Rating: 
Summary: Works great with WinXP
Review: I just purchased an Archos Jukebox Recorder 20 because the Rio
Riot didn't do the job. I can't transfer files to the Rio Riot
successfully under WinXP. The files get corrupted in transit to
the Rio. See my previous review of the Rio Riot for more detail
about problems with the Rio Riot.In contrast, on WinXP, the Archos Jukebox showed up as a USB
disk drive, giving direct access to the MP3 files via Windows
Explorer, without loading any device drivers. WinXP supports it
natively. I've been able to transfer files error free to the
Archos Jukebox. They also appear to transfer faster than the
Rio Riot, on the standard USB. Haven't yet gotten to try USB
2.0, which the Archos supports. The Archos is also smaller than the Rio Riot, and seems better
made (metal instead of plastic). The Archos comes with Music Match Jukebox. They don't attempt to
get $10/month out of you for the ability to RIP MP3s with better
than 96 Kbit/sec quality like Real One does. I'm looking forward to using the MP3 record function on the
Archos to RIP some music I've got on cassette... All in all, I'm extremely pleased with the Archos Jukebox
Recorder 20.
Rating: 
Summary: So Far So Good
Review: Received the Recorder 20 a week ago. Easy to rip MP3's (MusicMatch Jukebox is great - 5 stars!). You can rip a 60-70 minute album in under 5 minutes. Easy to transfer files to the Archos unit. I transferred 9 full albums the other day in about 15 minutes. Unit itself is easy to navigate and figure out (just throw out the manual and use the force, Luke!). Only problems I've had: I bought this to use on my motorcycle on long trips, and it doesn't perform well at all. Sometimes songs just completely stop and don't come back, sometimes they start over again and stop in another place, but it sure puts a damper on things. When I did pull over and check the unit during a problem period, the unit still showed the artist and song name and then said 'Error'. The hard drive was spinning errantly at this point. Problem could be 1) vibration, or 2) heat. Well, I left the unit out in the sun and played a couple of albums, no problems there. So, it must be vibration. Still working on a mounting solution so I can bring this on trips. If I can't solve the problem, I'll go to an entirely memory based solution and scrap the high-storage hard drive units (at least for the bike...this unit is great, though, for a car!). Otherwise, the unit is great (so far-there's always tomorrow)! For car or plane trips, it should perform just fine. Use Windows disk tools if you have problems with the hard drive. Archos is tough to get hold of. Oh, and I am looking forward to using the [new] remote control unit! I recommend this unit if you are fairly technical and good at problem solving, and are using it in a relatively vibration- and heat-free environment. Good luck!
Rating:
Summary: Doesn't skip when running
Review: ...I ran 2 hours last Sunday with my new jukebox and it didn't skip a beat. Just a little heavy, but lighter than a water bottle filled with liquid. I did use my own wrap around the ear headphones because they sound better, but the included ones were decent. I brought it to work and was backing up some files during a meeting using USB1. I downloaded about 11GB of my personal MP3 music on my home system with the USB2 and it took less than 20 minutes. Well worth the price.
Rating:
Summary: worth every penny
Review: If it's had the MP3 label on it, chances are i've owned it. I've been a digital music nut for as long as i can remember. Since college, i've never gone back to cd's. I've owned a lot of different MP3 players since the whole MP3 revolution started and this unit is by far the best unit that i've owned to date. First off, I'm a graphic designer and i carry about 20 zip disks with me on any given day. I don't mind telling you that i hate having to keep track of all of these files in my bag. Not only is this unit a portable MP3 player, but it acts as a portable hard drive for storage. You can treat it as you would any other hard drive when it comes to saving space on the laptop or transfering files to clients or from the office. I have so many different files and backups on my unit... it's been a lifesaver many times. Because the unit uses USB 2.0, the data transfer is pretty quick in my opinion, so you're not waiting around to back up files at the end of the day. Another nice feature about this unit is that weather you're using a mac or a PC, when you sync the jukebox with your computer, it pops up on your desktop as any other hard drive would. You simply double click on the jukebox icon and presto, you are able to see the contents on the jukebox with no problem. I use my unit on both mac and pc platforms and haven't had a single problem with it yet. Mac users beware... with OSX, archos did send me the drivers (free of charge via e-mail) and when i installed them, they didn't work unfortunately. I was told they are currently working on the problem. If you don't mind using OS9 to upload music on your unit, then i say go with it. It'll only be a matter of time before the driers for OSX are up and running. Windows users should be happy to know that the unit does work very well with Windows XP Pro. I installed the drivers from the included CD, restarted, and presto. I use my laptop to upload music to my jukebox a lot and have yet to have a single problem. The fact that you don't have to install software so that you can see what's on the unit is a great feature. You control how files are stored on