Customer Reviews

ARCHOS 5 4.8-inch 500GB Internet Tablet

5 star:		(64)
4 star:		(64)
3 star:		(26)
2 star:		(36)
1 star:		(83)

 

 

I just got my new Android 5 500GB direct from Archos yesterday and its quite a beauty. I'm upgrading from my old Archos 5 250GB, so that will be my primary point of comparison. I also have the following to compare to: iPod Touch 64GB, Archos 605, Walkman X, Samsung P2, and a host of other MP3 players large and small.

Given that my iPod Touch upgrade this year was less than astounding, I pretty much figured that this upgrade for Archos would be similarly understated. Mainly I just wanted the extra hard drive so I could backup all my laptops onto my music player. I was wrong! The new Android version seems to have a whole new feel both in form factor and the new software. I had heard that Archos was having problems with the software, but they seem to have ironed most of them out as of 1.1 firmware release. I did update my firmware immediately, and the process was quite smooth.

I'm going to rate this player on my absolute scale. I will also be making notes on the value of the upgrade from my old Archos 5. Note: I mostly use this as a media center to play music and video; secondarily as a backup drive.

Let's get to it then, these are the things I love about my new Android:

1) 500GB -- totally awesome amount of disk, I can now put just about every digital file I own on the Archos.
2) Android interface -- the overall feel of the software interface has definitively improved with the integration of Android. Effects are crisper, the esthetics are cleaner, things seem to happen faster. I especially like how easy it is to access the most recently played song or video from the main screen, pops up with a little thumbnail that you tap on and voila, resumes right where you left off!
3) Apps -- with Android we now have access to some serious app selection. Of course, nobody compares to the Apple App Store, but this comes the closest.
4) Weight -- this actually feels lighter to me than my 250GB.
5) Dock/DVR -- this popped right into my old 5 DVR and started playing right away. I still think this is the best DVR/Player combination available of all the MP3 players.
6) Video/Hi Def -- of the players I have owned, this has the best, biggest, and highest resolution screen.
7) Portrait/Landscape -- Archos has borrowed the iPhone trick of rotating the display according to orientation. I guess they have an accelerometer in there now, I dunno. Still, its fun to see this feature on an Archos. Its a lot easier to navigate playlists in portrait mode.
8) Easy and regular firmware updates -- with a WiFi connection, the firmware updates are easily performed on the unit itself. That's the easiest system I've seen of all my players. One thing I've learned about Archos over the years, they will put out a steady stream of firmware updates.
9) WMV/MTP mode-- very smooth interface to Windows for either Media Monkey or Windows Media Player.
10) Dedicated volume button -- power and volume buttons have been conveniently located onto the top edge. This is actually much easier to use when it is docked on the DVR (which is where mine spends most of its life!).
11) Sound quality is quite good, sounds great through my Klipsch speakers and seems to have more oomph than my other players.
12) WiFi/Browser -- has a good browser and WiFi connection has worked well for me. I think the keyboard is better than the Touch's, although Safari is probably the slightly superior browser. The bigger screen also helps for browsing. Overall I'm inclined to give the Archos the top ranking for browsers.
13) I just discovered Twidroid, one of many apps pre-loaded, allows me to check my Twitter in a really nice format -- love it!
14) Portability -- well there's only so much portability that can be expected with a screen and hard drive this large. This new design is smoother and rounder so its a little more comfortable in a pocket. It is very easy to carry around as a handheld device, fits nicely in my hand as I stroll about the house trying out all of the Android Apps! In any case, this is not as portable as a Touch but I think its pretty good for a small computer -- which is basically what this is.
15) No extra plug ins needed (so far!). Always in the past I've laid out another $40 for additional Archos plugins to play iPod format music and other video formats. So far I haven't had to do that -- thank you Archos :)
16) Archos will stand behind their product. I've had to send in a couple of Archos units over the years and they have always been happy to either repair or replace the unit without quibbling about it, as long as its under warranty. Note: it did take two weeks to get my unit back!
17) Multi threading: now I show my engineer/geek side. This baby can do a bunch of different stuff at the same time, unlike the iPhone/Touch which can really only do one thing at a time. The Android can be doing other stuff while you are listening music. I love the little bar on the top that you can pull down and switch to any other task that is running.
18) Built-in kickstand, very nice feature.
19) Stylus friendly touch screen -- sometimes you just get tired of trying to type a touchscreen keyboard with fat fingers! In general, this is one of my favorite touch screens. Most of the other touch screens, including iPod/iPhone, are capacitance which means stylus won't work
20) Micro USB cable plug-in: finally a standardized USB plug and you can have it resting on its kickstand while plugged in :)

Given that the Archos tops the class in several categories, and continues to be the best 500GB 5 inch screen player available I give it about a 4.7 stars out of 5 (round to 5). There are a few things I'm less than thrilled about:

1) Update: I believe you can now format your drive in a Windows friendly format on 1.7.96 version of firmware. External hard drive EXT3 -- as I understand it, Archos changed to the EXT3 hard drive format for reasons of speed and reliability. The result for me is that I can no longer simply select hard drive MSC mode, plug the Archos into a Windows machine and expect to access the drive. You have to install an Ext3 driver such as EXT2 IFS on your Windows PC. Once I did that I was able to access the hard drive and backup files to my hearts content.
2) The playlist interface didn't get much of an upgrade and its still kind of clunky. I want to simply tap my playlist and it starts playing. Often times I have to do a couple of extra taps to get the thing playing.
3) We lost the dedicated play button and removable battery a while back -- but I still miss them both! None of my favorite touch screen players has either of these features. I'm also missing the brown metallic color and the rubbery backside.
4) Finding a case for this baby is no easy trick. You're not going to find one at the local Best Buy I'm afraid. In the past I've resorted to ordering my Archos cases from European companies like I-nique and Noreve. This is generally true of any player that is not an iPod or a Zune.
5) As always with Archos, you must remember that you are dealing with a French based company. This means that they don't always provide the best support/service/upgrades to us Americans.
6) Lets face it, Archos is always playing catch up. Some of the new features aren't fully functional yet. I do have faith that Archos will fix all the little glitches with things like GPS over the course of the next 6 months. The Apps available are currently a bit limited. I expect this will improve over the coming months.
7) Keep in mind that this is not a unit for the faint of heart. This is more for the hobbyist who wants a cutting edge experience that may take some messing around to get it just the way you want it. If you want something easy that requires minimum effort then iPods are going to be more your cup of tea.

