Archos 404 30GB Portable Digital Media Player (500868)

by Archos

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 4 x 1 x 3 inches ; 1.5 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000HAVWX2
• Item model number: 500868
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #70,207 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Amazon.com Review "Convergence" is a more and more popular word in the gadget world: devices that can provide the functionality of multiple unrelated electronics products. Too often, gadgets with too many bells and whistles often prove confusing instead of versatile, but the Archos 404 is an ambitious, palm-sized device that may well surprise you. This slim, sleek unit is only a little larger than a pack of cards, but it plays and records video, audio, and image files--and, with the help of the optional Archos DVR Docking Station, it’s capable of recording TV and movies from a variety of video sources.

The bright, 3.5" TFT LCD displays up to 16 million colors. Take a product tour using Windows Media Player

Form Factor and User Interface

Looking at pictures from the literature on the Archos 404 before receiving it for review, I expected a relatively large and unwieldy form factor--but once out of the box I was pleased to see it's less than four inches across, or about the size of a man's wallet. It will certainly fit comfortably in a jacket's inside pocket or the back pocket of your jeans, though some may find it a little too thick to fit easily into a front pants pocket. The device is sturdily built, with buttons that don't jiggle or stick. And though this is a hard-disk-based device, I was able to wave it around and shake it lightly without any interruption or skipping during audio/video playback. Those who found themselves turned off by the occasional "jiggle factor" of disk-based iPods shouldn't run into any problems here.

The interface itself is fairly straightforward, forgoing the animated visual pizazz of similar SanDisk and Samsung players in favor of a GUI (Graphical User Interface) similar to a Windows PC desktop: arranged icons of shortcuts to the player's main functions, as well as to a directory-style file browser. (Note: feature icons become greyed out if the feature isn't currently availiable, such as Video if your don't have any videos loaded onto the player.) You can set the player's wallpaper to anything you like--if you have the (sold separately) Archos DVR Docking Station, you can even pull single frames off of live television to use as wallpaper with total ease.

Navigating this interface isn't always completely intuitive, however. The vertical row of buttons down the right side of the player take some getting used to, as each button has two functions for the left and right side. "OK" and "Menu" in particular occasionally seem to be interchangeable, other times not, and it's not always immediately apparent which button is required to navigate to the desired goal. Though it takes a little longer, I found it generally preferable to use the directory-style navigation, going straight to the desired files rather than navigating by function, and I think anyone used to the iPod clickwheel scheme may find it easier as well.

Playing Audio and Video

Simply put, the Archos 404 plays audio and video extremely well. The 3.5" screen is bright and crisp with a wide viewing angle, and the compressed MPEG-4 video files look great in the player's native 320x240 resolution. You can watch video in broad daylight, which can't be said about many portable devices that are even designed solely for video playback.

Audio sounds fantastic, as the player will support up to 320kbps audio compression in nearly every conventional format, as well as most subscription music and video download services. (iTunes is not supported.) Though the external speaker is not very loud even at full volume, you can really crank this baby up with a pair of headphones on. The unit comes with a pair of earbuds, but while they do the job, as with most portable players on the market you'll want to pitch these for a higher-quality pair before too long. Unfortunately there are also no audio equalizer presets, but the native levels are well-balanced enough that one would be hard-pressed to complain. I listened to both loud rock and jazz and had no complaints with the sound quality of either.

You can continue to browse your photo collection or hard drive while music is playing. Playback will stop if you start a video file.

Easily transfer media from your other portable electronics devices to your Archos

Creating Your Own Audio and Video

The Archos 404 can take pictures with its 1.3 MP camera, though this is easily the player's weakest feature. With no flash or optical zoom, this probably won't ever be your go-to digital camera, but it's suitable for daytime outdoor shots when your normal camera isn't at hand. The camera function and photo library are easy to use at least, and pictures turn out crisp and stable...and the 30 GB hard drive will hold all the 1024x768 digital shots you can take.

There's a pinhole-sized mic on the bottom of the Archos 404 to either record audio or to work with the camcorder, which are technically seperate functions. The audio recording function takes some experience to get comfortable with, but once you get used to it it's a great substitution for a typical voice recorder. To test this function I recorded about 15 minutes of dialogue with a friend with the player sitting about arm's-length away, on a porch in front of a busy street. Despite the ambient traffic noise, the resulting audio file was crisp and distinct, and I had no trouble transcribing anything from the conversation. For recording a lecture or an interview, the Archos is just about perfect.

