Rating: 
Summary: Multipurpose Multimedia Tool
Review: I've owned an Archos Jukebox Multimedia 20GB now for about a month, and appreciate it more and more as time goes on.
The positives:
* For what it is, and compared with other MP3 players, this is a wonderfully versatile gadget.
* Great sound, especially with Sony MDRV300 headphones
* Very easy to download and organize MP3 files
* Makes a great portable hard drive
* With camera, takes reasonable photos and videos of brightly-lit scenes
* Internal microphone makes for a very inobtrusive digital sound recorder
* With the SmartMedia adapter, provides pocket-storage for digital camera photos without requiring the use of a host PC
* Rubber corner bumpers do an effective job of shielding unit from damageHowever, there are some negatives:
* Peculiar construction and packaging is not as polished as Zen or iPod - lots of tabs, poorly finished holes, and flaps.
* Playback skips or stops when exercising vigorously and the Archos is belt-mounted
* Camera module is not "fast" enough to capture moderate- or low-light scenes
* Internal microphone picks up internal hard-drive noise
* Audio-In does not adequately pre-amplify some external microphones
* Battery life is not fabulous, though OK with LCD off.
* Some gaps in supplied software, particularly for DVD capture and conversion to displayable format on internal LCD
* Occasional "hangs" when using USB 1.1 cable; far fewer experienced when using available USB2 / Firewire cable.
* Sound suffers when connected to a component system, etc., using supplied audio/video cable
Rating: 
Summary: THIS IS YOUR DIGITAL MEDIA MESSIAH!!!
Review: The coolest gadget on the market right now. I bought mine and promptly downloaded ALL of my digital photos to it, (1000's of pictures), over 5 gigabytes of mp3's, over 5 gigabytes of movies and videos... and now I am never bored at any time, any where. I bootlegged a whole concert to MP3 format using its built in mic, (no one looks twice at it at the door, "Its my mp3 player, dude.")I also bought an I - Rock adapter at Radio Shack and now I can "beam" the music from the player to any stereo using radio waves, so I can bump my MP3s in the Honda, or any one elses car I happen to be in. It has upgradable firmware, which is a plus. You can attach it to your TV and use it like a VCR, and soon it will have an attachment available that will enable you to record TV, VCR movies or even DVD'S. I have ordered the camera module, and the dynamic powered microphone that Archos makes, and I am anxiously awaiting their arrival. FORGET THE I-POD, forget your MP3 cd players, forget digital cameras, etc. IT IS THE SWISS ARMY KNIFE OF DIGITAL MEDIA. And it is a portable 20 gig hard drive, all in a package not much bigger than a pack of smokes. The only, ONLY complaint I have with it is that the paint on the back side will start flaking off almost immediately, ther have been numerous reports of this happening, I guarantee it will happen until ARCHOS fixes the problem. What I did was just to buff all the paint off the back, because it was flaking off any ways, and it was beginning to be really messy. I used a Dremel tool with a buffer attachment, and took all the paint off the back. It is metal on the underside, and I polished it to a nearly chrome - like appearance. It looks great now, and it looks like it was supposed to be that way. ARCHOS, FIX THIS!!! Otherwise, it is the best thing out there, hands down. I am the envy of all my friends in the break room at work when I am watching "Fight Club" on my lunch break. I just can't emphasize how much more advanced this is than anything you have ever seen.
Rating: 
Summary: amazing features, poor battery life
Review: this thing is incredible, but they say it lasts 10 hours when in reality it only lasts a couple hours.
Rating:
Summary: Has much more potential than its rivals
Review: *NOTE: This review is from itreviews.co.uk*
There are two styles of MP3 player; those based around memory cards and those, usually called jukeboxes, which use a notebook-style hard drive for storage. Archos's new Jukebox Multimedia fits in the second group, but goes much further than most MP3 players. About the size of a large mouse, the Jukebox Multimedia only starts by playing MP3 tracks. A 42mm, full colour LCD display on its front face shows you exactly what tracks you have recorded on it and the proprietary operating system is easily navigated using a ring of controls below the display, plus a couple of extra buttons. With 20GB of fast hard drive to play with, you can store thousands of tracks and the built-in Lithium-ion batteries will power the device for up to seven hours. That's music for most of a working day. You don't have to stick to music, though. The little Archos device is just as good at storing and playing back video. Using the new MPEG-4 compression standard, it can play back any video that you can convert into this format. Later this year the company will release a specialised add-on for the Jukebox Multimedia. The video recorder module will handle MPEG-4 conversion from most video sources, such as video cassette and DVD. Before then, though, there's digital photography. The unit is supplied with two clip-on adapters for CompactFlash and SmartMedia memory cards. The idea is that it can act as a portable store for all the still photos you take with your digital camera. Although, as yet, there's no adapter for Multimedia/Secure Digital cards, this extra facility is a great extension for the device. You can store thousands of images, even at high resolution. Proving just how laterally Archos can think, the company will be launching a £60 add-on for the Jukebox Multimedia, which again clips to its back and underside, turning it into a base level digital camera. Using the display screen as a viewfinder, you'll be able to snap away 640 x 480 pictures, straight to the hard drive. While the resolution may be nothing special, it's good enough for holiday snaps. When you think that the Jukebox Multimedia's main rivals, Creative's Jukebox 3 and the Rio Riot, cost as much as the Jukebox Multimedia, you realise how much more expandable the Archos solution is. It's a really good piece of free thinking and is close to being the ideal portable companion. Verdict: If you want an MP3 Jukebox with a lot more potential than its rivals, this device should be top of your list. It's an MP3 player, video player and digital picture store, all in one, with plenty of future upgrade options to keep it useful and interesting.