For me this is still the best player of its class -- that class being large hard drive, big screen PMP players with other fun features. Android makes for some fun possibilities, and overall I'm impressed with this as an upgrade. Once again, if you don't mind a smaller screen and you love apps I suggest you get an iPod Touch. If what you care about most is sound quality you may want to get a Walkman X. For me those are your top 3 touch screen players, it just depends on what you care about the most.

Note: 10-23-2009; I upgraded to firmware version 1.2.03 which fixes some App, Browser, and YouTube issues. Apps do seem happier now, upgrade process was very smooth. Still happily listening to tunes for about 8 hours a day with no problems :)

Update 11-7-2009: I've been running version 1.2.15 with a host of bug fixes and the unit does seem more stable in general now. Wifi is working better and USB connection seems more reliable.

Update 11-23-2009: Upgrade to firmware v 1.3.07 -- a long list of bug fixes including a few improvements that I had hoped for to control the scanning of multimedia files/ ArcLibrary. Got an AppsLib update which seems to work more reliably. There seem to be a lot more apps available now (300 ish) in AppsLib. Just keeps getting better and better! Still is playing music day in and day out with no problems and I'm backing up 2 laptops worth of files onto my 5 IT.

Update 12-18-2009: I've been on firmware 1.4.16 for over a week now. Lots of little fixes, seems even more stable now.

Update 2-11-2010: Firmware 1.7.33 (Android Donut) upgrade. The upgrade was a bit of work, I ended up reformatting the drive and starting anew. However, power saving seems to work a lot better and I haven't seen it reset itself for quite a while now. This seems to be the most solid release yet!

Update 4-8-2010: Firmware 1.7.96: just keeps getting better! Several annoying bugs fixed, Deep Sleep and Windows hard drive modes have been added as helpful new features among other things. This seems even more stable than previous versions. This is still my main car and home music player of choice.

Update 8-1-2010: Firmware 2.0.28: This version is stable. I had a little trouble with my player and had to send it in for a new one. Tech support was quite responsive and helpful, turn around time was pretty good and the new player works great. New features make for much better gaming from what I hear (I don't do gaming on it myself). Having given up the player for a while, I've come to the conclusion that the Archos actually has the best sound of all my players!

Update 9-24-10: Firmware 2.0.38: More improvement for games and 3D. Still my favorite player for my desktop and my car. New Android v2.2 versions are coming soon, I can hardly wait!

Update 3-11-2011: No firmware updates -- I think we've hit the end of the road for this product! Unfortunate since I was hoping for some FroYo. This also appears to be the end of the line for high capacity product development at Archos, there was no new version of this product released in 2010 that I know of. Overall the unit has held up well to 1 and a half years of daily use. The screen has developed a bit of a light fog effect; since I use the unit for music this isn't a big deal for me. I've taken to putting FLAC files on the A5 and it handles them pretty well, it does act a little funny with some files though -- as a result I can't strongly recommend this unit for FLAC-heads!

This is likely to be my final update -- looks like I will be keeping my 500GB A5 Android until it drops dead, quite possibly my last hard drive MP3 player and I dare say this product signals the end of an era for the world of portable media players.

Update 6-22-11: Firmware 2.0.45 -- I spoke too soon! This release fixes an assortment of bugs and has been quite stable for me (I've had it for about a month now). I always do appreciate a stable bugfix update. In the meantime, I have successfully been able to get both Android marketplace and Amazon Appstore working and I've downloaded apps from both sources successfully. Of course Android 1.6 is getting pretty dated at this point, wouldn't it be nice to have Android 3 on this baby?!

This device will do everything it says it will. BUT, there are a lot of things you have to do first. So, I'm happy with the product. But it has taken me a long time to get it set up. And, there are some hidden fees that you should know about. Let me start with the positives. The Archos 5 with Android is awsome. If you like movies and videos and photos, etc. this thing is great. I copied and pasted a digital copy of a movie off of a blue-ray disc. The movie plays great on the Archos. Oh, it'll do all of the texting and facebooking and e-mails like all the other PDAs. It has apps and all that. But the big bang is in the video. The display is great and the layout is really good. I love it. It is easy to navigate and enjoyable to use. The touch-screen is a little sluggish. But, Apple really set the bar high on that. No one does it like Ipod.

Set-up: I spent hours getting the thing set up. It crashed a lot. Right in the video tutorials at Archos.com (the video tutorials are awsome by the way) they show you how to use a paperclip to push the reset button. Yes. You will need a paperclip. I imagine someone will stop reading right there and go back to looking at Ipods. I don't blame you. But, remember what I said. In the end, after the setup, the Archos is really good.

Portability: This is the 500 gigabyte model. So, yes it will fit in your pocket as advertised. But, it needs to be a big pocket. I bought the leather case for it. Honestly, strapping it to my belt reminded me of the Nerds movie. I don't know anyone who would carry it like that. Realistically, it's not something you are going to strap to your arm and go for a jog with. If that is what you're looking for, go buy a cheap mp3 player. On the other hand, with 500 gigabytes, I have all of my music on it. That's about 50 cd's worth of music. That only takes up about 5 gigabytes. You get the idea.

Hidden Costs: 1) I spent several hours trying to figure out why the FM Transmitter wouldn't work. I then found out that the device has to be plugged in to the car charger for it to work. That would have been nice to know. I hadn't purchased the car charger. I opted for a cheaper generic window holster. So, I have to spend more if I want the FM transmitter to work. 2) The GPS only has a 7-day free trial. You have to spend about $40.00 to get the full version. 3) I'm sure there is some fine print somewhere that says what video formats will work. What I remember most is the review which says you can throw just about any format at the device and it will take it. Well, that may be true. But in order to get some of the formats to work, you have to spend another $40.00 for a software bundle.

