Thinking of getting Archos 605 Wifi

grimm2005

hey,

ive been looking at the 605 and am really considering getting one maybe a little after xmas. What i'm wondering is, is there any irish website/shop where i can get the 80gb model for a good price?
I can't seem to find much on it anywhere. they have it on amazon uk for about €350 (minus delivery) but they don't ship them to ireland.
the thing is 30gb probably isnt enough for me, whearas 160gb is way too much. 80gb is the sweet spot.

Also is the 80gb as thick as the 160gb? cos i saw a comparison of the 30 and 160gb players and the 160 seemed considerably thicker (although i could prolly look past that).

Morbid.Angel

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Morbid.Angel

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5starpool

I got mine on http://www.newmp3technology.com/605+players.html for less than €330 for the 160GB version including delivery from Canada I believe. Took just under 3 weeks from time of order as I believe there were stock issues.

Edit: Just checked now and it is €343 there at the mo. Exchange rate fluctuations I'd imagine. You would get the 80GB one for €282.

grimm2005

wow that newmp3technology site is damn cheap. So since you bought yours there i guess its totally legit, yeah?
I went into dixons today and they were sellin a 40gb version for €350 which isnt very good compared to those prices, they said the 80gb one is a lot more but he didnt no exactly how much.

would you recommend getting off ebay? they seem pretty cheap but i dont know how dodgy they may or may not be. i once bought a pair of earphones and they turned out to be fake.
http://snipurl.com/1tity
this one says it comes with gen 5 dvr adapter, now does that mean the full station or what?

otherwise i'd prolly get it from the site you mentioned as it seems to be a crackin' deal!

dulpit

Just so you know i am currently suffering through 3 weeks of the most incompetent, useless customer service things ever... (See thread here)

So while the players are brilliant, if you do buy one, don't ever let it break or die on you or anything, you'll be without it for quite some time...

kaisersose77

QVC actually have it for a good price if you were after the dvr dock aswell

http://www.qvcuk.com/ukqic/qvcapp.aspx/app.detail/params.item.557477/walk.yah.UKEL-UK15

Supposedly they give you a code to unlock the browser aswell but you would want to confirm that with them to be sure

dulpit

Oh! I meant to say, if you do buy the archos, it's 100% worth your while to get yourself the dvr station, i got one to go with my 404, it's the absolute business, both for watching on tv (even on a big widescreen the picture quality is good) & recording it too (dead handy...)

grimm2005

well i'd certainly get the dock a little down the line but i'd prolly hold out for a couple of months, mind you, it really depends on how much money i have after gettin the player.
while the qvc offer is excellent its a bit pricey for me to spend in one go. converted it was around €460 before p&p. i reckon i could get the 80gb and the dock cheaper overall.

While i wouldn't say no to 160gb i'd prolly rather keep the extra €50 or so and put it towards a dock or web browser. i only have 20gb of music on my ZVM and i don't even listen to it all. 60gb for videos is way more than enough for me.
i can also afford to wait for the dock as i can play my xvids/divx files through my ZVM with the tv cable as a stop gap before getting the kitted out dock.

in terms of what dulpit mentioned with customer service, im way too overprotective with my electronics as it is so in terms of accidental damage i couldnt see it happening to me during its lifetime.

i got to handle the 80gb in dixons today and its the perfect ratio between screen size and portability imo. didnt even get to switch it on and im dying for one already
I love the little kickstand, its a really handy little touch they added to it

edit: oh and just out of interest, does the programme guide built in support the irish sky epg? t'would be pretty handy if it did

Morbid.Angel

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grimm2005

well apparently the dock comes with a remote with a QWERTY keyboard on it so you can browse the web on your tv and you can stream media wirelessly from your pc to your tv

Rafloution

Lads,

www.hotmp3gear.com based in Canada. 300 Euro delivered Archos 605 WIFI 80 GB. Mine delivered today got through customs no problem no charges. The guy who owns it is an authorised Archos reseller he owns a couple of other websites too

5starpool

Ya, that hotmp3gear is actually where the orders come from with the newmp3technology place I got mine, but it seemed cheaper on the second one for some reason, but maybe it is just me. Another good thing about them is that for the customs thing they put CA$100 as the value, so not much customs charge even if you do get caught I think unless they are very thorough. USB charging though is a right pain, it takes so long.

MREGAN

How long does delivery take from hotmp3gear? I might get one from here. Interested in the helmet cam too. Anyone tried it?

Vokes

Took 3 days and 2 nights to get from Canada to my door in the UK.

So the the delivery time is definitely not the issue....it's the waiting beforehand (10days for me) - as Archos can't seem to manufacture the units quick enough for supply to the re-sellers..

