Customer Reviews

Archos 5 160 GB Internet Media Tablet

5 star:		(81)
4 star:		(75)
3 star:		(31)
2 star:		(31)
1 star:		(63)

 

 

I purchased this as an upgrade to my beloved Archos 605 160GB. I actually purchased this directly from archos because I had trouble getting it through Amazon.

First impressions: beautiful sleek design, love the rubbery backside and the enlarged screen! I find that the touch screen user interface is quite improved over the 605, the buttons all flash when you press them so that is a nice confirmation that you hit it. Also, play buttons and such seem to be bigger than before, easier to hit. Although the glossy, shiny look is pretty to look at, it also shows fingerprints (much like the Touch). Not a big deal to me, I'm used to wiping off my glossy surfaces regularly.

So lets get into the nitty gritty, starting with the things I love about the new Archos 5. Just one caveat, I am using this primarily as a replacement media player for the Archos 605 so I won't speak much to internet browsing issues. I will use as a basis of comparison my collection of MP3 players (ok I'm an addict so sue me!) which includes iPod Touch 2nd Gen 32GB, Creative Zen WiFi 16GB, iPod Classic 160GB, Archos 605 160GB, Archos 604 30GB, iRiver Clix2 8GB.

*) 250GB: gotta love all that storage space, especially since the new Apple Classic tops out at 120GB now it seems Archos is in a class all to itself.
*) Big beautiful glossy color screen, definitely an improvement over 605.
*) Easily connected to my Wifi, browser is now free instead of costing extra like before. Upgrade to firmware was accomplished easily.
*) Easy synchronization of my entire music library and playlists using Media Monkey in Windows Media Mode (605 had problems here, so glad Archos fixed this!)
*) Beautiful full featured DVR dock available (apple doesn't even make one as far as I can tell!)
*) Esthetically the most appealing player I've seen yet from Archos.
*) Nice context menus on most pages (tap upper right corner) that make it easy to get around.
*) Love the ability to switch between hard drive mode and Windows Media Mode (something I do quite frequently). Also nice to be able to put a password on folders with sensitive or Adult content.
*) Ability to play all kinds of audio/video files, although you do have to pay up to $40 for additional plugin firmware in order to play apple and cinema formats.
*) On screen touch qwerty keyboard is really nice, easy to use -- I found it much easier to type accurately than the Touch/iPhone onscreen keyboard.
*) Browser supports flash controls, woohoo, welcome to the 21st century fercrissakes!
*) That 250GB of data is readily available to the PC as a hard drive so I can use it for backups or whatever else I want to do with it. (unlike the Creative Zen for example).
*) Convenient built-in speaker can be used in a pinch: everybody seems to have one of these now but as far as I can tell Archos did it first on the 605!
*) Now Playing music screen is easier to use, volume, and play buttons are easier to use now and it displays the name of the next and previous songs: a feature that I don't see on any of my other MP3 players.
*) Nice dedicated volume and power buttons, the volume buttons are definitely easier to find and use than the 605.

And now, my suggestions to Archos for how they could improve on what I think is a cutting edge beautiful product. Please understand, I'm a nitpicking software engineer so I give 5 stars even though I can find room for improvement!

*) I miss the dedicated hold/tv-out button which has been removed. Not a big deal since can still be done through the context menu.
*) Some of the text menus just look a little strange and seem to take a too much space on the screen. For example, I have to scroll down to get to the "Playlists"... at the very least "Playlists" should be on the first page as its the one I use the most. Really it seems like too many button presses are required to dig down and play a playlist, I wish "playlists" was available from a top level menu because I use it more than anything else...


When all is said and done, I honestly believe that there is no comparable product with a big beautiful high resolution screen like this and a huge hard drive. This is it!

Now if you are happy with a smaller screen and less storage, the iPod Touch is arguably a better product: my solution? Buy one of each!

Update 12-31-2008: As of New Years Eve I am still quite happily using my Archos 5 as an entertainment center. It seems Archos heard me and they have made the album art a little bigger in firmware release 1.2.05!

Update 1-24-2009: Firmware update 1.3.05 works great! Had to use my Touch for a few days and very happy to have my Archos back on the speakers, I do believe the sound is better through the same speakers.

Update 3-14-2009: Updated to firmware 1.5.08. Due to previous upgrade, the upgrade process is MUCH easier now because it doesn't try to rebuild its library from scratch (this takes hours when you have a lot of files like I do). I'm also enjoying the "parental control" password which allows me to protect my data from unauthorized access. Still a happy customer :)

Update 5-22-2009: Still very happy with my 5. Firmware version 1.6.53 now offers support for their GPS package and High Def. I tried the GPS package before and it was ok, my favorite thing about it was the windshield mount which really comes in handy on a long drive. The GPS itself is decent considering it doesn't cost much, but can't compare to Garmin. Still, how many MP3 players even offer a GPS option?

First of all, I'd just like to provide some context. I first discovered Archos back in summer '08 when my Elgato EyeHome died. For those of you who aren't aware of this product, it was basically a device that could be used to watch computer files (avi, mp4, etc.) on an old school, standard-definition television. When my EyeHome went kaput I was very disappointed to discover that the product had been discontinued. The search for a similar product finally led me to the Archos TV. At this point I've had the Archos TV for more than a year now. It's a fantastic product and, at least so far, has worked flawlessly - I couldn't be happier with it. In fact, it was because of this good experience that I decided to invest in the Archos 5 Internet Media Tablet. I think it's important to give this backstory because some of the more enthusiastic Archos fans on here and on certain internet forums seem to think that any criticism of their favorite company means that you're nothing less than a drooling Apple fanboy - blinded to reality and incapable of giving a competing product a fair chance or accurate assessment.

