Weighing in at g it's also quite heavy, but the case feels sturdy and the brushed-aluminium finish gives it an expensive look. The large 7-inch touchscreen obviously makes it ideal for watching movies on planes, trains and automobiles, and also means that Archos has been able to dispose of many of the hardware controls you might expect on this type of player.
Instead, the case is adorned with just three buttons. One is for power, the other switches from LCD to TV output and the third is used as a release button for the removable battery. Having a removable battery is definitely a good idea on a player like this, as it's likely to be used by those who are away from a power socket for long periods of time. Features The 40GB hard drive on our test model is enough to store around 50 movies, , photos or 20, songs.
This is annoying on a player that is already quite expensive. Also, subtitles currently aren't supported at all, which will not please the chin-stroking fans of European art-house cinema. Almost all the features of the device are controlled via the touchscreen. Archos has improved the menu system on all its Series 4 players, of which this is one, but usability is still a long way off that of the iPod.
This Digital Media Player is available in Amazon. You can directly order or Buy from here. Do You Know? Parts, Labor : 1 year limited warranty. You might also like. Prev Next. Leave a comment. We can think of several uses of the Archos: keeping the kids amused in the car, watching a movie on a train or plane, or some casual Web browsing, but for everyday use it's just too bulky and the Wi-fi drop-outs bothered us. Ultimately, the Archos occupies that strange middle ground between a proper laptop and a handy pocket-sized media player such as the iPod.
However, if you really must have a touch-screen device that can play pretty much anything you can download from the Web, then the Archos fits the bill.
North America. Home Reviews. You don't have to wait for the UK release of the iPhone for a touch-screen media player. Our Verdict. Using the previous model, the , was described by our sister magazine T3 as akin to "one of the trickier puzzles in The Crystal Maze", and even that was considered an improvement over the incomprehensible AV which preceded it. Archos is clearly listening, though, as this latest incarnation does away with physical buttons in favour of a touchscreen.
The interface is well presented, with nice-looking icons and controls, perfect for jabbing with a finger. Unfortunately, that isn't actually an option. For some reason, the touchscreen only responds to pin-point touches. Press the fleshy tip of your finger onto a control and your touch will simply not be recognised; carefully angle a long fingernail or use the stylus , and you might have a bit more luck.
Clearly, control still baffles Archos; there are calibration issues too. Most seriously, the calibration once managed to slip so far that a click in the centre of the 7in screen registered at the bottom.
For all its flaws, this remains a better control system than previous efforts, but Archos' work-in-progress attitude has to stop now. Time for the redeeming features. The Wi-Fi mode is absolutely brilliant, and far less clunky than we'd imagined.
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