Rating: 
Summary: Archos Jukebox is the best out there...
Review: Overall, the Jukebox is a great product, I love that it also serves as a hard drive, allowing me to give my mp3 collection to all my friends PC or Mac. Yet there are a few minor but irritable glitches on the Mac side at least. When I play the unit it creates a RESOURCE.FRK folder as the first item inside each of my folders. In addition, you can't run any other program at the same time as the Jukebox is connected to your computer. Sound became very good with 4.53g upgrade. I had a question, as reviews were mixed on the topic: can I not create a play list over 30 songs or one over 300?Pros+ small/compact size rechargeable batteries (up to 8 hours playback) USB connection short start-up time 5-12 secs vs. up to 2 mins for Nomad Jukebox Cons- unusual controls while playing Jukebox (very minor con) -adds weird named files wihle playing it (on Mac side) I have no problem at all with the sound and overall this the best mp3 player and value out there; unless you particularly enjoy listening to the same 10-40 mp3's over and over and over and over and over again!
Rating:
Summary: Great Product...
Review: I have had my jukebox for about a month now and I can't begin to say how great it is. I guess for me it is especially useful because I use it often as a USB hard drive. I installed it on both my Windows ME system and my sisters Mac G3 in less than 5 minutes. Make sure you download the latest firmware (4.53g) and a lot of the bugs discussed in previous reviews are gone. My only complaint is the headphones, they are awful. However, I also think this is where a lot of the complaints of sound quality come from, I use my JB with an Airhead Amplifier from Headroom and the Sennheiser HD580 headphones and the JB sounds wonderful...
Rating: 
Summary: The best MP3 player with a HD out there today
Review: Pros - Can be used as a 6GB HD to move around files. - I've tested it with MP3 files encoded at up to 256 kbps and it works fine. - You get about 8 hours with a charge (less if used as a HD). - Good sound quality. - Firmware upgreadable - Supports ID3v1 and ID3v2 Cons - It jumps sometimes while playing songs, for no reason at all. - It gets rally hot if you are charging it, specially if you are using it as a HD for a few hours. - The controls click like a cheap toy when pressed - The controls are not so practical - It hangs if you load a playlist with more than 300 songs Tips - Press + - while pressing ON to change the Volume (specified in the firmware history) - Defragment the drive every once in a while - Run scandisk everytime you connect it with your computer Suggestions - It would be nice to have a small wheel like a Mouse or a Sony MD player in order to control the menu, something that you could roll and click to move through menues and select items. - Make a car kit available
Rating: 
Summary: Piece of junk
Review: I've gone through my third Jukebox in 3 months with returns. After every 6 weeks or so, the unit decides to no longer power on at all after a full charge. Since this problems seems to be consistent, I'm sure it's only a matter of time before most other people start having problems. Customer support is zero with Archos. They wouldn't return my calls or email. Fortunately, I live an hour from them and had to drive down there to get exchanges. I'm getting the Nomad Jukebox and keeping my fingers crossed with it.
Rating:
Summary: Very Impressive
Review: This is a great product. I use it all the time. Sound quality is poor with the stock headphones, but toss 'em and get a pair of quality headphones and you'll be amazed. Battery life is excellent. Firmware updates have been good. Beware. Technical support is non-existent. Phone calls and e-mails are not returned. If you are a not comfortable with technical appliances, you may have some trouble since help is hard to find. Too bad, because this little thing is really amazing.
Rating:
Summary: Great Product, but Mac Users Beware...
