Customer Reviews

Archos 6 GB Jukebox 6000 MP3 Player/Hard Drive

5 star:		(51)
4 star:		(53)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(21)
1 star:		(42)

 

 

This is an MP3 listener's--and general audiophile's--dream come true. I've stored my entire 100+ CD collection on my jukebox, and I still have room to spare where I can store a whole data CD if I wanted.

The pros are astounding: The size of the storage is enough to justify its price, and the ability of the unit to double as a mobile hard drive is again worth its price. It's very easy to use, and I really like the line out jack as well as the headphone jack (I use it with my computer speakers now instead of my computer's CD-ROM drive to play audio CDs). It's also heavier than most portable MP3 players, but still realatively lightweight--about the size and weight of a small loaded portable cassette player. Mine has proven to be very stable, also, with very few playback problems.

Before I list cons, in fairness, I have to say that it's just so you'll know what you're getting; in my humble opinion, the cons are small annoyances and the pros far outweight them. Note also that an MP3 recordable version of this jukebox is coming out (at a higher price, of course), and according to Archos, a 20GB model (they claim 500 CDs, I estimate more like 400) is due out late in 2001.

The cons are a little irritating: The external remote is not yet available (third quarter, Archos told me). The case is just plain awful--it has a belt loop instead of a clip, so to take it off or put it on, you have to remove your belt, and given that there's no external remote, you have to take the unit out of the case if you want to browse around. There is no volume control on the unit, it's in a submenu. Hint if you already own one: If you hold the ON button down and press the + and - button, it adjusts the volume up and down and saves you some navigation. Also, count on getting a different set of headphones, preferably a set with an inline volume jack. The five-hour battery life is more like four with me, but I fiddle with it a lot while stuff is playing. Don't count on replacing batteries if you're somewhere where you can't recharge the unit; the batteries are almost impossible to access. Last but not least, I don't know if this is true of MP3 players in general (it is of Windows Media Player), but there is a split-second (1/8- to 1/4-second) pause between MP3s. This is annoying of you're listening to a band like Pink Floyd, whose songs tend to cross-fade into each other.

Here's another helpful hint: If you buy this and are a serious user, go to Radio Shack and get part number 273-1863, an adapter for your car, and 273-1711, the adaptaplug H for the connector. It's US$12 total and you can listen to your stuff on trips without wearing out your batteries. If you have a cassette player in your car, pick up a portable CD player-to-cassette conversion kit at your favorite home audio/video store, and you can listen to it on your car's speakers--sweet! If you carry your player back and forth from home to work, get RS part numbers 273-1770 and 273-1711. It's US$14 total, and you won't have to tote the AC adapter around with you or worry about your batteries going dead.

This is my luxury item courtesy of the tax rebate (thanks George!) and as you can see I'm doing my best to help keep the economy propped up. My firmware version is 5.02a which, ironically, is higher than the latest driver currently available on the Archos website.

Pros:
1) Ability to store/transfer files. Acts just like a 6 gig portable hard drive. Great if you have two computers. Who needs a zip drive anymore?
2) Installation was painless and connects and disconnects easily from my computer with the included USB cable.
3) Player recharges batteries with included A/C adapter.
4) My device shipped with 2 sets of NIMH batteries, nice plus.
5) Weighs about 12oz, like that can of beer you're drinking. Not rugged, but feels solid (kinda like a beer).
6) Sound quality is good, does not have problems playing "dirty" mp3 files as users have complained about other players.
7) Backlight is bright and makes reading clear in dark environments.
8) Using USB, it transfers files from computer to player at about 1MB/sec or a 100MB file in just over a minute. Plenty quick.
9) Massive storage! I just can't hang with those ridiculously inadequate 32MB, 64MB or even the 128MB players. I'm a music nut, yet I'm still having trouble filling this thing up.