DVR Station: I was really excited about the DVR station. I still am. But, I haven't been able to get the video right yet. I'm hoping I can still figure out what the problem is. And, the program guide isn't available outside of the UK. That's right. The program guide that is advertised is not available in the U.S. That would have been nice to know ahead of time. So, it's like the old VCR days. You have to look at your local TV listings and then manually set up the channel and time. That's just one thing. You have to leave the device on stand-by or on the home screen when the time for the recording is about to begin. If you are on any other screen, it won't record. That's not a big deal I guess. But, I spent a lot of time and frustration figuring that one out.

Summary: I picked the Archos over the Ipod because it had so many features in one device. I could buy one device instead of a DVR, a GPS, and an mp3 player. Well, you have to pay extra for the GPS. And, I still haven't been able to get the DVR to work right. Why am I hanging on to it? It's the 500 gigabytes of storage. None of the Ipod's currently on the market come even close.

If you have a lot of video and music that you want to take with you everywhere you go, the Archos is for you. If you're looking for an mp3 player that has aps, get the Ipod.

First let me start off by saying I've used every version of Android extensively and I know ways around faulty apps with free alternative apps in the marketplace. Please keep this in mind while reading this review. Also, I used a friend's Archos 5 for 3 days before I bought my own Archos 5 8GB from Radioshack (The Shack?) for $[...] I fully reconfigured and updated his device with Google apps support and Google sync. More on that below.

Pros - beautiful build quality, beautiful screen, nice size that's bigger than a smartphone but small enough to fit in a large pocket, Access to the entire Android Marketplace after enabling Google apps, Google apps support and Google Sync on the Archos after enabling them. SD card slot for easy storage upgrades

Cons - Touch screen works but isn't as responsive as it should be, device can lag at times (but this isn't all that unusual with Android devices in general) Some apps didn't work as advertised. icons don't always use space in the best way resulting in large gaps between icons

For anyone that wants to truly see what the Archos 5 Android can do, they should install the Google apps after updating to the latest firmware. I understand this should not be necessary for a device such as this but under the circumstances, it's highly recommended, only take a few minutes and is easy to do. The Android Marketplace alone gives the device so much extra firepower and flexibility that it cannot and should not be ignored. GPS default app isn't working right? Use Google Navigation. Can't get Pandora to run in the browser? Use the free Android Pandora app. Hate the default Archos 5 browser? Get Opera, Xscope or Dolphin browser in the Marketplace. It's that simple.

I will keep this as brief as possible. Archos did screw up big time by releasing a device that has potential but shipped flawed, buggy and gimp. I wouldn't be surprised if lawsuits are being prepared for false advertising considering some of the default apps don't work. But despite this, I still liked the device because as I mentioned above, after installing the Google apps and marketplace, I was able to fully customize the Archos 5 Android to run like I needed it to run with the exception of the touchscreen. I didn't use Archos's software to playback video. I used Astro, Xscope or the Android Gallery. I didn't use the default music player either. I used the default 1.6 Android player and "3". I even switch the home launcher with DXtop and custom skins and icons. I tried to get the Archos to run similar to my Nexus One as best I could and the results were impressive. Also considering added storage through SD card is a welcome addition as well as the bluetooth tethering support. Speaking of which, I used the Bluetooth File Transfer app from the marketplace to transfer files from my Nexus One to the Archos 5 Android and it worked without any problems. That's my constant theme for this review. If you are familiar with the Android Marketplace, you can find apps that function better than many of the default apps that ship with the Archos, It made my life less stressful for sure. Video playback is great, music playback is great even though the speaker is good but not the best I've heard on a portable device. I had no stalls, freezes or crashes in the 3 days that I've ran the Archos and I ran it pretty hard.

The problems I did have all revolved around the touchscreen. Archos really should have known better and simply put a capacitive screen on the device. What's the point in having a touchscreen if it isn't going to be as responsive as it should be? Really. This was almost a deal breaker for me until I came to grips with it. It's still not as good as my Nexus One, not by a long shot but it's doable for the tablet. If lack of screen responsiveness can be addressed through software, then Archos should make that priority one. The stability issues are being dealt with as I just used the device with the latest firmware and it was very stable. But Archos should keep at it to ensure that the Archos 5 Android becomes a monster that will almost never fail.

Summary, if you're an experienced user of Android and can deal with a resistive touchscreen then I'd say the Archos 5 may be for you. Android Marketplace will provide so many apps that will add so much functionality to the Archos, that is almost worth the price of admission alone. Audio and Video playback are great with Android apps, there are a number of good browsers to use for the web allowing you to download Youtube videos...almost any video you find actually and run it direct from the unit. I had no problems with Wifi as I'm running a Linksys WRT54G router. My only other gripe is that my PS3 will not recognize the Archos as a mass storage device.

If you want overall ease of use without the hassles of constant firmware updates, if you want a more responsive touch screen and a "it just works, out of the box" experience, then buy Apple and never look back.

I'll update this review as I spend more time adding apps and files to the device to see if it holds up over longer periods of intense use.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: 4-10-10 I've spent the last few days really putting this device through it's paces and I've learned quite a bit. First and foremost, after calibrating the touchscreen, I can say that it's definitely functional with finger use. No stlyus needed. But it's not as good as a capacitive screen and rightfully so considering the Archos 5 Android has a resistive screen. With that in mind, I can navigate the Archos fine with my fingers and type fairly well on the virtual keyboard. Calibrating the screen is key and it very easy to do considering you're prompted to calibrate the device on the first power on. Not sure why my friend didn't do this with his Archos 5 Android. The unit has been very stable as well and only crashed on me once when I had two browsers open, one having multiple tabs and trying to run video at the same time while running two other apps in the background. (I'd like to see a 1GHz Archos 5 Android with 512mbs of DDR3 instead of the 128mbs that's used now.)