5starpool

Yep, same as for me. Waiting about 2 weeks before I heard a peep from them, then got a dispatched mail on a Friday, and it was delivered on the Tuesday after that.

cosgrove80

Was just looking at the Xtravision Christmas gift guide and they have the Archos 605 listed for €299. There is no mention of the capacity though.

Might be worth investigating. It comes with the first 4 Harry potter films preloaded too, if that's your sort of thing

plonk

SofaKing wrote: »

Took 3 days and 2 nights to get from Canada to my door in the UK.

So the the delivery time is definitely not the issue....it's the waiting beforehand (10days for me) - as Archos can't seem to manufacture the units quick enough for supply to the re-sellers..

So did you use hotmp3gear. Am in edinburgh at the moment and this seems to be the cheapest wat to get one.
Also what about customs

tallus

I used them back in 2005 to buy a pma400. No problems at all, the owner is a sound guy too.

dwayneburke

does the 605 play divx/xvid?

Some people say yes and other websites say no!!!

Anyone know for definite?

5starpool

Definitely yes.

dwayneburke

Rafloution wrote: »

Lads,

www.hotmp3gear.com based in Canada. 300 Euro delivered Archos 605 WIFI 80 GB. Mine delivered today got through customs no problem no charges. The guy who owns it is an authorised Archos reseller he owns a couple of other websites too

Rafloution, from memory do you know how Hotmp3gear deliver to your door i.e. is it UPS or An post etc?

grimm2005

well i finally ordered an 80gb 605 from http://www.newmp3technology.com for christmas, came out to €289 in total
i was doubtful i'd have it in time for christmas but i got a "your product has been shipped" email from them today (ordered it last night) so you hopefully itll get here soon

DeadSkin

grimm2005 wrote: »

well i finally ordered an 80gb 605 from http://www.newmp3technology.com for christmas, came out to €289 in total
i was doubtful i'd have it in time for christmas but i got a "your product has been shipped" email from them today (ordered it last night) so you hopefully itll get here soon

Ordered one from there last Saturday, and the tracking number tells me it arrived here yesterday, so I expect it by Friday at the latest.

jenizzle

I got the 80g one in Berlin for €300, and I really do love it, however I didn't know I have to pay €30 for the browser Haven't bought it yet, trying to find a way around it!

grimm2005

jenizzle wrote: »

I got the 80g one in Berlin for €300, and I really do love it, however I didn't know I have to pay €30 for the browser Haven't bought it yet, trying to find a way around it!

yeah, i thought at first it could prolly be easily gotten through "other sources" but turns out its already on the device and has a unique id associated with it so when u buy it, it unlocks

mine arrived in the country today. cant wait to get it , although the rents prolly wont let me touch it till xmas

darran_D

I am going to New York Sunday and will be getting onthe there as well as the DVR station...I presume it will all work Ok on this side of the Ocean????

grimm2005

DeadSkin wrote: »

Ordered one from there last Saturday, and the tracking number tells me it arrived here yesterday, so I expect it by Friday at the latest.

hey DeadSkin, did you recieve your player yet? The status of mine is: "Your item arrived in IRELAND at 2:25 PM on December 11, 2007. Information, if available, is updated every evening. Please check again later."

I'm surprised its been this long if its been in the country since the 11th

pleasant Co.

could be stuck in customs....... expect a bill for 60 euro soon

5starpool

Yep, probably got unlucky with customs or some such. On mine the value was listed at CA$100, so it will be interesting to see if you get charged based on that, or based on another value if it is a customs holdup. I'd ring the delivery crowd and see if they have any more info than is on the website, as it really should not take anywhere near that long.

grimm2005

5starpool wrote: »

Yep, probably got unlucky with customs or some such. On mine the value was listed at CA$100, so it will be interesting to see if you get charged based on that, or based on another value if it is a customs holdup. I'd ring the delivery crowd and see if they have any more info than is on the website, as it really should not take anywhere near that long.

Would that be the United States Postal Service, or An Post? Gettin kinda worried now!

EDIT: Funny thing just happened, got delivered like 2 minutes ago. no extra costs or anything

ExoduS 18.11

thinking bout buying the 30gb one myself? anyone got this version instead of the chunkier 80gb version? is there much of a diff?

pleasant Co.

grimm2005 wrote: »

Would that be the United States Postal Service, or An Post? Gettin kinda worried now!

EDIT: Funny thing just happened, got delivered like 2 minutes ago. no extra costs or anything

lol! Most excellent! enjoy dude...

