Archos

Archos 5 250GB Internet Media Tablet WiFi 5",High Resolution Touch Screen 800x480 pixels,convenient leg stand.

• Contents: Type - Multimedia player / Memory Capacity - 250 GB / Removable Memory - No / LCD Screen - High resolution touch screen display, 800 x 480 pixels, 4.8 inches, TFT LCD, 16 million colours / Supported file formats - MPEG-4, WMV, M-JPEG, H.264 (optiona MPEG-2 (optional), MP3, AAC (optional), AC3 (optional), JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF, PDF / Audio Input - Via DVR Station or DVR Snap-on (optional): cable stereo, WAV format (IMA ADPCM or PCM)
• Compatible Platforms - Microsoft Windows Vista, XP, ME, 2000 or higher MAC OS X and Linux (with Mass Storage Device support)
• Accessories included - Headphones, ARCHOS USB cable, DVR Station adapter, cleaning cloth
• Multimedia Functions - Audio and video playback, photo viewer, Wifi connection (802.11 b/g), email server, and Internet extension (Opera web browser and Adobe Flash reader)
• Advanced Functions - PDF reader (certain PDF features may be unavailable)

They just keep getting better!!, 2008-11-07
The Archos 5 is just so much improved it's hard to fine any fault at all. All Archos products are wonderful but this time they have outdone themselves. A Superb entertainment machine and the screen is so good I watch full movies rather than sit in fron of the TV, As Archos always have said "think snmaller". Just wonderful.

Archos DVR Docking Station For internet Media Tablet

• Easily record your favorite programs with the included TV program guide1.Select your program on the program grid and schedule the recording with a click of the remote control.
• Browse the Web comfortably and write your emails using the included remote control. Charge your Internet Media Tablet quicky.
• Play back HD* videos up to 720p from your ARCHOS to your TV.
• Stream any of the music, movies or photos from your PC to your TV using your WiFi home network.
• The DVR Station includes a remote control with a built-in keyboard and a mouse pointer that will let you experience Internet on your TV just like on your PC. Enjoy your films with 5.1 Surround Sound on your home cinema system through the SPDIF output.

Archos 5 is different than an iPod - much better for my needs, 2008-10-18
Bought this a few weeks ago - the 120GB version. It's great. It does everything it says it does and more. I've not got a Tuff-Luv case for it as there isn't one that comes with it (poor show). I still thnk the price is too high as much cheaper abroad. However I bought mine (sorry Amazon) from Heathrow Terminal 1 Dixons for £195. However Dixons now raised their price to almost that of Amazon so I'd recomend getting from Amazon now.
I've filled 3/4 of the hard drive now with muisic/films and many TV programmes. Not a problem though as easy to connect to laptop or external drives or flash memory and you can file manage from the Archos.
I think the adverts and reviews for the system really undersell it.
Youtube is great. I've not found anything remotely interesting on web-tv but web-radio has some good music channels and comedy chanells. You can use BBC iplayer.
The internet opera software is better than the one I've got in my Nintendo wii - it plays nearly all videos and is very quick. I've got the dvr station and the mini keyboard doobry is actually quite quick to use. I paid for the upgrade to get the different formats of video/music. Most reviews complain about this but it's not a huge amount of money and I'm guessing it's a way for Archos to ensure they get some money directly.
I've downloaded hundred of flash games from the internet - all free - loads of sites. Just take care they don't need left/right/up/down but have mouse control and they should work. Sme are actually really good - burst the pimple on the spotty teenager is my favourite of the day. The widgets are actually not that bad - the currency converter autoupdates if you're connected to the internet - the calculator is easy to use - the weather is good (sunny today) - I won't use the others though. It wold be good if Archos do some more if if I find out that others can work too from other systems.
I've not paid to get any moviews from the Archos movie club or games form the Archos site as I think they're a bit poor and a bit of a ripoff and there is no need.
The TV scheduler is good - I have sky and it has listings (via internet) that are very good to use but wuite a few channels missing on their listing. It is great that the Archos has an infra red beamer and auto channel changes for you if it's pointing at your sky box (we have sky+ downstairs and it doesn't work on that but it's fine on normal sky box upstairs which is where we use it).Very easy to use and the channels they don't have on their listings are not ones I watch so no issue. I'm worried I've seen websites saying there will be a subscription after one year - I've not seen anything in my documentation about this so it could be a rumour...
The speakers are not so loud - but I use headphones when I'm out and about and mini speaker dock (or connected to a TV) when I'm at home.
I bought the DVR station and that does look a bit cluncky with lots of wires but it does the job well. When they do improve it they should think about how it looks with all those wires and the transformer plug is large and heavy.
I recommend upgrading the firmware just as soon as you can - it makes a lot of difference on speed - especially with USB connection. I've upgraded mine twice in the last 2 weeks and wil check now every few weeks - it's very easy to do this.
The wifi link works well - it doesn't pick up wifi signals as well as my laptop does though - I was in a hotel last week and the laptop picked up the free hotel wifi but you had to move the Archos close to the door to pick it up. At home though it works well even at the back of the garden so I can use it anywhere I am - it doesn't quite pick it up down the road in the pub though.
Transferring DVDs is easy.

