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I've gone through my pick of portable media players and this one was not what I expected. At first, when I did some research on it, I thought it'd be a great PMP with Wifi capability and 30GBs to boot. But there were definitely some flaws to it. LOOK: It's pretty big for its' size but I think it's because of the nice 4 inch screen. It's not too heavy so carry it around isn't too much of a hassle. It's got a little kickstand in the back so it sits nicely on flat surfaces. Overall, it looked pretty good. EASE OF USE: Straight out of the box, it wasn't too hard to figure out what buttons did what. Power and lock button at the top, function buttons to the right side. There were symbols engraved on the buttons to indicate what they did so it made navigation easier. When it came to actually using the player, it was a bit hard to control. When I used the mp3 function, I would skip to the next song and there would be a 3 second delay. I don't know if it was just MY player doing that or if that's how they usually work. Being that it was also touchscreen, that was a big plus, but I almost had to repeatedly press on the screen to select and option until it finally reacted. WIFI: The wifi capability was pretty cool since it could detect any wifi signals nearby and I connected easily. That was probably the only plus. The loading time for the wifi was long. I felt like I was running on 56k again (using my own wireless connection). Even though it has a nice big screen, it only loads a portion of the screen so you have to drag the screen to where you want to position it. The lack of flash capability really restricted how you could use the internet on it. (no youtube or flash games) SOUND: The sound plays pretty clear, as long as you're using headphones. The built-in speaker wasn't very loud. VIDEO: Any videos that you put on played very smoothly. Almost DVD quality. One problem that really bothered me was that you were limited to what formats you could put on unless you bought the plug ins from the Archos website. BATTERY LIFE: I would say this is the biggest drawback of the Archos. The battery life is so horrible. Watching a video, you would have about 2-3 hours of play. For mp3s, you would have 4-6 hours of play. Using the wifi, you could get 1-2 hours of life. The charger that it came with was usb to pc, which charges pretty slowly unless you buy the optional DVC charger. So you have to use it sparingly or buy another battery when you're traveling. OVERALL: I would say that the Archos 604 wifi would be a good beginner's PMP. The storage capacity is a big plus and the screen size but you're gonna need to buy a lot of accessories to really get the benefits of this player.Read full review
All in one entertainment system in a nice looking unit. Good for travel. Average battery life - 5 hours for video. Spotty wifi connection for internet access - don't buy this unit if internet access is critical. Screen not as bright or clear as some other manufacturers but adequate. If you want brighter screen, go with 604 without wifi. Good music playback but the use of controls at right is not intutive nor easy, especially in the dark. The biggest draw is that you get a nice screen size for a very good price. It's a decent unit that doesn't excel in any one thing but is adequate in all (except for the wifi). If you can get it for under $100 it's a good value. I was able to get everything, including the docking station for below $100.
I was looking for an MP3 and slideshow player and the 604 fit the bill. It's been working out very well for me. I really don't do movies or video with it so I can't tell you much about that and I also have no need for the docking station that costs extra. I purchased an extra battery and the stock leather case. Besides just enjoying it for entertainment, I use it to demo my band by playing our music while displaying a slide show. I also utilize it to give public education presentations to small groups. Totally portable and the pictures look great. So far works flawlessly. No crashes or lockups. I did enounter some problems when scanning some pictures into it and had to make some adjustments to the scanner settings but that was no big deal. Haven't had any other problems with it at all. Hooks up via it's proprietary USB connector and shows up as another drive. Drag and drop. Set up your folders and files anyway you want or use software to synch up. It is very slow to recharge. You can spend extra dollars for other options that improve charging speed and file compatability if you want. But since it's now "last years model" and doesn't have internet connectivity it's a real steal. You can get a very good price on them if you look around. It's been a great value for me. However, I also own an older Archos Jukebox 10 GB MP3 player and it is actually a better sounding player than the 604. Don't know why they skimped on the audio punchiness on the 604 but it's not as loud or clean as the older model. However, for my uses it's just fine. And the picture on the 604 is very nice. Everyone I've showed it to has been visibly impressed. All in all it's been just what I was looking for and has performed very well.Read full review
I debated what rating was best to leave for this device and decided that the unit deserves a rating that is higher than where my feelings are. This is because I purchased this unit because it said that it was WiFi. It turns out that it is not! There are two models, one with and one without. This one was advertised as with. That disappoints me beyond all imagination. I like almost everything else about the unit, the sound is a little weak on the external speaker but it is absolutely great on stereo headphones. The picture quality is great and it is easy to transfer movies to it. I would like a little more control over the sequence that the files get stored on the unit but with the use of folders I can work around that. It would be nice if it had a larger disk but it does support having an external disk when connected to the DVR station. The case that comes with it is a little difficult to get the unit in and out of and covers several of the connectors, but is very adequate for protection. I will get another case but I think it may be a good idea to have one for the unit and one that is larger so that all the accessories can be transported, including the 604 in its case. This unit does not have a touch screen and is a little cumbersome when compared to an iPod but is definitely equal to the performance, and you get a larger display screen.Read full review
THIS PLAYER IS LIGHT AND WILL FIT IN YOUR POCKET, DON'T WORRY! Just don't carry it around all day like you would with a normal mp3 player. After doing extensive research, I finally decided to buy the Archos 604. I thought the 404 had too small a screen, so I got this. This Player is amazing. You can sync songs and movies directly from Windows Media Player, which is extremely fast. Or you can drag and drop files. The built in speaker is nice. The kickstand is great so I dont have to always lean my head down, and the removable battery is awesome for long trips. The recording station is pretty expensive ranging form 75 -100 dollars, but it's worth it because it can record in high quality. Photo viewing is easy, and you can also view pdf's. You can stop a movie and then come back to it later, and even fast forward or rewind. The buttons are easy to use. The battery charges via USB unless you buy the DVR Station or an AC adaptor. To play Mpeg-2 and VOB files you must pay twenty extra bucks for a plugin, which is annoying. Finally, 30 GB is plenty so don't worry. Besides for the few accesories that aren't included this player is amazing and I highly recommend buying it. If the DVR station was inlcuded, and the plugin was built in, then this would have received a 5/5.Read full review
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