Rating:
Summary: Your Digital Wonder Device
Review: When I finally bit the bullet and decided to buy my first MP3 player, I knew I wanted something with a lot of capacity, a no-hassle file transfer system, and a simple interface. The Multimedia Jukebox has these features and more. It not only has the capacity to record in MP3 format from its suprisingly clear microphone or a digital AV input jack, but it also acts as a JPG picture viewer, you can watch AVI files on it after an easy conversion, *and* with the optional 2 megapixel camera you can take still pictures and video! While the resolution is nothing to write home about, for my needs (I'm not a photo or video nut), I got the basic functionality I wanted--the ability to take pictures or video on the fly. And with 20 gigs of space, you could shoot for hours! I can't believe no one has made a versatile digital toolkit like this before! The device acts just like a harddrive, allowing you to copy, drag-n-drop, and the like within Windows Explorer. No pointless file transfer software! Navigation in the device itself follows the Explorer pattern with folders and files. The controls are not that intuitive, but are easy to use once you get familiar with them. The device includes all the software you need, a set of AV cables that allow you to record to the Jukebox in stereo, and some swoop-style headphones (good sound, not especially comofortable, but they have volume control on the wire *and* they fold up... a nice feature). I've started ripping my music collection, and with a shareware ripper I've even loaded some of my favorite DVDs onto it. Converted to fit on the device, a two-hour film is less than a gig. And the little color LCD screen is surprisingly crisp and easy on the eyes when one is watching, say, the entirety of "Gladiator". All in all, a great device. My only complaints: the yellow-on-black text is aesthetically unpleasant, and I haven't found a way to modify the display colors; and there is no direct video recording via the AV cable yet (allowing you to record from a TV, VCR, or DVD player), although that functionality is supposedly coming through another module.
Rating: 
Summary: Features are only good if the unit works.
Review: Summary:
Poor quality combined with even worse support. My Archos stopped holding a charge with about 3 months left on the warranty. I emailed. Then I phoned their tech support. Then I emailed again. 6 months latter they finally returned my messages. They refused to repair the device under warranty. They wanted to charge me $65 to repair the device. No way am I going to send it to them. I would probably never see it again. I am going to try and fix the unit myself. Take my advice: spend your money elsewhere! Might I suggest a Dell(support) or Apple(features). I know the Archos can do video, but don't fall into the trap that myself and so many other have--I've run across a large number of them in forums and websites. WARNING--IF YOU BUY THIS DEVICE DO SO KNOWING THAT YOU WILL GET NO TECH SUPPORT OR WARRANTY SERVICE!
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant features, but fails with the basics
Review: This is the first MP3 player I have bought, and I have to say I have very mixed feelings about it. The video feature is awesome, and contrary to what others say is of rather decent quality for playing off an MP3 player. Encoding is a pain though, and its takes FOREVER, but the movies do work and look decent even on my 32" tv. Playing MP3s, the basic function of the player, can be pretty annoying. Playlists are extremely hard to create, and skipping tracks often results in going to far back or forward while the archos freezes to access the hard drive. However, sound quality is extremely good for an off-brand, right up there with Sony or any other high quality brand. And of course where else are you going to find 20 gigs of space for the price? The only real bad things about this player are the extremely poor battery life and battery meter (in reality lasts only a couple hours even with the lowest LCD/backlight settings), and the quality of the player itself (one of the buttons on mine has broken off, and it is no longer under warrenty according to Archos. I've seen alot of reviews on here slam the customer service and tech support at Archos. While they were unsuccessful at solving my USB drive problem ( then again it IS windows 98, so i dont really blame them) and they would not replace my button, I have called 3 times and always gotten a live person to talk to right away. I do beleive that theyre tech support and customer service has improved recently. Overall, if you are a tech-savvy individual who can deal with the Archos shortcomings, it is an amazing peice of technology, with capabilities no other product on the market has, for half the price of an Ipod. However, if you are a beginner, I would recommend a simpler product, even one of Archos newer model players, which are much more user-friendly. One last note: Archos will practically repair or completely replace your player for 85$ even if it is out of warrenty, not a bad deal considering the price they retail for.
Rating:
Summary: Some people just can't write a fair review...
