Customer Reviews

Archos AV4100 100 GB Pocket Video Recorder

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have had my Archos AV4100 (100 GB version) for about a week now, and I must say, it is wonderful! Before purchasing it, I read many many reviews both on Amazon and on the WWW. Some of the reviews were really good and others reported problems such as frequent freezing, bad sound quality, etc, etc. However, I must say, I am very pleased with my purchase; and believe me, I put a lot of thought into it (5 monthes of thinking to be exact). It is a rather large investment, but I must say, it is worth it. And here is why:

- The setup was a no brainer. You plug it into your computer with the USB and the computer will automatically detect your new hardware and install all the needed software and drivers (since they're all in the ARCHOS device).

- The TV/VCR/DVD recording setup and usage is really simple. However, if your DVD is copyright protected, you'll only be able to play it back on the LCD (it won't play on your TV or on your computer).

- The sound quality is fine. The speaker can become really squeaky and coarse if you put it up really loud, but in general, the sound is not bad at all.

- I haven't really used the photo-viewing ability, but so far, with the sample pictures that comes with the device, the photoviewer works fine.

- The music player is really cool. The interface is exceptional and if you play on shuffle, it'll display what the next song in queue is. The only disappointment that I have with the music player is the playlist. It was a little confusing at first to set up a playlist and even after I made one, it didn't show up when I wanted it to. But after a little playing around, I figured everything out.

- Lastly, I did have a freezing problem the 2nd day I had the device, but the manual (you can find it online) explained how to troubleshoot the problem, and after updating the OS (all new firmware can be downloaded through the Archos website for free), I didn't have that problem again.

Thus, the Archos AV4100 is a great device and I definitely recommend it to anyone; it is well worth the price. Plus, I would get the 100GB version, because 20GB is just not enough when you're talking about videos that take up about 4GB each, and I wouldn't get the 80GB one because apparently it has some more flaws than it should. Also, is you want this for entertainment purposes, the 100GB model is the one for you.

The Archos PMA430 (the palm pilot-ish/video/mp3/picture player/viewer thing) is a great innovation but it is really slow and there are still a lot of bugs with the software and stuff. I was gonna buy the PMA430, but after seeing the video on this site (http://www.archosfans.com), I realized that the palm functions of the PMA430 weren't that great at all. So if you really really want a palm pilot and an PMP/PVP all in one device, wait a while and see what else comes onto the market later on in the year. But if you want a stellar PVP NOW, Archos AV4100 is the one for you.

Oh and the PSP is a mere TOY compared to the AV4100. Don't even try to put these two devices on the same spectrum! The PSP only comes with a 32MB internal memory, which means you can't put anything on it and to view movies on it, you have to buy those little disks that the player reads, which is costly and such a hassle to carry around if you're travelling. The Archos is so much better. That is unless you're a serious gamer.

I agree! Fast USB, video support for AVI's (I've already ripped several of my as yet unwatched DVDs to it for watching on the subway), records my favorite shows (Medium, American Idol, Stargate SG-1/Atlantis, Battlestar Galactica) directly to hard drive for later viewing, great video quality, great picture support (jpg, gif, etc.), wonderful full sound for movies and MP3s (not tinny or tiny like my other MP3 player), 100G allows to be used as a portable hard drive for my work files. Screen brightness is great. Was also worried about the quality probs I read about earlier but no such problem now it appears. I've ordered an additional power supply for the office, special standup carrying case, and remote/FM recorder. Definitely highly recommended -- it's my new travelling companion! (BTW, just picked up sony noise cancelling headphones for that theater feel on the noisy trains.) Terence

For many years I've been oogling at various different mp3 players but I never had the nerve to buy one, until I found the Archos AV4100... I had been dealing with CD's for all of high school and I finally gave up and asked for this for my graduation. The Archos is everything I wanted in an mp3 player and more.

I'm a big anime fan and I wanted to have something that could play my anime fansubs anywhere...in addition to my entire music collection. And the archos has the biggest harddrive of any player out there so I knew i didn't have to worry about filling up the hard drive and having to erase stuff from it all the time.

Also, I like to beable to watch my anime on TV but a lot of the shows I watch do not come on american television.. The ARCHOS has a nice feature that allows you to play the video on the archos, on the television screen. most of my anime files are around 100 to 200 mb... not DVD quality by a long shot but when my dad walked into the room and saw my anime playing on the TV, he was very very very surprised to see that it was in fact, coming from the archos...The quality was amazing, and looked even better than when I played it on my computer. No quality whatsoever was lost by expanding the picture to a 36 inch television.

I was worried, before it came, that the screen would be too small to read the subtitles or that the resolution wouldn't be good enough, but neither of those turned out to be a problem. Not only are the subtitles just the perfect size to read, but the resolution is AMAZING for such a small device.

I was also worried, that it would be pretty big and klunky, for having a 100 gig drive and a 3 and a half inch screen and whatnot but the size and weight don't bother me at all. Sure, the ipod looks sleek and is very light, but the ipod screen is NOTHING compared to the archos. Whenever I take it out for someone that hasn't seen it before, they are always amazed... "WHAT is THAT?! That's AWESOME" is the general reaction. The Archos also comes with a carrying case that, if it doesn't fit into your pocket, can be slipped onto your belt and it feels very secure.