So, to continue, late last year I was in a situation that will probably be familiar to all of you. I was interested in buying a portable media player. Would it be an iPod Touch or... something else? Ultimately, I opted for the Archos 5 based on two main factors:

1) Greater storage capacity - 250 GB as compared to the maximum 32 GB on an iPod Touch
2) File flexibility - the Archos 5 can play just about anything, whereas the iPod Touch is restricted to the mp4 file format. This was an important consideration for me, since I already had a small library of avi files that I wanted to enjoy without having to convert to a different format.

I read some bad reviews right here on Amazon and elsewhere, but, because of my good experience with the Archos TV, I still decided to invest in the Archos 5. HUGE mistake.

To be fair, the Archos 5 worked just fine for the first few months. The problems seemed to begin after I installed the latest version of the firmware - 1.6.53. Basically, the unit seized up and became nothing more than an expensive paperweight. Pressing the power button would initiate the startup process, but, rather than going to the main menu, the introductory "Archos - Entertainment Your Way" screen would simply flash on an endless loop until all the battery power was drained.

Now, I'm extremely capable when it comes to tech. I'm the guy that friends and family call to help with stuff like installing an additional internal hard drive, deciding between plasma or LCD, setting up their Blackberry to get email from home... you get the idea. The Archos 5 is equipped with some rudimentary built-in problem solving tricks. I tried these as the instruction manual advised - but nothing worked.

At that point I went to Archos Customer Service - this, folks, is where things go really haywire. In a word, Archos' customer service is appalling. If you don't want to take my word for it, just read some of the other comments on here and take a look elsewhere on the net. Their sheer incompetence is legendary.

My experience with them is hardly typical, but I'll summarize here -
Step One - Contact customer service. Explain problem. Obtain an RMA (Return to Manufacturer Authorization.)
Step Two - Send unit in for repairs.
Step Three - Wait expectantly.
Step Four - Receive unit back from the RMA warehouse.
Step Five - Unpack unit and test. Discover that nothing has been fixed. Repeat process beginning with Step One...

My last round with Archos Customer Service ended when I received my unit back from the warehouse and found that they had simply given me another unit altogether. I knew this was the case because the new unit was mysteriously missing the sticker on the bottom that included the serial number. I'd also fitted the original unit with a Lexerd Screen Protector - something that was conspicuously absent from the new model.

Mind you, replacing my unit with another model of the exact same type isn't necessarily a bad thing - it might have worked out just fine. The only problem was, this replacement model has a damaged power button, and, on the rare occasions that I can turn the thing on, it has the exact same problem as my old unit - stuck in the "Entertainment Your Way" startup loop. When I called customer service to discuss these issues, they claimed that the unit was fine when it left the warehouse (big consolation, huh?) and that the broken power button was probably caused by someone at UPS unpacking the device and "messing around with it." Say what?

Now, to be fair, we all know that our electronic gizmos aren't perfect. The Archos 5 certainly isn't the first device I've had problems with and it won't be the last. The big problem is that Archos simply doesn't have the infrastructure to deal with issues like this when they occur. Just for comparison, I had some problems with my Mac G5 when I first got it - but a quick trip to the Apple Store for a tune-up solved everything. Archos isn't like that. The company is based in France and, by virtue of necessity, their North American customer service is outsourced to a shoddy firm here in the U.S. staffed with reps who can do little more than tell you to try pressing the reset button again and/or make pathetic excuses.

To all of those people who have a functional Archos 5 and enjoy it - terrific. I'm happy for you and I know from experience that when an Archos product does actually work, it's brilliant. BUT - God help you if you run into trouble, because you're basically screwed.

I'm writing this in the hope of convincing some of you still on the fence that you really ought to go with another product altogether. Pick whatever you like - Cowon, iPod Touch, whatever. Just don't get an Archos. Trust me on this, it's basically a crap shoot. And, at the end of the day, do you want to gamble, or do you want a product that actually works?

The first thing anyone should know about the Archos is that as of 10/5/08, the Archos 5 Firmware is still in beta. Beta means very different things for different products, but for the Archos 5 it means that some of the features are crippled, and that the firmware is still buggy. I have been using the 5 for about 2 weeks now, and during that time the device has crashed 6 times. Keep in mind this is only relevant if you want to purchase it right now. If you choose to wait, I think Archos will have the firmware finalized in a few months.

I migrated to the Archos 5 from an iPod Touch, my main reasons for doing so being the significantly larger capacity and the larger screen. I use a mac, so it was quite jarring migrating out of the Apple universe. Some things you should know if you are coming to this device from an Apple product:

1. The Archos will not sync with iTunes. This means that music you downloaded from the iTunes music store will be incompatible with the Archos. This also means that the playlists from your iTunes library will not natively work with the Archos. For many people this will not be an issue, but I have a rather large library (7000 songs), and depend on playlists to separate my music. The Archos uses the universal .m3u playlist format, so if you want to have your iTunes playlists on the Archos, you will need to find an iTunes playlist exporter.