Review: First off, I'd like to comment on the outstanding number of people who apparently have no lack of stupidity and continue to post reviews on here. The technology that goes into this product is absolutely amazing, and the engineering is very good. I know this from tinkering/expanding/fixing my previous Jukebox. As far as aesthetically, yes the paint DOES peel off rather easily from the back, and the serial number fades away quickly, and player is rather heavy for its size. However, if treated correctly and used by people with brains and a little bit of intelligence, this machine will last for years. The hard drive: a 1mm thick extremely-highly polished metal disc. It is read by a head that moves over it only a FEW MICRONS above the surface....sometimes 50 TIMES PER SECOND if the drive is working fast. NOT a good idea to drop the thing, so keep it in the provied case, or buy a better one. The battery: Lithium-Ion speially designed battery. Apparently someone of lower intelligence tried to find the "batteries" in the player and replace it. It should last the life on the product and cant be replaced. Another note: KEEP THE PLAYER OUT OF COLD WEATHER!!! Li-Ion batteries lose their power very quickly in temperatures below 45F...its nothing wrong with the player. Yes, the battery meter has some flaws, but if you don't record like crazy it should last a few hours.
(Recording video: Vertical Scan + Horizontal Scan, red green and blue, about 900 pixels total at 25 frames per second...the image on the screen and all the data "changes" 25 times in a second! It takes a LOT of power to do this and process all this info, no matter what product you have. That is why the battery life is shortened when you record....are we catching on here...?) The computer interface: If you love slow transfer programs that are loaded with graphics and take up extra space on your computer, do not buy this product. But an iPod or something else because with the Archos you just drag and drop your music/data/videos/documents/ whatever onto the hard drive for storage. Monkeys have been trained to do it. Seriously. The headphone jack: Please people, just be careful with this. The jack is about the size of a fingernail and is probably the most abused mechanical part on the player. THe menus, etc on the player: It is self explanantory! Thats why the thing is so graphic. And yes you can change the colors of the display (I agree...the yellow is gross). In the Settings menu, just choose....are ya ready....ya sure......? COLORS!!! You must be joking to tell me that you can not find that. In All: A GREAT product as long as you take care of it, and avoid dropping it. Also, try updating the firmware from www.archos.com every few months to get the latest updates which will solve all (well...some) of your problems.Well worth the money, just don't hope for tech support.
Rating: 
Summary: Good while it lasted
Review: As your typical seventeen year old, I'm pretty computer savvy and I was more than excited to order the Jukebox Multimedia Player. I assumed that with my computer intelligence I would have this thing figured out in no time flat. I ordered the player and the camera attachment. As soon as it was shipped to my house I plugged it in to start charging the batteries. I don't know why but the batteries are faulty. They won't hold a charge. The longest I've gotten my player to stay on is an hour and I've tried to take the thing apart to get to the batteries (a very important note!). The batteries are not accessible like your typical Walkman. According to the manual and other users, you have to take the whole thing apart to get to the battery. Once you take out the battery, everything on the hard drive is erased. I copied all my files to my computer to be safe and started taking it apart. NOT EASY! After 3 hours of looking up online manuals, pulling screws, swearing, and sweating I gave up. I couldn't even find the battery. I'm going to have to take it to a repair store of some kind to see if they can figure it out. Another problem I ran into was the audio formats. I've downloaded all 200 some of my CDs into Windows Media Player. However, Windows Media Player doesn't recognize the Jukebox as an MP3 player so I am unable to move the music to my jukebox. I have to re-load all 200 CDs through the software supplied: Music Match. Only adding to my frustration with this product. This is supposed to be a wonderful product. When I can actually keep it on, it is pretty cool. It takes decent pictures and movies (with or without sound). Although, the pictures tend to have a slight greenish tint to them. I took my player on a trip to Australia with me and it was great for capturing tons of pictures but once again, my battery would only hold up for about an hour or so and I'd have to take it back to the hotel to charge overnight. Honestly, I wouldn't buy one of these again. It wasn't worth all the time and effort put into it. You're better off with buying an MP3 player and a digital camera separately.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful toy!
Review: I purchased one of these last year with my tax return. It has travelled with me all over the midwest and easterm part of the USA. My Archos goes just about everywhere with me. It has survived being tossed around my car and tossed in my backpack. Though the paint is starting to flake off, it still functions like a champ. I use it in my car and at home to listen to my music. I also use it to transfer files to and from work. I tell my friends that I carry around a portable 20Gig HD with me all the time. The archos I bought came with the photo module. I have not used the camera much because I recently bought a digital camera. The camera is fun to use to take quick digital videos but it really drains the battery. I was able to record an 8 minute tour of Gloucester Harbor and take a few still pics before the battery was drained. Speaking of battery life, the more you use it the longer it will last. The first few times the battery will run out of juice after a few hours. Once it is properly conditioned it will last longer between charges. Also, upgrading the OS for free at www.archos.com helps with power management. Today I can get about 5-7 hours of use on one charge. That depends on how many times I use the LCD screen or if I have it plugged into my PC. I do like the memory card readers that came with the photo module. This will come in very handy when I start traveling again as I can transfer my digital pics from my camera to the Archos to store them. This unit does so much more than the iPod for a similiar price. I give the Archos JBM 20 four stars because once in awhile it doesnt want to boot up. Sometimes I need to power it down, then back up again and that seems to work. I also give it 4 stars because the paint started to flake off after 3 months.
Overall I have been very pleased with its abilities and performance. I highly recommend it!!
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