I've thrown quite a few video formats at it, Xvid, Divx, Mp3 and Mp4 videos etc and they've all worked with the exception of two that needed a codec that Archos offers for a price. That sucked and I passed on it. The only other format that I have to try is .FLV which I fully expect to not work but I'll be happy to be proven wrong. Transferring files from my PS3, Nexus One and PC to the Archos was very easy once I put a 16GB microSD card in the unit. The PS3 and PC wouldn't play nice with the Archos until then.

The unit is very stable after installing the Android 1.6 update. But I decided to not put the Google Marketplace on my unit as the Archos Marketplace has quite a few apps in it and I realized without a constant internet connection, Google sync wouldn't be worth the install. Any apps I needed I just bluetooth pushed them from my Nexus One to the Archos using the free Bluetooth Transfer app in both marketplaces.

Also, I was wrong about the video playback being better in Android apps as opposed to Archos's own apps. I've found that once you use a Android Launcher (Home Alternative app, DXtop, Open Home, Panda Home etc) on the Archos, you lose the Archos icons for music, video, photo playback that's part of the Archo's software that runs within Android. You need those apps and can have them on your desktop as widgets if you get them from the Archos marketplace under Multimedia. They're free too. What this does is allows you to run Android apps as much as you want but also have the more robust Archos video app and the far superior codec support as customizable widgets without missing a beat.

I did have problems with the playlist creation with the Archos music player. Although I like the layout of it once songs start to play. But at this time, it's just easier for me to make playlists using the default Android app.

The photo gallery is a matter of preference. Archo's Gallery is superb and images look fantastic on the screen along with a larger sized thumbnails for easy viewing. The Android Gallery is good and images quality still looks great but the thumbnail view isn't as big and doesn't look as slick especially after seeing the excellent Android 2.1 gallery.

I believe that the Archos 5 Android tablet is a great device with some negatives that can be fixed with software updates and/or revisions. I didn't buy the larger 500GB, 320GB or other sizes because I wanted the slimmer form factor of the 8GB version. It offers a lot of flexibility and power for such a small device and isn't sold at a premium. Having the ability to run Android .apk files regardless of the lack of Google Marketplace support means users can still get access to the huge catalog of Android apps available and run them on their devices. If potential buyers are already running Android smartphones then they're ahead of the curve. It could benefit from more RAM in future versions as the device lag at times but the lag was no where near as bad as some people have made it out to be. It's not G1 or Mytouch 3G bad where the device locks up for minutes at a time. If Google wouldn't make this a "Google Experience" device then they must have something truly special in the pipeline but as it stands, even at a much cheaper price for the 8GB version, Archos 5 Android does quite a few things that a Ipad can not.

4-20-10 UPDATE

This will be my final update for the Archos5 Android as I've put it through it's paces pretty good since I've started using it.
I found out that the device will play flash movie files (.flv files) native without having to encode the video for playback in a different format. A Archos rep recommended saving videos to the archos one by one as opposed to bulk saving because bulk saves can damage the files en route. I bulk transferred a number of .flv files and all were corrupted but I can confirm that doing as the archos rep suggested works. I decided to put the Google Experience apps on my Archos because, quite simply, the process is so ridiculously easy and fast there was no reason not to. This device has great potential but there are still some things that could have been better.

Battery life. The Archos 5 Android's battery drains incredibly fast while playing media. I'm not sure which battery is used but a higher capacity battery than the one present would have been a godsend. I can use the resistive screen for a good experience but a capacitive screen would have made navigating the Archos 5 Android a great experience. The device needs more RAM. Period. Overall stability. I'm a geek at heart and tooling around with the Archos is great fun for me. I've loved it because I know how to get around or solve some of the problems other users are having. But the average consumer isn't going to be as patient or even as tech savvy enough to do the same. The initial bugs with the Archos simply should not be. Yes, firmware updates have solved stability issues and bugs in some key areas but the reality is, when you're asked to pay hundreds of dollars for a device, it should just work. Period. With that being said, I stand by my 4* review. The Archos 5 Android shows what a internet tablet should be (when the full range of Google services added) even if it's currently geared towards the power user (Android/Linux power user really) as opposed to Joe Everyday. -1* for the need to update as soon as you take it out of the box.

I have to say that I went against my gut when purchasing this device, as it looked really nice, and really, I wanted it for watching movies, listening to music and checking the internet quickly when I am on the run in airports.

The movie portion worked really well. For that, I give this device 5 STARS...I actually downloaded movies to my Amazon Unbox, then hooked up the Archos and bam, instantly on my new Archos 5 (well, after the movie downloaded to my unbox in 1.5 hours).

The music portion also works flawlessly. Not really any hiccups there, and the sound was good, but could be better. For that, I would give it 4 stars...

SO FAR SO GOOD RIGHT?

WRONG

First, I had the reset this device 5 times in 2 days because it just plain froze up. I would get multiple error messages when I was connected to internet, dropping the connection frequently (and yeah, I'm pretty skilled at making that work). TERRIBLE TERRIBLE TERRIBLE.

And I don't want to hear how a simple patch or download will fix this issue. If it doesn't work out of the box, than DON'T SHIP IT!! I've been reading that apparently, Archos is getting slammed with this stuff after only a week.

FOR THAT, it gets 1 STAR and should get ZERO stars!!

Second, the Appslib was never installed on this device. I called customer service, was talking to someone in 5 minutes, who then put me on hold for 45 MINUTES!! After 45 minutes (I only stayed on hold that long cause I was watching NFL game so I had nothing else to really attend to at the time), the phone rang for 10 more minutes, and then, line went dead. PATHETIC!!!!

I am reading that some software update added actually might have been the reason for the Appslib to never appear, and if you look at Amazon site, they pulled the 160GB version.

For that, I give it NEGATIVE STARS...TERRIBLE service and TERRIBLE that this device did not come preloaded as advertised.

I am sending it back and will use my Toshiba Netbook to watch movies on the plane rides for now. I'm really disappointed. The device itself was really nice and sleek looking. The interface was nice.

