Dissuade me from cancelling my Archos 605 order...

[Rento]

So I ordered the dang thing from Amazon.com earlier today only to find that I can't cancel the order a few hours ago (they've already billed my bank account... they sure are quick )

Reason why I want to cancel is the amount of complaining and negative stuff. I mean it IS a proven fact that more people will make threads about complaints than threads about positive feedback, why? Because they just want to keep to themselves and enjoy their stuff. I understand.

But some of the certain things people complain about, such as the wi-fi being kinda cruddy. External speakers being utter fail only to have the headphones fairly weak regardless of what they plug in.

Than theirs the failure rate... People saying their Archos doesn't want to turn on, won't charge, or dies quickly only after a week of possession.

Also, every bit of feedback in this thread helps... And be serious.

This is something I want to keep for atleast 5 years and be happy with it. I've kept my Zen Vision W for 3 and i'm still decent about it. It's just it's battery is weak since it's old, and I don't want to order a new one, i'd rather try something new. Plus, it's little 60GB HDD is getting full (my sig is a bit outdated).

Since I am ordering it from Amazon, i'd rather just decline/refuse the package and be refunded 100% the $460 I just spent on the DVR cradle and 160GB 605 PMP...

So who can dissuade me from losing out on a potential epic win or perhaps even help me get this potential pin in my rear end out.

[keybowvio]

I like my Archos...A LOT!

Here's the thing with the Archos:
first and foremost, it's a PMP. Not a DAP. Not an internet tablet. not a phone. Not a calculator. Not a nightlight. Not replacement for anything but watching videos.

while it is true the the 605 does tons of things, the one thing that it does extremely well is play videos.

The battery life is poor, the sound quality sub-par, the external speaker is just shy of abysmal, the buttons are clunky, the UI isn't that great, the WiFi gives out a clicking noise through the headphones, you can't listen to music while browsing the web, its heavy, it has a slow processor (don't even think about playing games on it), and lastly-- it's very known for having a buggy UI.

That having been said, if you bought it with the expectation of watching videos, recording tv shows using the DVR dock, viewing photos on the glorious screen, and even checking you e-mail from time to time when you're away from your computer... you won't be dissapointed.

It does some things well, and some things not so well. the core features work very well--better than any other pmp on the market. It is not as slick as the ipod touch, but the touches capacity can't even hold a candle to the 160gig 605, or the codec suppport for videos, or the screen size/quality or the extended feature set (some of which may or may not work so well, but it is nice that they're there).

Don't cancel your order if you were expecting a video player. Do cancel your order if you were expecting a web surfing maven.

Also, you're gonna' want to buy the optional battery dock. this serves many purposes: charge the player faster than usb (although the DVR dock will do that), allow for sync of other devices (such as a camera with a full memoy card), and most importantly... extend the battery life to like 8-9 hrs of video.

[Machiventa]

awesome reply. you broke down everything exceptionally well. Rento, i hope you consider it and that if the order does go through that you like your purchase. although i would imagine you could return it.

a bit off topic but i'm considering this thing just for the video recording capability alone. seems worth it to me to preserve many old vcr tapes. a video to USB adapter doesn't sound as much fun as this thing!

[Warris]

I've had an Archos 704 (suffered a terminal accident - my fault) then a 705 for the best part of a year. Yes they are buggy but what computer controlled electronic device isnt, they do what they do VERY well, Video, Mp3, Photo, Basic Web surfing, but like a previous poster said they are not a replacement for a VCR or a laptop. My one tip with Archos, and their forum bears this out, is new owners should sit down and READ the manual, they are not the easiest things to set up by guess work but if you follow instructions you shouldn't have any problems. I love mine and use it every day. Would I buy another? Yep every time.

[bhartman36]

I've got the Archos 605 Wifi. Mine had a bad battery (which I had fixed under warranty) but aside from the battery issue, here's what I like and don't like:

First, it plays music very well. That's mostly what I use it for. I do have videos I play on it, but I end up listening to music a lot more. The touchscreen is very usable, and I've never had a problem with the volume, as some people seem to have. The wifi also comes in handy. You can play YouTube videos directly on the Archos without downloading and converting them, as you have to do with non-connected devices. And the Archos screen puts pretty much any other device to shame.

Here's a big flaw, though: Metatagging could be a lot better. I've had a lot of music I put on it not recognized right away until I did a little fixing. That makes organizing songs harder. And what's been said before is correct: There are a couple of non-intuitive parts to the interface, like the fact that the TV/LCD button doubles as the HOLD button to deactivate the buttons and touchscreen.

