Customer Reviews

Archos Gmini XS 200 20 GB MP3 Player and Recorder

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Although I wish it had an FM Tuner, and especially a case with a belt clip, this is the better of the small 20gb hard drive players in my opinion. Its price point allows it to compete with iPod, the Lyra, and others. It is the least "fancy" of the Archos firmwares, and I hope an upgrade soon will add WMA with DRM support (purchased downloads), as well as an Automatic ArcLibrary that the other Archos models have. The latter will automatically update your ID3 tag library when you disconnect from the computer. As it is now, you have to manually do this in Setup after adding/deleting/changing songs.

One big positive is it just adds to the computer as a Mass Storage Device - i.e. an extra drive letter/space. You can store any kind of data on it making it a nice portable drive for documents, photos, etc. No special software to install! It feels sturdily built and is easy to navigate and create playlists on the fly.

A couple of minor annoyances that is sort of funny now - one is the packaging. We all know and hate those blister packs, but this one is the HARDEST I've ever encountered. Twenty minutes later, a visit to the tool shed, and a big cut later, I finally had it out. It took a tree limb cutting tool to free it! My best scissors have never been outsmarted by a blister pack until this package! Second, they went with the cheap, old "mainframe" green screen I'm sure to save costs. But the blue LED's showing On and Charging are so bright it would seem they could have easily provided backlighting! Seriously, if you look right at the light, it hurts your eyes! :-)

Overall, I'm very happy with this - especially for the price. I replaced my flash player and use it in the gym and running. So far it is holding up very well (no lockups), but I'm still looking for the perfect case.

One note of caution, the Gmini FM Remote does NOT work with this model. Archos confused the issue by naming this "Gmini" but is not the same as the gmini 120 and 220 models. There is no way at this time to add FM tuner capability to this model.

I bought this mp3 player a few weeks ago to replace the complete disaster that was my Gateway Jukebox. The Archos Gmini xs 200 is better, and [so far], I haven't had any major problems with it.

One thing I've found to be really irritating is the "shuffle" mode. I always end up hearing the same handful of songs - out of the 2,000+ songs I've got on there already - over and over again, and I keep having to skip over them. Which gets annoying pretty fast.

Gmini beats every other mp3 player that I've tried [rca kazoo, ipod, Gateway Jukebox], because it does what I want it to do: store and play a lot of music, and serve as an external hard drive without having to use programs like MusicMatch, Windows Media Player or iTunes. Set up literally goes like this: plug in, drag files, drop files - Which is great.

Also, of course it's tiny and really cheap compared to similar players.

There is an online user manual that is a lot more complete than the one that came with the product [www.archos.com].

update: i've found a way to work around the bad shuffle mode by playing around with the settings a bit [mode: shuffle current folder, and play the folder "titles"]. BUT I have found a few more problems: sometimes it shuts itself off without warning. And sometimes when you turn it on, "resume" does not actually resume. Also, there is no way to "hold" while it's turned off, so it occasionally gets turned on while in my purse.

This player might not have options like FM tuner or recording ability, but if you want big music storage with a small price all bundled in a cool package, this is the player for you. I love it and some of my friends are now buying it too. The little FM remote thing that is for the Gmini series DOES NOT work on this unit, so if that's something important to you, this isn't the MP3 player for you.
Some of the biggest pros are the battery life which I've been getting 12 hours per charge and the size which is tiny. My wife's 1.5 GB memory card MP3 player is bigger than this unit and cost almost as much. I use the player to store a couple thousand songs and as a backup for my important computer files and digital pics. That way if my computer ever gets fried, I've got an easy backup.
Regarding some of the other reviewers comments, there is a complete manual and it's not the "one sheet of paper" quick start guide described earlier. The manual is a PDF file in the player. Just plug into the computer and read/print it. There was also a complaint about shuffle mode that they seem to get the same songs over and over. I haven't had that experience and always listen in shuffle mode.

I concur entirely with the review: "a few small changes could make this 5 stars, May 9, 2005"

This device works astonishingly well. All prior issues relating to the firmware have been resolved, and if your device is not current, the firmware update is available free download at http://www.archos.com/.