The resistive keyboard was kind of annoying as it took a pretty good finger press to make it respond, but worked well enough. I learned to type pretty well on it in 2 days.

I'm ANNOYED!!!

I would have bought the ZuneHD but the screen is too small for movies, as well as the Ipod touch..

I'm now considering the Viliv ex70 as I've heard great things and it's gotten favorable reviews.

I've read Archos history but wanted this device to work...The Android platform has a lot of potential and anything google touches pretty much works as advertised.

Now, I'll have to shop around a little.

I can tell you one thing...unless people start giving this device 4-5 stars when the bugs are worked out, I'll never buy another thing from this company.

EDIT TO REVIEW:

I have downloaded a new firmware update and the device is no longer needing to be reset constantly. It also does not lag any longer and seems a little more snappy and responsive. I'm going to hold on to it for now and see how this plays out over the next 3 weeks. I'm actually flying to CA for a sales meeting next week and so it'll be tested well. If I find it is just needing more debugging it's going back and I'll also update again.

I have 2 movies that I just loaded to it from Unbox. Wolverine and The Dark Knight...Both look very good, although I'd love to get my hands on a HD version of these movies to push to the device.

I'm nervous, however, to buy the HD plugin because I've read somewhere that it does not work or does not read that you have purchased it.

One last thing:

I also just read now that on the Viliv you can actually run Windows 7. It has a camera, and if that is the case, you can snap photos and then ink on them which I do when I'm on job sites taking photos and marking up buildings and plans. That seems practical to me. However, it's expensive (around $800-$900) and this device would be GREAT if these bugs go away.

Let me also so, GET THE 32GB NOT THE 160GB model. The 32GB runs SSD and it very snappy. It's also half the weight and thin.

I'd say it's as thin as my wife's iphone and as heavy as holding a large starbucks coffee. It's light and thin.

I have yet to try the GPS software but plan on downloading it from the disk provided to get the 7 day trial out of it. I'd LOVE that to work. Has a lot of potential when the 3D maps are available for the US in 2nd quarter of 2010.

BEWARE, not matter how much you want something...BEWARE

UPDATE #2: Done with it. It is going back NOW. I did the firmware update and it did NOTHING to help this machine. At first it appeared to make the system work faster, but then, it has frozen up 2 more times. Furthermore, I tried to install the GPS 7 day trial using the disk and the device again froze up. Sorry, but I cannot believe that these people would let these go out the door KNOWING it has issues. How the hell can they NOT know? If everyone here but one person has given this thing pretty poor marks, are they only using fully functional and perfectly tested devices?

Literally, look at the reviews and you will see what I am talking about. It's amazing to me that a company would do this. Yes, large companies have devices that periodically are returned defective. But at the rate that these people are getting complaints, you have to wonder how this could go on for the period of time that it has.

So, Archos will never get another dime from me, unless of course they come out with a fully functional non brick like device that people are raving about. I believe my next device will be a Viliv. I have read review after review on those devices and they are almost all positive. The machines perform the way they were intended to, unlike this one.

And it's too bad...this is such a nice looking and feeling device. The screen is nice, it feels really easy to use in the hand...It's a shame it just does not perform.

I am updating this review since I got my device back from RMA and ran the most current updates. I still have a faulty device. It crashes less but it will still not make it for 2 hours without crashing. They fixed an app or two to work a little better but my wireless and bluetooth still cause the device to fail. If Archos wanted to sell this device with the intention of fixing it aftermarket they should have warned their customers of this. I am returning mine since it is still a buggy device. I would suggest you save your money and buy a working media device. Archos will make no gurantee to me that they can repair the problems.

I purchased this product and have had to send it in for repair. There was nothing physically wrong with it other than they do not work. Everyone who has one of these devices is having the exact same problem I have. The device will lock up at least once every hour forcing you to reboot it. The bluetooh and wireless radios do not work all of the time and will disconnect whenever and cause the device to freeze more often. If I use the bluetooth with headphones and watch videos the audio is out of sync every time. The device locks on media files claiming they are corrupt and force a reboot but the file will play after the reboot never showing a problem. When the wireless or bluetooth has problems my media files play really fast forcing a reboot. The internet is fast and sleek but will freeze the device after a while or possibly this is because of wireless issues. The video playback is beautiful and the audio is good but does not play long enough to enjoy. I cn not believe this device is still up for sale because they have not fied it yet. Some people are will to stick with this in hopes of a working upgrade but this broken device should have never been made available for sale. Archos should be giving coupons or discounts to the customers they have sold this device too and who knows how long we will have to suffer with this device befor they can actually make it work.

UPDATE: I got an RMA on this device because Archos said it was bad. I got a new one and have the same problems as before. It is more stable now and does not crash as much but the features promised still do not work.

1. The video looks great no matter what type of video I play on it but almost every type of video file plays with the audio out of sync.

2. The bluetooth tethering does not work with my HTC WinMo phone or any Windows phone for that matter. It only works with a handful of phones.

3. Flash games and the purchased TV Playin games are very slow. Flash games will even stall the screen and lock the device.

4. The wireless if very poor. It will connect to some router but fail on others. It never connects to "N" routers at the correct speed.

5. Photo viewing is poor because there are no thumbnails and it's slow finding photos.

While this device has gotten a little better do not believe all the hype. If you want a device to tinker with then you may like this thing but if you want what is promised by Archos then this device is a ripoff. Check out the Archos fourms around the internet and you will see all the issues people are having with it.

Just don't buy this product. It's a simple as that.

Mine never really worked.

- Despite buying the optional HD video software, the device isn't able to play HD (720) content properly. I constantly have a/v out-of-sync problems. The video lags the audio. All the time. Then you pause, resume playing and it's ok for 5 minutes but then it drifts out of sync again.
- Accessing the microsd card is a disaster. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. You need to keep on inserting and removing the card.
- The battery doesn't even last an hour if you are playing videos
- The device gets extremely warm (so warm that it is uncomfortable in your hands)

But what's worst is that you are on your own if you buy this. Archos support doesn't exist!
My device had all these problems. I logged tickets with their support and nobody *ever* bothered to respond. Then one day my Archos just stopped working completely. The screen would just flicker and never turn on.

