Last summer, I had the opportunity to review the Archos 604 Wifi, a very nice portable media player. Since that time, Archos has released their fifth generation players, and I now have the opportunity to check out the successor to the 604, the Archos 605 Wifi.

Because many of the features overlap or have not been significantly changed, this will be an update to my previous review. You should read my review of the Archos 604 Wifi first, and then come back here, where I will be discussing some of the important upgrades and new features in the 605.

What’s In The Box: Of course, the box contains the latest Archos media player, the 605. Additionally, it contains everything you will need to use it right away, including:

• a USB sync/charge cable
• protective pouch
• headphones
• quick start guide (with a full PDF manual on the device)
• 2 Styli
• Archos DVR Station saddle (to be used when connecting the Archos 605 to the DVR Station Dock)

Overview and Controls: Last summer, I was extremely impressed by the Generation 4 Archos (the 604), with its large screen and easy to use controls. I was happy to find that the Generation 5 kept most of this intact, making only slight improvements in the hardware when necessary. Let’s take a closer look around.

The main user interface is on the front of the device (shown above). The bulk of this surface consists of the high resolution (WVGA 800×480) 4.3 inch screen. This screen, which is over twice the size of most of my portable media players, was fantastic for watching crisp and clear video content on the go.

Here, you can see a comparison between the Archos 605 screen and that of the Sandisk Sansa e280R and the Sprint Mogul. Beneath the screen, you will notice the internal speaker, which has been significantly improved in this model.

To the right of the screen are the six control buttons. Each has a dual-control, meaning pressing it on the left or on the right will perform different actions. From the top:

• [OK] which is equivalent to enter, go, or play/[X] which is equivalent to close, back, or stop.
• The next three buttons contain the equivalent of a D-Pad controller (up, right, left, and down), as well as fast forward and rewind.
• The next button contains the Menu and Tab buttons, which will help you navigate through the on-screen interface.
• The final button is the volume control. Right for louder, left for softer.

I found the controls to be fairly intuitive and easy to use. Of course, most of these functions can also be performed with the touch screen controls, but it is nice to have the option of controlling the device in the manner which works best for each individual user. Since these buttons are all redundant, you may find that you prefer a larger screen at the expense of these hard button controls. For that, you might want to check out the Archos 705 and its 7 inch screen.

The top of the device contains the power button (an LCD light will tell you whether the power is on or off) and a TV/LCD screen toggle. Additionally, on the 4 GB model, you will also find an SD memory card slot.

The right side contains no controls or indicators. The left side, however, contains the 3.5 mm headphone jack. I was extremely happy to find this instead of the smaller 2.5 mm headphone jack which a lot of devices seem to be incorporating lately. Very few headphones utilize a 2.5 mm jack. In fact, 3.5 mm is standard in virtually all high quality headphones, so the use of the 2.5 mm jack never made sense to me. Above the headphone jack are three indicator lights. The top light will display the status of the battery when charging. The next light tells you whether the hard drive is in use. The final light indicates whether it is in TV mode.

The bottom of the device contains two connectors. One will connect with the included USB sync/charge cable. The other will connect to the DVR Station Dock. When I reviewed the Fourth Generation player, I had a concern about the location of the power connectors. Because they are on the bottom, it is difficult to stand the Archos on a desk and watch a video or view pictures while charging. I still have this same concern. It should be easier to use the Archos on external power. In order to facilitate this, these connectors could easily have been moved to the right hand side.

The back of the device contains the battery, which is not replaceable. There is also a thin kickstand which enables you to stand the device on a desk or table while watching videos. As I mentioned, however, it is difficult to do so while on external power due to the placement of the power connection. Nonetheless, although this kickstand may seem like a small feature, it is absolutely critical when watching videos.

Included Accessories: Everything you need to get started right away is included with the player, however, like building a new house, if you are willing to spend the money, much of this can (and some of it should) be upgraded later.