I just returned from a desperately long trip to the Russian Far East on too many planes without any entertainment, and the XS200 was priceless and performed flawlessly.

Needs:

- USB enabled recharging (this is the most obvious oversight)
- neck purse or something like it (belt case) to hang the dang thing from when seated on aircraft.
- less brilliant LED's. The blinking blue "recharged" light can wake a sleeping dog.

But, in-spite of those few gripes, I cannot believe this thing is not EVERYWHERE.

It is brilliantly easy to load - it is truly an external HDD and so you can copy mp3 format right to the drive through Windows Media (or other) players direct from CD. No fussing around.

The software is very clever, and sorts / archives ALL data available on the CD's - artist, performer, group, etc. If you want, you can play one artist's work even though it spans dozens of CD's. As well, you could store non-music data for other uses in-transit. A VERY capable device.

4.9 stars!!

Although I can't be considered an "expert" on MP3 players, this player is my third. It is also my second Archos player. So far, it is the best. Why? I will answer with one word - SOFTWARE. So far, the software this player comes with is the "Best Of Both Worlds", to quote a Van Halen song. This software allows people to use both the folder hierachy of windows, or its own software that arranges everything on the player by Artist, Song, Title, etc. The way the software works with the "dual browser" concept is revolutionary. It was easy to use and install music without being required to use a software program. Although there are some tweaks that could be made, Archos is leaps and bounds ahead of the competition.

Other great points of this player include the size. Very compact and small. The sound is NOT small at all. The player sounds great, and the equalizer allows adjustment to one's taste. Generally, it is easy to use. The main joystick button is sometimes bothersome, and could also use some tweaking. It was priced very reasonably, especially when you consider what they are charging for smaller players. Many players in the 4-6gb range are more expensive than this player was.

A few tweaks wouldn't merit a loss of a star. What hurts the most to me about this player is lack of a larger model. I'd buy this player in 40gb, but would prefer to see it in 60gb or 80gb. Make a model that large and I'd buy it again in a heartbeat. It also lacks an FM tuner, but I wouldn't want to see one and see this player grow substantially in size. A color screen of some kind would be nice, and I would accept an increase in the size of the player to accommodate a larger screen.

But, for my money, why waste it on those flashy MP3 players with only 4-6gb of space? This player blows all smaller players away, even the RIO Carbon. I believe it does because of its small size, large capacity, and smart flexible software. Keep up the good work Archos.

i wanted a reliable mp3 player----no calendar, alarm clock, or other unecessary items. the gmini performs great, has no clunky software packages, and sounds great through my home or car stereo. music transfers are very fast and organizing music in folders or playlists is a snap. there is no downside as far as i can tell, especially given the price.

I love this little thing. The Archos gmini XS 200 is pure simplicity. I don't have to mess around with itunes or musicmatch or wmp, I just copy files from my computer to my archos and then they play. No fuss not muss. I can delete songs on the player and rename and move them (try that ipod). It is as small as the ipod mini with about four times the capacity. It uses a simple mini usb cable (unlike the Dell player that requires a special connector or their docking station, why do I need a docking station?!?!). The only thing it deosn't have is an FM radio (hence 4, not 5 stars). The size of this thing is amazing. I've (unfortunately) dropped mine onto the street a few times and it didn't even stop playing. Start up is fast, connection to my PC is super easy and quick. The battery lasts about 8 hours (the XS 202 is supposed to have even better battery life). Buy the XS202, the slightly newer model, but the XS200 is a great MP3 player. The more I use it--and I use it every day--the more I like it.

Recently, I've started using a little Microsoft utility called SyncToy to sync my Archos and it's even better. It syncs my faster then anything else I've ever tried and it lets me easily keep all my podcasts up to date.

I have owned the XS 200 for six months now, and I am delighted with it. 20 GB of memory for just over $200 is a steal. I am in my 30's so I have a large CD collection. The XS 200 comfortably took all 4,500 of my songs. All it took was a simple copy and paste from the C: drive of my computer into the Gemini's drive (my music files were originally burned on to my computer using 128 kbp WMA files - so average about 4 mb's a song). After your songs are pasted into the Gemini you need to update the ArcLibrary, which is a very simple process and only takes a minute. You just need to remember to do this every time that you add a new album or song to your player. Like I said, it's very quick so it's not much of an inconvenience.