DeadSkin

grimm2005 wrote: »

hey DeadSkin, did you recieve your player yet? The status of mine is: "Your item arrived in IRELAND at 2:25 PM on December 11, 2007. Information, if available, is updated every evening. Please check again later."

I'm surprised its been this long if its been in the country since the 11th

Yeah got it a couple of weeks ago.
Good to hear ya got it in the end, have fun

grimm2005

ExoduS 18.11 wrote: »

thinking bout buying the 30gb one myself? anyone got this version instead of the chunkier 80gb version? is there much of a diff?

heres some comparrison pics between the two:

http://www.kennyham.com/images/archos_605_30GB_vs_80GB_1.jpg
http://www.kennyham.com/images/archos_605_30GB_vs_80GB_2.jpg
http://www.kennyham.com/images/archos_605_30GB_vs_80GB_3.jpg
http://www.kennyham.com/images/archos_605_30GB_vs_80GB_4.jpg

You can also get a feel of the 80gb in dixons if you ask (its behind the counter) and they have the 30gb behind a pane downstairs in hmv grafton street

ExoduS 18.11

wow, big difference, think i might go for the 30 gig myself.. lighter on the pockets too in more ways than one it looks!

grimm2005

ExoduS 18.11 wrote: »

wow, big difference, think i might go for the 30 gig myself.. lighter on the pockets too in more ways than one it looks!

i had a good feel of the 80gb in dixons a while back (will get a proper demo come xmas day ) and its not as bad as it looks in the pics. its still very portable for all it does. depends on how much space you need; i have 20gb of music alone and far more than that in videos (around 120gb or so, aswell as a big dvd collection). the best thing imo is to go to peats or dixons and ask for a look of them

grimm2005

hey folks, happy christmas

I got my 605 today and so far it seems really really good, but i've had some trouble with battery life it seems. i charged it fully before syncing anything and then after that used the wireless streaming functions for all my media but the battery ran out in about 90mins. i did do a lot of scanning through files (going to different points in video etc) which i've heard is a killer on the battery but it still seemed pretty damn short. what experiences have you guys had with battery life? (bare in mind i was almost exclusivly using wireless streaming during this time, 1 battery notch dissapeard after connecting to my network as soon as i plugged it out from its initial charge). Is this just a first time use thing? will it get better in time?

I've posted a big description of what i was doing over at archos fans asking for help:

http://forum.archosfans.com/viewtopic.php?t=10896

ExoduS 18.11

Just about to order the archos 605 80gb... yay or nay? which website would be the best to order off? battery life obviously seems to be a problem if you read the link above?

grimm2005

Well the device itself is amazing, it does everything and i couldn't see anyone being dissapointed with the device itself. the whole lark about the UI not been user friendly is bull imo. i think what they mean is that it isnt simple to someone who wouldn't be familiar with pc's for example and in that case, yes there might be a slight learning curve but for everyone else, the functionality is just great. I think it would be impossible to play around with one and not want one (i've already converted one friend)

But on the battery life front, i seem to be falling short somewhat. Maybe it will get better after several full cycles (and so far it has somewhat) but it still hasn't reached what i would call a desirable level. i'm on my 4th full charge now and the battery indicator is on about half now (the thing seems to have a mind of its own), so hopefully i'm getting close to having a desirable battery life.

yesterday (on my 3rd full charge), I watched 2 hours of videos (all xvids d/led from net that were about 600x400 on average resolution-wise), about 10mins of music and about 30mins of web browsing with about 10 mins of that used on youtube videos before the battery died.

this is nowhere near the advertised battery life, and yes, i know that this is under "favourable conditions" but my zen vision m has always held a great charge and would practically always live up to its advertised battery life (and still does) but i seem to be constantly falling well short of that time with the 605. I can only hope it improves with a few more full cycles. This quote from the topic i posted eases my mind a little:

That said I'm very happy with my 40gb 605 as I recently listened to about 4hrs of mp3's, browsed the internet for about and hour and watched two full length movies (about 1hr:45mins each) before I plonked it back on the DVR station with around a single bar of battery life left to record some TV (love the DVR station, charges the 605 in about an hour even when recording TV, also one of the best quality devices I've used for capturing gameplay from consoles).

now if i can get that sort of battery life i'll be very happy but time will tell i guess.

in answer to your question, ExoduS 18.11, i still don't in any way regret getting the device as it is brilliant in every way imo except battery life (so far) so if i were in your shoes i would get just because i don't think i could settle for anything less now that i have one (and i dont even have the DVR dock yet).
In terms of where to get it http://www.newmp3technology.com seems to me like a solid bet, thats where i got mine and it came at the excellent price of about €290 in total wheras in all the shops here its €299 for a 30gb version.

