Archos 705 Wi-Fi Portable Media Player (160 GB) | List Price: $499.99
Discount Price: $379.99
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Brand: Archos
Binding: Electronics
Release Date: 2007-11-20
Features: - Robust and portable 160 GB multimedia device with Wi-Fi
- Download movies, TV shows, and songs via the integrated Archos content portal
- Surf the Web; share content; and view and post videos to Web video sites, such as YouTube
- Stream and watch videos from your PC
- Record your favorite TV shows
Movies Suffer On This Unit [Posted on 2008-08-17]
Thanks to my purchase from Anazon I was able to get a full refund. I also purchased the Gen 5 Station to go along with the 705 and obviously. it too was returned. I purchased the 160GB Model. First things first...I absolutely loved it for its size, picture, wifi, and touch screen. BUT my main reason for it's purchase was to record DVD movies. It does by-pass the copy guard on new releases. Here is my reason for the return . . its "stutters" during playback meaning the picture freezes up, only for a minute split second as each segment is loaded for playback from the hard drive. As you watch a movies the picture "jerks/jumps" and that is very annoying. You may watch several minutes then all of a sudden th scene will stutter/skip several times!!! This is not a problem with the unit I purchased but with all 705's. I lter found this out after seeing what mine was doing and doing furthur investigation online I read allm about it from someone else. I have an older Archos Model 500 w/100GB and it is simular to the 605 and have OVER 100 movies on it and no problem. I bougt the 705 due to it's screen size being larger. With over 100 movies on my 3 year old 500 I know how to hook them up, record, etc. I gave it 2 stars: 1 for recording pictures and the other for music. I never tried the wireless or any other feature as I wanted to return it/refund within the 30 day requiremnt. So if you plan on recording movies and the jumping/flickering/sticky picture during playback is going to bother you take this into consideration.
Very poor music player [Posted on 2008-08-19]
The quality of music played back from Archos players is terrible. This should not be advertised as an mp3 player, it's that bad at music playback.
Very poor music playback [Posted on 2008-08-19]
The quality of music played back from Archos players is terrible. This should not be advertised as an mp3 player, it's that bad at music playback.
Test results and why I was disappointed [Posted on 2008-08-31]
I bought this device based on my good experience with the 605. The 705 had on paper looked like a great little device.
The test files I used are made from DVDs 720x400 at 257kbps 29 frames per second. I did my tests based on my typical usage... riding the subway. This required volume to be cranked to 99 and the Backlight to be turned all the way up. I used AVI files because that is what you can use without wasting money on the plugins
THE GOOD
-They use non-proprietary USB ports - a change from previous models
-This battery is user replacable... important since recharging eventually beats up a battery and because as shown below the battery life is not great.
-Hard drive is a respectable 160G.
-Case has a place to hold your stylus so you might take longer to lose it.
-There is a direct AC charger instead of trickle charging via USB as on previous models.
THE BAD AND UGLY.
-Nowhere to store the stylus on the unit itself.
-Even at volume 99 it was hard to hear on a subway. I imagine you would have similar problems on a plane.
-Even around the house you have to have the volume between 60-80.
-Battery life is horrible. They claim 5.5 hours in the specs. Using the settings above (necessary due to the VERY low output of the amplifier and the drakness of the screen) I got 2:02 and 1:59 on two tries after a full charge.
-The earphones leak sound, are mediocre, and fall off when you move around.
-It is a Wifi device with no browser unless you pay $29 for a plug in
-It is a video player that does not have much in the way of format support without another $38 for two more plug ins (no .mpeg-2, .vob, .mpg, .ps, .mp4, .m4v, or .mov)
All in all... as much as I liked their other products (in spite of the plug-in scheme) I would look for alternatives to this unit were I you.
Good - exept for sound [Posted on 2008-10-03]
Well, this thing does everything you'd expect it to do, exept for one thing: sound output volume is terribly low. I bought mine for entertainment for my kids on a road trip to the USA. For normally recorded mp3 or video: you'll hear aboslutely nothing on an airplane. Inside a moving car, you'll hear something, but you'll miss half. Headphones don't change that. It renders this product prettymuch useless for travel.
There are some workarounds, like completely re-encoding all your movies and mp3's and movies with a 3x higher level sound output, but that can compromise the quality. Besides, it's an annoying hassle you shouyldn't have to go through with an expected quality product.
Dissapointing.
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