Customer Reviews

Archos Mini Dock for 405, 605, and 705 Players

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

The Mini Dock is exactly what you need if you are going to be on the road with out access to USB power. The Archos 605 line of media players do not come with any other way to charge the unit other than USB, so you will need your PC to charge it. The Mini Dock not only gives you power, it has a mini-usb plug so you can attach cameras, computers, or any mass storage devices to your 605, plus a video out, so you can play your videos or still photos over a TV. I just wish it supported IR so you could use a remote control with it.

I love my Archos 605, but playing video chews through the battery and it seems to take forever to charge via USB. If you plan on using it for video or internet you definitely want to add this accessory. It's very small and portable - yet charges the unit much faster. I think I could play video out to a TV or transfer files between a PC, camera, etc. I was on the fence to purchase this, as I will be getting the DVR dock as well. I'm glad I did because this is a great every day charger and great for travel.

One thing to note is that the Archos will not stand up straight while docked. The picture is a bit confusing. It's designed to allow you to use the kickstand and watch a video while charging, which is nice.

It ships with a mini-USB / USB cable (non-proprietary) and also AV cables. The USB cable is very short, maybe 12" or so. Very glad I chipped in the extra $30 or so for this item.

Call me cheap, but I didn't want to pay for the DVR dock. I just wanted something to charge my Archos 605 that was faster than USB-to-computer, which would take a ridiculous number of hours to accomplish.

Enter the Minidock.

This thing is specatularly small: 3" wide x 3/4" tall (at its tallest point) and 1 1/2" deep. Also very light. It comes packed with an AC adapter with different plug adapters for various parts of the world (the standard US one is in the mix), a USB cable, and an A/V connector (with headphone jack on one end and RCA connectors on the other). Don't bother looking for a manual or instructions, because you won't find one.

The dock itself has a plug that connects to the Archos (so the Archos sits nicely on top) and the left side has mini and full-size USB connections. The right side has the AC connector, and A/V out connector. Its small size doesn't lend it as a stand, but if you use the kickstand on your player, it will still stand up nicely with the dock attached.

That's what's in the package. Now here's what it can do:

CHARGING
Charging is MUCH faster with the minidock. About 4 hours to fully charge from a low battery. And yes, you can connect to your computer while charging with no problems.

CONNECTING
You can use the mini-dock to connect to your computer or mass storage device. The two USB connector options come in very handy. Your file transfers will be much easier.

WATCH VIDEO ON YOUR TV!
The coolest feature (besides faster charging) is the A/V out. Although you won't be able to record to the Archos like the DVR dock, you can PLAY videos from your Archos on your TV. Hook up the A/V cable, hit the TV/LCD button on top of the player, and voila! The Archos becomes a video player for your big screen TV!

This minidock has plenty of features to expand your Archos without putting a dent in your wallet. It's worth it, worth it, worth it.

If you own an Archos 605, at some point you will start to realize that it's not really charging over USB while you are watching movies. In fact, it will eventually shut down while you are watching a movie even while still attached to USB. It's not enough to truley power the device.

The ARCHOS MINI DOCK solves this issue, and also adds a lot of very nice features like TV out, and the ability to plug in external drives and drag and drop files to and from the archos (my 2GB flash drive works great with it, for instance!) and syncing is fast as well. Plus, you can STAND IT UP WHILE IT'S CHARGING AND WATCH MOVIES (something you can't do with the USB cable, which always bothered me).

All and all, a purchase you won't regret for a second.

After purchasing the Archos 605, you are hopelessly low on money. If you have $30 and you cannot afford the DVR station (or even if you have to wait a week for your next paycheck), get this. This is the perfect solution to charging and its small size makes a perfect travel companion. The USB host feature works extremely well with any mass storage device. You can use a USB flash drive to hold extra music or movies and watch them directly using the mini dock. The TV out feature also works well. If you have any TV problems, the problem has nothing to do with the dock or the Archos 605 unit but rather the TV. The TV image usually will not look as crisp as the Archos 605 screen but the larger display is nice. Avoid viewing photos though because most TVs flicker when displaying the photo images. It is a very nice feature that you can use a standard type b mini usb plug when connecting the Archos 605 to a computer rather than the proprietary usb. This mini dock truly is absolutely necessary for any Archos 605 or 405 owner mainly because of the included power supply, small form factor, and a standard usb connection.

This really opens up what you can do with this player. I like being able to charge it quickly, and the size of it makes it easy to take along. I also like being able to connect it so easily to other USB devices.

It wont make you a cup of coffee and it wont rub your feet after a long day, but it will provide an easy portable way to connect your player to your (or a friend's) television. It also provides the ability to charge your player from an electrical outlet. So am I disappointed that it wont do the NY Times crossword with me? A little but that's not why I bought it. It does it's job period.

I don't care too much about recording fromm TV or cable (I have DirectTV and the DVR station doesn't really work with it), so I returned the DVR station and bought this mini dock. I use it mainly to transfer pictures from my camera, and it works really well. You don't need to plug in power if you only need to transfer pictures, so you can travel without the AC adapter. I have not tried to see how fast charging function is, but expect it to be decent. This is a must-have item.

The mini dock is a nice charging option for your Archos 605 WiFi. The compact size is better than hauling the DVR dock. The charging is faster than the USB version, but it is in no way "fast". The unit took about 6 hours to fully charge from dead empty compared to the initial 12 hours on the computer connected USB. It is best plugged in when you go to bed so you can have a fully charged unit when you wake up. The 605 Battery life is not really the 17 hours as advertised. The life is about 3 hours on video and about 10 hours of all the rest. Still, even with the shorter battery life and longer charge times, it is a better device than the Ipod touch. My son has the Iphone and it sucks up battery life like it was turbocharged. Also it has only a 16 gig hard drive.

I travel with the 605 so the dock was important. I can watch movies going in both directions on the planes and I carry about a dozen or so movies when I travel. The Iphone ony gets about 2+ hours of charge on video (maybe one standard length movie). Plus the dock lets me watch my movies on hotel tv's with the video out feature.

Performs as advertised. You can use it along with the included cable to watch your Archos on a TV, as a USB host to transfers files from a thumb drive or portable hard disk (for NTFS files I needed to upgrade the firmware), you can trasfer files to a computer via a generic USB cable, and you can charge your Archos via AC outlet.

The only beef I would have with this, is that it won't charge the Archos when plugged into a computer using the generic USB cable (to charge via USB, the original cable is needed without the minidock). This would sometimes be handy if you know you're going to be near a computer, and don't want to carry the AC adapter or proprietary cable with you.

Otherwise, it works great.