While i'm here can any other 605 users post their experiences with battery life?

Vokes

Yep, finding the battery life on my 160GB pretty bad alright. Despite seemingly charging it to the max via USB, the battery indicator will lose a bar very quickly after starting a video...maybe 10mins into it. And very soon after it can easily be down to half the indicator.

I've also noticed on occasion the indicator go from a single bar back up to 2 bars very briefly, which is a bit strange.

Im actually still waiting on a Battery Dock from hotmp3gear, so hopefully that will improve matters as it apparently adds 50% more battery life (as well as providing a quicker charge) .......apparently

Padraig Mor

Only on my second charge with the 30GB but rather disappointed with the battery life so far as well. Have only used the browser but am getting 2.5 hrs max - and this with the screen on the middle brightness setting. Bought it from HotMP3Gear for about €300, with very quick delivery.

pleasant Co.

Padraig Mor wrote: »

Only on my second charge with the 30GB but rather disappointed with the battery life so far as well. Have only used the browser but am getting 2.5 hrs max - and this with the screen on the middle brightness setting. Bought it from HotMP3Gear for about €300, with very quick delivery.

The wifi browser will (as you have seen) eat the battery life faster than anything

ExoduS 18.11

Thanks a mill, im not technologically-impared at all so think ill go ahead and buy it. Ill post my experiences with it, thinking about buying the dvr dock while im at it, does it work with all sky digi box's etc?

grimm2005

ExoduS 18.11 wrote: »

Thanks a mill, im not technologically-impared at all so think ill go ahead and buy it. Ill post my experiences with it, thinking about buying the dvr dock while im at it, does it work with all sky digi box's etc?

well it seems that it can be used to set things with most sky boxes ala sky plus but it may only be able to d/l the UK sky EPG meaning you could use the DVR features but possibly only for manual recording rather than sky+ type auto recording.

I can't confirm this i'd be surprised if they had a specific guide for ireland being the small country we are.

Check out this topic http://forum.archosfans.com/viewtopic.php?t=5858

Also, SofaKing, re: the battery indicator, i have the exact same probs. (which is what i meant when i said it has a life of its own). I've never seen 2 bars or 4 bars, it always goes straight from 6 to 5 to 3 to 1, and like your sometimes briefly goes back up to 3 while its on 1. its weird and quite annoying, hopefully the next firmware will have that fixed. i may post of archos fans and see if others have that strangeness

5starpool

I can't say I monitored how many bars went how quickly etc, but my battery life is disappointing really as well. I usually get around 3 episodes of the sopranos or similar before it dies, maybe half a 4th. The docking station is great for watching stuff on the telly from it though I must say.

kaisersose77

Whoever invented the battery dock must have a brain the size of a pinhead.

Basically it's only really useful if you use it when the 605 itself if fully charged/lot charge left in it.

If your batteries nearly dead and you connect the fully charged battery dock, you wont get an extra few hours from the dock, the 605 will still die because the main battery is out of charge.

RoyalMarine

parents got me the 705wifi. but dabs had it on order. so wont be hear until the 4th of janurary.

cant wait for it. after reading this about the 605 im excited to get it.

kaisersose77

605 hacked?

http://forum.archosfans.com/viewtopic.php?t=11144

Hopefully it is as linux offers so many things

don't upgrade past firmware 1.7.13 (that could be the latest already)


the chip used in the 605(must be same in 705) supports loseless codecs such as ogg i think even though archos havent added them to the firmware. If this hack is any use, it's going to create big interest in the 605 and we could see big things happening with it.

DeadSkin

I got one for my gf as a Christmas present, all these previous posts don't make nice reading. She hasn't had much time until today to mess about with it.
She had a problem viewing some photos and home movies on it, you go to view a photo and it wouldn't show it full screen, it just hung there with the bloody egg timer thingy!!!! For the movies it said something like can't play please check....... check what???:mad:
Anywho, I checked the firmware and it was a fair bit behind, it was 1.3.04. Updated it now and all is good
I'll be keeping an eye on how the battery performs........

murphy_j

My son got one from Santa and loves it. The DVR was part of the package and I have to say the Uk Sky EPG thing is a real pain. It has this really cool program guide and even changes the channels on the box to setup recordings but because the UK channel numbers are different we can really only use manual recording on it.

Battery life isnt great, certainly not what was advertised and be warned that you need to purchase about 70 Euro worth of plugins to get web browsing and some media capabilities.

Also, parental control is a little limited on it so be aware that the kids may potentially have a way to surf the web from their rooms unsupervised. I blocked it by routing through a proxy but its something to think about.