So I wrote a letter to the CEO or Archos and returned this awfully engineered piece of hardware to them. All I got back is a standard letter telling me my warranty has expired (which for the record isn't true) and an offer to repair my Archos 5 for 148 EUROs.

Stay away from Archos.

EDIT 10/25/10 - 3 months after my purchase: I don't leave home without my Archos. I have no issues in the reliability department, it's very stable. I couldn't be happier!

EDIT 5/9/11 - The Archos is DEAD. Seems the hard drive took a dump. According to Android OS, "Internal Storage Damaged." Can't get out of Recovery Mode because it refuses to complete reformat and update firmware commands. Completely useless and worthless now. Archos has a bad reputation when it comes to their customer service, so I'm just going to move on. It sure was nice while it lasted...

I'm so glad I pulled the trigger on this. I was very hesitant to drop $400 (I got the 500GB model) on something that has received so many negative reviews, but this is definitely the best purchase I've made in a long time!

I use it everywhere and all the time. I use it in the car even though I have a 6-disc CD changer with MP3 capability. I use it at home even though I have a brand new laptop in front of me. I use it instead of using my 32" TV with a WDTV and 1.5TB hard drive of movies and TV shows. I use it while sitting on the toilet. I use it when I should be sleeping at 2am. Its just so darn versatile and fun to use, I can't put it down!

I read a review somewhere, that the Archos 5 Internet tablet with Android wasn't for somebody who expects electronic devices to work perfectly every time and all the time. That it was for somebody who likes to tinker, somebody patient enough to put up with some of its issues. I think those are wise words, and thankfully I fit into the latter category. Although, I must admit, there aren't any "issues" that I have to put up with. The screen hasn't locked up on me but once when I was trying to play music in the background of surfing a pretty graphic intensive website. Even though I had to restart the device, I was back up and surfing that same website within two minutes. I mean c'mon, Windows OS has an awesome and extensive reputation, and even the newest versions on the newest computers will hang at times. They're electronic devices for crying out loud, they're not going to be perfect...EVER!

I did A LOT of research before I made my purchase, so I was aware of the recent firmware updates available and past bugs and glitches that are taken care of, and those that are still an issue to some. I was prepared for the worst, but ended up getting a GREAT experience so far. I received mine on 7/16/2010, and came out of the box with firmware version 1.7.99. I opted NOT to upgrade to the newest firmware available until I got a chance to test its current reliability and performance. So far I see no reason to upgrade, because as far as I understand, most of the new updates are for OpenGL programming for newer 3D games that are becoming more and more available and playable on the Archos, and apparently they conflict with current programming and 2D games. A selling point for me though, was the availability of (2D) NES and Sega Genesis emulators, I don't care much for playing the fancy new 3D iPhone based games. The Archos Development Team is awesome though, because they're releasing two versions of firmware updates currently, one for the people interested in the 3D game capability of their Archos, and one intended for those that want to keep the games, settings, and programs that are adversely affected by the OpenGL stuff. But like I said, my Archos is perfect as is in my eyes, so I'm not going to bother updating until I see a reason to.

The HDD 500GB model is smaller than I was expecting. Real-world, its smaller than the specs "on paper" had me to believe. Which is a good thing, because it fits in my pocket and light enough to comfortably do so. Everybody I show my Archos to, cannot believe it holds 500 gigs of movies, music, and photos and still have the ability to do what it does. Sure there are portable hard drives out right now that are as small as the Archos, that hold just as much and more...but can they PLAY the movies, music, and photos that they hold, with their OWN OS, with a FIVE INCH screen to boot!? Kudos to Archos!

Sure there are a few drawbacks, individual to each user. Such as in my case, concerning the aforementioned game platform emulators...the Archos doesn't support multi-touch...which in this case means you cannot use two buttons on the onscreen controller at the same time (ie jumping in a direction). I found that you adapt though, and most games are still playable.

Also, I think the fact this is marketed as an HD player, but you have to purchase the ability to do so apart from the actual price of the device...is crap. FACT: The average 700mb AVI-format movie plays and sounds PERFECT on the Archos 5, straight out of the box. They look impressive on the screen. FACT: I'll probably purchase the "Cinema Package" add-on at some point in the future. Its a one-time cost of $40 to ensure your device will play virtually ANYTHING you throw at it. Sometimes you don't have a choice either, and the 4gb+ sized HD file is the only version available for some hard to find movies. And honestly, thats the only thing it won't play so far, are the HUGE MKV or VOB movie files. To be clear: ALL WMVs, AVIs, MPEGs, smaller MKVs, and MP4s (all of which make up for, I'd say, 95% of my collection) play just fine.

The included earphones were crap BTW. The right side didn't even work, LOL. I literally just threw them out. We all know you can get a set of decent earphones for under 10 bucks virtually anywhere nowadays anyways, so no biggie.

The Internet on the Archos 5 is FAST! You won't be disappointed. I have a brand new Windows 7 laptop, and I'd honestly say the Archos loads most web pages a little faster than the laptop. Multiple broadband speed tests confirm its wifi speed is 6200kbps+ in my case. THAT'S IMPRESSIVE! The wifi was simple to setup on the Archos, and has never dropped the connection unexpectedly. I've tried the Opera, Dolphin, and Skyfire browsers, and I still prefer the stock Android browser. I downloaded an app that syncs my Firefox bookmarks from my PC, so I feel right at home using the Internet on the Archos.

Speaking of Apps, I highly suggest downloading the Google Android Market "hack." Google it if you're unfamiliar. Its so much better than the Archos supplied Appslib program. In fact, Appslib hasn't even worked at all in my case. It won't even open, yet every now and then says there's an update for it, but fails to load correctly. I suspect this is because I haven't updated my device to the most current firmware? Either way, I don't need it. the Google Android Market has anything you'd ever want, and every App I've downloaded so far has worked on my Archos as if they were designed for it (most apps designed for phones with smaller screens and inputs, ie physical buttons). Most apps are free too, and the ones that have a price are a whopping two bucks on average. I didn't think I'd even be interested in apps at all until I saw what was available. There's some handy and neat stuff out there...and for FREE!