Archos 5 120GB Internet Media Tablet WiFi 5",High Resolution Touch Screen 800x480 pixels,convenient leg stand.

• View full Web pages displayed just like on your PC
• Enjoy a Web surfing as fast as a laptop
• Send and receive emails with the full email application
• Access easily to online content with the Media Club
• Playback HD quality video with the HiDef plug-in

good but, 2008-12-06
I bought this machine for my birthday from Pixmania, arrived but not working correctly,so sent it back, they sent the faulty one back because I had omitted a plastic bit from the box, sent it back again ( each time sent to FRANCE, where Pixmania live, cost about £10 ) and are still waiting.Its now about 2 months. I'm sure its a beautiful machine but DON'T BUY FROM PIXMANIA.

Archos DVR Station Gen 5 Dock

Almost a "must have"..., 2008-12-16
Almost a "must have" accessory. The simplest way to import DVD, VHS or just about any other video onto the ARCHOS. Not so large that it can't be taken away on trips and the RGB/Component/S-Video and composite outputs mean it should work on just about any hotel TV - don't forget to take an S-Video and SCART cable with you.

The unit allows the player to stand up at a comfortable viewing angle and the remote control is compact but functional.

I use it with a 605 player. There is enough room between the player and the back of this unit to accommodate a 2.5" external drive which this unit will power from its USB socket when on external power, giving another 60GB of memory.

If however you want to travel with the smallest "no frills" playback only / external hard drive interface then have a look at the Mini Dock. I did not like it as there is no remote and the player (605) will not stand up.

ARCHOS Mini Dock for ARCHOS 5 & ARCHOS 7

• Transfer files directly from almost USB keys digital cameras and other portable media players with the USB 2.0 host.
• Connect your ARCHOS 5 to a television and watch all you videos on the big screen thanks to the high-quality S-Video output or with the standard quality composite output.
• Charge the battery in your ARCHOS more rapidly than the standard USB cable. Connections:
• USB 2.0 host (USB A socket to connect a digital camera or a mass storage device)
• Stereo audio and video output (S-Video and Composite)

Archos Mini Dock - Digital AV player docking station

• Connect to a TV
• Recharge quickly
• Transfer files to a computer
• USB HOST to exchange files

Archos 605 WiFi 160GB Portable Media Player 4.3" Touch Screen

• 160Gb Capacity
• 4.3" Widescreen LCD
• MPEG44,WMV,MP3,JPEG,BMP,PNG,PDF Compatible
• USB 2.0 Terminal
• Upto 17 Hours (music) / 5.5 hours (video) Battery Life

Does exactly what I wanted it to do., 2008-10-21
Archos 605 WiFi 160GB Portable Media Player 4.3" Touch Screen
It was with some trepidation that I ordered this item having read some of the really terrible reviews, but having owned it now for just a week, I can say it does exactly what I wanted. Of course with an item of this spec it does depend on what you want it to do. I wanted a portable device to view photos, play my music and most importantly to record TV and take it with me from my home to play on a TV at a holiday home, and also have TV with me when I need to pass a few moments of peace.
I bought the device bundled with the DVR docking station (which you need to record TV) and the travel battery dock with not only allows you to play the recorded programmes on another TV but also charges the device and has additional battery power.
It was a dissapointment to find that there was no guide with the Archos and a PDF document had to be downloaded. The DVR came with a complete easy to follow guide. I managed to connect it to my Sky box straight out of the box with only one or two minor problems, then the fun began.
Like any new gadget there were mistakes but of my own making. The device synced with my laptop easily and my photos and music were downloaded in an instant.
It is not necessary to download the electronic programme guide as you can manually set up recordings using the remote control. A bit fiddly but easy enough if you had to set up videos before EPG's were invented.
Having internet access was not a priority for me, which is good as I had problems registering the device. I got in touch with the help desk and despite what I read found them helpful, although I am still trying to register it...you need additional keys before you can get full internet access. Which is a pain, especially if you do have trouble registering the device (and you will)#
Negative points...poor carrying case, and the device seems to come on on its own....thus you can find what you thought was a fully charged device is now low on power...
But get one with the DVR dock to get full advantage of charging, watching recording TV and viewing photos...remote contol easy to use.
I love it and will report later any hicups.
Edit
A further week has passed and I have now managed to register the product and buy the wifi plug in. No problems downloading (Vista) and the browser works reasonably well and fast enough for me. So I still think its a great device. Customer service I had had was good. (Thanks Mr. Pohl)
So for me it was well worth the money. Will continue to report any problems.