2. Even if your songs are not copy-protected, the Archos will not play AAC files without a $20 plugin. For some, this is a moot point, for others, it could be a deal-breaker.

For the PC users: The Archos can either function as an external hard drive (very useful), or as a Windows Media Player Drive.

Now, the device itself:

HARDWARE:
THe specs of the Archos are impressive, and best most other "IMT"s of its class. I have the 60GB version, however all models boast a 4.8" (Resistive, not capacitive) touch screen, Wi-Fi, a speaker, and a pull-out stand. But keep in mind that the Archos uses a proprietary USB connector, and that all previous Archos accessories (for the 605, 604, etc.) will not work with the 5. The back of the unit is mirrored, and scratches incredibly easily. The front screen is susceptible to glare, but this is not very noticeable unless viewed in direct sunlight. Keep in mind that all the models use hard drive based storage. This enables a large capacity for a cheap price, however, the unit will be slower because of this. The iPod Touch uses flash memory, which is very expensive and has a low capacity, but is less likely to break. The Touch is also thinner. (You wouldn't think so, but the Archos is surprisingly pocketable) The speaker on the unit is small and tinny, but I am amazed on how many occasions I have found to use it. The 2nd gen. Touch also has a speaker, and I highly doubt it is much better than the one on the Archos. Something no one else has mentioned: The Wi-Fi antenna in the Archos is located on the right side, a place where you normally might hold the unit. It is very easy to accidentally block the Wi-Fi signal, and I have noticed that the connection can be tenuous (this might just be my network). The external volume control is very useful, but I wish the 5 also had a hold switch, as it can be annoying to have to find the "lock device" command throughout the menus. Also: on the original settings, the device will automatically power off after 5 minutes when locked (and when not in music mode). This can be very annoying if it is not changed.

I know that in the above paragraph I have criticized the Archos, but I cannot stress that the device itself is a beautiful, well made, piece of technology. Everything works very well, and most BIG problems with the device lie in the...

SOFTWARE:
The software is currently the Archos' weak point. As I said before, the firmware is still in beta, and this means that a few of the features just don't work. (A good example of this is the file sharing feature. When I select "file sharing", a notice pops up telling that the feature will be enabled in a "future release"). The parts of the software that do work function adequately, but could be better. The Music menu is a good example. Scrolling through large lists is jerky, and I find the organization of the metadata perplexing. However, the Music section works.

The Video section, on the other hand, is near perfect. Videos can be organized any way you want, and watching movies on the 4.8" screen is enjoyable. I think that the software can be summarized by working, but having quirks. You might want to wait for the firmware to become more stable.

A few more notes about the software:

1. The Add-Ons section is just ADS for the optional add-ons. Yes, ADS. This is just a minor annoyance, but please, a major company should not put ads for other products in their flagship product.

2. There is no way to directly skip tracks from other areas of the device (unlike, for example, the Touch, where you can tap the home button twice and control the music).

3. The Archos takes about 20 secs. to boot, and, when the device is "locked", the screen does not shut off for about 30 secs. (this can be changed)

4. The Opera web browser is fast and, renders pages as well as the Touch. The Mail app is not as good as Apple's, but if functions.

5. Games cost $20 for 4, but you can load your own flash apps onto the device.

6. One great addition to the Archos was internet radio and video. This is a feature I have seen in very few other devices, and the Archos implements it very well.

Lastly: Should you buy the Archos?

If you can escape the Apple universe, and don't mind the beta firmware for a few months, then buy the Archos. If is truly a great piece of hardware. if you can't stand betas, then wait a few months (the price will probably drop too).

The Archos 5 blows the Touch right out of the water, but the software could use some work. By now the iPod had become so ubiquitous that it doesn't really fit into Apple's "Think Different" philosophy, as many of its features have been matched and transcended by other devices. I don't mean to sound cliche, but if you truly want to think different, buy the Archos 5.

UPDATE: As of firmware update 1.0.87 the "file sharing" feature mentioned above has been completely removed from the settings menu. I don't know if this is because Archos has killed the feature or because they want to release it in a future release.

Also, as of 1.0.87, the Archos no longer lists its firmware as beta. However, the firmware is still buggy. The Archos firmware is definitely a work in progress, but Archos seems to be updating the device frequently, so most of the bugs will eventually be ironed out.

UPDATE 2: Windows users can sync their Archos with iTunes via "iTunes Agent". Available here: [...]. Obviously you can't sync DRM tracks, but everything else works pretty well for me.

UPDATE 3: I have had the Archos for about 1 year now, and I have to day that the real weak point of the device is the resistive touch screen. This is where Apple (also Samsung and Cowon) really got it right, and Archos has continued to get it wrong. The firmware updates have made scrolling more kinetic and less jerky, but the updates cannot fix the fact that the screen feels mushy and misses a *lot* of presses. I was actually considering getting the new "5 Internet Tablet", but after finding out Archos was again using a resistive touch screen, I will look somewhere else. If I could change the star rating, I would downgrade this to a 3 or 2.5 star product. So much works really well on the 5, but until Archos puts a capacitive touch screen on their players, I will not get another one of their products.

