Archos 605 (80 GB) Digital Media Player

Product Description
The Archos 605 WiFi is pound for pound, one of the most powerful and fully featured digital media players on the market. The gorgeous 4.3 inch touch screen is a gateway to endless amounts of multimedia entertainment. Play movies, TV shows, music, and view photos with the simple and streamlined interface. You can surf the internet and stream videos to the 605 WiFi, or purchase and rent movies directly to the device without ever having to sync to your PC. I have not hooked this up to my TV and I can't wait to try.

The best reason(s) to get this portable DVR Video Player/Recorder is the incredible price....$199.99, the Fantastic screen quality, and the user friendly touch screen /interface. Sandisk was all set to ship their similar featured Sansa View product for $399.99 but wisely decided to kill that product with the imminent introduction of the Archos 605 4GB Flash Unit.

I bought this player because I have been very happy with previously purchased and used Archos PVR Portable Player recorders and the fact that i wanted an extra thin player with great battery life.

Since this player does not have a hard disk and uses SDHC SD cards and internal Ram (4GB) the battery life is much better than the models with a spinning hard drive. I am averaging 5.5 to 6 hours of battery life with my 605 4GB. I just used it on a flight from Honolulu to New York City and Back and it performed flawlessly. The Screen is about as bright as some of the latest Sony and Toshiba Notebooks.

Positives:
Large Bright High Resolution 4 Inch Screen (The Best I've seen compared to Ipod, Creative, Cowon, Toshiba Iriver, etc.)
Thin And Light but solidly built-Should last a long time
Long Battery Life Averages over 5.5 Hours when watching Videos 12-13 hours for audio playback.
Convenient and easy to charge using a USB connector (supplied)
Easy to attach auxiliary battery packs using the USB charging connector
Easy to transfer video and audio content. Also easy to view Digital Camera Photos. USB 2.0 Support means fast file transfers
Street Price of Only 199.00
WiFi Capable
Opera (Browser Capable)
Built-in Kickstand
Can use your fingers to activate touchscreen menus and interface controls
Easy to download and upgrade firmware to fix bugs and to add features.
USB connectivity painless - Drag and drop - unit shows up as a hard disk when you plug it into a computer using the USB cable.

Negatives:
PVR recording Capability requires extra cost Docking Station $100.00
WiFi needs purchased software to operate
Non-User replaceable LiIon Internal battery

Before I received the 605, I spent the entire week reading and watching up on its features, problems, and reviews. I read many reviews on here that praised the archos, and some that were disgusted with what they got, and many that were fine but not so thrilled by what they got.

For my own experience with the 605 wifi, I was extremely satisfied. I would suppose most people that voted against the archos received a faulty package.

First off, When I first opened up the box, my first thought was "What the hell? It's smaller than I expected." Since I've heard many say its quite big, and the pictures online make it look ugly and big also. It's quite pleasing to the eye when its held right in your hand. Though this is just an opinon :)

Second, I turned it on and instantly knew how to navigate it. It's that easy. I used the opera web browser (+$30 on archos.com) and loading pages and roaming around online was simple, and easy to do. It is pretty fast considering its 1/1000th the size of a computer and uses a wireless connection.

Moreover, I was pleased with the sound quality, though many "audiophiles" were disappointed. I have to say, it doesn't play loud, but I don't listen to music "that loud" and it was perfect sound range for me. The equalizer does a good job of getting the sound you want, and it compares well with other music players.

The video is where this baby really shines: it's beautiful. I have a collection of movies on my drive that I've been waiting to bring around, and this baby plays it all. It's ultra versatile compatibility with file formats makes it too easy to use. Connecting it to a TV and watching it via the DVR station (+$100) it is still beautiful.

The drag and drop feature really hits home. It's ultra easy to do, and I prefer it over syncing with windows media. On a side note: so far, I've only used 28% of this massive 160 GB hard drive, though I've not even near done getting everything on it.

The touch screen + combo side buttons + the DVR remote makes this player have 3 different ways on controlling it. I found that ridiculously too easy to use. The touchscreen is VERY fun to use; I love it.

Things that I don't like would be the slow interface. Things take a few extra mili-seconds to load, though I don't know if other PMPs are like this since I've never owned any other one.

I got this baby on ebay for less than 400 with the DVR station and the cinema/opera browser plug-in. But when I tried to register it, I was denied since it was already registered (to install the plug-ins). So I was recommended to call archos and they solved my problems very well. I was pleased at their service. She didn't even say bye after I said I was done. Most customer service people whisk you away after you're done, but she didn't.

Overall, its a great music player (a bit bulky if for pocket play) and it polishes as a video player. The extra features that it comes with makes it shine through compared to the ipod touch. Hope you get one and have fun.

Things I like about Arcos 605 WIFI 160 GB: nice interface and GUI (looks really slick), web browsing ability via WIFI (though you have to pay extra to enable it), superb picture browser (shows thumbnails and you can use your finger to zoom into a picture and pand around), fairly fast in loading media files, easy scrolling of long lists, well designed MP3 player (shows album art in hi-res, has on-screen touch-sensitive buttons for previous/next song with song descriptions etc). The price is good for what you get, USB 2.0 connection to your computer is fast, USB host speed is good too and 160 GB is currently probably the largest offering of its kind.