Minor Gripes:
1) Would've liked to have seen a car kit included. $... extra seems high for this accessory.
2) Control dial "mushy", plus you have to hit the left and right buttons to control up and down on the menu. Expect to hear a lot of "how do I do this" questions from other people when they use it.
3) Slight millisecond "gap" when switching songs. Enough to be noticed if you're playing a continuous mix. Does anyone know if the Nomad does this too?
4) Player does display entire song title, but slowly. Would be nice to be able to adjust the settings.
5) A trick in this version is to hold the on button then hit the + and - keys to adjust the volume. Otherwise it's an annoying menu process just to raise and lower the volume.
6) When you power up in dark environments, the backlight doesn't automatically come on. You have to "guess" when the machine gets to the startup menu and fiddle with the buttons before it turns on.
7) When recharging, the LCD screen constantly says "batteries charging" or "batteries charged". I wonder if this will eventually cause screen burn-in?

Cons:
1) Headphones cool looking and have their own volume adjustment but they feel cheap and sound worse. An item priced this high should have included better quality. Plan on upgrading these.
2) Supposedly this player has a "resume" play capability. I can't get it to work. Player will go back to beginning of track, but not the point of the song where you last powered off. Annoying if you have a rather long mp3 - especially because it takes this player a while to fast-forward to the point you left off.
3) Because of the above problem I popped a note to tech support weeks ago. No response yet. Guess everyone else's complaints are valid.
4) Disappointed at only a 90-day warranty. Especially given the number of complaints about this player's reliability.
5) Included version of Musicmatch is junk. Reassociates all your file extensions even if you tell it not to. Then spends all the time telling you to upgrade. Certainly nothing in this program that Winamp (free) can't do.

The biggest selling points of this player in my opinion are its handheld size, its ability to double as a hard drive, and its cheaper price compared to the Nomad.

The negatives that keep me wondering if I should've bought a Nomad instead are this device's lack of resume capability, the slight gap when switching songs, the 90-day warranty, and the fact that the Nomad looks and operates more like a CD player - much more intuitively than this thing.

Hope this review helps you in your decision.

At first I was a bit skeptical of this player. The box has a somewhat cheap appearence, and does not do a good job of conveying the possibilities of this product.

With 6GIG's of space, connectivity to any PC using a USB port, and standard Battery or DC Adapter Voltage, you can use this thing anywhere, anytime, and for so many different things it just cant be beaten for the price. You can easily use it for its intended purpose of listening to MP3 music, but there are so many other things you can use it for, your imagination is really the only boundary.

I have really enjoyed using it to listen to Audio Books on long road trips, Flights, and other times when it is nice to have some interesting company. I also use it to store video cd's which I can play through my laptop. Pictures from my Digital Camera (Canon G-1) often take up hundreds of megabytes, which is a pain to have to put on CD to transport elsewhere. I can load 340mb of Images off my Camera into my computer, drag the files onto my 6GIG jukebox using the regular windows explorer, and take the driver cd with me. Then when I get to my parents, friends, associates house or office, I simply load the usb driver on their system (30sec.) plug the Archos into the USB port, and drag and drop my photos onto their system. It transfers about 1.5mb/sec, so it is very fast compared to <any> removable media out there, and almost as fast as most 5400 RPM hard drives.

As for the unit itself, it is manufactured in a very utilitarian manner, with most effort put into durability and function. That being said, if you can look past the somewhat handmade appearence, you will learn that the unit really is quite solid, substantial, and durable. I use it in its pouch, in my fanny pack when I go ride my Suzuki DRZ400E OFF-ROAD on roads that make your body ache and it never skips a beat. The only thing I wish it had was remote controls. It is definitly a pain to have to stop, unzip fanny pack, unzip carrying pouch, push stop, then reverse the whole process before proceeding.

The sound is good. I have read reviews from other people saying when they turn up the volume or the Bass/Treble it causes distortion and popping etc. I have approx 600 songs loaded on mine all recorded using Music Match at 128kb and I have no concerns about the sound at all, and have not experienced a single pop in the 3 weeks I have had it. I suspect it may have something to do with their recording, or transfer process. The key is to throw away the included headphones and buy a pair of quality Koss, or others. It makes all the difference in the world.

