Archos 605 opinions

Alanstrainor

Hey there fellas, I'm just looking for some advise on my next media player. I'm currently using a creative zen vision m and i love it, the only reason i'm changing is because i think it's on the it's way out(2 years old). Now i do not want an ipod, i would preferably want at least 30gb+ space, recently i've been looking at the archos 605. How is it as a music player? would it be more geared towards watching movies? and how chunky is it? i don't mind it being on the larger side, just has to be pocketable.
Thanks for any info

Dman001

I don't own a 605 but I have been looking into one. The size is a major drawback for me. You'd proably fit it into the pocket of a coat or baggy pants but you probably won't fit it into your jeans. I heard it does videos brilliantly and music is good to. Also, if you want things like a Web Browser or want to listen to Podcasts, you have to buy plugins seperate. I think the 605 is due an update this year so keep that in mind. I know you said you don't want an iPod, but maybe you should look into a 32BG iPod Touch.

Alanstrainor

Yeah i did look into the ipod, but they are just far too expensive, there's no doubting they're great, but it's the price that's a killer at the mo. Thanks for the info though, makes things a lot clearer, i'm still tempted as i've seem them going for under 200 on ebay. It's a lot of kit for that amount of cash.
Cheers!

Flamed Diving

For watching movies it is second to none. For music playing it is really good sound-wise, but it is rather bulky so it can be a tad cumbersome. Also, it is rather fragile, which I found out today as the touch screen has cracked while in my pocket.

Flamed Diving

Dman001 wrote: »

You'd proably fit it into the pocket of a coat or baggy pants but you probably won't fit it into your jeans.

You can fit it into you jeans. In fact, with a pair of extended length earphones it fits nicely in the back pocket. You can also buy a belt clip, I think.

Dman001

Flamed Diving wrote: »

You can fit it into you jeans. In fact, with a pair of extended length earphones it fits nicely in the back pocket. You can also buy a belt clip, I think.

I was actually searched Google and a few people were saying it does fit in jeans. But I heard it doesn't make a good MP3 player because of it's size, which I totally agree on. It's interface isn't great to use as an MP3 player also. I would look at it in an electrical shop before deiding to buy it. The likes of Curry's/Dixon's usuallly have it on display and HMV too.

Alanstrainor

Cheers for the input lads, i'll be heading out to have a look at it before purchasing anything. It certainly looks like one hell of a player though, i'm going to be doing a lot of travelling in the next month or so, and the addition storage for photos and the likes is tempting, and that massive screen. I'm just thinking that maybe it's a bit overkill for what i need, well i'm in no real rush to buy anything soon, so i'll think it over.
Thanks for all the replies,
Cheers,
Alan.

hshortt

Do you use the shortcut button on your Zen Vision? I used to map that to 'Random play all' and its a fantastic feature that nothing else has at the moment. I had the 604 after my Zen Vision and while it was a super video player, it was arkward to cue up music to play, you'd have to navigate the menu system to find the desired playlist etc. It maybe easier to do that now using the touch screen interface on the newer models. I found the audio experience to be excellent quality wise. Size, is unfortunately another issue, if you are the type of person to carry the device in some sort of protective case you can forget about putting it in your pocket unless you are considering a jacket pocket.

I moved from the Archos to a Zune2. it's excellent.

Cheers

Alanstrainor

hshortt wrote: »

Do you use the shortcut button on your Zen Vision? I used to map that to 'Random play all' and its a fantastic feature that nothing else has at the moment. I had the 604 after my Zen Vision and while it was a super video player, it was arkward to cue up music to play, you'd have to navigate the menu system to find the desired playlist etc. It maybe easier to do that now using the touch screen interface on the newer models. I found the audio experience to be excellent quality wise. Size, is unfortunately another issue, if you are the type of person to carry the device in some sort of protective case you can forget about putting it in your pocket unless you are considering a jacket pocket.

I moved from the Archos to a Zune2. it's excellent.

Cheers

Actually, i was the same, the shortcut button was set to random play all and that's almost all i ever used as far as playing music went! As for protective cases, i never cared for them to be honest, i'm not one of these "must keep things mint" kind of people, a few scratches here and there are fine.
As far as spec, i'm liking the wifi, capacity(80gb), screen, option of controlling with buttons aswell as touch screen. Actually, just to make sure, can you "skip track" with the use of one of the tactile buttons? or is it a touch the screen affair?
The only real drawbacks i can see at the moment is possibly the size, and the battery life.

hshortt

Yep, the physical buttons can skip tracks forward and back.

If you can get comfy with the size the battery life will be ok, you'll charge most days if you use it regularly. Wi-Fi will drain the battery pretty quick, so if you are paying the extra for the browser plug-in and you use it, then it will last only a couple of hours.

I almost hate to say it, but have you considered the iTouch? 32GB, widescreen, wi-fi, good battery life etc. Of course it's got other limitations such as supported formats but there are free converters that can complete a movie in a few minutes to MP4.

It would be worthwhile to get your hands on a physical Archos to see if you'll get over the size, Peats will have them and let you fondle on request.

Cheers

cormie

Archos are due to announce their next batch of players soon so maybe hold off a few weeks?