Review: Most of the other reviews here have done a fine job of covering the general pros and cons of the JB 6000. Since I agree with most of them, I'll just say that despite some limitations and idiosyncrasies, this is a great little product. However, I'm a Mac user and despite the "Mac Compatible" claim and the Mac OS symbol on the box and in the ads, the JB 6000 isn't fully Mac Compatible. However, after some digging around under the hood, I've discovered the whys and workarounds for the incompatibilities. Hopefully, they'll be fixed properly in future firmware releases. 1. Playlists aren't supported. The hard disk on the JB 6000 is formatted as a DOS/Windows volume. Macs with PC Exchange installed can read and write to the disk just fine. Archos' Mac OS USB driver works perfectly on all 3 Macs I've tested it with, allowing me to use the JB 6000 as a 6GB external hard disk, which I do when using it with iTunes (see below). Playlists created with any Mac-based music management software (including iTunes, MacAmp, SoundJam MP AND the "MusicMatch Jukebox" program supplied with the JB 6000) will use Mac OS pathnames to specify each song file to be played. However, the JB 6000 reads only playlists with DOS/Windows pathnames. I've created an Excel Spreadsheet with some macros that easily convert Song Lists exported from iTunes to DOS/Windows playlists that work fine with the JB 6000. THAT'S RIGHT, I DITCHED THE "MUSICMATCH JUKEBOX" SOFTWARE AND I'M USING APPLE'S iTUNES, which runs circles around any other MP3/music management software out there--on ANY platform. It works perfectly. The only catch is that iTunes "Song Lists" have to be indvidually exported and converted to DOS/Windows playlist (.M3U) files for use by the JB 6000 once it has been disconnected from my Mac. 2. Mac OS hidden files. When the JB 6000 appears on the Mac OS desktop, the Finder creates a slew off hidden files and folders that it uses to keep track of the volume's contets, window arrangements, etc. However, only the FILES are hidden on the JB 6000 display during playback. The hidden FOLDERS show up as empty music folders. Scrolling past them every time I'm looking for a particular "real" folder drives me crazy! So far the only workaround I've found is to mount the volume under DOS or Windows using Virtual PC and delete the folders just before disconnecting the JB6000 from your Mac. There's probably an easier way to do this--perhaps without having to resort to using DOS or Windows, but this works for me so I haven't bothered digging any deeper yet. The hassle has DEFINITELY been worth it. I love this little toy. And being able to use it with iTunes makes it the ultimate. Once the few firmware bugs are taken care of, it'll be nearly perfect! I've already wired a patch cable into the stereo of my Suburban, and I listen to the JB 6000 while on the road all the time. Switching back and forth between the JB 6000 and the factory CD player, I can hardly tell the difference. It sounds great! This weekend I'll be doing the same in my Jeep so I can take 100 hours of CD-quality music with me any where I go! Mac users wanting additional info on how to get more out of their JB 6000 can e-mail me directly at raneil@aol.com. My "iTunes Playlist Converter" is nothing fancy, but it works well and it even randomizes long playlists! I'll gladly share it with anyone requesting a copy.
Rating:
Summary: I still think its better than Creative Labs
Review: After looking on the Tech Support Web site I found this info that might be helpful... It seems that a new firmware fixed a playlist issue, that someone wrote about a day or so ago... Your limited to playing MP3's only (it is upgradeable though) There *is* a line in for recording, but its not supported yet (I hope it is soon) It lasts 4 hours longer than Creative Labs 6Gig Jukebox (total 6 or more hours) It does not support ID3 tags, (it should in the future) your limited to 472 songs in a directory (OS limitation) your limited to 300 songs in a playlist (will be fixed) The remote control is still being worked on... Hopefully I saved youall time researching this fella, but I hope somone can tell me if it plays VBR mp3's?... My whole library is like that :) Thanks!
Rating:
Summary: FUN TOY!
Review: There are many wonderful features in the Archos Jukebox. They include amazing storage capacity arranged in files and adequate music sound. I do have some complaints. The instruction manual is worthless. Although the software is easy to load, the rest is difficult to figure out. Anyone over 25 years old (I will not reveal my age) will have difficulty in the initial setup of files. It took me 3 hours and I finally almost through it against the wall. It took my 15 year old son at least 5 minutes to do it. So, if you have someone with alittle computer savvy to help, you'll love it.
Rating:
Summary: My new favorite toy
Review: I was a little worried when I finally decided to get the Archos Jukebox 6000 because there had been a few bad reviews from customers. Frankly, I don't know what all the complaining is about. My only possible guess is that they did the review before the firmware upgrade was released. This is a great little toy that I'd reccomend to any music lover. The sound, despite what others may have said, is quite good. I've ripped everything at 128k, and without actually listening to the CD side-by-side, I can't tell the difference. I hooked up the audio out to my stereo, and have been essentially using this as a 150 disc changer. It's so easy to use (actually doubles as a USB external hard drive). It's easy to navigate through your music (which is arranged however you have arranged you files, by folders, and folders within folders). I've had very few skipping problems, the only occurances were while walking. It isn't a problem if you hold the device in your jacket pocket for example while you walk, or if you have it in a tight pocket where it won't flop around. This probably wouldn't be the best thing to use while jogging! The only drawbacks are a really ... instruction booklet which doesn't even mention the features, and the fact that you can only do random within a given folder. Hopefully this will be fixed soon. Even so, you can easily drag everything into winamp and then randomize the tracks, and viola, you've made your own random. Playlists work fine, just don't try one over 300 tracks! Funny, I didn't realize just now, that I've been listening to this thing for the last 2 hours, while doing a paper in the computer lab! The rechargeable batteries included last a good 6-8 hours!
Rating:
Summary: Buy the player and get new headphones!
Review: This player is awsome. It's so easy to use and so small! The only complaint is the lack of gain in the sound. The provided headphones suck for this player. You must go out and buy headphones that have a high sensitivity rating of 104 or better. I bought the Sony Sports model MDR-A30 that have a sensitivity rating of 108 and the player absolutely rocks. The line out function is also awsome and allows you to hook the player up to a device that does have gain. I'm an audiophile and MP3's by nature just aren't very good quality. However, you can get better quality out of the player just by ripping better CD's. It will never be audiophile quality but for what it is, it does it better than any other device out there.
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