 300 from CinemaNow. The movie is a bit over two hours long. It took me about an hour and 10 minutes to download the whole thing – a process that was interrupted by me accidentally turning the Archos off. The download showed as paused when I did this and got the unit back on. It easily resumed and finished giving me a high quality movie that weighed in at about 1.1 GB in size.
Web: While the web browser does not come standard with the Archos and must be purchase a la carte for $29.95 I’ve got to say that I love this feature. An on board virtual QWERTY keyboard makes browsing simple. Google is your default home page and through the web browser’s utilities you can save pages to your favorites, manage your cookies and browsing history and change a few other settings. Opera is the browser’s base and it comes enabled with Flash 7. This means that for most major video sites like YouTube or Google video you can watch films right on your Archos. The browser has a flash playing function which allows you to watch the video in full screen mode which is great. Another use I found for the browser (which is truly a geeky use) is to reference the d20 SRC online for role playing purposes. I no longer feel like I need to bring my laptop if I want to look up some simple rules or see a chart online. It’s all right there, literally at my fingertips. Flickr slideshows are also a lot of fun with the Archos.
There’s a magnification mode as some text is a bit small at 800×480 on a 4.3” screen. To scroll up or down (or left or right) you can use the buttons on the Archos or simply touch the screen and drag it with your finger or the stylus.
Widgets: This is an interesting one. When I activate the widgets I get this message: The ARCHOS Widget plug-in is planned for release in the fall of 2007. This free plug-in will give you access to great utilities (Calendar, weather, games, etc.) for those who have purchased the Web Browser plug-in. Sounds cool! Wait, it is fall 2007. Where are my widgets? If and when these become available they’ll certainly add another dimension to this little device.
Recorder/DVR Station: Another area where the Archos shines. To really use this functionality you’ll need the DVR station. for the sake of simplicity, I’ll be covering both of these in this section. Plug your DVR station into your television and (in my case) the back of your digital cable box and then pop your Archos into the dock and you’re ready to record television. Yup, it’s that simple. When you first tap the Recorder icon you’ll be prompted to download the channel settings for your area. You’ll have set this up previously when you first purchased your Archos and registered it online. You’re given the option to download between 1day and 2 weeks worth of programming, and to have your unit download this manually, once a day or every three days. Obviously you’ll need a WiFi network to make this bit work.
Once it’s done downloading your info you’re ready to record! How you do this is very simple. Poke about through your program guide, find a show you want and click it. You’ll get a description, along with the option to record it or cancel. Click the Record button and walk away. That’s it. Even neater is once you’ve gotten the channel content on your Archos, you can set it to record a show wherever you happen to have your unit. Once your home just pop it into your DVR station, put your cable box on the right channel and forget about it. You can set reoccurring recordings of your favorite shows as well.
More great things you can do with the DVR station – you can browse the web on your TV. Yes, that’s been done before but this option shines when you want to watch online flash videos full screen on your TV. Using the included remote makes it easy to browse as well as it has a tiny but usable full QWERTY keyboard built into the remote, as well as a mouse track for easily moving the cursor about. Click the grab button and move the cursor to scroll around a page.
There are lots of other things you can control on your Archos. You can set your themes, change your background, change the audio and video settings and output types, change it’s language and region, set the clock, change power settings, check for firmware updates and check the status of your plugins, and grab the MAC addy and set a few other system settings (like USB preferences) as well as access repair and reformatting tools. There’s even a built in PDF viewer.
Pros: If a digital music device has convinced you that taking your music with you is the way to go, the Archos will convince you that taking everything with you is the way to go. Just about the only things you can’t do with it are use it as a phone, check your email (unless of course you have web mail), and use it as a GPS system. The unit is sleek, easy to carry around, has a ton of storage available even in it’s second smallest unit, has a crystal clear touchscreen display, great video and audio quality, an easy to use and easy to navigate menu system and works well with Linux, OSX and Windows. You can play back everything on your TV with the appropriate accessory, and access the web
Cons: A few points that I don’t particularly like about the 605 WiFi. First, I’d much rather have a place to store a stylus than the rather flimsy kickstand that’s provided with the unit so you can set it on a table and watch it hands free. Second, the charge time through the provided USB connection is awful. It takes about 8 hours to fully charge the unit. Plugging it into the DVR station does reduce this time dramatically to about 4 hours. The music playing interface is clunky until you get the hang of it. If you’re purchasing this primarily as a music player you could do better, but having the ability to play music with everything else it does is great. Lastly, I have the icon for Widgets but there are as of yet no widgets I can use. I’d love to see things like calendars, games, weather reports and IM. Nothing in the cons list would be enough to deter me from using this however.
