Customer Reviews

Archos 2 Video MP3 Player 8 GB (Black)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The Good - Great audio quality. Controls well labeled and easy to use. Uses Standard mini USB connector. Screen is very bright and easy to read. Everything works as described. Pictures and video looks ok. Nice compact size. Dedicated volume buttons.

The Bad - The micro SD card does not integrate in with the memory in the player. When playing a song only the file name is displayed. No playlist support. No genre support. No lock button.

The Ugly - the mini USB connector does not plug all the way in. It goes in about half way and wobbles. It works but very poor design. The headphone is very difficult to remove from the jack. The micro SD card plugs into the player and leaves about 1/8 inch hanging out of the player. The exposed edge of the SD card snags on everything. No album art support.

The Strange - When you turn the player on with the on-off switch it does not come on. After turning the power switch on you must then press and hold the play-pause button. You can turn the player off by pressing and holding the play-pause button OR turning off the switch. Not sure what they had in mind here.

Conclusion - very decent hardware in need of some decent firmware. Very good value for the money.

First, for the price, this is an awesome deal. For less than [...]I can store more music than I can listen to in a week, listen to the radio, watch videos, and I don't have to pay extra for the privilege of carrying a pretty logo. I love this device because it's simple, tough, and plays MP3's.
But...
There are some weird little things that don't work like you would expect:
1. The on switch needs to be fixed - you have to press and hold play to really turn it on after using the on switch.
2. Conversion software for Archos Media player need to be easily available on the web, I threw away the original disk and now I can't find anywhere to download the software from the manufacturer.
3. No playlists! (that I understand anyway) I can't figure an easy way to play specific songs or change the order that songs play.

But it's cheap and these are minor complaints as far as I am concerned. If you are a member of the technically savvy minority that doesn't want to be locked in to a particular family of devices there are definitely worse choices.

First off, yes the sd card sticks out a bit and the usb cable doesn't seat all the way. For me, No problem! I love having a small 8 gig expandable media player for less than 60 bucks. It is a major bonus to get the FM radio, It works and sounds great. I have been using this every day for the past week and it has worked perfect. I like the fact that you can use any mini usb cable to charge it and copy music to it. I forgot my mini cable and used someones phone usb charger. Sweet!!! I like this unit so much I ordered two more for my sons. I will give this a 5 when they update the firmware to show album art and playlists.

DO NOT waste your money on this mp3 player. The sound is good, but the interface is a nightmare!!! Finding the songs you like is an adventure. A total piece of CRAP. I am getting a Sony Walkman mp3 player soon, and once I do, I am sending this to the junk bin at Goodwill!! (Goodwill may not want it either)

Great sound... Atleast with my headphones...

It needs a firmware upgrade... and It's not the most advanced thing out there... If your looking for a player that is expandable, But you want it done intelligently... look somewhere else... Even though the manual says that the media library will incorporate the Micro SD card... It isn't actually possible... So I end up putting My favorite music on the player and other stuff on the card...

This thing is also terrible at reading and Displaying tags... It also doesn't display album art.. just a simple spectrum analyzer... which is ok I guess.... It's really difficult to search for songs... and the menu system is a little slow... It will play video but you'll notice a little ghosting... and the color is alittle exagerated... so skin color looks kinda orange...

If your looking for something that just plays music and maybe has an FM receiver this is a wonderful player... even if the battery life is a little short... I found that I rather enjoyed it at work when I just told it to shuffle everything... so it just played and I skipped a song every now and them... Which brings me to another issue... The buttons symbols are just painted on... they are not coated with anything... so they won't last long...

I like the look of the player... It's simple...

That's about it...

This would be a fine little MP3 player for exercising to, but not much more. The battery life is too short, at approximately 5 hours, to use for travel or to listen to all day long the way I do. And, while it's charging, it can't be played. Plus, if you're like me and turn your computer off when you're not using it, recharging this guy is a pain in the neck. Much better to have an AC adapter/charger for it.

Initially suckered by the slick design element, I've become an all-around fan. Boosted by microSD expansion, the Archos 2 has become my primary music player. It's a near perfect MP3 player, but only for a certain sector of the market. This product pretty much falls in line with the Archos M.O. - hitting hardware out of the park while delivering substandard firmware. This is something I can work with, but YMMV. The techie-impaired might get stumped by counter intuitive menu functions. For most users, however, I think a quick read of the booklet and five to ten minutes playing around with it should get you acclimated. (well, minus video conversion.)

Photos and video look decent, just remember you're working with a minute screen here. Which is good, because it enhances the unit's portability. Ever go out with just a license and credit card in your pocket? Feels exactly the same. Volume doesn't reach the highest levels, but sound quality, bass levels, and equalizer settings are truly top-notch. I for one am an audiophile with $100 headphones on my $60 player! Battery is tough to comment on, as user accounts seem to vary wildly. All I know is that mine can last a solid 6-8 hr work shift. Oh and it's just an undeniably flashy piece of tech to whip out in public, sixty dollars be damned.

There IS one issue which can scarcely by fixed user ingenuity. The software has zero support for playlist or genre recognition (yikes), so the best you could do is transfer all your Party Music (or whatever) into the same place and then play by folder. It's a little jacked up for now. But a hefty firmware update could fix every single problem, and actually make this a five-star device.

It worked great for a few months. And then one morning I tried to turn it on and the screen back light goes on, but no image - menus, nothing. It still plays music, but you can't navigate the menus, so what is the point. My wife has a sansa and that is what I will buy to replace this junk.

I mainly use this as an MP3 player. When it turns on it automatically brings up MUSIC on the LCD. To play the muaic I have to press the play button (in the middle)continuoulsy for from 10 to 20 times before my music loads and plays. About half the time when my music shows, it starts playing, the other half the time it comes on with PAUSE and I have to press the button again to play. After the frustration of getting the music to play, it plays fine. Synchronation with Media Player works well. I use a different ear phone set that gives me high quality audio from the Archos 2. I do not seem to get anywhere near the 9 hours of battery time - much shorter.

Archos makes some very good prodcuts. This low end Archos ,just did not pan out to be what I expected.
1. The sound volume does not get very high.
2. It tried to be like Ipod with the on and off button, just didn't work.
3. The looks is nice, Lots of space
4 Good for a basic MP3 player.