Archos 605 Wi-Fi Portable MP3 / Video Player 80GB

Great piece of hardware, 2008-05-09
One of the best models released by Archos a 160GB hard drive holds lots of films, music, photos, even use it to back up a computer whether it be a mac or windows it is compatible with both. What has been added to this series is the wi-fi facility if you have broadband you can sit and pick up the internet and surf the web or even in any hotspots. It's the ideal machine if you have long journeys it's light portable and the 4.5" screen is crystal clear having had the previous model to this one which had half the memory they have certainly surpassed themselves at Archos it's easy to use and stores masses of data whatever you want to put on it.

Archos 5 60GB Internet Media Tablet WiFi 5",High Resolution Touch Screen 800x480 pixels,convenient leg stand.

• Contents: Type - Multimedia player / Memory Capacity - 60 GB / Removable Memory - No / LCD Screen - High resolution touch screen display, 800 x 480 pixels, 4.8 inches, TFT LCD, 16 million colours / Supported file formats - MPEG-4, WMV, M-JPEG, H.264 (optional), MPEG-2 (optional), MP3, AAC (optional), AC3 (optional), JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF, PDF / Audio Input - Via DVR Station or DVR Snap-on (optional): cable stereo, WAV format (IMA ADPCM or PCM)
• Record Function - Voice recording via the FM radio remote control and built-in microphone in WAV format (IMA ADPCM) Video recording via the DVR Station or the DVR Snap-on (optional) NTSC/PAL/SECAM recording as MPEG-4 file with stereo sound, VGA resolution (640 x 480) @ 30 or 25 f/sec.
• Compatible Platforms - Microsoft Windows Vista, XP, ME, 2000 or higher MAC OS X and Linux (with Mass Storage Device support)
• Accessories included - Headphones, ARCHOS USB cable, DVR Station adapter, cleaning cloth
• Multimedia Functions - Audio and video playback, photo viewer, Wifi connection (802.11 b/g), em server, and Internet extension (Opera web browser and Adobe Flash reader)

Archos 5 60GB, 2009-01-02
Great product. Don't usually post reviews but just wanted to say that I've had no issues with the device whatsover - mines perfect. Great for armchair wifi surfing, internet radio, and youtube movies. It's also got a really nice song player which synchronises easily via Windows Media Player. It also easily synchronises all your photo's and movies. The screen is really good - very bright and crystal clear. It does finger print far too easily and because of this and for typing on forums, search engines etc I tend to use a stylus. I've now ordered the DVR dock and can't wait to try streaming from my pc to the TV and recording programms for watching whilst travelling etc etc.

Archos 7 160GB Internet Media Tablet WiFi 7",High Resolution Touch Screen 800x480 pixels,convenient leg stand.

• View full Web pages displayed just like on your PC
• Enjoy a Web surfing as fast as a laptop
• Send and receive emails with the full email application
• Access easily to online content with the Media Club
• Playback HD quality video with the HiDef plug-in

Archos do it again!, 2008-12-09
Now had my new 7 for a week, so here we go!
To some people, it will seem a lot of money to blow on a portable media player, but believe me, this baby does so much more.
It plays just about every type of music and film files you can think off, yes there is a cost to play MPEG2 video, AC3 audio,and the new H.264 MPEG4 format and AAC audio files,with all so high def to be released soon,but this is the future of better things to come.
Forget Blue Ray, because it will be a thing of the past very soon, Hard drive format is becoming the leader in the race for versatility in watching, recording and playing of all your media needs.
This is now my sixth Archos and very pretty it is, with its smooth lines, well built casing and as the same as all the rest, very easy to use.

Screen:
An improvement from the 704 and 705 with a better screen resolution, and with more adjustment on back lighting and other controls in the menu bar.

Internet:
Seems to pick up Wifi better than before, with the new 3.5 dongle soon to be available for using Internet on the go, (mind you! plenty of people out there, who don't lock there Wifi, so picking up someone else's, is simple ) and works fine at Airports etc.

Add Ons:
With GPS, TV, Radio and a Bullet Cam for those Extreme nutters!!! there is plenty to go on with.

Things you might not know:
You can load up free games from the Internet and by pass the Archos web site, also with a the docking station, you can record from your sky box and watch another channel at the same time, just like the sky plus box, but with no cost, its all one touch recording.

Why only four stars?:
Most people will moan about the cost of Add-ons to play certain media files, but this can be rectified with Virtual Dub,( Archos are just trying to keep the price down)so I have to take other peoples comments into consideration, also there is no case, but its not a great loss, your soon realise you will need to fork out on a good strong one soon.
With one more consideration? the Ipod Touch ok! It does almost the same as the Archos, but with a few things to think about, 1. Ipod is very expensive, for a small 32 gig drive compared to the 160 on the Archos. 2. The screens are somewhat! different ...lol Its your choice !!!!!!! Ok?

There is so much to praise this French company, that I could go on forever with this review,but basically my advice would be, buy it, go put your DVD player, VHS player, Radio on Ebay, cancel your subscription with Sky and live happy ever after.