Quibbles: I’ve found you can’t manipulate files while downloading content. An attempt to delete some of the stock photos while downloading 300 caused me to get a Hard Drive Write Error: Check Drive message. I panicked for a second as my Archos was about 27 minutes old but realized that it’s an error that’s displayed when you’re trying to do two things at once with the file system. In addition to this, the a la carte extras may niggle some. The built in speaker is tinny and not all that loud – but it’s a built in speaker and one shouldn’t expect much from this.
The final take – if you’re looking for a PMP then this is the one for you. It far outshines the iPod touch, which is available in a 16GB model for $399. You’ll get all of the iPod functionality including the ability to browse the web (sans Safari), as well as the ability to record and play back television, a larger screen with better resolution and almost twice the storage for just $20 more. Don’t want the extras? You can still have 30GB of storage, touch screen and video/audio playback for $279. There are a few other extras you can pick up as well. A $30 mini-dock you can connect your Archos to your TV and stream media to it (although you can’t record). You can also pick up a helmet camera which is a bit of an odd accessory. There’s another plug-in I don’t have access to, the Video Podcast plugin, which will allow you to play native podcast files (.mov, .mp4, .m4v) on your Archos. Using this in conjunction with a free podcast organizer and download utility looks to be a neat experience.
I’ve been nothing but impressed by this digital media player. It does everything I could want it to do and more. The ability to record television (and output to the TV) as well as simply play videos and music is what really sold me at first and I’ve been happy with the results.
Capacity: 30GB* hard drive stores up to 40 Movies, 300,000 photos or 15,000 songs3
80GB* hard drive stores up to 100 Movies, 800,000 photos or 45,000 songs3
160GB* hard drive stores up to 200 Movies, 1 million photos or 95,000 songs3 Display: High resolution screen, 800×480 pixels, 4.3” TFT LCD, 16 million colors
Touch screen Video playback**: MPEG-4(4) (ASP@L5 AVI, up to DVD resolution)
WMV (MP@ML, up to DVD resolution)
With optional software plug-ins (available for purchase on www.archos.com):
- Video Podcast plug-in: H.264 up to DVD resolution and AAC
- Cinema Plug-in: MPEG-2 MP@ML up to 10 Mbps (up to DVD resolution) and AC3 stereo sound (5.1) Audio playback**: Stereo MP3 decoding @ 30-320 Kbits/s CBR & VBR, WMA, Protected WMA, WAV (PCM/ADPCM).
With optional software plug-ins (available on www.archos.com):
- AAC5 stereo audio files
- AC3 stereo audio and 5.1 sound files Photo viewer***: JPEG, BMP, PNG PDF viewer: Reads PDF documents (may not implement all PDF features) Video recording6: Via the optional DVR Station/ DVR Travel Adapter. Records NTSC/PAL/SECAM in MPEG-4 AVI format with stereo sound, VGA resolution (640 x 480) @ 30 or 25 f/s Audio recording: Via the optional DVR Station/ DVR Travel Adapter: Stereo line-in, WAV (IMA ADPCM or PCM) format Interfaces: USB 2.0 High-Speed Device (compatible USB 1.1): Mass Storage Class (MSC) and Media Transport Protocol (MTP)
USB 2.0 Host: Mass Storage Class (MSC) and Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) with optional Mini Dock, Battery Dock and DVR stations Connections: WiFi (802.11g) connection. Optional Internet plug-in (Opera® Web browser and Adobe Flash® Player) for Web browsing (for purchase on www.archos.com)
3.5 mm mini jack for headphones
Docking connectors to connect DVR Station and other ARCHOS accessories Battery life: Music playback time: 177
Video playback time: 5.57 Power source: Internal: Lithium-Ion Polymer battery
Device charges via computer USB port
External: Power adapter/charger (via optional accessories) Scalability: Device automatically downloads latest firmware updates Dimensions & weight: Avg 122 x 82 x 15 mm/4.8” x 3.2” x 0.6” (For 4/30GB* models) - 150gr/190gr
Avg 122 x 82 x 20 mm/4.8” x 3.2” x 0.75” (For 80/160GB* models) - 260gr Package includes: ARCHOS 605 WiFi, headphones, ARCHOS USB cable, DVR Station Gen 5 adapter, protective pouch, Quick Start Guide (QSG), legal and safety notice.