The MP3 player is very sturdy and small. It looks and feels like it would take a lot to damage it. I bought the Case Logic MPC7 case for it which is a perfect fit, and the whole thing fits in a pants pocket. My favorite feature is the shuffle function, where you can listen to any group, album, year or your entire collection randomly. Another good feature is Resume, where your music will begin from where you last turned off the player. There is also a handy pause, move volume up or down, and skip song function on a large button on the front of the player. It is not as easy to jump around as on an Ipod, but it is relatively straight forward once you get the hang of it. The sound quality to my ears seems very good, though I do not use the headphones that came with the player. The player comes with a plug that allows you recharge in North America and Europe. This is a fantastic feature, which I wish more MP3, camera and phone companies would do.

So what's bad with the player. It does have the tendency to suddenly not play a song every few hundred songs. This is no big deal though - just hit song skip and it immediately plays the next song. The player's battery life is not as good as many other players. You probably get six hours, which I don't have a problem with, but it could bother some. It does not have a radio, but you can use it as a hard drive to save documents and the such like.

To sum up, this is a perfect MP3 player if you have a large record collection and wish to listen to it while out and about. There is no problem jogging or cycling with it either. This player I believe does not play protected songs, but the next model up, the XS202, plays protected WMA files, so if you think you are going to purchase songs, the 202 might be a better fit. Apparently it also has a longer battery life. I have no problem recommending this player. It might not be glamourous but it is one of the best MP3 players out there.

I did a lot of research before buying an MP3 player after my ipod broke and this one is absolutely the best. Everything the ipod does, the Gmini can do too in addition to other features it has all to itself. Things I love about the Gmini:
--soft keys that enable you to perform any function with just three buttons, including locking the keypad (the hold button on my ipod was the first thing to break)
--20 GB of storage for the price and size of an ipod mini
--being able to continue using itunes (or the software of your choice) as a music player and organizer on the computer. I love my itunes and was thrilled when I didn't have to give it up to use the Gmini.
--the volume adjuster on the included earbuds
--having separate jacks for charging and connecting to the computer
--being able to organize your music on any computer, anywhere
--100% skip-free jogging capabilities, at a size and shape that makes it perfect for holding in my hand. The full-sized ipod started skipping during my runs at a certain point, and it was so long and smooth that it slipped right out of my hand on numerous occasions. Some runners prefer an mp3 player with a case or a strap, but I've been more than fine just holding this one in my palm.
...and many many more, most of which are listed in other reviews here. However, the main reason I am writing this review is that the Gmini has one major drawback that could be a dealbreaker for classical music enthusiasts like me or those who just like to keep the order of their playlists and albums. I didn't know about it before I bought it. If you transfer playlists as folders to the Gmini's hard drive as I do (because it's a royal pain to create them anew), IT WILL NOT RETAIN THE ORIGINAL ORDER. It will automatically put the tracks into alphabetical order instead. For albums with many individual songs this isn't a problem for me, but when I transferred my large scale works such as operas, masses, and symphonies I had to letter the tracks. "Overture" had to become "a. Overture," etc. It was a lot of grueling work at the beginning, but it was definitely worth it to have such a great MP3 player for such a good price.
If you're a runner fed up with skipping and slipping or are just looking for an MP3 player with a lot of storage at a great price, buy the Gmini! You will not regret it.

I wrote a great review when I first purchased this thing, but now it takes all of my self control not to throw it against a wall. The product is great when you can get it to work. However, the unit became difficult to power on after 3 months (conveniently for Archos, this is the length of their warranty). It can take hours of pressing the power button before it decides to power up. Then it works fine until the next charge, when the problem starts over again. This is beyond annoying. I've spent entire workouts at the gym with my finger on the power button, and the thing didn't power up. Then when I get home it decides to work. Also, BEWARE- Archos U.S. customer service simply does not respond to customer emails. I've written them 6 already. Save yourself some headaches- if you buy this product, buy an extended warranty, and don't waste time writing to U.S. customer service. Write the crew in the UK instead. I would like to change my previous awarding of stars to "none", but the site will only let me edit text, not the # of stars.