It is always interesting when you can watch the evolution of a device firsthand over a period of time.  I was lucky enough to have that experience with Archos.  I first reviewed the Archos 604 media player.  Shortly thereafter, I got a first-hand look at its successor, the aptly named 605.  With their latest generation of player, however, this is no longer just a media player.  Now, although it features much the same functionality, it is called an Internet Media Tablet.  Media player, Internet tablet, will the this name change bring about a true change in identity, or is this just a new face on an old package.  Read on for a closer look.

Unboxing: OK.  Let’s take a look at what we have inside this box. 

In a bit of a twist, here is the Archos sitting right on top.  As normal, it is in its own specially formed section.  Often you will find the device packaged lower inside the box with some manuals and software on top.  But Archos wastes no time getting straight to business with the device.

Underneath the device are all of the accessories that come with it.  Really, not much to see here.  In addition to the Archos itself, you have:

• A USB sync/charge cable
• Earbud style headphones
• A microfiber cloth to wipe fingerprints (you will need this)
• A dock connector to fit the Archos onto the DVR-docking station
• Assorted manuals

Surprisingly, there was no case or pouch, which would have been nice.  I also noticed that unlike previous models, there is no stylus.  The touchscreen, menus, and controls are all designed so that you can use only your finger, making the stylus obsolete.

Quick Look: The Archos player, itself, has maintained the same general size and shape as previous generations, so I am not going to do a full walk around.  I just want to highlight some of the differences and upgrades from previous models. 

The biggest change comes from the controls and menus.  Unlike previous models, there are almost no hardware buttons.  Everything is controlled through the redesigned menu on the touch screen.  The only buttons appear on top of the Archos in the form of a power button and volume controls.

I was happy to see that you have to push and hold the power button for a few seconds to turn on the device.  This will stop most instances of accidentally powering on the Archos, ensuring that the battery is charged and ready to go when you need it.  A green LED light on the power button indicates that the power level status. 

I was also thrilled to find that the external volume control had survived the redesign.  One of my biggest complaints about the original iPod Touch was the lack of external volume control.  I mean, who wants to activate the touch screen just to raise or lower the volume.  This is especially true if you are watching a movie, and would have to block the screen in order to adjust the volume.

The Archos still includes a speaker, allowing you to watch a movie without headphones.  While this is a nice touch, the placement of the speaker on the right hand side was terrible.  I naturally hold the player in my right hand, so if I am watching a video, I end up covering the speaker while I hold it.  The result was a muffling of the sound from the speaker, which I found to be a real distraction.

The back really has nothing to see.  I am only showing it here to mention that you should probably get a case for this one.  That shiny back is yet another fingerprint magnet.  Oh, and unlike the previous versions, the battery on this Archos model is not removable. 

The other thing I wanted to mention here is the kickstand.  This thin strip of metal has been among my favorite Archos features since I first laid hands on the Archos 604.  It tucks neatly into the back of the device when not in use and is just sturdy enough to balance the device for viewing.  I wish more video players would adopt something like this.

Interface:  As I mentioned, the user interface has been completely redesigned, in order to eliminate any hardware controls.  Now, all of the controls are found on the touch screen, in a really easy to follow menu system.

Down the right hand side, you will notice the six items in the main menu.  Tap on any of these items and it will expand to reveal a more detailed sub-menu.  While I liked this system, I did think the main menu could have been organized better.  All of your media options are found in the Play menu.  Your online browsing experience is controlled through the Internet menu.  I thought these two items should have been highlighted more.  Similarly, too many top level options amounted to nothing more than opportunities for you to spend more money (Media Club, Add-Ons.)  These really could have been combined into a single item called, “shopping,”  but we can debate the merits of the organization all night.  At the end of the day, while I might have chosen a slightly different organization fro the items, I did find the menus were relatively intuitive and easy to use.  I never found myself  at a loss to remember where something was located.

The rest of the main screen, you will notice, is empty.  At first, I thought this was just wasted space to allow the sub-menus room to expand.  In truth, the screen is left blank to allow you to completely customize the look and feel of this screen.  This is a fantastic new feature, which Archos has introduced with this generation player.  Just like your Windows desktop, any item saved to your Archos can be linked from a shortcut on your home screen.  This gives you quick and easy access to your favorite or most used files and media.  Once a shortcut has been created, just tap it to open the item.

I really liked the new interface and thought it was an enormous improvement over the previous interface.  I was especially impressed by the shortcuts, which allow you to customize the display and place your most used items right on your home screen.  I am always a fan of this kind of customization…especially when it is this easy to do.

Loading Media: Loading media (music, video, and photos) on the Archos is as easy as ever.  In fact, it works pretty much the same way as most mp3 players (except the iPod which utilizes the proprietary iTunes system, of course.) 

