Archos 605 Wi-Fi Portable Media Player (80 GB) by Archos
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List Price: Our Price: $129.99 You Save: $220.00 (63%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Network Media Player See more digital camera details and other models |
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Digital camera reviews of Archos 605 Wi-Fi Portable Media Player (80 GB)
Digital camera Review: DO NOT BUY THIS ITEM IF YOU WANT TO SYNC MUSIC PLAYLISTS FROM WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER!
Summary: 2 Stars
This could be a fantastic media player. Its got lots of features and is a pretty good value, although you have to buy software "plugins" to unlock a lot of features, and have to buy the DVR station if you want to record any external input. I bought it mostly to store and play a large music collection which I have arranged, and for which I have already created many playlists, in Windows Media Player. Nothing on Archos' website or in the manual tells you this, BUT YOU CANNOT SYNC YOUR PLAYLISTS FROM WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER TO THE DEVICE. You can sync your content, but the playlists will not transfer in a readable format. That means that you would have to recreate all your playlists again for use on the Archos device. No thanks. I have had three other media players and every one of them synced fine. This is a simple software feature that Archos could add, but for some reason has chose not to. What a shame. With this one feature, the player could have been great. As is -- NOT.Digital camera Review: Defective Product
Summary: 1 Stars
I did a serach on the web. Apparently, Archos has been marketing this defective product (605 Wi-Fi) since 2007. This product has a major defect in that the audio makes unbearable cracking noise when the wi-fi is on. The noise is loud and distinct especially when it is streaming videos on web sites such as Dailymotion. Basically the audio function is useless when you're on internet. I had the problem with my first one, and then exchanged it, same problem. This apparently has been a common problem, and Archos has been telling customers a firmware would fix it since 2007. This defective product should have been recalled.Digital camera Review: Definitely satisfies the gadget freak in me
Summary: 4 Stars
The Archos 605 is a good device. Not perfect, but what is? Comparing it to it's obvious competitor, the iTouch, it is nowhere near as slick. No 2 finger zoom, no automatic switching between vertical and horizontal orientation (unnecessary with the large screen of the Archos), not even in the same league in terms of user interface. The Apple wins hands down...
...but where the Archos blows away the Apple is in features and functionality, 2 things near and dear to my heart.
Multiple audio formats, multiple video formats, a real browser (additional $30 purchase, an absolute must) that you can actually see and read either in full screen or zoomed. Zooming is just a double click of the touch screen away which is fine with me. Browser displays flash too (iTouch doesn't). Favorites are easy to set and get to, a keyboard automatically pops up when you click into a text field. Unfortunately you can't listen to music and browse at the same time and I find that quite odd. Who knows, Archos may (please, please, please) fix that in a later firmware version. If not then they should have put in a better processor/ram to overcome this obvious deficiency. You can view photos and listen to music though.
I love that I can just plug my Archos in via USB and copy files over to it using Windows Explorer. I could also use Windows Media player, but one of my computers is running Windows 2000 and so has an old version of Media player that I don't think syncs devices. Haven't tried and don't care. I prefer the former method, but thank you Archos for the CHOICE.
I use the buttons sometimes, though I don't think you can do everything via the buttons only. Again, haven't tried, thanks for the choice. I use the stylus for most operations. I hope I don't lose it because there's no place to store it in the unit. I guess that's why they gave me 2.
You can also stream video, images and music from a wi-fi connected computer. Useful if you have one of the smaller GB players, but with the 80gb probably not necessary. If you leave all your media on your base computer, it won't be available when you leave your house. Did I mention 80GB (or 30 or 160!)? Exactly 5x (or 2x or 10x) larger than the iTouch which would hold less than half my music collection. I need access to it all because I use it as my digital music receiver at home.
I looked for a long time and couldn't find a better device. I have all my CDs ripped to mp3 format and the CDs are in a box in the basement for backup. With the DVR device which is available as an optional accessory (again a must have for me), I can place the unit in the DVR and with the included DVR remote, control every function of the 605 and have the screen from the 605 projected to my TV. This also allows you to surf the web with the remote and see it on the TV. Also watch videos, YouTube, photos/slideshows & music. The DVR is a digital media receiver that actually works. The DVR is just that too (a DVR!), with the ability to download a tv guide and just click on the show you want to watch. The Archos will record it. Setup is a little cumbersome and so I will probably not use it for that purpose. I use it for the docking/charging/video-to-tv option.
If the battery doesn't last long enough for you, you can buy the battery dock which is nice and small and probably doubles the battery life. There are numerous additional work-arounds people have come up with for additional battery life as well as charging (archosfans forum). The USB charger is really slow apparently. This is because USB inherently provides very little power and the battery is relatively large. So it takes a long time to charge. Do yourself a favor and decide in advance which of the 4 docks you find most useful and purchase one when you buy the 605. Any of the docks charges faster than USB.
It has a tiny little speaker that does work in a pinch, and is great for showing someone a video or slideshow with music. Not something you'd want to use regularly.
Get it. Now.
Digital camera Review: Don't Buy it.
Summary: 1 Stars
I owned my Archos 605 WIFI for 5 weeks when some of the functions stopped working while using it. When I attempted to re-boot the system, it would not restart. After some quick research, I found that this is a very common problem with these units. They don't last long. Because I bought it from Amazon and not directly from Archos, Archos doesn't want it back. This was a very expensive toy for little more than one month of use.Digital camera Review: Don't drop it
Summary: 2 Stars
Yes, the 605wifi can connect to your network, but the plug-in needed for the web browser is another $30. Other plug-ins are even more expensive.
UPDATE: dropped the 605 from less than a foot off the ground. The hard drive is shot. I really don't want to buy an ipod, but in terms of overall quality and reliability, I can't find anything that's equivalent. Certainly not Archos products.