Once again I fell for the bells, whistles, and advertising known as archos. My history started with the Archos 20mb recorder several years ago. It went and went until it didnt have no more to give. I then stepped up to the 605 which died after about 3 months. After a month of non returned phone calls & un returned emails I was able to get it RMA's. A 3 month long RMA and I got a refurb (not the same one) finally in return, which died as well. Both units worked well for thier brief stint then went totally dead. They were kept in a home enviroment or a vehicle in motion (never left to bake with the windows up). Well the 605 went to ebay as I didnt have time to deal with it.
Still resisting falling into the realm of the ip*d, and the love of my old archos I shucked out the big dollars for the archos 5. For the first month and a half this thing was wonderful, I thought this will be the thing to de-throne apple. Much like the ones I previously owned one day it up and DIED. Back to the non-existant Archos tech support. Two weeks of unreturned emails. After I was finally able to get a guy on the line to listen and not transfer or hang up, I was treated so rudely and horribly I wanted to hang up. It it wasnt for the high end price tag I would've. I was drilled like a criminal with every possible attempt to make it sound to be neglect on my behalf. I dont think it would be possible to treat some one so rude face to face. I get my RMA and send it out. Two weeks after I call for a update (4 days to get ahold of a person this time), I am told that my 5 wasnt received. After spitting out a mail confirmation number I get put on hold for 45 minutes. At least I got some pc gaming in. Well low and behold it was received and I would get a phone call within two weeks of the phone call. 3 weeks later I'm on the phone again with them chasing my tail. A month and a half after I finally get yet another refurb on the mail. I can guarentee it was a refurb as it had family pictures and XXX videos on it. Very nice and professional. It screams quality control
All in all this will be the last Archos I ever purchase. I am 0 for 4. I say 0 for 4 based on the last one having someone elses stuff and adult material. This one is going to ebay before it dies again. I also give this a one star based on the non-existant, rude, and unprofessional customer service. Looking at other reviews and around the net I see there are many DOA's and dead units out there. Maybe that is the cause, they are just worked too hard. Avoid this one, and avoid the archos name in general.

My Archos products:
- Jukebox Recorder 20 (purchased 10 years ago)
- AV500 (purchased 5 years ago)
- Archos 5 Media Tablet (purchased 1year ago)

I have had a long relationship with Archos (since they started their business in 1988) buying three of their products over the past 11 years. I have been in a highly technical computer field over 20 years and an avid gadget person. Combined with my experience with Archos, I think I am well qualified to advise on this product.

History:
My first purchase with Archos was shortly after they started the company. The Archos Jukebox (early mp3 player) was a good product (one of their first) but had some usability quirks. Despite this, it was a decent product for its time. The technical support, which I used on several occasions, was very good as well. When they got into AV, it seemed they hit their sweet spot. In 2005 I was so pleased with the Jukebox's quality, I bought a AV500. The AV500 is a very good product, one that I still use today. The AV500 demonstrated quality hardware with good solid coding. Over the years, unfortunately, Archos has dramatically changed as a company. It seems if they have lost leadership internally that drove them in providing solid products and support.

The A5:
The Archos 5, on the other hand, is quite frankly a mess. It's usable, but the annoyances far outweigh the good things it offers. Like other Archos fans, I too ignored the many negative reviews, basing my purchase decision on the good experiences I had with past products. Looking at some of the 5 star reviews, many of these are written after only a few hours or days of use. No doubt, the A5 is very appealing at first, but quickly wears off once it reboots for no apparent reason. Don't get me wrong; I have tried very hard to like this unit (mostly because of the money I invested in it). The single biggest issue I have is its instability. Even when fully patched, the A5 crashes at least every 5 to 10 minutes of use. It just takes away from the pleasure of using the device. Just think if your laptop performed like that. Very very annoying to say the least, particularly when using the Internet browser although movies will suddenly crash as well. Frequent Flash 9 errors pop up as well (a known issue with Archos)... their answer; wait for Flash 10 and maybe it will work better. The sad part about this is Archos could easily fix most of these software issues if they took the time to invest in their product. It's a slap in the face to customers. I suppose they are avoiding spending funds on fixing their OS because of their plans to move to Texas Instruments Android OS in future products. Can we hope that the new OS will port over to their legacy products? In summary, Archos has become extremely defiant and indifferent to their customers needs which signals to me they will not be in business much longer unless they change. It saddens me to write these things because I was a huge Archos fan until I purchased the A5.

My suggestion is to wait for Archos to come out with the next generation of AV players (if Archos is still around). It may be that the new round of products using Texas Instrument's android OS (rather than their in-house proprietary OS) will make all the difference. In the mean time, check out their earlier products which are much more solid (and will keep them in business so they can fix mine). Try the ipod touch or iphone (which I have as well), however be aware that they don't have any flash support. With all this said, I really hope Archos will get their act together.

Pros:
- Very nice screen image. Very bright and sharp.
- Good mp3 sound (although fast forwarding songs skips ahead way too fast)

Cons:
- Very buggy. Even when keeping up with patches, the device keeps crashing. Very frustrating to be browsing the Internet and crash once every 10 min.
- Even though it claims it works with Flash 9, it only does 50% of the time. This is a known issue with Archos. Their response; wait until Flash 10.
- Metallic finish wears off (where your thumbs hold the unit) after about 3 months of use.
- Have to buy media plug ins (that don't work well either)

Peripherals:
Battery: If you do buy one of these units (which I highly suggest you don't) battery life is about 2.5 hours. After a year, mine gets 2 hours. The external battery is a good investment.