Pros:
-HUGE hard drive
-GREAT screen resolution
-customizable interface (you can change the color scheme and background)
-so many features (music, video, recording)
-allows you to make play lists on the go. no need to pre fabricate play lists
-not too heavy or big, for what you get
-allows you to play your downloaded videos on the tv, without having to burn them onto VCDs or DVDs, without losing quality
-good battery life, for its size and functions (5 hours for video/10-12 for music)
-ultra bright screen, customizable setup (LCD brightness, power options, sound equalizer, bass boost)
-built in speaker for when you just happened to forget your headphones (not very loud, but it does the job when you just want to play video or a song for someone)

Cons:
-delicate - when I first recieved my archos, it worked fine but after two days of having it (and a mild bit of abuse) the off button stopped working. I'm not sure if it was because of me, or because it was just defunctional, but its a bit bothersome when you can't turn your mp3 player off. so I sent it in as defective and got a new one. The new one has worked beautifully and I have no complaints.
-screen is delicate too - my first archos had a broken pixel. Just one though, so it was not a big enough problem to return it, but horribly irritating. luckily enough the thing broke anyway so I just got a new one that had a perfect screen
-freezes sometimes - again, the first one i got froze several times and gave me problems when I updated the firmware... but the second one hasn't frozen at all and hasn't given me any problems.

I'm starting to think that it was not the design of the product but just that particular one (the first one i got) that was problematic, since I have had not a single problem with my second one. so don't let my cons discourage you

this is really an excellent product if you're looking for something for all the reasons that i did, and you don't want to follow the ipod trend.

funny story for all you ipod lovers, as well: I have a friend that never let go of her ipod for more than a minute. She would be in the car with her boyfriend and listen to her ipod. She came on vacation with me and had her ipod in her pocket at every second... and then I showed her my archos and we watched some video on it and she went out and bought one. so that goes out to all of you ipod freaks that swore loyalty to Apple: there is a better mp3 player out there and I've got it.

Wow is what I say! I got my unit about a week ago, and have been having a blast with it! It beats the socks off my Creative 60G MP3 player in many ways:

- It plays video!
- It's 100G instead of 60G
- Its USB 2.0 connection is MUCH faster than the Creative (I can send over a whole album in a few seconds)
- The unit's interface is easy to use and navigate
- It plays video!
- The audio and video sound is much better, richer (there's a bass boost that's really good)
- Its video is GREAT (I've ripped and loaded several of my DVDs to it and they play really well with good color and sound)
- The screen is bright (even in the middle setting it's bright enough for everyday use)
- It records my fave TV shows to take with me on my subway ride
- Did I mention that it plays video!
- The resume function works great (I can stop a video or song in mid-stream when, say, lunch is over, and then pick back up on my way home; I can even set up bookmarks in different files to jump to that part of the file)
- It acts like a hard drive so I can use SecondCopy to autosync my music and videos without having to launch WMP, MMJB, etc. (except for a few DRM files I have, then I have to use WMP)
- All the previous quality issues I've read about with the Archos products seem to have been fixed

Highly, HIGHLY recommended!

After 4 months of waiting, my order finally arrived. Good thing the local distributor provided an AV420 service unit to relieve me of my frustrations. This is actually the reason why I already gave it a 5 star rating as my expectations have already adjusted since I already used the AV20.

Based on my observations, the AV4100 actually performs better than the AV420, especially with those freezing incidences. It also has a richer and clearer screen display over the AV420.

The speaker also seems to be louder than the AV420.

Good thing I did not buy this Nite Ize pouch for PDAs as it will only fit the AV420, not the AV4100 nor the AV480 since it is about 1/2 inch thicker.

With 100GB of memory, you are at least more confident that you will not run out of memory space. The pre-loaded files will actually occupy about 4-5GB so that at least leaves you 95-96GB to play with, unlike the AV420 with only 15-16GB left.

The AV4100 does tend to heat up more than the AV420 so I don't think the optional leather case would be ideal as the heat may build up and affect the unit's performance.

If you plan to mount this on a car, you can actually use those big celfone holders that have a clamping style of holding the units but has the option of setting the holder crosswise. Just be sure that it is mounted directly on the dashboard to minimize vibrations that can cause more frequent freezing.

With its many functions, especially as a video recorder, 80-100GB is indeed ideal.

Don't believe what the claims on the no. of movies these Archos units can store. This is probably based on the lowest record settings, thus lower file size, translating to poorer quality. Always record with the highest settings for better viewing and listening.

It would be more ideal if you had a DVD Writer so that you can easily store your video recordings on discs for easy re-loading in case your unit konks out or you decide to remove it for whatever purpose. This is because each complete movie file will be more than 1GB, thus will not fit in your ordinary CD-R.

By the way, recordings done on original DVDs by one Archos unit cannot be played in another Archos unit due to the protection feature. I thought the protection method only disallowed the recorded files from being played by a different player such as those in computers.