The Batteries are a minor inconvenience. You cant use standard off the shelf 1.5v Alkaliines or you will void the warranty, so you must use the 1.2v 1500mAH batteries included with the unit (even though they are AA size). Mine came with 4 batteries already installed and charged in the unit, and 4 more shrink wrapped, which I assume need to be charged, although I have never needed them. With a full 12 hour charge, I can play continuous music for about 5-8 hours. It depends heavily on how much you mess around changing directories, etc. I would be willing to bet you can charge these batteries externally using any number of standard battery chargers available, althought the manual makes no suggestions that I could find. Some people complain about the batteries being hard to get out, but I wonder why they are trying to take them out anyway. You charge them inside the unit with the supplied AC adapter. I took mine out just for fun and it was easy. Just take a small screw driver or other implement with similar shape and pry very lightly in the slot. Once you have it out about 2mm, simply push the whole battery cover up, away from the body of the unit. It slides right out with no hinderances that I could see.

The layout of the controls is easy to figure out without using the manual which to me is important. Loading music onto it is also just as easy since Windows sees it as just another drive, and you drag and drop your stuff onto it just like any other drive. Use nested folders to organize your files. Once on the Archos Juke box, you can easily navigate through nested subdirectories by using the + key to scroll sideways, and the Play/Pause key to go up or down the directory structure.

Over all I am very impressed with this unit. It has lived up to my expectations in every way, and I am a perfectionist. The only thing I would like to see is a USB interface that you could plug into it that would allow direct download of CF & Smart Media cards. That way you could bring it along with your Digi Cam, and download your 340mb of images at the end of every day without needing to haul your laptop around with you!

If you have specific questions, feel free to contact me.

This little beauty is almost perfect. Just make sure to download the latest firmware because it fixes the sound.

Pros: - 6GB storage: I stored 565 mp3 music files and 140 mp3 audio book files (20MB average) and still had 400 MB left. - Sound: After firmware upgrade, the sound is excellent, better than my Phillips eXpanium CD/MP3 player because I can change the bass and treble settings (can't do this on the eXpanium). - Can scroll forward and backwards through MP3s (Can't do this on eXpanium either) - ID3 tag support: shows the CD track number and song name, or the filename if no id3 tag. - M3u playlist support. - Upgradeable firmware (Thank you Archos). - Doubles as a hard drive: Drag and drop any file from explorer into Archos drive. - Rechargeable batteries that last 8 hours on average. - If you live on the edge you can upgrade the hardrive to 20MB (this will invalidate you warranty)

Cons: - Playlist chokes on lists of more than 30 or so songs - Shuffle does not quite shuffle correctly - No "Resume" function - No car kit, though it will work with any standard cassette kit (I don't know about the power, though)

If they fix the playlist and shuffle bugs this unit could be the killer.

This is a wonderful mp3 player! It has some minor flaws, however. GOOD THINGS- 1) Capacity. Oh come on--- is six GIGABYTES enough for you? 2) Style- It looks cool. 3) Price, it crushes any 64mb player anyday!!! 4)Fast USB file transfer- I transfered 500 mp3's in half a minute 5)Durability- I've dropped it on a rock-hard surface (by accident) two times already but thanks to the cool blue bumpers, it survived without a scratch! 6)Battery Life- I left it on and timed it- from a full overnight charge, I pumped out 7 hours of music. 8)Good Menu options 9)Easy computerized organization- Manage your files easily as if it was a drive on your computer (when connected with the USB) 10) You can easily transfer any file from any computer when its connected to the USB and previously installed

SO-SO THINGS 1) Navigation. Through menus and files- It was difficult the first day or two but i easily got used to it. Not a problem.

BAD (but tolerable) THINGS 1) Headphones. But thats not a problem, just get some cheap ones. There headphones bother my ears. 2)Weight and Size- Its actually fine in terms of size, its mostly portable everywhere but weight, um, its a little heavy but for such a high-octane device, i dont know how it could possibly be any lighter 3)Not-so-great sound quality, but im sure future downloadable firmware will improve it.

Other than those, this is a great player! I am enjoying it very much!

Unlike Creative Labs, Archos did not bow down to the recording industry, and did NOT make the Archos SDMI compliant. This is a good thing. It means you can upload all your mp3s to the Archos 6 GB Jukebox 6000 and (unlike the Nomad Jukebox), you can DOWNLOAD THEM BACK TO A COMPUTER. Archos is a company well-known for its hard-drives, and they have (finally) introduced a multi-gig mp3player with great features.