• The included headphones are your typical, uncomfortable outside of the ear bud style headphones. These are the same style headphones which accompanied almost every portable media player I have ever used. One of the things that most impressed me about the Sony Walkman Video when I reviewed it a few weeks ago was the fact that Sony chose to include a higher caliber of headphone with the Walkman. Nothing is more frustrating to me than spending several hundred dollars on a portable media player, only to find headphones which will never be used in the box.

• The protective pouch does an adequate job of protecting the player from dust and accidental contact when not in use. Nonetheless, it is one of the first things I would upgrade. This player really needs a case which can flip open to protect the Archos during use. There are plenty of case manufacturers out there, and a new case is a relatively cheap upgrade which will significantly increase the protection of your device.

• Another disappointment I have found with many portable media players is the lack of a separate AC adaptor for charging. Instead, the trend seems to be toward providing a single USB cable which can both sync and charge from your computer. While I understand that in theory this allows manufacturers to provide you with one cable to perform multiple functions, it always felt like a cheap-out to me. I don’t always have access to a USB when I travel, and if I do not have my universal USB to AC adaptor with me then it makes it impossible for me to charge the battery in the device. Of course, to make matters worse, the connection with the Archos is a proprietary connection, meaning my universal cables will not work.

• I do appreciate, however, that Archos included two styli in the box. The styli are nothing special, but they are enough for everything you will need to do. Like the 400 series, a small elastic band inside the carrying pouch will secure the stylus when it is not in use.

Interface and Menus: The basic structure of the interface and menus has not changed significantly since the 4th Generation. It has, however, been improved in many small ways to ensure an extremely navigable and finger friendly device.

The main Archos screen contains eight icons for each of the functions of the device. These include:

• video
• music
• photos
• file explorer
• content portal (an assortment of online sites from which you can purchase additional content and media)
• world wide web (which requires the purchase of an additional $30 web browser, not included)
• television recorder (requires optional DVR station dock)
• Widgets (this allows you to purchase additional features, such as an FM radio or alarm clock)

Along the top of the screen are indicators for volume and battery life, as well as a clock to show the time. The icons along the left side of the main screen allow you to enable the Wifi scanner and adjust the settings on your device. Once you select one of the eight functions, these options will change to specific settings for that function. Additionally, if necessary, a volume slider will appear on the left hand side.

Once you have selected the function you wish to use, a submenu, showing the items and options specific to that selection will appear.

I was extremely impressed by the on-screen controls and interface. They felt much more streamlined and better put together than the 604. These menus also all utilize a fairly large, finger friendly layout. This brings the interactive touchscreen of the Archos in line with most of today’s popular, higher end devices. At any time, simply tap the "[X]" in the upper right hand corner to return to the previous menu.

Settings: From the main screen, you can access the settings control. Virtually everything about the look and feel of the Archos is customizable. This includes sounds, display, clock, system settings, and considerably more. These customization options ensure that the Archos 605 will always meet your needs, rather than forcing you to change your usage habits to match its capabilities.

Media: If you are looking for a device on which to play music or view pictures exclusively, this may not be the best device for you. While it performs fine with these tasks, there are a lot of other devices which are smaller, less expensive, and generally better suited for such tasks.

If, however, you are looking for a portable video player, on which to watch movies, TV shows, and even home movies, then your search is going to begin and end with the Archos line of media players. The 4.3 inch, high resolution screen is amazingly crisp, and provides an ideal portable viewing environment for video.

Of course, none of this should be taken to mean that the Archos played music or displayed pictures poorly. Once you have purchased the Archos 605 for your video viewing needs, I am sure you will find the Archos performs admirably well at all of these tasks. My point above was only to highlight that this is a player which is designed for video, and if you do not intend to view video on it, then many of the advanced features will simply be wasted on you. In fact, for a much more complete overview of the capabilities of the Archos media player with respect to each media type, go back and read my review of the Archos 604 Wifi.

One final observation I noted is something which I should never really expect from a device like this, so I could not call this a criticism. It is more of a request. The crisp, vibrant screen and easy to use controls would make this a fantastic unit for digital video and picture editing. I would love to see the ability to edit my videos and pictures (and even edit audio to make ringtones) made available on the Archos as an additional widget. This feature (or widget) would be a significant advantage, which would further catapult this device well into a league of its own.