Docking station: the docking station design is incredibly misleading and useless (unless you like to look at the wires coming out of the back and have it blocking your view of the tv). The infra-red sensor is located on the front of the dock (see for yourself on the web site). That sensor has to be lined up within a 20 degree angle with your tv's infrared sensor so that it can change the channels (DVR function). The marketing materials show the dock neatly to the side of the tv (as it should be). In real life, you have to turn the unit backwards to face the tv exposing the back of the dock ( wires and all) not to mention the challenge of putting the unit in front of the TV. Do they expect us to put it on the floor in front of the tv stand? Why they did not allow for a tethered sensor (like Tivo) is beyond me. The dock is useless.

Given all these issues, the price, the other options available, bad support, the company etc. I unfortunately have to give this product one star. Archos, please wake up.

Pros: Its not an iPOD so it doesn't force you to use iTunes. Lets you navigate MP3's by files/folders or ID3 tags. Many players force you to use ID3 tags so unless your music's ID3 tags are perfect you could be missing a lot of songs. Can add and remove files by dragging and dropping folders in windows or using windows media player. Beautiful screen. Easy to use. Great picture viewer. Video player was really really cool. Connected to any wireless networks I connected it to. Kickstand is extremely useful. Between what it let you do and how it did it this thing is truly the coolest toy I have ever played with. (yes even better than an iPhone) I loved this thing.

Cons: Apparently it has horrible failure rates. Mine had the hard drive fail after 2 weeks of use. Archos has abysmal product support reputation in the US. You have to buy codecs to play certain media types which isn't really that big of a deal. It played 90% of my movies without the add on codec pacs. Crashes a lot when viewing certain web pages that run flash. Occasionally crashed when doing other things too but not often enough to be annoying. Also annoying you have to pay an extra $25-50 to be able to connect it to a TV. EQ was nice but didn't get near as loud or offer near as many options for sound as my Cowon X5L.

Summary: I returned my defective unit for a full refund(minus return shipping). Amazon stopped selling this unit for a week or two while they reviewed their stock of units to see if they were defective. That says something about the issues other people were having. I got a strong feeling that this unit would work from probably 1 month to 1 year then need require repair or replacement. I'm not really interested in shelling out $300+ for a neat toy that will only last a few months to a year before it needs to be shipped back for repair and leave me without an MP3 player for a month or two. Thing is awesome when it works. But it is too big of a gamble to assume you or I would get our money's worth.

I purchased the 250gb version of the Archos 5 today from a local retailer.

The user interface has nice graphic appeal, but so far it fails to perform to reasonable standards. Specifically:

Device shipped retail with Beta firmware which automatically raised red flags for me. I was, however, able to download and update the firmware from version 1.05x beta to 1.07x. By the way, the firmware download and upgrade was actually successful and painless.

Unfortunately, the web browser (which is based on Opera) had poor touch screen scroll response. What this means is that you drag your finger down the screen to position the web page. As you move your finger the web page should move with it so you can reposition it as you read. If this were an iPhone you would be able to flick your finger down the screen and the page would smoothly slide by as it scrolled. Unfortunately, on the Archos 5, the screen movement lags well behind finger movement and progresses in jerks.

Just for grins, used the navigator to load up the Archos User Guide. Welcome to the Hotel California where you can check into a PDF file anytime you want, but you can never leave (unless you reset the device.) The navigation button apparently does not function. If I could have navigated the document, maybe I would have figured out how to navigate and exit the document. There appears to be a means to resize documents however I stumbled onto it by accident and have yet to figure how I got there.

In short, browser and pdf document browsing was annoying, counter-intuitive, and not acceptable.

I got onto the Archos website to purchase the IMT Cinema Plugin. Page objects like buttons, input fields, and browser controls responded slowly.

I ended up purchasing the plugin twice because it failed to download the first time and the browser crashed to the OS Navigation Screen. So I assumed the transaction failed and tried it again with similar results.

When I checked my email (on my laptop, I have not tried email on the device yet) I discovered the redundant purchases and related invoices. To manually download the plugin from Archos, I had to go to my emailed invoice and copy a code that has to be hand entered into a web form to download the plugin.

So I got on my Archos 5, went to the browser, hand keyed the download link and information referenced in their email into the webform so I could download the plugin to my device. Archos could have made the process simple by simply providing a coded link to facilitate the download, but instead the site asks for name, email address, Archos 5 device serial number, the unique purchase code from the Invoice, and then the plugin fails to download. To add insult to injury, there is no diagnostic data to indicate why the download failes. The site simply reverts to a blank webform for you to re-input all of your information again. Very frustrating.

Tech support took 24 minutes to take my call with 0 callers in the queue in front of me. Can you spell "lazy"?

But wait! There's more!

I wanted to see if I could find and download "Sin City" from one of the 3 premium movie sites provided in the device's navigation interface so I could observe movie performance.

First, none of the movie sites had the movie, which means I'll have to figure out how to convert my DVD version to a format that can be downloaded and played on the device.

Second, movie choices were extremely limited.

And thirdly, as I noodled through the various media offerings I discovered that most of the content was eurocentric and not english speaking. No biggie if your native language is french or german. But very annoying if your interested in content specific to the US.

