The 160 GB Archos 605 Wi-Fi bridges the gap between the PC and the TV; for the first time, you can stream content from the PC or the Internet to the TV or PMP--all through a wireless home network, the Archos 605, and the DVR Station
Play all your digital entertainment: movies, TV shows, photos and music
Record your favorite TV shows
Stream and watch videos from your PC
Download movies and music directly on your PMP using the Archos Content Portal
Rating: - Great Concept, Bad Design
First off, let's go with the positives.
Assuming you pay up the money to get the plug ins, you can play pretty much anything you want except for those windows exclusive formats. The screen is amazing and the browser is great. The 605 has all the features to be an Ipod killer.
And that's when the negatives come in. first off is the horrible build quality. I've had an archos in the past and i made sure to get an extended warranty on this thing. I've had it for a week and the shape of the device seems to be changing. there are now curves where there should be straight lines. The touch screen works well enough with practice, but Archos decided to give 2 styluses(or is it styli) in the box. Only problem is that there's nowhere on the device to put those babies. But the styluses aren't really necessary. The access to the Archos download services via wifi seem like a good idea, but the products are way too expensive, especially videos.
If you want a device that will make you say "sweet" everytime you figure out another one of its tricks, i'd say go for it. If you want reliability, then stick with the Ipod or the Gen 2 Zune even though they don't have nearly as many features.
Rating: - Hard to Beat the Versatility
I finally broke down and decided to upgrade my MP3 player to a portable media player. I had originally wanted to get an iPod, but was mostly weary of compatibility with my library. After lots of research, I decided to go with the 160 GB Archos 605 because it was essentially an 160GB iPod meshed with an iTouch. It also had PlaysForSure backing up the fact that it will play just about anything.
I had some trouble at first with the player. It took almost a full day to charge the player, and it wouldn't run off auxiliary power from my computer. I also had trouble syncing it with my Windows Media Player (WMP). I don't normally use WMP, so I didn't like this feature. After getting my music on it, I realized that it filed the MP3's based on the ID3 tags (like WMP), not the folders they were in. Most of my music was sorted by genre on my computer, so I had trouble finding all of it. Also, it was tough to make playlists at first for this reason. It also froze and crashed a lot the first few days. I figured out that this is because once you open a playlist and are playing it, you can't really decide to load a new playlist without closing the old one. I also had trouble connecting to the internet via WiFi to download plug-ins.
That all being said, I still give it 4 stars. I have learned to deal with most of the issues above. It still sometimes crashes when I decide I want to listen to a particular song after loading a playlist, but oh well. I found out that you don't have to sync it with WMP. I didn't have any playlists in WMP, so I don't know if they carry over by syncing it. You can transfer files like you would with any other external device by going to My Computer and draging and dropping files in the correct folder. This is how I transfered video to it, and how I will transfer all my new music. This is also the easiest way to update your Archos and buy plug-ins. I had trouble with Archos' site, but their phone help was very good and even just had me do it over the phone and emailed me the plug-in. Most of my AVI files played without the Cinema plug-in, but about 40% didn't. I got the Cinema plug-in and I have only found one particular file that didn't play because of the compression ratio. The picture is amazing and I like it very well. The sound isn't quite as good because it sometimes isn't loud enough. Especially on an airplane, some of my files cannot be heard, even with my noise cancelling head phones. I will have to edit the file to increse the volume. I dabbled a little with the online media available for free through Archos' site on DailyMotion. It dl'ed very quickly and was very good quality for the player. Eventually I will buy the Web Browser plug in, but right now it doesn't make sense since I have a laptop.
I like that you can plug it in to the cradle or a computer and charge it while listening to music or playing video. I also got the DVR and it plays very easily onto any TV. You have to be sure your TV or cable box has an S-video output or you cannot record TV with your Archos. Mine doesn't, so I haven't been able to try out this feature. The battery is only about 4 hours for video and browsing, so you have to plan your time carefully. I have not figured out how long the music is for it yet, but it is plenty long enough.
Overall, I am very satisfied with the player and will be even more satisfied when I am able to record TV. Tech support has also been pretty good as well, although I haven't had any big problems yet.
Rating: - The Future in your Pocket
I have owned the Archos 605 unit for a couple of months now and there is just not enough I can say about this nifty device. You will be blown away by the amazing quality of the 800x480 resolution 4.3 inch screen. The unit is smaller than a PSP but holds so much more potential. First, I must discuss the problems with the Archos 605, though none are essentially important.
The Archos 605 has the ability to view PDFs using the file browser but my only complaint is that loading a PDF is rather slow and the fact that flipping pages requires several seconds to load is ridiculous.