I didn't buy my Archos for its GPS capability, so I wouldn't have any problem purchasing the license to use the GPS function. However, I've found the Google Maps and Navigation apps are awesome (and free)! Only drawback is the Google apps require wifi access, which realistically isn't possible while driving anywhere and everywhere. If you ask me, GPS is only for old people and women anyways, LOL, no offense.

I purchased the Archos brand Car Mount w/FM transmitter and charger, and its a must have for the Archos 5. The FM transmitter option on the device is awesome! In my case, with my car's stereo and speakers and my music library, the sound is EXCELLENT! Much better than I was expecting!

I would also suggest purchasing the battery dock with your Archos as well. So many cool features in such a small package (just like the Archos 5 itself)! Charging takes only two hours with the battery dock, versus all night connected to USB. When the battery dock itself is fully charged, it instantly adds about 30% charge to the Archos device. Thereby increasing your play time by that much. You can also connect your Archos to virtually any TV with this dock as well with the S-Video and Composite connections. When connected to a TV, the Archos goes black and you use the screen as a mouse pad and your finger moves the pointer around on the screen of the TV, which I think is a cool feature. On top of all that, you also get a mini USB port to connect the unit to a PC, AND a standard sized USB input on the dock itself to directly connect a camera, Flash Drive, external hard drive...you name it.

That reminds me, you cannot just connect the Archos to your PC and drag and drop your files. This is understandable because you're dealing with a Windows device and a Linux device. I have no idea in the world how Linux works, but the Internet is a wonderful thing! Google "Ext2 IFS for Windows," click the first result, and download the driver that allows Windows to read and write to the Linux Ext2 and Ext3 drive formats. Its straightforward and does just what it promises. If you're running Windows 7 though, you have to run the Ext2 IFS installer/program in Vista compatibility mode. Literally the whole process will take you a couple minutes, and BINGO! You can drag and drop, copy, create folders, rename files, anything and everything you would need to do. Archos doesn't really explain that this is necessary, as they recommend using your Windows Media Player (WMP) to "sync" your library to the Archos. Personally I rarely use the WMP and don't keep my media files in its library, so using it to "sync" is foreign to me, and honestly, sounds like a PITA with the possibility of all sorts of issues.

All in all, I couldn't be happier with the Archos 5IT Android! I NEEDED an MP3 player, and WANTED a portable wifi device...and I can't believe i was even considering an iPod Touch, because with the Archos 5, I got what I needed and wanted, and so much more. For 64GB and a 3.5" screen, Apple wants $350! Ludicrous! Its thin and the battery lasts a little longer, big whoop. Apple is such a gimmick and I truly don't understand why so many people fall for it and pay outrageous prices for devices that don't offer much compared to what else is out there! For only $50 more and only a quarter of an inch thicker than the iPod Touch I just described, you get a much bigger screen with GORGEOUS ouput, a whopping 400GB PLUS more space, the ability to play ANY video or music file you throw at it (as opposed to using proprietary file formats and programs to even load your device!), an FM radio and transmitter, GPS...you name it, and the Archos beats the Apple in every category (except for probably the battery).

Most people have never heard about Archos as a company, and that's a darn shame because they offer some AWESOME products. Just for fun, compare the "Archos 9" to the Apple iPad. Blows it out of the water. Just as the Archos 5IT Android does the iPod Touch! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

update 10/20/10:
save your money - i have had to have this device replaced or repaired no less than 5 times so far, and likely more than that. in all honesty, most of the time it had to be replaced b/c their support people sent me back units that were either wrong (they replaced it once with the older archos 5 model, rather than android, in a folgers-esque "lets see if he notices" moment), or because they sent me back a unit that was defective in an all new way than the device it was replacing.

due to their rediculously poor support (being without my device for weeks on end is bad support in my opinion) and treatment of their customers, i just cant recommend any of their products anymore. its like they dont QA them at all, and they make no effort to foster any customer good will.

below is my original review, if only to contrast exactly how much my view of this company and device has changed.
-----------------------------------------------

This is a great device with a few minor interface issues and bugs. im not going to write a thesis on this, so ill just boil it down. just to let you know, ive previously owned an archos 604wifi and an archos av420.

the pros:
- the interface is very slick, it takes some getting used to but once you do it is great! its MUCH tighter than any apple product in the way the interface works seamlessly throughout the entire experience despite what application you are using.

- set up was very simple, streaming from either web radio, pandora, or my personal network (all via wifi) was amazing. surprisingly the battery life doesnt seem terrible either. i havent done any strenuous tests yet, but i used the device last night constantly streaming web radio via wifi, connected to bluetooth devices, and with the screen on and active while i was browsing the net a bit (looking thru applications to add) for 2 or 3 consecutive hours last night, and only seemed to use 1/3 of the battery.

- its more intelligent than previous versions, letting me know why certain files i have wont play on this during the transfer process. it offered to still let me copy them across for storage, but said i wouldnt be able to play them with the device. previously it would copy them, let me add them into the playlist, then bail-out of playback whenever it came across it, which was very annoying since i tend to make big playlists and use shuffle.

- built in fm transmitter! FINALLY! ive been waiting for them to put this into (or at least attached to) the device themselves for a long time - basically since i bought the fm receiver for the av420 /thinking/ it was a transmitter. ;) sadly i havent figured out how to get this working just yet, but i havent had alot of time to play with it in the car (thats my after-work project today).

i havent had the chance to play with the GPS yet, but making this all inclusive like that is a great idea, i hope its executed well (however i havent heard good things about teleatlas).


the cons:
- its ALOT thicker than it appears on the web - probably dictated by hard drive size, but its basically as thick as my 604wifi. the web image was very misleading, i was expecting something much thinner.

i dont get why all the applications use the accelerometer to change orientation, but the home menu's dont? seems like a silly oversight.

