Rating: 
Summary: Heavy, Buggy, Poor Quality, but Good $ For What It is
Review: I decided to buy this instead of the iPod because it supports JPEGS and video, came with a 1.0MP camera and CF memory card reader (oh, and it's cheaper). Well, the screen, although great quality, is too small for video viewing (plus I couldn't figure out how to convert movies to the Archos format), JPEGS take waaaay to long to load compared to my digital camera, the camera didn't come with instructions to use, and the memory card reader is not compatible with all types of CF. So I never use those features.As for the MP3 player, the 20GB capacity rocks, but this machine is VERY buggy and will freeze on you or just shut off on its own. I bring it to work daily and it freezes on me probably 2, 3 times out of the week. The supplied headphones are horrible. The quality is very poor. Example: The charger plug doesn't even fit into the slot (it juts out somewhat) and I once accidentally dropped it while plugged in, bending the needle that connects to the charger plug. Grar. Also, the instructions are horribly written and it's not the most intuitive machine to use, though you get used to it. The USB 2.0 connection is very nice though. Overall, this is great if you have lots of music on your hard drive and want an MP3 player and don't mind the machine freezing on you every so often. Unfortunately, the bad quality renders the other features essentially useless unless you have a lot of patience.
Rating:
Summary: Quality control problems, poor support
Review: I've owned a few Archos products, and I still use the slim 20GB portable hard disk on a daily basis. But I cannot recommend Archos products, because, two years after they started selling here stateside, their quality control and customer support are still very, very poor. While not a looker, the Jukebox Multimedia looks good on paper, with MPEG4/DiVX support (although you need to convert the files, a tedious process) and expandability. As you can tell from the picture it's quite bulky. What's interesting is, it's actually smaller than it looks, but heavier, too, the exact opposite of the RCA RD2840 40GB Personal Jukebox, which I recommend for its 40GB capacity, great price point, and good quality. I cannot recommend the Archos at all, read on. First, the screen on this thing is really small. Tiny! Don't expect to watch video more than a couple times. Once the novelty factor wears off -- and it'll only take a few minutes -- you'll want to shun watching anything on the small screen, even JPEG pictures. (Sorry, Larry, no carry-anywhere porn viewer for you yet.) There are no details on the videos and pictures, and the LCD screen eats battery fast, very fast. Second, Archos really, really, really needs to improve their quality. I bought my first unit on a Saturday, it broke the next day, I took it back for an exchange, then by Tuesday the second one would not turn on. I went back for another exchange, but the very next day the third unit developed a heavy vibration midway through a song. That's it, I returned the unit to store for a full refund. All this time, I did not bother to call Archos tech support, because from my past experience I knew them to be rather useless. With my compact hard disk, for example, it came with an instruction sheet that had whole sections missing! When I contacted tech support, they asked me to refer to the missing information on the sheet! You should take a look at the support section of their website, and you'll see they are not very serious about keeping their customers happy. (Archos is a French company, FYI.) If their products were reliable this could be forgiven. But unfortunately the products are not high-quality at all. So I think if you buy this product you are basically playing with Russian roulette. You might get a reliable unit; my Archos hard drive and one previous Studio jukebox work fine. But, then, if you take my advice and check out the RCA 40GB Jukebox, I think you'll save yourself lots of frustration over a not-cheap purchase.
Rating: 
Summary: Do Not Buy This Product
Review: This product has got to be the worst thing I have ever had the misfortune to buy. This thing breaks constantly; first it was a read access error for months, now it just freezes. This isn't every once in a while either, it's 9 out of 10 times I turn it on, it won't work. Also, it can hold 20 gigs, but if you have 5 gigs of mp3's, with maybe a couple folders, it slows down considerably during operations. So if you would like to skip maybe 5 or more songs in a row, it becomes very annoying. The tech support is horrendous. For the amount that this unit costs, you'd think that it would be reliable, or that they could have some good support since it fails so often, but they have neither. I would not recommend this product to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Good Product - When it works!
Review: Mine has broken twice now, the same error in both cases. The screen just dies. The first time it took me forever to get to tech support. I was put on hold for 45 minutes! Finally I got an RMA and shipped it back. Turn around was only one month :( they promised 2 weeks max. This last time it went out was after the one year warranty. I would call them up and ask them how much to repair but frankly... I don't want to be put on hold for another 45 minutes while calling a long distance number (no 800 number available & they don't respond to emails) just to be told that the repair costs will be +-100 dollars. I would rather give that 100 dollars to the junkie that lives on the street in the nearby city. He might get more 'user satisfaction.' PS - If you do buy one and something does go wrong... Don't call during lunch time (Pacific Time) because the entire support staff goes out to luch at the same time and they just put you on hold.