All in all, though, the Archos 605 Wifi is a nice device. What it lacks in sleekness, it more than makes up for in functionality and screen quality.

[keybowvio]

Oh yeah, I forgot:

Design-wise:
The headphone jack is on the opposite side of the buttons. WHY Archos WHY??? when you put the player in your pocket, you have to have the headphone cord sticking out, and then the buttons are really deep in your pocket. AWKWARD.


Also, there is no real hold button. if the player is locked, the screen still comes on when you press a button-- which kills the battery life. AND, the volume button never locks. This is a blessing and a curse-you can adjust the volume without unlocking but sometimes the volume will adjust itself when the player is in your pocket.

Now that I'm done with my gripes with the 605 I have just one thing to say...

DON'T CANCEL THE ORDER.

This things rocks as a video player. For audio, I use the sansa clip and I couldn't be happier. IMO, these 2 combined create the ultimate pme (portable media experiance) lol.

For audio, like the person above me said, it has management problems/glitches. Which IMO make it a poor choice for audio, however, it is easy to navigate your audio library and it utilizes the screen realastate very well.

anyway...
you'll love it.

[keybowvio]

Originally Posted by Machiventa

a bit off topic but i'm considering this thing just for the video recording capability alone. seems worth it to me to preserve many old vcr tapes. a video to USB adapter doesn't sound as much fun as this thing!

honestly, I wouldn't recommend it for that purpose alone. yeah, I think it would work (well). But to spend all that money for a one time use, just not worth it.

Unless of course you have other reasons for buying it, then it would save you from making two purchases if you bought say, the Cowon or Creative pmps(aside from the fact that you need to buy the dvr dock as well as the player itself).

[sherrynadine]

Hello Warris. I was especially interested in your responses about the Archos 705. I'm with you, I really like my device but am still getting it set up the way I want it. I had one H--- of a time getting the Web Browser and other plug-ins from the ARCHOS site and finally got a better deal on a larger bundle of plug-ins from an Ebayer who sells the Archos software as well. It was a little bit of an issue installing it.....didn't seem to want to install at first but I think it was because I'm not real familiar with ZIP files and how to open them so the seller resent the downloads in a more "user-friendly" version for me. The guy was AWESOME help getting me everything installed so if you need a good site to buy from, let me know. Just don't try to buy from ARCHOS....they are so picky about your personal info and their web site stunk.
Mainly I wanted to share my opinions on my experiences so far but I REALLY REALLY want to get some games on my device. I don't want to buy the ARCHOS sets and I understand you can put FLASH GAMES on the ARCHOS. Do you have some good solitaire games or other stuff that I can use on my ARCHOS 705? I would really appreciate any help any one out there has. Also if there is a trick to getting them loaded, I could use that too. Thanks so much, sherrynadine

[rohinsadh]

Hi,
I had started a thread to get some suggestions for Archos 605 WiFi as a car player. Readin this thread I am hoping to get some serious advise from owners

The idea came from the 90GB music I have which I am tired of burning on CD's to play in my Pioneer car stereo. I tried Sony Xplod stereo which read my USB external HDD of 160GB but upto only 128 folders seems that is the max it will read

So I could get a ipod and connect using RCA cable to my car amp but I dont like ipods

So I stumbled upon Archos and completely loved it as it takes my car entertainment to a greater level - 160GB HDD, huge touch screen, good UI, see movies while driving n crash music player with cd cover display and if I get the GPS cradle then GPS satnav too... WOW WOW WOW !

So 1st I thought of Archos 5 but later realised that while driving it may be better to have physical buttons to control the music as it is easier to feel physical buttons while keeping eyes on the road so I figure 605 Wifi - 160GB...

Looking for expert advise from all of you if this would be the best unit for my car purpose...

Rohin.

[auldy66]

My missus bought me a 16gb Itouch, I took it back and returned it and bought a 160gb gen 5 archos. I have had the thing for around a year now ,, I dont go anywhere without it , I have bought the browser plugin , one game pack and the video plugin.
I love the gadget, it beats the pants off any other all in one media player / browser out there , I work as a programming / 3d animation lecturer at a large college in scotland .. all the students with their iphone/itouch/ipodss are always drooling over my archos , the screen is larger in size and resolution. I bought a nice set of cans and cant fault the sound. I have also purchased the docking station , the all singinng expensive one. and its now an hd recorder.

you can grab the videots folder straight off a dvd and it plays the vob files straight off, in fact I have had problems finding any file format that it wont play (i know the flames will be coming on this one ) but thats just nit picking.

stick to your guns and get your archos , you will love it . I am now gonna purchase the camera for it , as I do a lot of snowboarding/skateboaring and have now purchased a wheelman (