The plugins are optional. I do not have many problems with this nuisance but I hate the fact that I have to pay for the web browser. The browser is Opera powered and works relatively well though it is still on the slow side (a firmwire update will surely fix this problem). This is where I run into most of my problems though. I can web surf on Amazon with the Archos 605 but sometimes the unit loses the connection and freezes or resets on its own. I'm not exactly sure what the problem is but hopefully Archos will fix this in a future firmwire update.
The other plugins are somewhat frivolous but I believe Archos is charging too much. $20 in order to watch MPEG-2, H.264, or MPEG-4 movie files is overpriced. My way around this hassle is converting my video files, which I have no problem with doing. I enjoy the fact that I rarely have to convert video because of the Archos 605's large codec support. The best feature is the fact that the Archos 605 can be connected to any computer and no hassling synchronization software is necessary.
Now that the minor issues are out of the way, I must explain a little bit about the Archos 605 unit. The best settings for converting High Definition content to high-quality standard definition video is a 720x406 resolution and 3072 kbit/s. Though the Archos 605 can support a higher bitrate, 3 mbps is very good quality and is viewable without any drop in framerate. Compared to the PSP settings of 2.5 mbps at 368x208, the Archos 605 clearly is the best portable media player for viewing video.
One thing to understand is that the Archos 605 runs on a harddrive using a linux operating system. This means that the unit takes a little while to startup. This is not really an issue but people should be aware of why the unit does not seem to be doing anything for about a half a minute when booted up.
The video feature is the main reason I use my Archos 605. Archos was generous enough to create movie clip thumbnails for each video in the video folder. If you need high definition content that you want to convert and watch on your Archos 605, you should look at the Apple Quicktime Gallery or on Stage6.
The music feature allows for the creation of playlists (takes a little bit of learning to get used to) and displays any album artwork. I would say that the music quality is okay on the Archos 605 (video is where the 605 really shines).
The photo feature has some touchscreen controls that aren't as gimmicky as an iPhone but are still nice to have. Pictures look very crisp on the high resolution screen.
The file browser is a great underrated feature that allows for moving, copying, and renaming files. The ability to organize is great. Also, you can access files from a Windows PC (using Windows Media Player 11 to turn on media sharing).
I tested the media streaming option and I am still stunned at the Archos 605's capabilities. I can watch a movie on an external hard drive attached to my computer by setting a folder's properties to allow sharing. The file opens quickly, never loses connection, allows for skipping around, and works as if the video were on the Archos 605's harddrive.
I am unable to go in-depth enough on every feature of the Archos 605 but this portable media player is unbelievable and a must-have for any HD addict or aspiring photographer/videographer. If you do buy the Archos 605, get the DVR station (eventually) to make full use of the Archos 605 but get the mini docking station immediately in order to charge the 605 quickly.
Rating: - Love it when it works:(
I have the Archos 605 160Gb. I love this thing when it works. I had it for 1 month with no problems. Took extremely good care of it. Kept the screen protector on it and kept it in its case in and that case in yet another case. I put 100 movies on it, 1200 songs, a few thousand pictures, and all my camcorder movies too. I had all the plug ins. They cost..so figure in an extra $100 if you want to make the most of the product. I had the dvr station too another $80. The DVR station came in with the audio out lines blown. But I used it to convert all my camcorder movies onto the unit; very easily too. Then the problems started. It would not always turn on. The problem got to the point that it came to 29/30 times it would not turn on. The majority of the time the green power light came on...but nothing on the hdd red light. Sometimes I would just get a quick flash or two from the hdd light and (maybe) even get the archos boot up logo. Usually with lines going through it horizontally and then the unit would lock up. This all started at 1 month of ownership. This is when I requested my rma. I kept it a few more weeks to back it up, trying reformats through the unit, and to reinstall firmware. It got to be impossible to deal with at 2 months. I backed up my 100+ gig of data to my computer, though it took me an hour just to power on the archos to do so. It did not seem to make any difference on how full the battery was or not. Now I have sent the unit in next day air to archos. 49 hours after ups tracking shows they got it; their website still shows it not received. Each time I call I waste 30-40 minutes on hold to get through to anyone. They say they have it and it will take (10-15 business days) to test and fix or replace it. Excluding any shipping. This just seems absurd to me. This was a lot of money to me, its new, and now I lose the unit for a month. Should this not be their problem??? Why is it mine? Am I the only one out there that is going through this???
I still think I would recommend the unit. I just hope you get a good one. I would rebuy at this point, but not sure if my opinion will stay that way. I do wish there was an fm tuner, flash capability, and voice recorder. But for the price, the size of the hard drive, and what it can do; It is worth it. If it works!
Archos 605 Wi-Fi Portable Media Player (160 GB) Reviews
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