Things I didn't like: though it has a 800x480 hi-res screen, the contrast and clarity is not as good as Cowon A2/A3 and the screen exhibits a shimmering effect when moved around (probably due to its touch-screen coating). Sound quality is fairly poor (you can hear a constant background hiss), volume is fairly low even at maximum sound levels and there aren't many options beyond the standard equalizer to enhance the sound (wheres the Cowon A2/A3 has crystal clear sound with great sound enhancement options). Also battery life is so-so. When fully charged, you can get 4 hours and 50 minutes of video out of it, but when powering down the device, you have to choose between suspend mode, which drains the battery even when you don't use the device, or complete shutdown, which makes for a very slow startup. Most users will use suspend mode but then they'll never get the advertised playback time. In fact after a week of not using the device, I was unable to even power it up, although it had been fully charged before - that's how badly the suspend mode drains the battery. Further complicating the matters is the fact that it takes about 10 hours to completely recharge the battery - and that is slow compared to the 3-4 hours of most competitors. You can speed up charging time by getting a separate dock, but I tried one (the battery dock) and it is one of the clumsiest and least elegant accessories I've ever used.

Also button placement is not the smartest - its sensitive buttons are right where you'd want to place your thumb to hold the device, so you'll be pressing those buttons even if you don't mean to. And there's no auto-resume. You can still manually resume the latest file you were watching/listening, but Cowon A2/A3 can auto-resume right after startup (if you set it up in options) plus it maintains a long list of various files that you can resume, not just a single latest one like the Archos.

All in all I'd say it is currently the best image browsing device of its kind (the pictures look amazing on the screen and the ease of touch-sensitive zooming and panning has to be seen to be believed), unique in its WIFI and web browsing abilities (also supports flash and Youtube) and the 160 GB offers a monstrous amount of space compared to the competition. But if you want the absolute best video and audio quality, and don't want to buy various accessories to use all the features that should be standard in the main unit (like faster charging, longer battery life and ability to connect to and record from TV), there are better options out there (mainly the Cowon A3 comes to mind once again).

I adore the Archos 605 WiFi. I had considered buying the iPod Classic ($250), but decided to buy the Zune instead ($250) because it had a bigger video screen. I do think the Zune has a slight edge over the gimicky iPod, but it was such a hassle to use. You cannot access the Zune like a hard drive, and the interface is very difficult to use. I started to regret it. Then I found Archos. Initially, I was intriqued with the fact that you download content directly from Dish Network receivers (some of them). I learned that the Archos 605 WiFi can do so much more than iPod or Zune. You can access it like a hard drive, so you can copy, delete, reorganize, etc. any way you want. There is no gimicky interface to use. You can also connect to any available wireless connection. This is great because you don't have to kick a family member off the computer, find the USB cable to connect, etc. Just connect to the wireless network and you are done. I don't think iPod has a standard wireless connection (if at all), and Zune is limited to communication with other Zunes. Also, you can surf the net. I did not think this would interest me, because I did not think I'd want to surf on such a small screen. But I found it quite fun, especially for sites like YouTube. iPod and Zune do not surf the web. The screen is much bigger than iPod and wider than Zune. I thought the Archos 605 size might be and issue, but I found it not to be an issue. If you have a problem with the Archos 605 size, then it will be an issue with iPod and Zune as well. Also, Archos has a touch screen. This is very handy! iPod and Zune do not have touch screens (the more expensive iPod touch does though). I thought maybe the touch screen would be a problem with getting it dirty, but it has proven not to be a problem for me. Another nice feature is the built in speaker. Granted, it is not the higher quality sound, but if you have a little child who wants to watch a movie and you don't have headphones for them on you, it is very nice to have. Also, the speaker isn't that bad to use when your ears get a little tired of having earbuds in them. iPod and Zune - no speaker. That's a big deal sometimes. The Archos 605 can do pretty much everything the iPod and Zune can with regard to Video, Music, and Photo's, so you do not lose out on any features. Again, if you have Dish Network, you can transfer recorded content directly to your Archos via USB in about 5-10 minutes per hour of content. That is a HUGE feature for me, because I want to take my programming with me to work or elsewhere so I can watch it when I want to. Without this feature, you have to record to it in real time. iPod and Zune do not offer that feature. I also recommend buying the Generation 5 docking station. With it, you can record directly to your Archos. Can't do that with the iPod or Zune (although, they might have their own docks, I'm not sure). With the docking station, you can program your Archos to record certain programs and download program guides and listings (schedule) - basicly it becomes a DVR (like TiVo). Also, for another $120 or so, you can buy an attachment that makes your Archos 605 a GPS device! Very nice. iPod and Zune - nope! Also, there are 'widgets' that you can install for free that add features. I added one that makes mine a calculator. Archos is designed to add future features via their website with simple downloads. I'm out of space, but I could go on. Archos simply blows everything out of the water!