the jukebox. Again, it works just like a portable hard drive so you're not stuck using a 3rd party software company just so you can see what's on your jukebox. Trust me, it's very cool. The included cd does come with some nice software for making your own MP3's regardless of weather you're on a mac or PC. I use itunes (on the mac side) for creating my MP3's. The construction of the jukebox is pretty solid. I've dropped mine twice since i purchased it and it continued playing without skipping a beat. The silver paint on the unit seems a little on the skimpy side and has scratched here and there on the back of the unit, but hasn't affected the sound quality one bit. You should plan on purchasing a seperate pair of headphones with this unit as the ones that are included don't sound so great. You can adjust sound quality with the EQ and customize other features with this unit such as how long the back light stays on after you press a button. The backlight is bright green and very visible. I am more than satisfied with the sound quality of the unit and the battery life on the included rechargable batteris. However... changing the batteries is difficult to do and requires somewhat of a PhD in engineering. I wonder how they ever fit in the first place. You do get 8 ni-mh batteries with the unit. Archos recomends not replacing the ones in the unit until they no longer hold a charge over 1 hour and i'm nowhere near that point. The unit charges the batteries pretty quickly... 10 hours for the first initial use, 2 hours after that (if the unit is turned on, it will take a considerable time to charge while being used). The manual that comes with the jukebox seems pretty thick at first, but only 10 pages double sided are in english so be warned. You will have to play with this unit for a bit to understand the basics... but i found it amazingly easy to use and navigate from file to file. I have the 20 gig version and the storage space on the unit is HUGE. All of my MP3's on my jukebox are encoded at 128 (cd quality) and i presently have 225 full albums on my unit with approximately 7 gigs of space left. I doubt i'll ever fill it... and it's taken me 4 months to fill it as much as i have so far. I have more music on my unit then i know what to do with. Overall, i love my jukebox and have no plans on replacing it until it literally dies and falls into thousands of tiny pieces. The many uses i've found for this unit alone have paid for it many times over... and that's not including the MP3 player features of the jukebox! This is a fantastic investment worth evey penny!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: The Jukebox Recorder 20 turned out to be a lot better than most combo devices out there. There's nothing more convenient than carrying around your MP3 collection (and video collection of FLCL and Invader Zim - WEEEEEEE) instead of having to worry about burning off tons of CDs. The USB 2.0 interface was a nice touch, especially since I recently upgraded to it ^_^. It's blue and silver! My favorite colors! Hehehe. Manual? What manual? No, seriously folks. Don't even bother to read the manual. It's pretty much useless. I would just browse through it and then use it as a doorstop or floormat or something. Whoever wrote the manual must have worked for Micr0s0ft or ATI. Heh. Ouch. The on-the-fly recording option was a neat idea. Throw away the included headphones, though. Buy some Sony Walkman or Panasonic Shockwave headphones. The hardware is great, but the software needs work, because the OS is fux0r3d. It's slow and grueling. I hate the repeat delay - too bad it can't be changed. I hope somebody makes an open source one soon. Since I found out about this jukebox from ThinkGeek, we might be seeing one soon enough. All in all, I'd have to say that personal preference rules here. I loved it. You may not. There are a lot of mixed reviews here because Archos is a lesser known company than Creative or HP. It doesn't mean they don't make mistakes like the aforementioned companies. Archos' support may not be all the best, but HP is just as bad. Creative made me chuck rocks at them. On a final note, if you live in Canada, buy in Canada or from here. You won't regret it. And you won't have to wait so long until you're crazy go nuts!
Rating:
Summary: Great product but HORRIBLE DOCUMENTATION
Review: This is a one of those stories about a product that won the battle but lost the war. The Jukebox 20 is a great device. OK construction, a little heavy for its size (not a shirt pocket unit) but it is about the best "big bang for the buck" storage device you can find. Sound quality is good to excellent depending upon the recording rate you select. Battery life is good. It can record directly from your CD player without having to fire up the PC. In this mode unless you sit there and intervene for each song you end up with the whole CD as one file...which is not a big problem and a resonable tradeoff. However you do not get automatic entry of title and name, you have to manually enter it. It is fairly simple to operate once you figure it out...once your blood pressure goes down from perhaps the worst manual to ever come with a slightly technical product. I consider myself to be above average in ability but this is the products great failure. I wonder how many returns merchants suffer because an otherwise happy customer could not figure out how to fully operate the darn thing. There is no excuse for this in todays world. I reject the "French translation" problem. Even in French this is a terrible manual.