Sound Quality: There are two ways to listen to the audio on the Archos. Of course, you can utilize the 3.5 mm headphone jack. In this case, any pair of headphones you choose to use will work remarkably well with this unit. The V-Moda Vibe headphones shown above are not included with this unit, but worked extremely well (as they also did with the Archos 604).

Additionally, there is an internal speaker included on the front of the device. By default, the audio will be heard through this speaker. When I reviewed the 604, I was highly critical of this internal speaker, noting that it was not adequate for watching movies, and was virtually impossible to hear dialogue. I was, therefore, extremely pleased to find this speaker had been significantly upgraded in the 605. I was impressed to find that it worked great with music as well as movie dialogue.

Connectivity: The Archos 605 comes equipped with a Wifi radio, allowing it to share music via your home network, or stream music via network UPnP. More importantly, however, it allows you to access the Archos online store (through the Content Portal) and surf the World Wide Web. When I reviewed the Archos 604, I referred to this as a cheap gimmick. And I still think that is the case. Furthermore, I was somewhat annoyed to find that the web browser is now an add-on (along with an FM radio, and other widgets) for which you must pay an additional fee. This browser came standard with the 604.

Nonetheless, in the interest of full disclosure, I should mention, that I do not have access to a wireless network (I know, last person on Earth). As such, I was not able to fully test the Wifi and Internet connectivity features on this device, or determine what hidden advantages may remain to be found. This also meant I was unable to access the widgets to determine exactly what was available there.

To me, however, the Wifi options are not nearly as important as a built in Bluetooth radio with A2DP and AVRCP controls. The lack of any Bluetooth connectivity was one of my largest criticisms of the 604, and I was extremely dismayed to find it was still not present in the 605. I will never understand why portable media player manufacturers, such as Archos, are not moving toward incorporating Bluetooth radios in their players, particularly when Bluetooth headphones are ever increasing in prevalence, and many mono headsets are even starting to offer a stereo option. When I reviewed the 604, I noted on this subject:

If the manufacturers of these devices wanted to include a worthwhile option for connectivity, they would have included Bluetooth 2.0 compatibility. Bluetooth stereo headphones are become more prevalent every day. They are able to reproduce sound with incredible clarity, however, they are virtually useless because almost none of the media players offer Bluetooth along with the A2DP and AVRCP protocols. Frankly, this is outrageous to me. Do you want to impress me? Do you want to make your player indispensable? Then drop the gimmicky Wifi and add a real Bluetooth radio with A2DP and AVRCP controls. This would truly allow me to use my media player the way it was intended…without any wires.

Again, Archos, is at the top of its game with the 605. The inclusion of a Bluetooth radio, however, would simply catapult it well beyond the pack of mediocre players vying for your attention, and into the realm of elite video players.

DVR Recorder: The Archos 605 also has the ability to connect to your television and record movies and TV shows directly to the hard drive of the unit. This is a fantastic feature, which would really help people like me, who spend hours every day commuting on a train. Now, rather than recording my shows to my DVR unit and fighting my wife and three children for television time, I can record my shows directly to the Archos and watch them at my leisure on the train. I was frustrated, however, to learn that in order to do this, you must buy a $100 DVR Station Dock. This is just one of several "extras" which must be purchased in order to use the Archos. Philosophically, I have a real problem with devices which do not allow you to utilize all of the features without spending additional money. It is one thing to offer additional accessories or improvements, however, requiring the purchase of accessories and plug-ins simply to make the included features work…that just made an otherwise fantastic device feel like a money pit.

Nonetheless, the DVR Station Dock is extremely easy to setup and use. Simply register it on the Archos website and download the station guide for your area. Then, plug the DVR station dock into your television on one end and your satellite/cable receiver on the other. Now, you are ready to scroll through the guide and start recording television shows. Be careful, however, because these shows can add up quickly and utilize quite a large amount of space on your drive.

Unfortunately, I was unable to further test this feature. The web site consistently returned errors for me when I attempted to download the station guide.