What can you expect. Archos is a French company, and the French still believe that the world revolves around them.

When I complained to Tech Support about the poor interface performance, he suggested that I ship the unit to Chicago for "repair". ...yea, right... I asked what the expected turn around time was for the "repair" and i was told 7 to 10 days. I didn't bother to ask who would pay the shipping costs. I suggested I would hand deliver the unit and peripherals back to my local retailer for a refund.

I originally purchased the device because I wanted a hand held recorder that I could connect a small external "helmet cam" to to record motorcycle runs on my sport bike (BMW K1200S in case you're interested). There was no video input on the Archos 5. You either have to buy the Archos helmet cam peripheral (I already have a high rez camera and do not wish to purchase another) or get the DVR attachment. (I am researching the latter option and will update this review if and when I acquire one.)

So my impression so far is: Nice looking device, about what I expected in size and weight, nice looking navigation interface, but less than lackluster web browser performance. Sample movies and audio tracks played smoothly. Built in speaker has sufficient volume to hear in a low noise environment. If you want stereo and fidelity you'll either need to wear the supplied earbuds or get a decent headset. Archos 5 is Windows-centric. If you are an OS-X MacBook Pro user like myself or a Linux propeller head, then we won't have the joys and benefits of using Window Media Player to manage or media content. </facepalm>

Device should have shipped with some kind of an AC charger module. As already stated in other reviews the only way to charge the device is to plug the included USB cable into your computer. Meh!

I'm not saying it's a bad product. It seems to have some great features and a lot of potential which are set-off by some serious deficiencies.

UP DATE-later in the day on September 20, 2008: I just found out today that you CANNOT use the Internet at Starbucks, Barnes & Noble and McDonalds. I confirmed this with Archos' technical support. This is really bad! The whole point of me getting this was to use it to access Internet on the road. It only work with an open connection (free Internet) This is a serious limitation in my opinion and I may be sending it back because of this. Archos really dropped the ball on this one! What is the point of having mobile Internet access when you can access hardly anywhere!? No thanks!!! The sad thing is, this was the same problem with the Generation 5 series and they have done nothing to improve it. Very disapointing.

ORIGINAL REVIEW-written earlier today: I ordered my Archos 5 directly from Archos because I wanted to get it ASAP. I just got it a few days ago. My initial reaction was very negative because the first thing I tried to do was load some of my photos taken with my 40D. I quickly realized the Archos 5 cannot handle large photo files. It was very slow and locked up almost every time. Also, the screen got very distorted when I tried to look at the photos. Since this was my very first impression, I really thought this thing was a piece of junk and wanted to send it back immediately. I took some time away from it to cool down a little and came back to it later with a fresh attitude! :) I looked at the other photos it came with and they looked fantastic. They displayed perfectly and the scrolling was very fast. I looked at their size and they were much smaller than the photos I uploaded. I downsized my photos to about half a meg. each and now they display/work beautifully. Whew! Boy, was I glad about that! I was hoping sooo much that this thing would work really well because I really looking forward to using it. I chose it over the Ipod touch because the screen is slightly bigger. The Ipod touch's screen is too small for me.

Pros

Reads pdf files so you can use this as a Kindle type of reading device. You can upload all of your ebooks that are in pdf format and read them on a very clear screen. (Just watch out for the glare) I am a musician so I can store sheet music on there.

Great screen-bright and clear. Very inviting to look at. High resolution. Photos and videos look great when you use smaller photo sizes. 5-6 meg. photos do not work so plan on downsizing your 8-10 megapixel photos if you want them to display properly.

Photo viewing is very simple. Just swipe to turn to the next photos. To zoom in on an area, just press your finger on the screen and hold it there and you will zoom in on that area. Need to change from portrait to landscape. Easy. Just swipe up or down.
Touch screen works very well.

The Internet works great. Not too slow. And, it supports Flash files when you are viewing web sites. IPod touch does not. Apple really dropped the ball on that one!

60gb of hard drive space. The bottom end of the Ipod touch family is only 8gb. That isn't going to help very much at all. Especially when you start uploading some larger photos and video files. 60gb is a nice starting point and you can always upgrade to one of the other higher capacity players when you need more space.

Music sounds amazing (when you listen on good headphones and use very little compression when making your mp3 file) I used my studio headphones to listen to a Chris Botti CD today and the sound was amazing.

Comes with the Opera browser for free. Last year's models made you purchase this separately. All you have to do to get it is choose the Internet button, it will search for a wifi connection, then it installs Opera. Take a while but it is worth the wait. As far as I know, you must be at a wifi connection to install/register. You can't do it through your computer when the Arches 5 is hooked up to it. You can download the latest firmware, and then stick it in the Arches 5's root directory. When you switch off the Archos 5 and turn it back on again your firmware will automatically be installed.

Free widgets-Currency converter, unit converter, and a simple calculator. I think this will come in handy on many occasions. The one odd thing about the currency converter is that it uses a rate that you cannot adjust manually. At least Ihave not found a way to do it yet. It says at the bottom of the screen that the conversion rates are over two weeks old but it doesn't tell you how to get or program current ones. Very odd.

Cons

Takes about 25 seconds to boot. But, my computer takes 5-8 minutes so I should stop complaining.