This is a product worth the money, and was bought (with change leftover) with credit from returning the Nomad.

OK, here's the thing. I just took my Jukebox on a one month, 10,000 mile tour of China with ten college students. If you want to have lots of music with you for 14 hour plane rides, and 20 hour bus rides, this is the one. The only alternative is a CD player with a suitcase of CDs, and that won't do.

Battery life was fine. I easily got seven plus hours, but less if I skipped around much. I never ran them dry.

I dropped it on a bouncing bus twice, both times pretty hard. First time the display failed, but came back to life somehow on the second reboot. I got lucky, probably.

Sound quality was fine--it pauses during songs occasionally. But, if you are an "audiophile" you shouldn't be listening to MP3's anyway.

Recharging through a converter was fine. I would like to buy a 220v recharger, but Archos could not get it together to get me one. They're just getting the hang of this.

You do need good headphones. I matched it with Koss noise-canceling phones and was in heaven. A great way to escape home in my mind while rolling through the Chinese countryside.

Other reviews complain about the controls. They're fine. I could hand it to any student and they could figure it out within thirty seconds without instructions. Wish I could say the same about my VCR. A thumbwheel for volume would be nice, but that is about it.

If you sit in your living room and expect this to sound like your $2000 stereo, you will find fault. If you want a compact, reliable road machine that will give you any tune you want in the far corners of the world, this is your player.

Acknowledging that this has some rough edges--mostly quirks in the firmware such as a worthless battery indicator and a lousy equalizer--this product is amazingly well conceived and executed. It feels solid, its user interface is simple and intuitive, it's eminently pocketable, it plugs-and-plays without a problem in Win98, and it holds an incredible quantity of music and books on tape. And it's very reasonably priced.

As to the sound quality, it's probably true that this is not audiophile quality sound, but I guess that's not what I'm looking for in a high capacity portable player. This sounds about as good as my portable CD player, a Sony 815, certainly good enough for casual listening, and great for plane flights and the daily drive to work. For books on tape the only thing missing is a resume function--this has the second best alternative, the ability to fast forward within tracks. Other than that small lapse, this is the holy grail for audio readers.

Some of the complaints puzzle me. One reviewer says the machine wouldn't stay on. I wonder whether he read the instruction manual, which says you have to hold the on button for three seconds. I made this mistake initially, then rtfm, and all's been fine since. The only time it won't stay on is when the battery's low.

Another reviewer says he crashed the drive removing the batteries by pressing on the back cover. Admittedly the instructions for changing the battery are a little obscure, but pressing on the back cover is not part of the process.

I apologize if I'm misunderstanding these complaints, but my experience has been that once you figure out the instructions and act accordingly this thing is a superb gadget, by far the best portable audio solution I've encountered yet, and almost good enough to cause me to retire my minidisc recorder. Since the firmware's upgradeable, I expect this will get even better. I'm sure it will never be perfect, but it's already insanely great at what it does.