Memory and Storage: I had the opportunity to review the 30 GB version of the 605. In addition, there is also a 4GB, 80Gb, and "The Monster" 160 GB hard drive. I found the 30 GB hard drive was more than adequate if you plan to listen to music and store photos. However, if you intend to store and watch video, particularly if you regularly use the DVR Station Dock, you may want to look at the 160 GB hard drive.

Transferring media to the Archos hard drive is extremely easy. One of my biggest complaints about the 604 was that it would not sync with Vista. Of course, it was hard to complain too much about that problem at the time, knowing that the Archos 604 predated the Windows Vista Operating System. Still, I recall talking with the folks at Archos, and telling them the only reason I would not consider purchasing the Archos 604 unit myself was its incompatibility with Windows Vista. So, when I received the 605 unit for review, the first thing I did was plug it into my Vista machine. It took only a few moments to find the necessary drivers on my laptop. Now, the Archos 605 syncs flawlessly with my Vista computer both through the included file explorer and by syncing through Windows Media Player.

In addition to the hard drive, the 4 GB models also contain an SD card slot. Despite the fact that the 605 I tested has a large hard drive (30 GB), the video files it is intended to play can take up quite a bit of space, particularly when being used with the optional DVR Station Dock. Including the SD card slot in all models would have facilitated ease of storage of media, as well as ease of transfer of media between devices. Additionally, no matter how large your hard drive may be, it is never big enough for everything you want to do. As such, I am not clear as to why Archos did not include this basic feature in all models. I am quite certain it would have been welcomed by all users.

Battery and Charging: The battery on the Archos 605 was more than adequate. I found I could watch at least a video or two (depending on length) without running into much danger of losing power. With the screen off, I was able to listen to music for a full eight hour day. This is perfect for most plane rides. I was a little disappointed to find that the battery is no longer removable, which means you cannot keep a spare, fully charged battery in your gear bag; or replace the battery with a larger one.

The battery is charged via the included sync/charge cable. As I mentioned, I was sorry to see that this connection is still located on the bottom of the device, making it difficult to watch a video while on external power. Additionally, because this is a proprietary cable, it means one more wire to toss in your gear bag when you travel. I sure hope Gomadic has a Tip Exchange adaptor for this one.

To charge, simply connect this cable into the USB port on your computer, or into a universal USB/AC adaptor (not included). One nice change I noticed here was that you can now plug the unit into your USB and continue using it while charging. When you plug it in, a dialogue will appear giving you the option of charging only or accessing the USB. Nonetheless, this USB charger was excruciatingly slow This is a real concern for me. Thankfully, there is an alternative. The Archos 605 can be charged much more efficiently by connecting it to the optional DVR Station Dock.

Conclusion: When I reviewed the Archos 604, I concluded that it was a good media player. Since that time, Archos has made considerable improvements on the road to releasing their Fifth Generation models. These changes and upgrades, including a more intuitive, finger-friendly interface; upgrades to the internal speaker; improved resolution in the screen; and many more. These upgrades took that good player and catapulted it to the top of the pack. I simply have not found a portable video player with a screen that can compete with the Archos 605. Is it perfect? No. Not yet. It still is lacking Bluetooth, which is a vital and important feature; not to mention the lack of any removable media in most models. I also found the the need for seemingly endless add-ons, each of which cost up to $100 each to be annoying (in order to access all of the features out of the box, you will need — at a minimum — the DVR Station Dock and the Web Browser). Additionally, if you plan to watch a lot of video, do yourself a favor now and spend the extra money for the 160 GB model. With no removable media, it is well worth the upgrade.

Of course, the most important part of the player is not the web browser or the DVR, it is how it handles the media libraries and playback. Of course, this is where the Archos really shined. With easy to search and use menus, you could quickly access your content and display it on the vibrant 4.3 inch screen. With stats like that, you simply cannot lose.

Vital Stats:

Name: Archos 605 Wifi

Manufacturer: Archos

Where to Buy: Archos

Price: $300 (this is a significant drop in price from the fourth generation, which cost $450 for the 30 GB model)

Also available: 4GB ($230)

80GB ($349)

160 GB ($400)

Optional DVR Station Dock ($100)

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