Rating: 
Summary: Good device overall.
Review: After looking at the stack of burnt CD's that was piling up in my car and filling up my large CD holding binder. I figured it was time to get an Mp3 player. I was orignally not planning to spend more than maybe 150 dollars... and so my quest began. The first thing that caught my eye on cnet.com's reviews section was the Apple Ipod. Of course, the price tag left alot to be desired..but up until then i never knew mp3 players were capable of holding 20 GB's or more of information! Compatability issues with Windows and the price tag pretty much killed the ipod for me, especially after i saw the Archos JBM 20. Now here was a device that i could carry around with me in between classes to watch .avi video's, listen to music during long drives to college, and even turn it into a camera! Honestly, the two biggest reasons i planned to use this device were music, and video. I dont have a digital camera, so most of those functions werent that important to me. Video: First of all I got a REALLY good deal on this device from electroline.com. It came to a total of 307 bucks after shipping and handling. Much to my surprise, when it came in, it not only came with the DVR unit, but it also came with a USB 2.0 cable! Unfortunately, i dont have a computer with USB 2.0 right this moment (old mother board), but the inclusion of these 2 devices really made this deal awesome. The small screen was the first thing that worried me initially when reading the reviews, but honestly it's just the right size. The only drawback is watching anything that has subtitles..it's impossible to read them! Since im a huge fan of japanese animation, and my japanese still isnt that great... it can be a problem. For watching episodes of family guy, or movies, it's great! Alot lighter and easier to carry than my laptop, and just about the same movie battery life and quality (though smaller screen). There is indeed a space between the actual LCD screen and the plastic screen protector where dust can get in, but (thanks to a wreckless friend) it was discovered this thing can easily be popped off and put back on.... so you can clean it! which is a BIG deal for a screen nut like me (i've returned 3 gameboy advance SP's cuz they had dust INSIDE of the screen). Ok, the DVR unit is great for recording DVD's, VHS, and television..though the frame rate and quality is a little bit lacking... watching it on the small screen is actually quite nice, but the problem is putting it onto a larger television. On my 27 inch flat screen Akai, the frame rate wasnt so great..and the quality was a bit grainy... over all still very watchable. As for downloading movie files and such, Divx works great... one of my xvid files ran at a kinda jerky/low FPS, but still watchable. Anyways, most files can be burnt to VCD or SVCD for big television, but it's great in a pinch when you want to watch a movie but dont have a player! Overall, the video is good... not a dream, but defiantely a nice feature that puts it above other MP3 players. I hear the AV120 has better video options, but i couldnt find that model for the same price i got this for. Music - Great, just about what you'd imagine it would be with an Mp3 player. The headphones it comes with are subpar... not great for high volumes, but not terrible. This thing holds a TON of music on it's really great to put my entire music collection on one device, and still have plenty of room for a season of family guy! I have noticed a few strange quirks you should look out for with this piece of electronic wizardry - every now and then, while it's switching to another mp3, the device will just shut off or freeze. it's only happened once or twice since i've had it, and i use it alot, but it's a funny little quirk i've heard other people talking about. It's a little annoying because you have to reboot the system... but not THAT common. Also, i bumped it while it was on in my car, along the side with my steering wheel, and it started making this terrible rattling sound inside of it. I immediately turned it off, then back on, and everything was fine. Since the device has a USB hard drive in it.. it would be wise to be gentle with this device.. im sure it's great for exercising, just try not to drop it since hard drives can be a little touchy to shocks. Overall:
- a great device, especially to show off to your friends, definately worth the price tag...though you if you're willing to spend more, go for the AV120 or the AV300 series... (pricey, but veeeerrrryyy nice). For us people looking for a budget splurge, the jbm 20 is a great buy from electroline.com (check yahoo shopping, or yahoo search engine)
Rating:
Summary: Extremely bad experience... Caveat Emptor!
