What does the 604 do right out of the box?

[wmtyrance]

The plugins thing bothers me. What does the 604 do right out of the box? I can't believe i have to buy plugins to play podcast. I'm not a techie,are these plugins easy to install. I just want a player that will let me listen to podcast and music with a video here and there. I do have a Zune but the new software is crap. And of course microsoft is hiding and not telling us anything about a fix for it.

[Almoxil]

If videos are of secondary importance for you, why not skip Archos entirely and go Creative Zen or Cowon D2?? They're surely much better given your needs, especially sound-quality wise.

[2nice]

supports MP3, WMA, and WAV for audio and .avi (DivX/Xvid) and WMV for video out of the box
the podcast plug in adds support for .mp4, .m4v, and .mov files with MP3 or AAC audio
you don't need it if you can get the podcasts in the free formats
what you might want is the free ArchosLink software

[wmtyrance]

Thank you for the replies. I just ordered an Archos 404 instead of the 604. It seems like it would fit my needs better. And it only has 2 plugins if i choose to get them. My first mp3 player was an old Archos Gmini 120. Which i use as an external harddrive. So after all my research,this is the one for me. Its going to be great not having to be tied to itunes or Zune's marketplace. I buy and rip most of my cd's from Amazon along with their mp3 downloads.