They shipped it with beta firmware. There are messages in a few places saying, "This feature will be added/updated soon" with an upcoming firmware version. I didn't get too bothered by it though because I am pretty they will resolve this very soon. It is a very new product and I think it has a very bright future. It is an excellent alternative to the Ipod touch.

No wall charger included. Comes with a USB charger- It
takes forever and you have to have your computer running for it to work.

Speaker is small, tinny and not very loud. But, it will come in handy for watching a movie in a quiet room.

Headphones sound OK as far as included-mp3-headphones go but you won't get the full potential of this thing's sound until you use professional headphones. This is true with any audio device. It is worth it to buy a nice set of headphones for this because it does sound amazing. I can only hear absolute silence when I am waiting for a song to play! And, that is a good thing!

I wouldn't want to do much typing when I am on the Internet (cause the virtual keys are pretty small), but just having a look around and pressing a button now and then is a lot of fun. It gets more readable when you enlarge the text a bit.

I suggest getting the dock accessory with it when you order it. It gives you a charger, usb port to download pics from your camera when you are on the road, European plug and American plug, and video out to T.V. for only $30 bucks. It is worth it.

Have to convert DRM files to play in this. That is not Archos' fault but it will be a pin in the but if you have a lot of files to convert. (ITUNES!!!)

Here is a great program that works very well. It will allow you play DRM files on your Archos. Daniusoft Digital Media to ARCHOS Converter

Overall, I am impressed so far. The more I use this thing the more I like it. The only real problems I had was uploading huge pics. I just won't do that anymore and things should be fine. Also, a product should never be shipped with beta firmware.

I will update this review when I think of more things. Enjoy your Archos 5!!!

This past holiday season, I got the gadget bug when several people in my family were upgrading to the iPod Touch 2nd gen. I was so into the Touch that I almost made the purchase without doing any other research, but my husband talked me off my high and convinced me to look into other alternatives.

I had never heard of Archos prior to my husband mentioning it, and once I started my research I grew further and further away from the coveted Touch. In this review, I will try to compare the two as inevitably they will be. In my opinion, the Touch can in no way compare to the Archos in price, features and flexibility.

The features most people will notice right away when comparing the Archos 5 to the iPod Touch are the storage and screen size. Forgetting all the other fancy features for a moment, you simply can't ignore the huge difference here. The 32gb Touch currently sells for $375 here on Amazon and for a measly $15 more, you can get the 250gb Archos and say goodbye to storage issues forever. If you're more modest and don't think you need so much space, you can pick up the 60gb version for $300 even and still get nearly twice as much storage for almost $100 less than the Touch. It's really a no brainer here.

As for the size of the touch screen, it's also one of those features that just can't be missed when comparing the two. Compare the iPod Touch's 3.5-inch screen with 480x320 resolution with the Archos' 4.8-inch screen with 800x480 resolution and there's just no comparison. Pictures and videos are crisper and far richer in color than on the iPod in a side by side comparison. In this case, bigger is definitely better.

Everyone wants to know about the performance of the touch screen as this is the main feature of the Archos 5 and the Touch. The Touch's screen is usually very responsive and scrolling is smooth. Despite what some others say about the Archos' screen not being as responsive, I beg to differ. I have not had a single issue with the responsiveness of the touch screen and it's always been a joy to use. Even when viewing webpages and clicking on small links, the touch screen is accurate and easy to use. It does have slight lag occasionally when scrolling but I've been told this was fixed with an update which I haven't bothered with because if it ain't broke, don't fix it! Despite the Touch's silky smooth scrolling, I find the Archos' performance to be much more reliable overall.

The Archos also shines in it's sheer amount of flexibility. It's support for countless music and video formats make the Touch look like a child's toy (and let's be honest, often it IS a child's toy!). Out of the box, Archos supports all the most common file formats and with the purchase of a plug-in (about $20) you can expand that so you literally will never have to hunt down conversion programs for your video files ever again. Just plop them on your Archos and watch. That's it! If you are ripping from your own DVD's, however, you can easily live without the plug-in and just rip into a format inherently supported by the Archos. No conversion necessary.

The same goes for audio support. Here is the key reason I have never bought an iPod. The iPod Touch is extremely limited in which files it supports, and once you convert your files into a format that the Touch approves of, good luck converting them back for use on another device. With the Archos, no conversion necessary. Just drag, drop and play!

Now, I love my music and videos in a wonderful little portable package, but my favorite feature of the Archos and the main reason I chose it over the Touch is it's web browser. Comparing the browser on the Archos 5 to the browser on the Touch is a joke. It's not possible to view a full page on the iPod. Sure, you can zoom way out so that you can see an entire page, but you'd never be able to read it that way as the text is tiny. So instead you have to enlarge the viewing area and scroll all around the page to read it in it's entirety, much like the new DSi's browser.

On the Archos, you view web pages as they were intended to be viewed. I frequent eBay and YouTube and I felt seriously ripped off with the Touch's "lite" versions of these websites among others. The Archos is a REAL browser, fully supporting flash and cookies. Nearly everything I can do on my PC or netbook, I can do on my Archos, the only exception being many flash games which lag when played directly from the website but play flawlessly when downloaded directly to the Archos. The Archos' browser has three zoom levels: enlarged, 100% and fit width. Enlarged zooms in to make reading easier but makes the page only slightly wider than the screen itself so scrolling horizontally to read the entire text is often not necessary. In 100%, the page is viewed in it's original size and the "fit width" option scales the page to fit the screen, which is the option I use most often. With this option, I am able to easily read text on most pages I have come across. I've never visited a page where I couldn't read the text at all on this setting, but there have been a few where I needed to enlarge the page to read easily without straining.