Alanstrainor

Cheers for the raplies again lads,
I might hold off for a bit so and see how things pan out. As for considering the itouch, i agree that they are probably one of the best players on the market at the mo it's just that they're far too expensive. That and 32gb really is the lowest amount of storage i'd go for. I might head off into town later on to check them out, i went as far as to draw out the dimensions and it's actually not as large as i had been thinking, not that much bigger than my wallet. And having the buttons as well as the touch screen is a huge bonus, i like being able to change track whle the player is in my pocket.
Cheers

Dman001

I would wait until September. Archos may announce something by then and so should Apple. We may see a price drop for the Touch. A 32GB Touch is going for about €330 on Ebay, which is a bargain.

Alanstrainor

Right lads, kind of went against the advise yee all gave me and won a archos 605 40gb for €120 on ebay. I figured i couldn't let it go for that price. Hopefully all will go well. Thanks to everyone for the input.
Cheers,
Alan

Flamed Diving

I wasn't advising ya against getting one! I actually came to really like mine, for watching movies its second to none.

hshortt

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Right lad, kind of went aganst the advise yee all gave me and won a archos 605 40gb for €120 on ebay. I figured i couldn't let it go for that price. Hopefully all will go well. Thanks to everyone for the input.
Cheers,
Alan

Congrats, hope it goes well for you.

Alanstrainor

Right lads, the player arrived yesterday, and it was perfect, not a mark on it!
It'll take a bit of getting used to, moving from a creative zen to the archos but i like it a lot. It's a pitty i'll have to spend €30 quid on the web browser...tbh i might not even bother. But being able to stream videos over my network and play flash games and such is nice. The screen is a huge plus, bright and vibrant. The audio quality is so so, not amazing but not crap either. I like the kick stand and the speaker. Now i knew it was chunky, as i went into town and checked it out, but it'sstill pocketable so it's grand. I might have to buy a seperate plugin charger though, as charging it via pc takes yages and is a bit of a pain.
Cheers again for the help lads,
Alan.

Flamed Diving

Dont bother with the web browser, you wont use it. I would recommend the cinema plugin though, you can play pretty much any format with that.

Alanstrainor

Flamed Diving wrote: »

Dont bother with the web browser, you wont use it. I would recommend the cinema plugin though, you can play pretty much any format with that.

might do that alright. I think you're right about the web browser, i've already got an eee pc and a phone for that lark i'd only use it as a gimmick for about a week and i'd realise just how much battery i'd be wasting with the wifi on.

CantGetNoSleep

Alanstrainor wrote: »

might do that alright. I think you're right about the web browser, i've already got an eee pc and a phone for that lark i'd only use it as a gimmick for about a week and i'd realise just how much battery i'd be wasting with the wifi on.

Will you post up the link on ebay with the seller please

Flamed Diving

Yeah, I need to buy a new one. Post her up!

Dman001

I think he bought it from this company:
http://cgi.ebay.ie/Archos-605-WiFi-80GB-Digital-Media-Player-TV-Recorder_W0QQitemZ200240339858QQihZ010QQcategoryZ73839QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

They are well known and their depo is in Dublin. They sell refurbished 605s, thats what Alanstrainor bought.

CantGetNoSleep

How big is it compared to an iPod classic etc? Can it fit in your pocket without weighing it down?

Alanstrainor

Dman001 wrote: »

I think he bought it from this company:
http://cgi.ebay.ie/Archos-605-WiFi-80GB-Digital-Media-Player-TV-Recorder_W0QQitemZ200240339858QQihZ010QQcategoryZ73839QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

They are well known and their depo is in Dublin. They sell refurbished 605s, thats what Alanstrainor bought.

Ay that's them alright.
I dont have an ipod classic to compare it to. But it is fairly big, fit's in my pockets fine, grand for around town and the likes, but it's by no means small. I beginning to really like it, a fair amount of my mp3 players life was spent hooked up to my "system" at home so the DVR station may come in handy for me, but it'll be making the journey to work everyday as well, + general travelling.

Flamed Diving

Buy a case for it. As I mentioned already I cracked the screen in mine a couple of weeks back.

Alanstrainor

It came with a handy enough case so i'll be using that in the future.

Sabre Man

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

How big is it compared to an iPod classic etc? Can it fit in your pocket without weighing it down?

Don't have the exact measurements but it's definately bigger.

I think dabs.ie have both so you can look up measurements there and compare.

DeadSkin

My gf had one for a while, the biggest con she had against it was the battery wouldn't last long, plus 'twas a beeatch to charge on the pc took fuppin' hours.

The big pro was the quality for watchin' movies.

Flamed Diving

Yeah, people should not try to charge it through their PC's. You can use an iPod charger to top it up, its waaaaaaaaaaaay quicker.

Sephiroth_dude

where do you buy these plug ins for wifi and what not?

Flamed Diving

Well it has WiFi, just no web browser as standard! You can buy them directly from Archos, although I heard you can get them cheaper (legit) from this forum.

http://archosfans.com/

Sephiroth_dude

and how do you install it?

Flamed Diving

Its already on the device, its just locked.

hshortt

It's a license file that you copy to the root of the device when it's connected to the computer. Once you do that, the device unlocks the feature.

Cheers

Sephiroth_dude

ah I understand now :-).