Rating: 
Summary: Better odds on your money at Las Vegas
Review: This product is a great concept not followed through. I bought the combo with camera, USB2.0 cable and flash card adaptors. It does store photos OK, but the adaptor is ill-fitting to my compact flash cards, and the adaptor won't go on without excessive force. The camcorder function is an absolute waste of time, forget the fact the microphone is on the other side to the camera, so unless you want to provide running commentary yourself, the audio won't be of much use.The case has gaps all over it - I can't see the thing lasting very long once dirt, dust and humidity get throughout the insides of it. It has a dinky little rubber cover for the centronics connector, which will get lost the first couple of months you own the thing. The menu system is clunky, and the buttons used to navigate it are awkward - why they didn't put a shuffle dial on the thing, I'll never know. The audio it records via the inbuilt microphone is pathetic - there are all kinds of digital noise imposed upon it, and when the hard drive writes to the disk, that gets recorded in sensaround. If you want to view your photos, the interface to do that is a pain. Despite the fact it takes 2 to three seconds to display a photo of 2MP anyway, the awkward menu system makes it a chore to do any housekeeping. They might as well not have supplied the junk headphones with the unit, as if you want any better than AM radio fidelity, you'll get a pair of Sennheisers. I have been ignored by their customer support, funny since they claim to strive for complete customer satisfation. Even if their support system was as good as they claim (or even existed, for that matter), supporting a lemon would probably put them out of business quite rapidly. So Caveat Emptor. All this being said, it does do one thing, and one thing only well. That is, a MP3 jukebox. As long as you plan your playlists and directories well (on the PC) - it will give you satisfaction in this area. The audio controls such as bass boost, treble etc. are good, and with a good pair of 'phones - are well matched. I would heartily steer any person considering this unit seriously, to forget it. Even if you consider the lemon laws, and the protection they give you, you just don't need the grief.
Rating: 
Summary: Two thumbs way WAY up!
Review: I have to admit, I've obsessed over this little thing for a little over a month before I bought it. I'm one of those guys that have to REALLY do research about a device before I actually shell out the cash.... I was up in Canada when I decided it was time to buy an MP3 Player. I was DYING to have something to do on the plane. So to the internet I went..... I fell in love with ARCHOS. As so many other ppl have after seeing what it can do. It's not much more expensive than other MP3 players with similar storage (far less than ipod) and has MANY more features. Now let me tell you.....reviews like this one have played a huge role in what device I'm going to buy. I read the horror stories and I've read the success stories. And from the best I could decipher is that this is a device for the more technical savvy person....not the average joe. So I am quite comfortable with that. I was very disappointed when I found that Archos wasn't sold anywhere (that I could find) in Canada....so I bought my second choice...the Rio Riot. (I'm going to write a review on that one as well) As soon as I returned to the states....I bought my JBMM. What can I say? I LOVE IT! 5 minutes out of the box, and I'm watching the vids that came with it (I plugged it in of course.....) Within the hour, I had most of my MP3 collection moved over (minus those that needed sorting) and had already learned how, and actually converted a DVD to watch. I will admit that converting a DVD or any other MPEG/AVI file can be a bit tricky....but with the help of other websites out there that deal with these issues, I was able to stumble my way through it.....and now I'm a pro! Regarding the device itself.....yes....very small. And with very small comes a very small screen. But I promise you, you will be SHOCKED at how clear it is! I can sit through an entire movie easily without straining my eyes. (something I was concerned about) And when I connected the output AV to a television (62 inch projection RCA) the picture was VERY clear. FAR surpassing what I expected after reading some of the reviews. Yes, it's VCR quality, but if you ask me......that's just fine. I watched a ton of music vids I downloaded, as well as some home movies I had made with another camera, and converted.... I also tested out the SD Photo Module. Piece of cake. I had all the pics I've been avoiding moving to my PC from my camera downloaded within a minute. Can't complain about that in the least! Now comes the Camera Module....I've read all the good and bad about the camera and knew exactly what to expect. Bad pictures in poor light....and good pictures in good light. Guess what.... Exactly that. I took a few pictures inside at about 1am when I first opened the device, and of course....they came out horrible. The next morning, I took pictures and a couple short vids of the kids as they woke up and they came out wonderfully! I REALLY hope to see a better cam module for this unit before the AV340 comes out. Now regarding the user interface...yes....it's a bit difficult to get the hang of...but once you've grasped the general idea, it becomes second nature. I've adjusted from the menu system of my Rio, which is MUCH MUCH different. All and all I give give Archos 4 stars....there are a few things I would like to see improved (aside from the many that has been improved through firmware updates already), but you can't beat the features of Archos for your buck!
Rating:
Summary: totall unreliable
Review: Hi This is my second posting on this after less than 3 months mine has now virtully given up the ghost - the display screen is split into 2 displays - keep getting hard drive errors and , tracks do not appears on the listings , breakup on the MP3 files - its on its way back ...
Rating: 
Summary: A Great Gizmo-Gadget!