On top of that, the browser is FAST! It was so much better than I was expecting. Even when at my parents' house on there DSL connection it loads much faster than their brand new laptops. I would say it loads almost as fast as my new, self built, high end PC. I was elated when I saw how well it performed. It was my biggest concern. I knew it would play video and audio flawlessly and without skips and hangs, but I was truly worried about the browser as I had never personally seen a browser in a handheld device that met my expectations.

Text entry is incredibly smooth and easy on the Archos. The Keypad is responsive and a delight to use. Whereas with the Touch I have to use the point and jab approach, I can comfortably hold the Archos in both my hands and use my thumbs to quickly and accurately enter text. I prefer typing on my Archos to texting on my phone and typing on my husband's netbook. I write e-mails and reviews from my Archos daily.

As for video and audio playback, it is flawless. No skips, hangs or any issues whatsoever and we have watched several full length videos and hundreds of hours of music on our Archos in the 4 months since we received it. The built in kickstand rocks for watching videos! Currently I have 3 full length DVD's that we swap out, well over 10,000 songs and podcasts (many of my podcasts are several hours long) and my entire digital photo collection for the last 4 years. And I'm only using slightly more than half of my 60gb storage. I can only imagine how much you could house in the 250gb version!

Archos also has upcoming support for GPS plug-ins which will be great for us as our current GPS is becoming dated. We can't wait for that update. Also, the mini-dock is a dream. In addition to extended battery life, you can hook it up to your DVR station and record TV shows and movies directly from satellite. I can completely skip the step of recording the show to the DVR, then burning it to a DVD and ripping it to my Archos. Now it goes directly to my Archos and it couldn't be any easier.

One feature that I mentioned previously that many prospective owners may not be aware of is the game and widget support inherent with the Archos. Every Touch owner is a fan of the gadgets and games you can download to the device, but once you realize that the content you can put on your Archos isn't limited to those made specifically for the Touch but literally ANY flash game and Opera widget you can find on the net. And they are all FREE! You can easily find hundreds of free flash games and widgets on the net and putting them on your Archos is as easy as drag and drop, just like everything else. For every neat little game or widget the iPod brags about, you can find the free equivalent for the Archos. I currently have dozens of flash games loaded on my Archos, from checkers to bejeweled clones to strategy games.

Obviously, I'm in love with my Archos, but I won't deny iPod's upper hand in a few areas. Mainly, ease of use. The Touch was designed to be easy to pick up and play, even for novice users. The Archos is more complex but that comes with the territory when you're dealing with much broader features and capabilities. Still, for even the slightly electronic-savvy user, the Archos is very simple to get into without ever reading the manual. For those willing to put slightly more effort into the learning curve, they will be richly rewarded.

The iPod Touch is also easier to find. I've not seen the Archos in ANY retail store other than Circuit City, and they only had the older 605's when I visited their going out of business sale. Employees at Best Buy had no idea what I was talking about! Shame, because many people are missing out on this amazing device because it is not more widely available.

I also can't deny that the Touch is much lighter, and it's no wonder as it's hard drive is much smaller. Some say the Touch is more attractive but I completely disagree. I love my beautiful Archos and wouldn't trade it for anything. Even my iPod-loving brothers couldn't deny it's beauty. It is about twice as thick as the tiny Touch and is noticeably heavier which is also to be expected. But it is still completely comfortable to hold in my hands for hours at a time. And at less than half an inch thick, it is still very thin and easily slips into my purse to go with me everywhere I go.

Highly recommended to anyone in the market for a PMP!! You just can't go wrong with your Archos!! :)

Unlike what that idiot who "reviewed" the Archos 7 320GB Internet Media Tablet, i actually OWN this product. pre-ordered it from here at Amazon on August 25th, recieved it today. Have been playing around with it for a little bit, and so far, i love it. Seems much faster compared to the previous 605 WiFi 160GB i had, as well as the 604 WiFi 30GB. Websites load up rather quickly. Now... in all honesty, and also in all common sense... websites with more to them take a bit longer to load than others... say for instance navigating to Gizmodo.com takes a couple seconds longer to load than loading up a video from youtube after searching for it on Google.

Don't think i've seen a more beautiful player on the market. yeah, sure... the iPod Touch has a glass screen.... but who wants a $[...] 32GB player when you can have 120GB for $[...], or 250GB for $[...]? Opening the box to reveal the player that's pretty much all screen was freakin great. only 3 buttons on the entire device: power, volume up/down (kind of a rocker button, one button with two functions. Volume can also be controlled with the touchscreen. Almost makes me wonder why they bothered with that button), and if you can call it a button, the nearly microscopic "reset" button on the bottom edge of the device.

audio quality is good, although the earbuds that come with it aren't that great. the built-in speaker sounds quite good. video quality is great, also due to the great screen it has. Nice that it comes standard with the WebTV And WebRadio plugins, as well as the web browser, unlike the previous 605 players.

All i can say... is if you were looking at this player (or any of the other storage capacities), or another manufacturer's player.... do not hesitate on buying Archos.