You Tube

You Tube

) me and my new toy. so wanna grab some action footage.

one small niggle , I downloaded some swf games and they dont play too well , very slow, although a lot of the google widgets run, and also the games pack games run ok , so I dont know what is the score with the flash games , I know its the processor , BUT, the games you buy for the unit are ok for a play, but you cant beat a ds lite with an r4 card

have fun, njoi
ciao4now

Auldy66

[sherrynadine]

Hello Auldy66, I hope you don't mind having me respond to a post of yours. It sounds like you have an Archos like me. I have the 705 60 GB though have considered the 180 GB but maybe after I get this one all figured out. I was wondering if you could help me with a couple things. I want to put a movie on the Archos and was told to get only the vob files and transfer to the Archos HD. I tried that and some of the files went on but then I got a message for one of the files saying there was a: data error- (cyclic redundancy check)......What does that mean? Also, do you recommend putting all the files from the DVD into the Archos AND would you try to transfer all of them at once or one at a time. My son knows alot about transferring music files but neither of us are familiar with getting movies. I know I can download music from internet sites, I was just wanting to put my new Twilight movie onto my Archos.

Also, could you maybe reply to my home email as I don't see one of my previous posts on this anybutipod site, so maybe I didn't set it up correctly. My email is sherrynadine@crestviewcable.com Thanks so very much!

[e6xd]

Originally Posted by Rento

So I ordered the dang thing from Amazon.com earlier today only to find that I can't cancel the order a few hours ago (they've already billed my bank account... they sure are quick )

Reason why I want to cancel is the amount of complaining and negative stuff. I mean it IS a proven fact that more people will make threads about complaints than threads about positive feedback, why? Because they just want to keep to themselves and enjoy their stuff. I understand.

But some of the certain things people complain about, such as the wi-fi being kinda cruddy. External speakers being utter fail only to have the headphones fairly weak regardless of what they plug in.

Than theirs the failure rate... People saying their Archos doesn't want to turn on, won't charge, or dies quickly only after a week of possession.

Also, every bit of feedback in this thread helps... And be serious.

This is something I want to keep for atleast 5 years and be happy with it. I've kept my Zen Vision W for 3 and i'm still decent about it. It's just it's battery is weak since it's old, and I don't want to order a new one, i'd rather try something new. Plus, it's little 60GB HDD is getting full (my sig is a bit outdated).

Since I am ordering it from Amazon, i'd rather just decline/refuse the package and be refunded 100% the $460 I just spent on the DVR cradle and 160GB 605 PMP...

So who can dissuade me from losing out on a potential epic win or perhaps even help me get this potential pin in my rear end out.

I, being a previous archos 605 owner, when I heard about the archos 605 wifi, I thought the world of it. Linux based, huge lcd touch screen, videos, internet, widgets, all kinds of file types can be used, games and music and a huge HD to boot.
But when I got it, I was confronted by a mile long list of problems.
First off, you have to PURCHASE widgets,
you have to PURCHASE the internet browser
you have to PURCHASE widgets to use certain music and video file extensions. Plus, its all in euros. So its pretty pricey too.
Secondly, the battery charge was terrible.
The most use I ever got out of my archos was probably a maximum of 2 and a half hours.
Thirdly, my archos froze up on a regular daily or every-other-day, sort of basis. And if it did so more than 2 times in a day, it had to rescan ALL my files. So if you have 18Gb worth of files, it takes roughly 15 minutes or so, of your precious 2 and half hours of use.
Fourth, The built in speaker, when going up past a certain volume, the speaker gets all fuzzy, and it is a very unpleasant sound.
Fifth, - the size of the device was large, and cumbersum. It was very difficult to carry my archos in my pants pocket without it pausing it, or changing the song, due to the touchscreen and the very sensitive buttons on the end of it.

However, there were some Pro's to it, but not enough to actually make it worth ordering.

The screen was lovely. It displayed bright briliant colors. Good custimization for UI. Easy to use style UI. It came with a case. Built in stand. Movie playback, Playlists were easy to make. You can edit files on it. and it came in decent sized HD's. Basically, metaphorical 'cupholders' on this mp3 player.

But I sold mine in December of 08 after having it for 3 months. I bought a cowon s9 in January and love it.

But all in all, its a good product, but I would DEFINITELY cancel that order.
Unless you want to spend 80-100 dollars on a wall charger, another 50-75 for a tv dvr station, 30 dollars for a FREEWARE internet browser. And anywhere from 10-20 dollars or so for games, and widgets.
If you want to do that, don't cancel. If you want to get an pmp you can use, cancel.

