Archos 504 80gb model Opinions Please ???

Macker1

Folks,

Looking to purchase a portable multimedia device. The Archos 504 80gb seems to fit the bill nicely. Selling at €299 which appears to be a good deal.

Just wondering does anyone have any experience with the Archos range and what are the pros & cons ???


Thanks

pleasant Co.

Their new models are just around the corner if you're willing to wait

Dman001

299 is a good price for a 80GB but as Mactard said wait for the new ones then make up your mind. The 504 should go down in price when the new ones come out.

AlmightyCushion

€300. I'd be tempted to get one at that price. I've been thinking of getting something like it. I didn't know the prices had come down so much though.

parsi

I has a 504 80Gb and I found it bulky - bulkier than the 604. It was a reconditioned model and the disk was audible. I sent it back and got the 604 instead.

Hwoever the Gen 5 are on the way and they will be lighter/slimmer and generally a bit cheaper (eg the 605 wifi /30Gb is 299) so hold on.

zod

parsi wrote:

(eg the 605 wifi /30Gb is 299) so hold on.

do u have a link to this price ?

edit : http://www.archos.com/store/index.html?country=ie&lang=en

Just tried to purchase one and the shipping selection is blank ?? and it won't let you continue ?

pleasant Co.

not released yet zod dude.

zod

Mactard wrote:

not released yet zod dude.

this is for a preorder.

Macker1

parsi wrote:

I has a 504 80Gb and I found it bulky - bulkier than the 604. It was a reconditioned model and the disk was audible. I sent it back and got the 604 instead.

Hwoever the Gen 5 are on the way and they will be lighter/slimmer and generally a bit cheaper (eg the 605 wifi /30Gb is 299) so hold on.

Archos claim that the battery life can but up to 17 hrs for music and 5.5 for video. This I find hard to believe :rolleyes: , can anyone please advise on what they experienced in using this player.

pleasant Co.

Why is that hard to believe? Since the 605 isn't out yet, no one can give you their hands on experience.

zod

Mactard wrote:

Why is that hard to believe? Since the 605 isn't out yet, no one can give you their hands on experience.

Plenty of reviews on line

here , here ,with video here, and here

no answer from archos yet why their site isn't accepting pre-orders.

pleasant Co.

zod wrote:

Plenty of reviews on line

here , here ,with video here, and here

no answer from archos yet why their site isn't accepting pre-orders.

Well, lets hope one of those reviewers are a member of this site and can give their "advise on what they experienced in using this player" as none of your linked reviews gave actually battery life, which was what macker1 found "hard to believe"

Nephew

Macker1 wrote:

Archos claim that the battery life can but up to 17 hrs for music and 5.5 for video. This I find hard to believe :rolleyes: , can anyone please advise on what they experienced in using this player.

I can't vouch for the 504 but my archos av500 actually exceeded their estimated battery for video & music by about 30 minutes if I remember correctly. Btw I only know this because I left it playing on repeat from a full charge, because that's how pathetic I am.

If only they'd release something the size of the Ipod or even the old gmini400 with a 60 or 80gb harddrive, they make some great products but even their smaller players are too big to comfortably carry in a pocket and 30gb is just too small. Because of this I had to settle with a 60gb zen vision m slim, it does the job but it was a reluctant purchase tbh.

Macker1

Mactard wrote:

Why is that hard to believe? Since the 605 isn't out yet, no one can give you their hands on experience.

Apologies for not being clear . My query in regards to battery life is for the 504 model. Hopefully some users of this model can share their experiences. Furthermore what if any are the options one could take to maximise the battery life / performance.

pleasant Co.

Macker1 wrote:

Apologies for not being clear . My query in regards to battery life is for the 504 model.

Dude sorry, ok well from experience I've found the 504 gets just under the battery life for mp3 (192kbs) like about 15-16 hours or so and video is about 4.5 hours. I don't have one but my little brother does, which I have used quite a bit, he's been very happy with it up until the HDD conked out two weeks ago, he's in the process of getting archos to fix it but it's taking time and he hasn't even been given the go ahead to send it in, it's still under warranty so they're being a bit of a pain in the neck really.

Macker1

Mactard wrote:

Dude sorry, ok well from experience I've found the 504 gets just under the battery life for mp3 (192kbs) like about 15-16 hours or so and video is about 4.5 hours. I don't have one but my little brother does, which I have used quite a bit, he's been very happy with it up until the HDD conked out two weeks ago, he's in the process of getting archos to fix it but it's taking time and he hasn't even been given the go ahead to send it in, it's still under warranty so they're being a bit of a pain in the neck really.

Please excuse my ignorance in asking this question but the majority of my MP3 material has been ripped at 319kbs which I assume is a higher quality. Will playing the tracks at the higher quality have a greater effect on battery life as opposed to the 192 kbs that you have mentioned above.

I hope that HDD issue get resolved in a positive manner by Archos and thanks for your response's

pleasant Co.

well mp3's will drain more battery life the higher up you go. VBR (variable bit rate) mp3's will drain battery life even further. As your mp3's are @ 319kbs likely that they are in fact 320kbs CBR (constant bit rate) which will do less battery lif damage, not a hell of a lot though. Knock another half hour to and hour and a half off my said battery times for music and that'd be a pretty decent estimation of what you can expect.

For such high quality files I don't understand why you are considering the 504, its sound quality isn't all that good to be honest, then again I've been spoiled by my D2

thebman

I have the 604 30GB player and I think its great. I have one or two dead pixels but they are hardly noticable and I don't use the case. I just put it in my pocket.

I've noticed it not being recognised in Windows as a Mass storage device and seems to only want to connect using WMP but that dosen't bother me as I use Ubuntu Linux so I can connect it as a HDD in that and just transfer my files there.

Battery life is good but not great. Better than iPod but that's not saying much IMO. I found the sound quality to be good once I replace the earphones that came with it with my own Sennheiser ones. the volume doesn't go that loud according to some but it goes loud enough for me and I was given out to by my house mate last night because he could hear my music from his room when I was listening using headphones so I listen to music quite loud.

The Video quality is great and I've had everyone I know be amazed by the video and audio quality of it and most of the people I hang round with are tech heads and DJ's and the like.

I'd recommend the player easily after 2 months of using it everyday on my commute to work.

I got my 604 in Argo's for 300 Euro (the price is wrong in the catalogue).

zod

Shipping info now selectable .. ordered the 605 today .. emailed with the following :

Thank you for your order Transaction ID 00xxxxx well received on 2007/07/17 at 00:42 (Paris time).


To combat Internet fraud, information about your order will be transmitted to our insurer FIA-NET to be checked. In order to validate your order we may ask you in a further email to send us documents to be able to check your delivery address and identity.

After validation of your order, we may need up to 72 hours to process it. So, depending on your geographic location you will receive your order within 3 to 6 working days, after order validation.

Sounds like it may take a while! :rolleyes:

thebman

Who the hell did your order with. Sounds like a combination of the slowest people from An Post and Royal Mail.

zod

brim4brim wrote:

Who the hell did your order with. Sounds like a combination of the slowest people from An Post and Royal Mail.

The archos website .. ( see post 6 on this thread)

http://www.archos.com/store/index.html?country=ie&lang=en