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Archos Jukebox 10 GB MP3 Player/Recorder/Hard Drive 500297

Archos Jukebox 10 GB MP3 Player/Recorder/Hard Drive 500297

List Price: $219.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Mp3 Player
Review: I LOVE this mp3 player i just got it about 20 minutes ago and i put a gig worth of mp3s on it in 20 minutes and it is goin great! I really recomend buying this.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Excellent Product With Poorly Designed Firmware
Review: When I first looked into getting an Archos Recorder I was a little worried because of the mixed reviews. What I found once I purchased the item is probably typical of anything you buy, while some of what people said was true others were not so true. First of all anyone who gives this product less than 4 stars is being over-critical. Most of these individuals are upset because it doesn't perform that one little task they thought it would, the way they thought is should or they broke it themselves and are taking out their misuse of the product on the product it self. Here are some of the untrue myths about the recorder:

1. "You can't make playlists on the unit itself"-WRONG. You can use playlists created off unit by Winamp or other MP3 Players OR you can create playlists on the unit itself.

2."Because it's a hard drive it can't be used while running(or any activity that causes the unit to bounce around)-WRONG I bounced it, shook it, and did everything I could to TRY and make it skip and I couldn't.

3."The plastic casing is poorly made"-LOOK PEOPLE, Throw an IPod and this player up against the same wall. They both break the same. It's a delicate piece of technology not a baby chew toy. Besides it comes with a carrying case that protects it from any hazards outside of a warzone(where the rest of us live).

NOW Valid Issues With The Archos Jukebox Recorder
1. "Firmware isn't the greatest"-Very True. The IPod's OS is much better suited for MP3 sorting capabilities while Archos's seems to be suited more for data. For example, when playing songs the player won't play songs outside of the folder you are in. You can solve this by making a huge playlist with all of your songs on it.

2."You can hear the hard drive spinning when you are recording.."-True. This is only the case when using the built-in mic(which was desined for voice-recording, where little beeps really don't matter). Laptops often have this same issue. It can be solved by using an outside mic or recording from a source that can be connected to the line in port.

All in all this is a excellent product, the price reflects it's value. If you want something with better on-board software pay the extra money for an ipod, however as far I know ipod's don't have the excellent recording feature provided with this player.

Thanks For Reading My Review!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Superb mp3 player for iMac!
Review: I have iMac DV, OS 9.0.4, USB 1.1. I had absolutely no problems setting up this player. The sound is superb.

I researched players for Mac all over the web before I decided on the Archos - the price and features seemed the best for the money. Don't believe all the bad reviews from other consumers which you may read. This player is truly excellent, at least for me.

Got my player August 21, 2002 - so far no problems whatsover. I was skeptical, reading all sorts of bad reviews as well as good ones. Decided to give it a try. I am very happy with this player.

Takes a couple of days to learn how to navigate within this player. The manual is really not as bad to use as others have stated in their reviews. Be sure to read and/or download the FAQ and the specific Mactinosh instructions from the Archos web page, and also download other software/firmware updates from Archos. You will need to download from Apple this firmware: iMac DV-ROM Update 1.0.

I clocked my USB transfer speed at 0.8 seconds per MB, or about 2 minutes to transfer 120 MB files to player. That's fast enough for me.

The player accepts mp3's I made with another program, so I did not use MusicMatch which is bundled with the player.

I set up my music by genres, e.g., Classical, Jazz, Hawaiian, then within these by title of CD album or other category for my miscellaneous web downloads.

I am enjoying my huge music collection immensely by having it all in one place. No hassle with CDs. I take player everywhere I go.

Haven't figured out how to set up a playlist yet. I don't really need one - my music is organized into folders which play through like a playlist (you can only play music within folders, one folder at a time, unless you make a playlist consisting of various songs from different folders).

The sound controls are terrific - 20 scales each for treble, bass, volume, etc., which you can set and change as desired. Also within playlist or folder you can play music in shuffle, single, repeat, etc.

The pouch included for the player is very poor. I purchased a small well padded camera bag with belt which is just right. The earphones are dismal. Get Sony feather weight ear phones for 10 bucks or less.