As a camcorder the Archos is decent, but again doesn't quite measure up to a dedicated video device. Files created with the camcorder feature are in MPEG-4 video format. Audio as just mentioned is generally very good, and picture quality is satisfactory as long as you're outside on a relatively bright day. I would not recommend trying to record video in low-light situations--there's an option called "Brighter" in the camcorder and camera menus which is supposed to increase the light sensitivity, but using it had no noticeable effect when I tried it and low-light video turned out rather poor. However, in sufficient light the picture is stable and motion blur isn't a problem, so as an impromptu method of recording vacation video or similar material the player won't disappoint.

The Bottom Line

As a piece of convergence hardware, the Archos 404 performs most of its tasks very well, only falling short in regards to the camera-related functions. Still, under the right conditions the camera/camcorder is adequate, and those looking for a portable and economical way to achieve the functionality of several popular electronics devices will likely be very pleased with the Archos 404. And with 30 GB of space, you've got plenty of space to store audio, video, and photos: you can record a class lecture, watch a movie on the plane, take photos of your pets, record some spontaneous video of your friends goofing off, and listen to your entire music collection and still have plenty of disk space left over.

Best of all, with the Archos DVR Docking Station this truly becomes a piece of convergence hardware, as it adds the ability to record live television turning it essentially into a mini-TiVo. Once the 404 and the docking station are connected to your TV, you're ready to record television in MPEG-4 format, play previously recorded programs, or watch video files from your computer on your television, all with DVD-quality picture and sound. Connected to the docking station, the Archos 404 can even pump out 5.1 surround sound if you download a separate MPEG-2 plug-in.

Nestled within the 404’s main menu page you'll find icons for a TV Scheduler and VideoCorder. Using the TV Scheduler interface, you'll find it simple to set times and dates for the programs you'd like to record, and the VideoCorder helps work out the rest of the details--negotiating with the DVR Station and preparing the system to capture your entertainment preferences.

What’s in the Box

Archos 404 portable media player, headphones, dedicated USB 2.0 cable, DVR station adapter, protective pouch, quick-start guide, and legal and safety notices.

Product Description

Store up to 85 movies, 300,000 photos or 15,000 songs with the 30GB hard drive. Enjoy high quality video on a 3.5" color screen. Easily navigate menus with touch screen capabilities. Turn your ARCHOS 404 into a DVR: Record TV from a TV, VCR, DVD Player and cable box or satellite reciever on your ARCHOS with the optional DVR Station

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars pocket full of entertainment, November 3, 2006

By 

G. Burris (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Archos 404 30GB Portable Digital Media Player (500868) (Electronics)

This is my perfect portable media player. Great price. Big screen. Fits in your pocket. If you're too cool for an ipod, or run Linux, this player is for you. ;)

Great for Mac, Windows, and Linux because it support standard USB mass storage. Just drag and drop files onto it, no drivers necessary. You can browse MP3s by artist, year, genre, etc. You can also browse MP3s by file name and folder.

MP3s sound great, with seamless/gapless track changing. The bookmark feature is really nice for keeping your place in audio books or long DJ mixes.

The video playback is perfect with all my Dixv and Xvid MPEG4 movies without having to re-encode them. DVD converter software tips: HandBrake for Mac. dvd::rip for Linux. AutoGK for Windows. Happy viewing!

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars almost there, December 7, 2006

By 

E. Degis "drdoom" (usa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Archos 404 30GB Portable Digital Media Player (500868) (Electronics)

Overall it is great. Size, features, except the screen. The size is not the issue, but rather the resolution. At 320x24o it is just too low for this size screen. Also the viewing angles are bad, tilt it up 20 degrees and it looks too dark. The brightness of screen is better than the 604 and less than the 604 wifi(i bought them all to compare and kept the 604 wifi). The colors are also too saturated (unnatural). Overall, put a better screen on this, and i would pay 50% more. Are you listening archos?

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Media Player, January 9, 2007

By 

Ala (SA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Archos 404 30GB Portable Digital Media Player (500868) (Electronics)

This Device Had a lot of feature That I didnot know about it before, After that I loved it.
For the Video, you can just drag and drop your file without compression needed of software. It plays all my DIVX movies, moreover, I can take them back without any need of any Software. just like external H.D.

Screen is vary good, bult-in speeker is not that bad but the sound volume was not as I expected!!!

The things I dont liked about this device is battery recharging witch took a lot of time, mey be bucause I am using the USB cable olny without any docking station.

Overall I recommed This device.