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| Brand: Archos
Category: CE
List Price: $449.99
Buy New: $279.00
You Save: $170.99 (38%)
New (7) Used (6) Refurbished (4) from $200.00
Rating:  96 reviews
Sales Rank: 14504
Color: Grey
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Fragile: No
Batteries Included: Yes
Hard Drive Size: 30
Native Resolution: 4.3
Display Size: 4.3
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 5 x 1 x 3
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.
MPN: 500872
Model: 500872
UPC: 690590508729
EAN: 0690590598720
ASIN: B000HAU972
Release Date: September 1, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Awful. December 11, 2007
Shoddy hard drives, horrible customer service. Archos is the worst on the market at the moment, and the subject of a massive pending class action suit. AVOID.
Pleasant surprise December 4, 2007
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I take trans-continental trips about once a month and want to able to listen to music and watch films. The music part is easy, what with today's MP3 players, but the film part is a little more difficult on planes that make it hard to open a laptop. I also like the idea of not taking my laptop everywhere I might want to access to wi-fi, and having a lot of extra disc space for backups.
Having had great luck for several years with one of the original Archos jukeboxes I took the plunge and bought the 604 wi-fi.
It's a very good product. Running as a 30 gig hard drive when connected to a USB port it is a snap to load up on music and video. The touch screen is very intuitive, and after an hour or so with menus it is extremely easy to operate. I'm getting very good wi-fi connections (a word about some problems below), and the overall video and audio quality is very good, though a little more audio punch would be welcome. The little keyboard is really usable only with one finger or a stylus, but the whole system is well designed so that logging in to an email account is easy, and really isn't terribly time consuming. Ditto for accessing favorite web pages, which can be saved in a rather elemental bookmark system.
I gave it a good workout last week, taking it on vacation instead of my laptop (the presence of which would have induced me to work too much). Using a Belkin USB bridge I was able to easily back up my digital images for easy viewing. I had several hundred songs along for easy listening, and loaded up four movies. All worked as advertised. No serious glitches of any kind. Battery life was pretty good -- I was able to watch a two hour film, listen to music and review photos without full discharge (better than my laptop), and it is easy to change batteries, one of the great features of this product -- a second battery can be had for less than thirty dollars.
Ok, nothing is perfect, and here are some minor complaints:
- it doesn't have the most sensitive wi-fi card in the world, so it is important to be where there is a strong signal.
- it does not work with ALL wi-fi routers, particularly older models.
- music/video volume is on the low side; my original Archos Jukebox is much better. To fix this I purchased a little battery powered volume booster at Radio Shack. I can now watch movies on planes with pleasure.
- the basic kit is a tad on the weak side. Though the device can be recharged through its provided USB cable, one is up a creek without a computer unless a charger is purchased. One also needs to purchase a software upgrade to watch most films. Come on guys, pack in a charger and the basic software for watching flicks.
- life would be much easier if it saved passwords and login info.
- a very simple text editor for saving notes would be great.
-some Archos media players can accommodate a small 4 AA battery pack, something I would snap up in a second.
I had a chance to sit down with a relative and compare the 604 to his iTouch and, frankly, I think I have the better of the deal, even with the added costs. The screen, though not as brilliant, is larger and, to my eyes, pretty impressive. The 30 gig hard drive -- with no iTunes to mess around with -- is much better for road warriors, and being able to pop batteries in and out is a deal maker for me. Two standard batteries should suffice for a trans-continental round trip.
By way of conclusion, I think this is a well thought-out and nicely built product.
1st PMP and lovin it! November 30, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I got my 604 30GB wifi as a gift from my boyfriend and now he wants one. and about two months ago and I'm really enjoying it. The screen resolution is great and the functions are fairly easy to use. I got the DVR station too and it was easy to set up. I love that you can record off your tv. You can browse and transfer files from one place to another i.e. computer, another Archos, or mp3 player.
There are a few gripes though. The battery life is only about 3-4hours long when watching a movie file. There is no keyword search feature (unlike the Creative Zen W Vision that my boyfriend has)only a browser and with 30GB of hard drive space to fill looking for songs takes a little longer. Some of the instructions aren't very clear.
All in all I thinks it's a best buy!