I got the Archos because I did not want to upgrade my OS to 9.2.2 or OS 10, which is what the iPod requires. Also, iPod is really expensive for what you get. The Archos is a terrific deal in terms of quality, ease of use and portability. I'm now sorry I didn't get the 20 Gig model. I may buy it too!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Track Ordering
Review: This otherwise excellent product has one major deficiency. You can not order the tracks using the MP3 track number. You can only order tracks alphabetically, randomly, or with a playlist.

I own a number of CDs such as musicals that must be played in the original track order which is part of the MP3 file tag information. Can you image watching the scenes of a DVD movie only in random or alphabetical order? Why should I be forced to create a playlist or hack up the filename just to force this product to play the tracks in the correct order when the information necessary to do so is already in the MP3 file?...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I LOVE this product!!!
Review: I bought my Archos 10 Jukebox on a whim, hoping it would be more useful and fun than other MP3 players I'd seen and used. I wasn't disappointed! I've recorded almost every CD I own (about 80) and I still have a ton of room left for more music! Moving files onto the Archos is a piece-of-cake because it acts simply as another drive on your computer. Click and drag. That's it!! Some other MP3 players I've seen require special software to move MP3 files onto the player that is frustratingly nonintuitive. One other thing I like is that the Archos 10 functions as a portable hard-drive, which is useful for taking large files home from work (such as large Word files, or PowerPoint presentations). There are things I would like to see improved in the next generation product from Archos: 1) they need to improve access to the batteries and make them easier to change; 2) a separate volume control button would be great; and 3) a Windows Explorer type interface would be useful instead of having to scroll through menus one at a time as you do now.

Overall, this is a fantastic product that I would recommend to anyone interested in a versatile, fun MP3 player.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Much as promised - but hard disk crashed after 3 months
Review: The function of the machine was much as billed. The audio was a bit noisy, especially with the power supply connected. Also a few minor bugs in the firmware.

However, the hard disk crashed after 3 months normal use. I like the function but I won't buy another one with a 30 day warranty!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: I spoke too soon
Review: Well, I should have waited another week before reviewing this product. My last review was praising this MP3 player.

This review is a complaint.

After only 12 days the hard drive has frozen up, with no way to retrieve any of the information. I didn't bump it or drop it or hadle it rough, it just zonked out.

I wasted about 30 hours total, getting all my CD's out, decoding and creating playlist files and burning the CD's to this machine and now its all gone. I have to start over. I'm going to see if I can reformat the drive and see if the machine isn't a total loss. If that doesn't work I'm going to return it.

Just keep your receipts and warranty information in a safe place, you might need it for this MP3 player.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Item to get rid of bulky CDs and jewel cases
Review: I'll keep this quick, this is a great player. It took a little time to get all the recording and settings figured out, but it all worked at the end of the day. I love this thing. Smaller than a personal cd player, it's almost like a fat cassette tape.

The only complaint is the lack of an external volume control, you have to get into the programming to change it. But the headphones have a volume control built in. I use my good Sony headphones instead, so that little feature doesn't help me.

It even has a kind of resume feature. When you stop the player with the resume feature on, it will start from the beginning of the last track played. Not bad, at least it doesn't start over from the very beginning of the entire list of songs, especially if you have over 2500 songs stored. That is a good feature. It took some time to figure out the little nuances of the on screen navigation, but now I understand everything, and I'm no computer wiz.

Overall, this is a great MP3 player for the money.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: In four months, the HD crashed.
Review: It worked wonderfully for four months. Then the Hard Drive crashed. If you go to the Archos Website, it tells you what to do, only none of it works. It tells you to reformat the drive, only you can't, because when you boot up, it won't even get past the "HD Registry Error" message, even if the USB cables are hooked up.

It was nice, but I don't recommend this product.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Very Small, Very Easy
Review: I ordered this for its small size (compared to the NOMAD) and its recording feature. It is very easy to use and after a 6 hour battery charge, it is ready to be plugged into the USB and used.
Very easy interface, need to store albums in their own folders, otherwise the songs are just one gigantic list.
USB connection takes just seconds to transfer entire CD's worth of music. Also good as a portable hard drive.


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