If you have a digital camera, instead of buying additional memory cards, just invest on the optional 4-in-1 CF card reader so you can easily dump your picture files in the unit, as well as view the pictures with the much bigger screen. You can rename them too. The accessory is also cool for transfering files from one memory card to another like when transfering big files (e.g. MP3 files, ringtones, pictures, etc.) from one memory card of a celfone to another. No need for a PC with a memory card reader or go thru the problem of the celfone onboard memory.

Even with the release of the AV700 100GB with its big 7 inch screen, I still prefered to push thru with my AV4100 order because of the various reasons with "portability" as the biggest one. I need to have my unit with me. I would also look silly dragging around a VHS size MP3 player at my side.

After researching this thing and all the other PMPs out there, I decided this 100GB one was the best for the price. Based on the reviews, I estimated there was about a 1 in 4 or 5 chance that it just wouldn't work--every few reveiws somebody says theirs is borken. Of course, maybe they are just mistreating it--who knwos. Anyways, mine works, and I really love it.

Assuming you are going to travel with it, like you probably are, you really kind of do need the travel AV cables and car adapter which don't come in the package. The little stand that has all the cables perminantly attached is bulky and not for traveling. I tried to be sneaky and get a three prong camcorder AV attachment, but the picture is distorted, so I will end up getting the travel AV cables. Ah well. I also splurged and just got a car lighter-to-AC wall plug thing for my car lighter at Radio Shack (I know, they suck...) so I don't have to buy the car adapter (yet)and that works great, for this thing, and also my laptop and any other small devices.

I kind of wish this thing could do more PDA things, so I could read PDF files and what not but Archos sells a thing like this that's also a PDA for the same price, but it only has 30GB. I decided I really only needed a media player and having the extra capacity was worth more than PDA stuff, but that's just for me.

It works great. For music, pics, and movies and any other media you might want, it's pretty awesome. My small gripes are that you can't zoom in on pics, and it only reads AVI files, and the converter that comes with it requires a codec that comes with another program which is Shareware--so we'll see if I can still convert my files after the trial period for that other program expires. I also had to get a DVD ripper and converter which I didn't have. Oh and I wish it had a built in FM transmitter for my car, but I guess I'll find a way to live.

But I got used to or fixed all those things pretty quickly. And I am not really a media player junkie who knows about all this kind of stuff--so maybe there's easier ways to go about all this. I just wanted to splurge and get this. And I love it. I own about 400 CDs and have more songs on my computer and now I can get rid of it all and just stick them all on this cool thing and have more than plenty of room to spare with some movies, recordings of TV shows, and all my digital camera pics. I can't wait to go traveling just so I can pull this thing out on the plane for the first time. It's pretty damn cool.

Overall, though I wish it had some things it doesn't, I did my research and knew exactly what I was getting, and it works just great. I love the thing!

First off, let me start by stating that I am not rich. This was a major purchase for me. As a college student, I really had serious reservations about spending so much on an mp3 player and video recorder. But after having spent money on an ipod (which ended up flaking out on me after a few months) and an iriver h320 (which I do love, but I can't get its data file to update with my ibook and have a "tremendously" difficult time getting my ibook to recognize the iriver h320 as so many others have and not being successsful to get linux to recognize it without a lot of late nights), I decided to purchase the av4100. I didn't get the av420, since I have about 15G of music on my ibook. I didn't get the av480, since there are concerns in the reviews about the hard drive itself. I must say that the av4100 has been worth the price. I do have issues with navigating through the folders and files, but I think those issues will go away once I'm comfortable with the buttons. The av4100 is easily recognized by my ibook. I haven't tried it on a linux box yet. I have used the video recorder. It's awesome. I think the av4100 is well-built and well-designed. The only drawback is that it does not play mpeg4 files. I had to convert all my music files to mp3s. Very annoying. But overall, I'm happy with my very pricy purchase. I can see that this device will bring me lots of happiness.

Just bought the AV4100 last week and it keeps on freezing. First only when connecting/disconnecting the USB however now also using the cradle to connect to the TV/DVD. Keep on formatting harddisk which does not solve the issue. Downloaded and installed the latest firmware, no result. If Archos doesn;t come up with a proper solution soon I'll return the unit to the store without even bothering further. Lost 100 hours.....

I don't know how i've managed to live so long without it! never again will i ever be bored standing in line or waiting somewhere. it's truely the best thing you can have with you no matter where you go! load it full of your favorite videos/songs and you won't ever have to worry about "nothing to do" while away from home. definitely the best investment i've made in a LOOOOONG time :-D

the product works great, haven't had ANY problems with it whatsoever (aside from getting the right video formats but once u figure out what works for it, you'll be on a roll!). The screen is big enough to watch stuff without sticking right in front of your face, but small enough to fit in a pocket or my purse, the built in speaker is pretty lame though so you'll most certainly need a set of headphones. the case that comes along with it is good for only protective purposes, it's a pain sliding it in and out of that thing as it's quite tight fitting, so i'd suggest getting the other case with the built in stand and all.