 Well made device, very pleased November 14, 2007
28 out of 29 found this review helpful
I have had this product for several weeks now. I thought long and hard about which type to buy (I finally settled on Archos as the manufacturer) and went with the 604 WiFi due to the size (704 is too large for what I wanted) and cost (the 604 without WiFi was about the same price).
I also prefer the removeable battery, which the 605 does not have. The 605 does allow you to stream video whereby the 604 doesn't, so if this is an important feature for you keep that in mind. Also, oddly enough, the 604 WiFi comes with the Archos browser already loaded, and it appears you have to pay extra for this with the 605.
Learning how to convert files took me a while, but I found a good software to use (there are several freebies out there) and through a bit of trial and error, I have it down to a pretty good routine now. I've put about four movies on it and they work fine, although one I may have to reload because the movement on the screen is a little choppy for some reason. Converting DVDs to .avi takes a while, so I usually do this in the background while doing something else. Transfering the file to the Archos only takes a few minutes.
I see many complaints about the fact that you have to buy extra accessories, which is apparently true for most any Archos PMP. You should, of course, do your research ahead of time and figure those costs in the final price before you make the decision to buy it in the first place. If you want any cables, the docking station, etc. add those into the total cost when you compare, presuming that whatever you are comparing it to has these already included. I have ordered the docking station but it has not yet arrived, so I can't comment on its usefulness (or lack thereof). I also bought the two plug-ins online at the Archos web site. I knew in advance that I would incur these costs in addition to the cost of the 604 if I wanted them. Considering the price I got if for on Amazon, though, I still considered it to be a good buy.
Several comments have also been made regarding the sound quality of the speaker. Well, of course it's bad! It is a tiny little thing on a faily small device, so don't expect thundering surround sound. All I use it for is to make sure that the movies I have transferred to it did transfer successfully with the sound. In that respect, it's pretty handy to have.
I plan to use this to watch movies while traveling by plane, and I think it is perfect for that purpose. It is heavier than I thought it would be and IMO it is not a good choice if you mainly want MP3. There are many lighter options for this with probably better sound quality. In no way would you want to go jogging with this thing; it's simply not made for that.
If you do decide to buy this device or another model, check out www.archosfans.com to get some useful tips on using it. For newbies like me in regard to file conversion, a great resource on this site is http://forum.archosfans.com/viewtopic.php?t=8348, which guides you step-by-step.
All in all I have been pleased with my purchase and will probably buy a second one to give as a gift. I do recommend it.
EDIT 05/30/08: I have had this unit for about seven months now and continue to be pleased with it. I have it continually sitting in the docking station to charge and have learned how to set the timer. So, while in the docking cradle, it will turn on my Dish receiver, turn it to the correct channel, record the program and then turn the receiver off. You cannot transfer Dish recorded material to the unit, although you can do this with a free plug-in from Archos with the 605 or the 705 units. I am a bit irritated that Archos updated this feature for the 605/705 devices but not for the 604/704 devices, but such is life, I guess.
If I have any regret in buying it, it is that I didn't get the 80 GB or larger option instead of the 30 GB, but on the other hand this does make me delete those files I don't really need. It serves the exact purpose I wanted it for, though. When I travel, I now have a variety of programs to watch at my finger tips instead of being at the mercy of "AA Eye On American" every flight. It is one of the better buying decisions I've made.
Great...for the price. November 12, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Pros: Very solid design and construction. Lots of features for the price. Removeable battery. Touchscreen is bright and colorful. Video looks great. Web browser works great on many sites and it is also pretty fast. Sensitive voice recorder. Very easy to add files (drag and drop). Good overall user interface.
Cons: Music playback is good but not great. It seems to lack depth and the bass just doesn't "thump" like on my Creative Zen V. Creating playlists is confusing. Built in speaker sounds terrible. No flash support for web browsing.
Overall, I am satisfied with my purchase. The price is great compared to similar players. I have no use for the DVR and other accessories so actually I like the modular approach (pay extra only if you want extra).
P.S. - Handbrake is a free program that can be used to convert DVDs into mpeg4 for use with this device (save file with .avi extension and use mpeg4 or xvid encoder with mp3 audio).
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