[Scarpad]

I have to agree with the above poster, also a 605 owner that went to an S9, still have the 605 thou, it's a 4gb SD Card Model and the FW is definately buggy, it gets a 102 error everytime it starts, all you have to do is hit cancel three times and it's fine, but you can see how I could'nt sell it like that. Battey life is poor, but the screen and playing vids works well. SO I still use it, but the S9 is a much more solid device. I would never trust an Archos with a Hard Drive thats why I Went flash and it still has issues.

[RyanSmythe]

Originally Posted by e6xd

I, being a previous archos 605 owner, when I heard about the archos 605 wifi, I thought the world of it. Linux based, huge lcd touch screen, videos, internet, widgets, all kinds of file types can be used, games and music and a huge HD to boot.
But when I got it, I was confronted by a mile long list of problems.
First off, you have to PURCHASE widgets,
you have to PURCHASE the internet browser
you have to PURCHASE widgets to use certain music and video file extensions. Plus, its all in euros. So its pretty pricey too.
Secondly, the battery charge was terrible.
The most use I ever got out of my archos was probably a maximum of 2 and a half hours.
Thirdly, my archos froze up on a regular daily or every-other-day, sort of basis. And if it did so more than 2 times in a day, it had to rescan ALL my files. So if you have 18Gb worth of files, it takes roughly 15 minutes or so, of your precious 2 and half hours of use.
Fourth, The built in speaker, when going up past a certain volume, the speaker gets all fuzzy, and it is a very unpleasant sound.
Fifth, - the size of the device was large, and cumbersum. It was very difficult to carry my archos in my pants pocket without it pausing it, or changing the song, due to the touchscreen and the very sensitive buttons on the end of it.

However, there were some Pro's to it, but not enough to actually make it worth ordering.

The screen was lovely. It displayed bright briliant colors. Good custimization for UI. Easy to use style UI. It came with a case. Built in stand. Movie playback, Playlists were easy to make. You can edit files on it. and it came in decent sized HD's. Basically, metaphorical 'cupholders' on this mp3 player.

But I sold mine in December of 08 after having it for 3 months. I bought a cowon s9 in January and love it.

But all in all, its a good product, but I would DEFINITELY cancel that order.
Unless you want to spend 80-100 dollars on a wall charger, another 50-75 for a tv dvr station, 30 dollars for a FREEWARE internet browser. And anywhere from 10-20 dollars or so for games, and widgets.
If you want to do that, don't cancel. If you want to get an pmp you can use, cancel.

It does have a lock button so that don't happen.
The 605, aside from poor battery life, is a great device.
It has its minor flaws, and a few unlucky people got 1 that had some major flaws, like every other device.

It plays Video Sharp, the volume is fine, I've never had a problem with the music getting garbled or fuzzy from the speaker even at full volume.
It doesn't have the "greatest" audio quality, but its not ruined or distorted.
And paying for all the extra blows.
But with optional attachments like a Camera, and DVR, It makes the Device extremely useful.

Everything works pretty easy, touchscreen works really well, i think the actual buttons on mine are more of a pain to use then the touchscreen.

If you don't mind paying extra, its a great device.
There are better devices for sure, but there are worse as well.

[barryem]

Originally Posted by Rento

So I ordered the dang thing from Amazon.com earlier today only to find that I can't cancel the order a few hours ago (they've already billed my bank account... they sure are quick )

Reason why I want to cancel is the amount of complaining and negative stuff. I mean it IS a proven fact that more people will make threads about complaints than threads about positive feedback, why? Because they just want to keep to themselves and enjoy their stuff. I understand.

But some of the certain things people complain about, such as the wi-fi being kinda cruddy. External speakers being utter fail only to have the headphones fairly weak regardless of what they plug in.

Than theirs the failure rate... People saying their Archos doesn't want to turn on, won't charge, or dies quickly only after a week of possession.

Also, every bit of feedback in this thread helps... And be serious.

So who can dissuade me from losing out on a potential epic win or perhaps even help me get this potential pin in my rear end out.

I don't have a 605 but I do have an Archos 404, a 504 and a 705. I also have a very old Archos Jukebox that I bought about 10 or 12 years ago.

I like them a lot. I did get a defective 705 from Amazon and they replaced it and paid for overnight shipping both ways and I'm real happy about that. Other than that I've been real happy with them. They're first rate players in my opinion.

For what it's worth I also have a couple of Zen Vision W's that I got about the same time. I prefer the speakr on the ZVW because it's louder but other than that I think the Archos players are as good. I use these for videos and they all do a great job.

Barry