Review: This thing is so cool. It is a portable movie player, mass storage device and music player all in one. It does other things if you buy the accessories, but by itself it's a marvel. It works well with Windows 98 and Linux without having to download some annoying troublesome musical file software, and speaks to the computer like an external hard drive. I have been putting hours and hours of mp3 music on mine and have barely made a dent in the 20GB hard drive. One word of advice that echoes other reviews; forget the little pamphlet flyer guide that came with it. It is so sparse, it's useless in several languages. Another thing, some reviewers have said you have to go through some convoluted menu button-pushing process just to adjust the volume. Not so! During play mode, the up and down keys below the screen perform this function, and the left and right keys navigate to the next higher or lower file. I looked at iPod and several other devices. My friend travels a lot, and takes most of his entire music collection with him with his Archos. I give it a thumbs-up.
Rating:
Summary: What do you want it to do?
Review: I got the Jukebox for it's ability to download photos from my compact flash card. There are other devices that do that, but they are mostly more expensive and don't have an lcd screen. Could the screen be bigger? Yes. Does it allow me to reference a photo if needed? Yes. The fact that it is also an mp3 player is to me a bonus, and I like the way it sounds. Volume control could be more accessible, but I use headphones with a volume control so that gets around it. I have not used the video features, because I just don't see the point. Even without that, though, it's the right device for what I want to do at a reasonable price. My fiance has an ipod. She'll be downloading her photos to my Archos on our honeymoon.
Rating:
Summary: I luv this baby!
Review: I love this little machine.
Some of the complaints that I read below almost convinced me to go with the I-Pod, but in the end I decided to take a chance and it has paid off immensely. I don't know if the team at Archos fixed all the problems that the other reviewers encountered, but I've had no problems at all. My only suggestion: do not read the manual that comes in the box because it is rather skimpy and does not cover all the features that this player possesses. Instead, go to archos.com and download the manual they have posted there. It'll show you what a wonderful little creation this baby is.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome,Awesome,Awesome!!!
Review: A great little gadget.
Pros:
Fairly Small and Light for a unit with a HD.
20GB storage for music and other files.
Easy to setup and use
Great Sound (not with the supplied headphones) Cons:
Battery indicator not reliable
Pictures and video grainy - no flash, you need a lot of light for clear video or pictures.
[Bad] headphones
Menu Screen flickers (not during video) Overall I am very happy with my purchase!!! The cons are mainly minor annoyances, but I would not buy it for the camera/video options alone... But for the rest, BUY IT!
Rating: 
Summary: Opt for the iPod
Review: The Archos Multimedia Jukebox seems like a good idea, but its falls short of the promise. The tiny LCD screen isn't practical for watching video and only passable for viewing images. Sound gets distorted at average volume levels and it can't get loud enough to compete with subway noise. It does hold a lot of data and works as a hard drive as well, as an MP3 player, but the Apple iPod is far superer and worth the extra money.
Rating:
Summary: If you get a working one then it's great.
Review: The first one I purchased had an intermittent problem with reading the hard drive. I returned it and Amazon sent me a replacement right away. This one works great. I really enjoy having both music and video on one device. The color display is adequate, but I can't recommend it for extended viewing. For road trips it's fine, but when I'm at home I connect it to the TV to watch movies. Video quality is on par with VHS as several people have stated. Also it's a perfectly good external hard drive which I can use to transport files. It looks like they bumped up the price a bit and are now including the USB 2.0 cable which they should have done to begin with. You really need USB 2.0 for moving lots of files. I can't wait to get the video recording module. Then it will be complete!
Rating: 
Summary: Zen vs Archos vs Net MD vs IPod. Zen Wins!
Review: I have tried out almost every conceivable large capicity MP3 player out. Hands down, for price, value, look, and durability, the Nomad Zen has it. Here's my breakdown. Nomdad Zen Looks nice and from an American company, Creative Labs. Its easy to use interface, great sound, slightly smaller than the archos and a bit bigger than the Ipod. Built in battery but dies after 2 years or so. No problem, according to the Creative Labs website. They'll replace it at no charge when it dies. And yes it has shuffle and such an easy to use playlist, including a LCD screen remote -- how cool! Battery life is pretty good too. I found the Zen to be a superb overall value. IPod A great looking player built by an American company, Apple. The Windows interface is *okay*. The ipod is the smallest, and it has a built in battery, which when it dies, the Ipod is useless. Too expensive for a disposable MP3 player. Decent sound. Archos Jukebox A lot of features, looks strange, and a bit heavy from the French Company, Archos. Who needs a 1.5 screen to view multimedia -- a useless feature IMO. To change the volume, you have to go through a series of buttons. Why? Ridiculous. However the Windows interface is the best out of them all; just drag and drop in Windows Explorer. Sound is okay, it sounds flat. Net MD This is the Sony MiniDisc player from the Japanese giant, Sony. I tried out the N707 and N1. They're small, great battery life, and they look great. Minidiscs are cheap and they hold 80 minutes of music plus data. Minidiscs are about a dollar a piece, but can only hold 169 MB of data -- its major drawback. You have to use Real Player with the Sony MD plugin to bypass the stupid anti-piracy software Sony included. I own over 750 CDs, and it made it impossible to make discs of my favorite songs if one song was on more than one minidisc. To get around it, I used the RealOne player from RealNetworks. Price, a bit expensive for low capacity. But they are by far the smallest and look the coolest.
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