Technorati Tags: archos, pmp, digital video, music player, movie player, DVR, PVR, record television, ipod, portable media player, divx, avi, opera, gadget, review
October 31st, 2007 at 3:54 pm
I wonder if this will be available in the US as most of archos products are only sold in Asian countries.
October 31st, 2007 at 4:10 pm
It’s available right now through Amazon.com. I’m in the US and I’m having a great time with it!
October 31st, 2007 at 6:43 pm
trust me, Arsgeek has been HOUNDING me with tales of his man-love for this unit. I’ve never seen him so excited about some techy gadget before. So, i’d take his work for it, that this is a cool unit!
now, just have to dig up $400….
November 2nd, 2007 at 6:30 am
Sorry to disagree about the Archos 605 but it is not in the same league as the iPod Touch. Used the Archos, took it back because it is so difficult to find all the plug ins necessary to play one video. The Touch does everything seemlessly and easily and I didn’t spend a dime more for additional software. Don’t buy the Archos before checking out the iPod
November 2nd, 2007 at 7:40 am
I think it really comes down to what you like. If you’re looking for ultras sleek and super sexy then go with the Mac products. You’ll get a smoother interface, the ability to use two fingers on the touch screen and won’t need to purchase any extra plugins.
If you want to be able to record television, have more storage at your fingertips, have a larger screen with a much higher resolution, don’t mind using only one finger or a stylus on the touchscreen and would like to spend less money, then go with the Archos. Personally the ability to use this as a DVR and the higher resolution sold me.
And never apologize for disagreeing, as long as you’re doing so in a constructive manner, which you have.
November 17th, 2007 at 7:15 pm
get it at sharper image, and get the extended warranty, that way in two years you can just upgrade to the newer model
November 17th, 2007 at 9:32 pm
Matt, that’s a great point.
Thanks!
November 18th, 2007 at 1:59 am
Just curious why no comment on the program guide and ir blaster use?
As a self proclaimed geek it would seem to be archaic to record shows by manually setting your cable box channel.
I’m curious how well the IR blaster works and it seems to me that I would want to get some type of extender to avoid having to have the unit face to face with the component it needs to control. I can’t find a reviewer anywhere that has commented on this, and I can’t find any documentation on what the serial and AV ports on the DVR station are for. I’m hoping the serial port would be for an IR blaster cable. Any ideas?
November 19th, 2007 at 11:02 am
Well, I am not a really a tech type, but I was looking into the i-touch when I stumbled across a review of the Archos 605 and the DVR station. I decided on it because I can record shows instead of having to buy them (and I can record shows that I can’t buy). I also purchased the web plug in because I have WiFi in my house and wanted to be able to get the media guide without having to plug it into a computer. I had a hard time getting the recording function set up. First, it would only record if I had my VCR/DVD recorder (that is my cable tuner) set to on and set on the VCR setting. Then it went through a time that it wouldn’t change the channel. Then I got an upgrade to the Archos and it wasn’t recording at all. So I decided to watch it at work. What I found out is that now it was sending the power impulse to the VCR/DVD tuner. So basically, since I had the tuner turned on, the Archos was turning it off and was then unable to record. I am happy to say that now I just pick the program I want through the media guide, leave my VCR/DVD off, put the Archos into the dock and when it is time to record, the unit turns on my VCR/DVD (it no longer matters which it is set to, VCR or DVD), it changes the channel, records and turns off the VCR/DVD when the recording is over. I am now in love.
November 19th, 2007 at 8:59 pm
Thanks for the response Suzberry - much appreciated!
I don’t mind a little setup work if things eventually work well :).
Do you need to have the little IR window on the front of the DVR station facing the corresponding IR window of your VCR/DVD recorder, or can you simply place the station on top?
My reasons for wanting one of these sound very similar to yours - the iPod touch is beautiful, but for me, just too expensive for what you get - I’d take the Archos just as a portable DVR - but when you add in everything else it can do, it’s pretty hard to resist!
November 20th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
Hi Scott,
I have the DVR station right on top of my VCR/DVD recorder…..you just have to be able to point the remote at the IR window. I think beyond that, placement of the unit doesn’t matter so much as long as the cords connect the two are correctly hooked up. The set up walk through is actually pretty self explanatory. I think mine was just a little fluky at the start for a variety of reasons, not all related to the Archos itself, and like I said, since the upgrade in the firmware it has worked flawlessly.