There are two easy ways to add content on the Archos.  First, you can use your computer’s file explorer and just drag and drop items from your hard drive to the Archos. 

You can also use Windows Media Player 11 to sync your computer with the Archos and transfer any media files through that interface.  The big problem I had with this, however,(and this is a criticism of Windows Media not the Archos) is that it cannot sync files from an external hard drive.  As an aside, iTunes had no problem doing so.  This is frustrating, because I have considerably more music, photos, and video, then I could possibly transfer to my internal hard drive.  This made syncing via Windows Media Player extremely difficult and frustrating.  The solution I found was a great program called Media Monkey.  Media Monkey was able to sync all of my files, regardless of location.

Playing Media: I was really impressed by the array of formats the Archos could handle.  Most of your major formats are included, which means you do not need to worry about converting your media.  Now, I did not test every format that is advertised to work here, but I had no problems playing any of the formats I did test.

Although the Archos is able to play music and display photos (we’ll get to that), the main purpose of this giant screen is playing videos.  So, we’ll go ahead and start there.

Now, I am the kind of person who really does not find the prospect of watching BIG movies on a tiny screen very attractive.   For me, the iPod Touch with its just shy of 4 inch screen is about as small as my tired eyes can go.  So, the idea of watching videos on a 5 inch screen was fairly attractive.

I loaded up the movie Transformers (above).  I thought this would be a good test, because action movies tend to show any weaknesses in the screen.  Plus, I have had this movie for a while, and had not had a chance to finish watching it. 

And wow!  What a difference an inch or two can make.  I found the screen was extremely easy to watch; and there was no eyestrain the way there may have been on some of the smaller screens I have used.  At 800×480 pixels, the screen had almost no problem displaying even the finest detail (there was a little bit if digitization on some of the action sequences, but that was fairly minimal.)  The screen is not HD quality, but I was not really expecting HD, and it is certainly a far sight better than most of the QVGA screens I have tried to watch video on.

Of course, being a big screen person, I would really like to test the 7 inch model, and see how my movies look on that screen.  Or, would such a large screen reduce the portability of the device too much?

OK, so the video was a success.  Let’s take a look at what else we have here.  I loaded a number of photos onto the Archos.  This unit is great for storing videos in its huge hard drive, but playing them back was a bit of a problem. 

As you can see in these photos, the Archos does a passable job with photos.  It allows you to view a slideshow, and even set it to music.  This all seemed to work fine.  Though the Archos offers nothing special beyond what any other media player offers.

Playing music also seemed to work fine.  I used the Archos as my main background entertainment at work for the better part of this week.  While I did not see much in the music area that really stood out, I did not have too many complaints either.  It played my music adequately and accurately.   I did notice that the music tended to highlight the mid-range sounds, without a lot of emphasis on the bass or higher treble ranges, but this was not a really big deal.  Simply put, this is a video player which happens to play music also.  The music is obviously not the main attraction here, and I think that showed through (as an aside, the lack of album art in the photo, above, was due to a problem on my computer, not on the Archos.) 

Finally, you can load flash games and applications onto the Archos (a number of games come preloaded).  I thought this was a nice touch.  I did not have an opportunity to check out everything that was available, but I think some small applications or games could make this a lot of fun.  Be forewarned, however, that this is not an iPhone or a PDA, and does not have a computer processor.  So, if you are expecting those kinds of highly functional applications, then you may be disappointed. 

Internet and Connectivity: One of the really cool things about the Archos is that not only does it serve as a media player, but also it is a full Internet web browser.  The Archos 5 is fully wi-fi enabled, and there is even a version coming soon which is designed to connect via your 3G network. 

Unfortunately, I did experience some problems here.  Initially, it would not recognize my wireless router at all (it could see every other network in my neighborhood and none of my other devices had problems with the router.)  By coincidence, I had been planning to replace my router, and when the new one arrived, I immediately tested it out with the Archos.  That worked great, until I added a WPS encoded WEP key for security (come on, who wants an unsecure network?)   Once I applied this security, however, I ran into problems.  The Archos would not recognize the WPS key on my router.  So, I was only able to log on if I turned the security off, which was  not exactly ideal.

Once you are logged on, you will find the same Opera-based browser which Archos has used in their previous devices.  To be honest, it is starting to show its age a little.  I think the browser controls would have been fine in the pre-iPhone days.  But people expect more now.  Even Windows Mobile has been significantly upgrading their browsing experience.  Archos seems to be slipping behind with this browser.  sure, you can drag and scroll.  But there is no finger flicking to scroll quickly, and zooming in and out does not work nearly as well. 

You can also use your Internet connection to access the Archos media club.   From here, you can download all manner of content directly to your device.  While some of the content must be purchased or rented, other titles are available for free, which is fantastic.