- it seems a little laggy, and its hung a number of times to the point that ive had to force-reboot it. im really hoping for a system update to fix this stability issue.

- text entry boxes are a little odd, you cant easily click and drag to highlight parts of text to delete or edit. hoping a system update fixes this.

- im pretty good with tech toys, but i have not been able to get this thing to "tether" to my phone yet. it seems to pair with phone, but my phone says there are no available services on the archos that its interested in so it never "connects". not quite sure whats going on here.

- not a real con but since i am a previous owner it was a little hard to get used to: you cant choose to add an entire folder of songs to a playlist when creating them on the device anymore. at first i thought they were forcing me to add one song at a time, but its not as bad as that: what they do is make you enter the directory you want to add, choose any song and click to add it to the playlist from the menu. once you do it opens another small menu asking if you want to add just that track or all the tracks in that directory. its mildly annoying b/c it requires a few extra steps for something that seems really basic: they could have just let me add the directory and automated that functionality. im really hoping a system update fixes this as well.

- booting up doesnt seem to be any better than it had been on the 604 (which was noticably longer than the 420 had been). however it does have a "stand-by" mode that appears to use no battery life and boots up in seconds. not quite sure if this really is a con since they seem to have provided a solution that is great, which is why its last. ;)


Summary:
great device, some bugs but very small and easy to overlook so far, and they should be easily fixed (hopefully quickly). im REALLY excited for this product and hope to see archos throwing its continued support behind it.

sorry, i guess that was alot longer than i hoped or expected.

Well Despite all the reviews, I decided to order the Archos 5 160GB version. I was a little worried about what I would encounter, however there worries would soon transition from worried to eased.

The make of this device is very solid and it is a little big for the pocket, but it's manageable. This device would be significantly useful for people on the go as it allows you to bring a large amount of media with you all in a neat little tablet that can handle HD output (Given some videos are going to be laggy, but this is normal for most hand held devices as they do not have the rendering capabilities that of a computer does). However to deal with this, Archos is trying to maintain regular updates. Just recently they released 2 updates for the Archos 5. If you go to the main Archos site, which is at [...] you can look at the updates that have been released for the device. It turns out that with each update they are trying to clean up the HD output given the limitations of the hardware also they are working on another update which is called doughnut, which is version 1.6 android, I believe (which will hopefully include the android market!! :)). This device also has a TON of space.

With all this space it can have other uses as well. I, Personally, have a large collection of books and music, I used this device as a backup of all my files so that in the event that anything happens to my main machine, I will always have the files I prioritized. Another neat little thing that the Archos 5 can do is it can read PDFs and Office Files, which is nice if you ever have to edit your office files on the go. With the amount of area that is displayed by the screen, it allows for a very nice and ease of reading. At times I can find myself reading a book on it and reading it with ease with the large screen, as well as the capabilities of the software to handle PDFs. One thing to be noted by this is the fact that due to the hardware constraint, it will have to load each page after you read about half of your current page and half of the next page in order to have it load the next page. This is done to save space and maintain its longevity due to its hardware constraints. However, the transitions is very fast, shouldn't be a pain, although a very minor annoyance. One thing I should note is that some people have claimed that some videos are not able to play, although I have yet to encounter this issue.

I feel that I got a huge bargain on this device. Given its updates and overall capabilities as not only an internet tablet but also its media playback along with its touchscreen capabilities (which is acceptable, in practicality -- Make sure that you configure the touchscreen when it seems to not be functioning properly) it almost feels like a steal. To sum up the review I'm going to make a list of pros and cons.

Pros

Large beautiful screen
Touch Screen
Variety of Media playback capabilities
Made with Android OS (very stable)
Can be used as a PDF Reader as well as do MORE
Has GPS capabilities
Lots of applications -- AppsLib (And much more will come when android market is finally released -- although there is a way to get market on it with a little trick-- but it does not include all the times that are in the CURRENT market, its a makeshift to get it to work AND Google applications be installed using this little trick, Google "Android Market on Archos 5 Internet Tablet")
Lasts a good amount of time
Easy to use

------------------------

Cons

No android 2.0 (yet..?)
Charging is somewhat slow (it will lose charge [when plugged in via DC-IN USB to MiniUSB] when transferring files to it, do it in chunks to deal with this issue, although you'll still lose battery life)
Somewhat laggy Video playback (should be remedied somewhat with updates)
Locks up sometimes (this was in the past, however with the new update they released I haven't seen it happen..yet?)
LONG start up time (use standby)

I hope this review helps you guys decide on buying one :)

i was an archos fan, i had 2 archos products before this, archos may have fixed the issue at the timing you bought, i bought it brand new back in october 09, and got screwed , mine freezes up after watching 4 minutes of video, i ve reinstalled the software 8 times, i am not the best with computers but i would say im mid level, i ve gone to school for networking so im not the average technology user, i never had that kind of problem with the previous models of archos. the archos i got is faulty. i bought mines with a 2 yr square trade warranty and they didnt want to honor fixing the freeze issue saying the warranty doesnt cover that and i needed to go to archos, so i went to archos and because i didnt buy from archos , archos doesnt honor the 1 yr warranty policy unless you buy directly from them so im stuck with a model that freezes up . i dont know if archos is still offering the 1 yr warranty now, so u will have to look that up, but that was only for the devices bought directly thru them . i hope for people that buy from a.m.a.z.o.n sake it doesnt stop working because archos will give you hard time and A.m.a.z.o.n does not guarentee or provide a warranty for any products they sell because they are a reseller, and square trade is rippoff. dont go by the reviews on amazon for square trade because most of the people you will see that rated havent even used the warranty, i was impressed when i heard the features of the warranty but when i try to use it they dont want to honor it saying they dont honor freeze issues and will screw u out the warranty. i know os's freeze up but mine freezes up every time i try to get on so its not something here and there its all the time. this is an at risk product, some of the devices work and some of em are faulty. pray that u dont be unlucky as i was. i would suggest buying from archos directly if u take a chance that way u can get the limited warranty thru them