November 21st, 2007 at 1:31 am
Hey Suzberry,
That’s great to hear thanks! I can hardly wait until mine arrives! I got a great deal on eBay ($300 for the 30GB 605 WiFi with DVR station, cinema and podcast plugins and leather case!) but now have to wait for my brother in law to pick it up for me - I shipped it to my wife’s cousin to avoid the taxes and duty crossing the border to Canada
December 12th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
Archos is going to making the Web browser free, so that will save you $30. In order to access Flash and streaming video, you’ll pay $20 for a new Web plug-in. They should be making that change in the next 30 days.
December 12th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
If this involves upgraded Flash support (beyond Flash 7) they’d better give it away to existing browser owners - we already paid for flash support and streaming. How reliable is your information source?
December 12th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
I’m curious about those points as well Scott. Samantha, where are you hearing this from?
December 13th, 2007 at 10:45 am
Hello Samantha, I write and translate articles on a French Archos-dedicated website, and though we have close relations to Archos S.A. here in France, we never heard about the Web Plugin to be made free.
I’m curious at knowing where you got that piece of information, but I’m 99.9% sure you misunderstood something rather than really hearing that, like (e.g.) the fact that the newly released Free Widgets Plugin does not require the Web Browser plugin to work, contrary to what was originally said.
But if you have a really reliable source, we’d be glad to get more info about that.
See you soon on Archosloung.net!
December 17th, 2007 at 6:13 pm
Great review. I just love my 605. I use it for everything. 2 Thumbs up.
December 17th, 2007 at 6:19 pm
Would be great to have the web browser for free but I don’t see a mention of it on their site. Otherwise I love my player. Cheers
December 18th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
I’m not clear on the DVR station’s level of “intelligence”. Can it record programs without the Archos unit being docked? Can it play a recorded TV show while recording another TV show? Does it have any memory of its own?
In short, can it replace my Replay DVR?
Also, is there any cost to receive the TV programming guide?
December 18th, 2007 at 8:17 pm
Hi Janice,
The dock isn’t very smart at all. It can act as a pass through so that the Archos doesn’t need to be plugged in as your using it.
Other than that, it’s one source recording at a time and the Archos needs to be in the dock to record something. If you’re watching the Archos, you can’t record on to it.
The TV guide is for now free and comes with a one year subscription. I’m not sure what happens after that first year as there’s currently no charge.
December 30th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
I am not a techie and want something simple to use and would rather not spend $400 if i can spend $300 but on the other hand want the best value for the money with that said why would i want to buy the 605 wi fi as opposed to the 604 wi fi I will probably use this for the most part to record and watch tv shows or movies. I see the 604 wifi for as low as $199 Also is it worth waiting a few months to see what may come out in terms of the next model.
December 30th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
Hi Norman.
Archos has planned the first press conference about Gen6 in September 2008, which means the 6G won’t be released before next October…
This give you an approximation on how long you will have to wait for what’s coming next ^^
The 605 has an impressive screen resolution, and an (relatively) efficient web browsing feature.
On the 604 the web browsing feature is mostly a gadget, and the screen quality is quite basic.
The 605 offers you the ability to stream the files located on your PC to play them directly on your Archos (or on your TV thanks to a dock or the DVR Station)
January 25th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
I am curious about your reference to e-mail capability. You mentioned that one can not check your email (unless of course you have web mail). Does this mean if I use Microsoft exchange server for my e-mail, I will have the capability to send and receive and view my Inbox on the device? One of my associates showed my her iPod Touch which is WiFi enabled and she just added the capability to do all e-mail on the iPod. This is a real advantage to a WiFi enabled PMP.
I can’t seem to find this answer on the Archos site.
January 26th, 2008 at 11:08 am
Tom,
No, you will not be able to use Exchange. You can’t install additional software on the device to support this either. It has a web browser, so you can use web mail clients, but that’s it.
As far as the iPod Touch is concerned, it’s email support is very specific - IMAP over SSL only - so by default, you still wouldn’t be able to use Exchange, unless your mail server has IMAP support installed/enabled. Most mail access via the internet is still POP3 for both corporate and personal accounts. Once again - web mail might be your most likely option.
March 20th, 2008 at 4:28 am
The 605 works great - but is it possible to download windows meda player to view internet sites with streaming videos?