Review: This is by far the worst product I have ever purchased! I was undecided about buying this or the Nixvue Vista (I should have gone with the later). I was also a bit incredulous regarding the bad reviews of this product, as I have an ARCHOS Jukebox; it's never given me any trouble. The scoop is that I got it (from another store - not Amazon) took out of the box, charged it as per instructions, the thing powered up for about 5 seconds and then... it DIED! For as much as I tried the thing would not power up no matter what. I called ARCHOS tech support, only to be placed on "eternal hold" for 30 minutes, I never got in touch with a single person. I tried again that same night just to get the lame response of charging the unit fully and giving it "another try"... like I didn't do that in the first place! I'm in the process of returning this product to the store. Last time I'll EVER buy an ARCHOS product, they are very unreliable (you might get a good one or you might not... wanna gamble?). Tech support and answering times are the worst I have ever experienced for any product that I have purchased in the last 20 years. I can classify this as a big waste of time and money
Rating:
Summary: Dodgy Product Steer Clear
Review: I bought this after having bought the Archos Recorder (Which
Ultimately Fell Apart Literally, Paint Peeling, Buttons Falling Off, Power Connector Falling Off,Screen Stopped Functioning).
Would not power on after a night of recharging contacted tech support after 2 weeks never received an answer, boxed it back up and sent it back to the reseller. Like all Archos products you get the same thing, poor tech support, poor updates, dodgy devices (This is why a group of unfortuanate Archos owners wrote their own firmware for some of the devices because Archos could never get the firmware fully functional). If you can buy something else do it. Whomever thinks Archos can get a multimedia player right when they CANNOT even get an MP3 player down has to be out of their minds! They add more functions sure but, carry the same problems from their former devices and add more problems to boot. Also one other thing to note the battery IS NOT replaceable in this device.
Rating:
Summary: A Bad Experience
Review: I purchased MM 20GB and accessories primarily to store digital photos on a three week vacation in Europe (the MP3/multimedia features were in my view a bonus). The device failed ten days into the vacation (with more than 1,000 pictures on it). The display began to flicker after 8 days, and 2 days later was completely dead. From then on, the device would seem to boot up then turn itself off after about 20 seconds. Completely useless. Upon calling tech support after returning to the states, I was given the following choices: I could return the device for warranty repairs and if they were able to fix it, I would have a working device and my pictures. If they could not fix it they would replace it and ship the defective unit back to the factory, and I could forget about the pictures (I could request to have the defective unit shipped to me rather than having it replaced, but the tech advised against it, saying that there was always a risk that special instructions would be ignored or overlooked). Finally, I could open the unit myself, take out the hard drive, hook it up to my PC, and attempt to download the pictures myself. The catch: doing so would void the warranty. I ultimately decided on the downloading option (and it worked - whew!) because the memories were more important to me than the gadget. That's the good news. The bad news is that all the Archos bits of the MM 20GB are now sitting in the garbage after less than 90 days of use, and won't be replaced (I do have a functioning laptop 20GB hard drive after all this, but Archos didn't manufacture that piece). This was a VERY unsatisfactory experience. From now on, I will have my compact flash cards burned to CD at the local photo shop wherever I'm vacationing.
Rating:
Summary: Horrible Product. AVOID at all cost.
Review: I originally purchased this player with a great deal of enthusiasm back in November. However once I charged it up the machine would come on for a second or two and then turn off. I tried charging it again overnight, but it didn't work. I sent it back to the manufacturer for repair.
It came back still broke. I mean it stayed on now after charging for about ten minutes and then it crashed again or the machine will power down for no good reason. Before I knew it was completely messed up still I downloaded all my music files onto it. Well, it was so unstable that I sent it back AGAIN to the manufacturer.
Now when I got it back for the third time, it worked fine. I was really stoked and once again downloaded 15 gig worth of stuff on it. It now doesn't turn on at all...This machine is NOT worth it. Do not buy this machine at all costs. If someone gives it to you as a present, take it back...
Rating: 
Summary: Don't be deceived!
Review: This seems like a great product, but be careful. When I first got it, it froze up on me many times, which required me to take off the top (with a tiny screwdriver), put it back on, screw the screws back in, and start it back up. It doesn't freeze up much anymore, but it has a horrible battery life. It says 7 hours, but only if u hit play and never touch it again for 7 hours. Switching songs cuts that in half, and if you want to watch movies on it (one reason why i got it), you can only get about 30 min off of a fully charged battery. Also, I'm having trouble transferring wma to mp3. So, I've had to reload all of my CDs back onto my computer in mp3 form. I do have to say that I've been happy with the quality of sound. The tiny screen (for my youthful eyes) has been fine. If the battery life were longer and it were easier to transfer music files, this would be the perfect mp3 player!
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