Archos has been known to make great compact electronics for some time now. The Jukebox 6000 is no exception. While I have to admit, the iPod is way cool, has a much better interface, and it's a bit easier to use, it also costs about $... more (and as I'm writing this, the software for making it PC compatible hasn't been released yet). I have had absolutely no problems with this device whatsoever. While MusicMatch software is provided for ripping CDs, it's not required for use of the Jukebox 6000 (I've seen lots of posts about people complaining that the software wasn't made for the Jukebox 6000). I happen to prefer MusicMatch to just about any other CD ripping software, but if you prefer to use something else, go for it. The Jukebox 6000 is not an SDMI compliant product (Thank God!). What that means is that you don't need to use any special software to copy your MP3s to the device. Most manufacturers belong to the SDMI Alliance (or whatever it's called). Those devices will either prevent you from copying music from your device back onto another machine, or in worse cases (Hello Sony and ATRAC3) will convert your MP3 files to their own proprietary format before copying to your device (which means you need to either rip directly to their format, or save two copies of everything on your hard drive). Being non-SDMI, the Jukebox 6000 lets you just drag and drop MP3 files onto the drive that's created when you connect it to your USB port. There have been a number of Drive Error problems with early units, but those have been corrected with firmware updates. My unit was fine when I got it. You should check out the Archos website about the updates. Even if you have the latest update when you get the unit, some of the new features are not mentioned in the documentation (namely the "hold down the power key" features that appear when your unit is on... Lock, Select, and one that doesn't show up on the screen, but if you hold the power key down and press the + and - keys at the same time, you can raise and lower the volume without having to go to the menu). All in all, it's one of the easiest MP3 players to use that you'll be able to find. No confusing software (Hello again Sony... I have a Sony Network Walkman... which cost more than my Jukebox 6000... it uses the Memory Stick... the software with that is really, really, really bad... and you HAVE to use it because the device will only play ATRAC3 files. Very cool device, not much larger than a lighter... but the restrictions tend to outweigh the "cool" factor). So go out an get your Archos Jukebox 6000 - What are you waiting for?

64 MB or 6000 MB? That's the first question. And the second question is do you want a cheap piece of plastic or do you want a heavy duty metal case of rugged construction reinforced with shock absorbers and built to last? Thirdly, would you rather pay $500 or $250 for the same quality product? Finally, do you want something bigger than a discman and awkward even in your jacket pocket or do you want something compact which will easily fit into a suit or jacket pocket? If your answer to all of these questions is the latter, then by all means get the Archos Jukebox 6000.

Now I have to admit that when I first looked at the box, I had my doubts. Those big blue things on the corners seemed cheesy and also given the size of the box I was wondering just how big this "jukebox" was. But then I opened it up, and realized that it was the size of a compact walkman, considerably smaller than a discman. It's heavy, but that's because they packed 6 GB of memory into it. When you have it, you're holding in your hand a huge hunk of hard drive. And that's where this product really shines--the hardware. When I conceive of the company I picture their allocating almost all of their resources to their engineering and computing department and very little anywhere else.

I can't overestimate just how much 6 GB is--the classical afficionado for example could probably put every single work by Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven on it. I am a fan of alternative, classical, and 80's music. The sound quality for all three is excellent. Now the headphones that come with it are lacking--after all they are a computer hardware accessory company, not a headphone company. And so I tossed it and got a pair of Koss "Plug" headphones--revolutionary in design in itself--which has a high sensitivity rating of 108. The sound did sound a little diluted at first especially at the bass end, but that's because I'm so used to the Sony Megabass sound. But the Archos 6000 comes with a graphic equalizer and if you increase the bass setting to a '3' (on a 1 to 5 scale) then you get the mega-bass and it's indistinguishable from my Sony Megabass Discman. In fact, you might not always want the mega-bass especially for classical music for which it would make it sound un-balanced. And so, for testing purposes, try Depeche Mode with the enhanced bass setting and Vivaldi's Four Seasons and you'll see what I mean when I say the sound quality is clear and excellent.

Another thing which should be mentioned is the ease of use as far as putting songs onto it. There's a single cable which you use to connect it to your computer, and the Jukebox then becomes your 'E' drive. Anyone who knows how to use windows can set up folders and subfolders and files on this 'E' drive, and when you're done, the Jukebox is reconfigured to your specifications and the mp3's are reorganized accordingly. I've heard that there was a problem with the randomizer at some point but that's fixed with the upgraded downloadable software for the machine which also solves the "volume" issue by allowing you to change volume simply by holding down the on button and clicking increase or decrease on the dial.

Now the big blue things I actually grew to appreciate after I realized their function, which was that they are rubber shock absorbers just in case you drop the machine accidentally. They really didn't have to add this function, nor did they have to add in its being able to double as a backup hard drive--but both added features are certainly nice and are the kind of luxury items which you would expect only with much more expensive models. Anyway, that's why I feel this unit deserves a 6th star. Now the blue bumpers plus the silver color of the case and center dial do give this portable mp3 player a "space cowboy look." And so both the internal and exterior features of this Jukebox mp3 player really make me feel like it's 2001.