April 27th, 2008 at 8:21 am
nice look
but lot of deception :
- charging time very long = after 15 hours it is not fully charged (with the system is completeley off)
- too many things to buy to be useful (you must buy web browser plug in, you must buy 2 different more plug in for differents types of video decoder)
- many bug on connecting USB - it doesnt appear on window vista - you must reset the archos to make it connected
- too few video decoder
- doesnt play quicktime
- you cannot open 2 applications at the same time
conclusion = nice but not very useful
April 29th, 2008 at 5:57 am
more than 15 hours of charging? horrible
June 26th, 2008 at 12:13 am
Looks like Anton didn’t read the manual…
15 hours would be the high end of USB charging - and if the player is completely shut-off, it won’t change the charging indicator to let you know that charging is complete - it is meant to be powered on when charging. It will charge in 3-4 hours on a DVR or other dock.
Basic codec support is pretty good - iPods only support one video codec…you have to convert every thing else.
USB connection showing up on Vista would depend on what USB mode the player is set to - if set as a media device (instead of as a hard drive) it is meant to be managed by media player so it doesn’t show up as a drive.
September 2nd, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Does anyone know where I can buy an archos USB Cable Generation 5 in Canada? I’ve lost mine…I have the Archos 605 WIFI. Love it!
December 16th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
For those of you wanting to purchase an Archos, please be advised (and i love mine to bits) that the music library can be really slow (i’ve 146Gb of music, 43,043 songs). The music library also has a tendency to crash (happens about five times a week). This results in a 2 hour delay, whilst the library updates its self.
It also doesn’t have a search facility, so you have to manually browse the library, which takes for-f’n-ever.
My 605 has also been back to Archos for repair, as it crashed and went white screen, i tried countless times to re-install the firmware, to no avail. Archos eventually deduced that the HDD was damaged, the repair only took 6 weeks.[Note, you will also need an original receipt, or Archos will charge you for repair]
The Internet can be like waiting for a dial up connection, especially when using hotmail, facebook or youtube (youtube: i can’t even be bothered with, i can find an internet phone box quicker, or get a p33 outta the store, figure out networking and still watch a youtube video before the 605 has even thought about loading that flash screen)
The battery lasts around 5hours when playing music, i’ve a battery dock, so i get a good 9hours play with both the dock and internal battery.
Creating a playlist is extremly complicated, Archos really need to take a look at this aspect. There is no ‘now playing list’ so you have to use a playlist to cue music (very annoying). You can however cue 1 track, which is pointless.
You don’t have multiple file select, so when deleting stuff you either delete a folder or individual tracks. This lack of multiple file select causes nightmares when making playlists.
There is no ‘now playing list’ - Most infuriating, you can only see the previous song and the next song.
Archos have not released a full size keyborad, although the screen is crystal clear, trying to type more than 3 words a minute is impossible, as the latency between pressing the key and the device updating the screen with the character is immense.
On the plus side, it looks great, the touchscreen is very responsive and clear. Movie playback is crystal clear (rip pending), and it’s intuitive to use.
The photo album is an absolute dream, the speed at which this operates is incredible, you can rotate a 3mb pic in 0.3 sec. The only drawback to the album is deleting photos, you can’t delete the photo you are looking at, you have to go back one menu level, then delete it. Also, if you are listening to music and want to delete something, the music is stopped.
The DVR station is awesome, i’ve used many a HDDR unit, and this is simply the best. Unfortunately i didn’t buy the Archos for it’s recording capabilities, i bought it as an MP3 player.
So my advice to anyone wanting to purchase a PMP is go and play with the different brands, see which one suits you.
If your serious about music, don’t waste your time with Archos, get an iPod (if your worried about itunes don’t be, just download media monkey, it’s about the only player that can handle 250k songs seamlessly, and interfaces perfectly with iPod). If you can’t live without mega (lol - my music collection is 2.8tb) storage and wireless Internet then the Archos + all it’s shortfalls is the beast for you.
i hope that acrhos release the souce code soon, ad i’ve huge re-work plans for the 605.
Hope this helps some people.
Bobadigilatis
January 25th, 2009 at 10:57 am
i have a white screen on my Archos 605 wifi with serial no 208 to be repaired what do I do
May 30th, 2009 at 9:01 am
mildy horrified to discover the 8 hour charge time… i baught my archos 605 a week ago, hoping for it to come ASAP, recieved the thing today, now that i have to wait 8 hours, i’m slightly annoyed, but i am sure that my archos 605 will give me many many hours on fun =D
June 23rd, 2009 at 8:51 am
do not get an archos.
it has a problem connecting to the web and downloading you tube. flash in it does not work no one knows how to fix it. it is annoying and expensive. support is crap.
October 22nd, 2009 at 4:52 pm
It is known to the chemist that the same group of atoms can unite in more than one way to form a molecule. ,
December 23rd, 2009 at 2:04 pm
You, sir just got a daily visitor