Rating: 
Summary: Big hard drive, little brain
Review: I initially bought the 20GB Archos Jukebox as it was on sale, which I still see all the time...I had actually done a little research on MP3 players, and knew I wanted one with a) lots of hard drive space b) compatible with Mac OS c) USB connectivity For these three qualifications, Archos appeared to be on top, if not in the most recommended percentile. But when I brought it home and connected it to my iBook, I found that a download was needed from a non-Archos web site to be able to manage and create playlists for music! The web site was owned by an Archos customer/fan who had no business relation with Archos! How unprofessional I thought. But even with this patch I downloaded into the jukebox, I still could not effectively create playlists. Who wants 20gbs of unpartitioned music? My second major complaint was the interface with the Archos OS. It was cumbersome and inverted visually with the arrow pad on the face. The two positive comments I still hold for the Archos 20gb Jukebox: 1) Size matters: very small and portable, plus felt sturdy enough to take a few bumps and knocks. 2) Price: Well priced for such a large hard drive, but then I guess that explains the numerous detractions listed above. Archos has an acceptable product (for PC users at least) that could be great, with improved software for Mac OS, and a more facile and intuitive interface.
Rating:
Summary: Nice product, poor documentation and support
Review: A French company, Archos provides fresh competition to a field dominated/monopolized by East Asians. This 20GB jukebox is a solid (and fun-to-use) product. The official name of this jukebox is Jukebox Recorder 20, and it differs from its predecessor, Jukebox Studio 20, in basically one aspect: it sports a USB 2.0 interface, which transfers at speeds up to 12MB (megabytes) per second. That's 12 times that of USB 1.1 and 20% faster than IEEE 1394. To take advantage of this speed, however, you need a USB 2.0 adapter card (which costs around $40). As for USB 2.0 drivers, a recent patch to Windows XP enables USB 2.0 support in that OS; otherwise, the adapter card will come with the necessary driver for Windows 98, ME, and 2000. (USB 2.0 is not available on the Macintosh.) The Jukebox Recorder 20 makes a nice MP3 player. The size is actually smaller than the picture suggests (those tube-like things are at fault here), and it feels good in an average man's hand. The manufacture quality is so-so and the unit can feel flimsy, and the screen is not the best out there. The sound quality is terrific, provided you replace the bundled headphones with a better set. Operation is intuitive. Unfortunately, the enclosed documentation is written poorly and fails to cover many features and functions. The unit also works well as a portable hard disk. If you only want the storage feature you should go for the MiniHD 20GB USB 2.0, which is at least 50% smaller and $100 cheaper. As a hard disk, it works right away on Windows XP and even Windows 2000. Just plug and play. It's that simple. You don't need USB 2.0 to use it, because USB 2.0 is totally backward-compatible. With the older Windows versions, you'll need to install the driver for the hard drive operation. The speed is decent... slower than today's regular drives, but much faster than CD-R or Zip. In addition to styling and documentation, another poor area is tech support. While I didn't have to wait to talk to a live technician, and he was eager to help, he apparently did not speak good English, because he had trouble understanding me and did not answer my question after my repeated attempts. I also e-mailed tech support a couple days ago and haven't heard back yet. In summary, the feature set and speed make this a great product -- it's just too early to tell whether it will prove to be a reliable product.
Rating:
Summary: Nice!
Review: I'm very happy with my Jukebox 20 Player/Recorder.
4 tips:
1. You may wish to upgrade your computer's USB ports to USB2.0. This requires purchasing a new USB card (about $[money]), but; the speed gain in transferring large collections of files is considerable.
2. Organize music on the device into folders by genre, not by band name -- then the music plays without having to fuss with buttons -- you won't have to jump from folder to folder, after a few songs.
3. Because it's a hard drive, it takes a moment to boot up when starting, or switching songs. But, the advantage is, you can use it to move very large files between computers, or backup data.
4. If you fly a lot, purchase a pair of Bose Noise Cancelling headphones, for vastly improved sound. Once the car kit is available, this'll mainly be in my car, upgrading the old casette deck to play my entire CD music collection. (That was my chief rationale for buying it!)
Rating:
Summary: so far it's great...
Review: I bought this unit to record my own playing [electric fiddle in a bar band] directly to MP3 format. I've not taken this unit on the road yet, but at home it works just as I hoped. Input is through a Sound Professionals preamplified microphone on the line-in channel... The usb interface to a mac powerbook [OS 9.2] works well and is an easier way to manipulate files than by sequential button-pushing on the jukebox unit itself. I have had the unit for about a week as I write this. I might upgrade to 5 stars after I get a sense of reliability. The manual, as others have noted, is not very intuitive, partly because the translation from French is a little ambiguous.
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