Heck, you can even use the Archos to check your email, which I thought was pretty cool.  It is a nice device for email, and if you are planning to use it as a web browser, then checking your email is an obvious extension of that function.  Frankly, I probably would have been a bit disappointed if the ability to check your email was not included here. 

The only problem I had here was that syncing your contacts was a bit restrictive.  While you can import VCards, there is no way to sync your contacts with Google Contacts, Outlook, or other programs.  Personally, I am not overly excited about inputting all of those contacts manually (and I do not typically use VCards.)

Files and File Sharing: One of the really cool things about the Archos is that the giant hard drive it contains can be used for portable storage as well as playing media.  By connecting it to your computer, you can transfer any file to the Archos for portable storage.  Connect it to any computer to access the files again.  Use the included file explorer to locate and review your files.  One disappointment for me, though; while you can view pdf files with the included Adobe Acrobat Reader, you cannot view other file formats.  It would be nice if you could view Word documents or Excel spreadsheets from here as well, not to mention ebooks. 

TV and other Add-Ons: In addition to everything else the Archos can do, it also connects to your TV and acts as a portable DVR.  If I have had one complaint about my DVR, it is that my recorded shows are tied to a single TV.  With the Archos, just use the DVR Add-on to record any TV shows.  If you have any DirectTV, dish Network or modern day cable system, then the on-screen menus should look relatively familiar to you.  Upon connecting, the Archos will detect your local TV settings and locate the appropriate on-screen guide.  Once you are finished, just disconnect the Archos and you are ready to go.  You can now watch your recorded shows directly from the device (and its amazing 5 inch screen) or connect it to another TV as an external monitor for your Archos.

In addition to the DVR Station Add-On, there are numerous other hardware add-ons you can purchase for the Archos, making it one of the most flexible devices around.  There is, for example, a power dock, cameras, and a GPS (to name a few), all of which add significant functionality to the device.  I really liked the flexibility these add-ons provide, allowing you to eschew those features you will not need, while adding only those you plan to use.  While it would be nice to see more bundling, I liked the a la cart method just fine.  You can purchase add-ons directly from your device by accessing the Add-On menu(though it may be a bit much to include this menu directly on the top level of the home screen.)

Battery: I was a bit disappointed by the battery life on the Archos, which barely lasted a full eight hour day (playing nothing but music.)  I imagine video and the Internet would be even more taxing on the battery, so be prepared to charge often or leave the Archos plugged in.  Unfortunately, there is no longer a removable battery, so I would not expect to be able to purchase a larger one or third part battery anytime soon. 

Because of the need to keep the Archos plugged in, in order to preserve the battery, I was disappointed to find that Archos continues to place the sync/charge connection on the bottom of the device.  If you are using this as a standalone device, there is no way to stand it up to view videos with it plugged in and charging.  I have been complaining about the placement of these jacks since the 5th Generation player.  I hope the next generation will finally fix this and place these connections on the side.

Conclusion: When I started reviewing Archos media players, I felt there was a real niche market for them among users who like to watch video while on the move.  I thought Archos did a great job in the past filling this niche, and I really was hopeful that they would continue that tradition here. In the end, however, what I found was much the same media player I reviewed before, with some cosmetic improvements to the menus and controls.  What dazzled me back then, appeared lackluster today.  The world of mobile technology is a fast paced market, with new technologies and formats coming at breakneck speed.  What worked yesterday will appear well behind the pack today, and that was my experience with the Archos 5. 

The Internet connectivity which was a novelty several years ago, is now almost standard.  And, it has long since been surpassed by the iPhone’s Safari browser, and even Opera’s own Opera Mobile for Windows Mobile devices.  In the end, the niche Archos so carefully carved out with previous generations has been essentially usurped by the far superior iPod Touch/iPhone.  I simply cannot see spending $399-$449 (depending upon the hard drive size)on an Archos, instead of the same $399 for a 32 GB ipod Touch.  Sure, you get more storage space on the Archos, and the screen is larger, but those were really the only advantages I could find.  Archos needs to go back to the drawing board with this one,  and begin a redesign from scratch.  This redesign must incorporate the lessons of the iPhone/ipod Touch.  Only when they provide us with a legitimate competitor to the iPhone/iPod Touch can they hope to reclaim their niche as the premiere player for video on the go.  So, unless you have a real need for the larger screen, I would take a pass and hope for more from the next generation of Archos players.

What I Liked:

• Nice touch screen
• Huge screen for video
• The redesigned menus worked great
• Shortcuts to your favorite media from the main screen

What Needs Improvement:

• Web browser felt dated
• Can’t rotate screen
• Poor battery life
• Sync/charge cable connects from the bottom

Where to Buy: Archos

Price: $399-$449 based upon hard drive size.

Be Sociable, Share!

•