Rating: 
Summary: Buy an iRiver ihp 120
Review: First, I want to explain why I started off enthusiastic, but returned the 220 after a week.1) My simpletech flash card, which works with many other devices, couldn't be read by the Gmini
2) Battery life was around 6 hours
3) The screen was poor, even with contrast settings and backlight
4) Playlists got mangled when used with the resume function
5) Recording using the internal mic picked up loud screen noise
I just replaced it with an iRiver ihp-120. It is my third player, and I think I might keep it.
Here are the properties that the iRiver shares with the Gmini:
-same volume/weight
-browse by folder and connect as external hard drive
-record either by line in or internal microphone
However, the iRiver adds:
-true 16 hour playback, more than double what I had with my Gmini
-a full functioned remote with screen
-built in FM tuner
Now, you can't dump CF cards directly onto the iRiver. However, Macally makes a product which will let you do that. See http://www.macally.com/new/new_syncbox.html for details
I checked out http://www.misticriver.ws for a while before I made my decision. There is lots of good information there.
Rating: 
Summary: i what?
Review: I've been using my Gmini since christmas and have had no problems with it. Before it i was using an older archos model, the Jukebox 6000. I've heard a lot of rumors about how the archos players have so many defects and problems, but I've had no trouble with either of them, except for a broken adapter on the first, which i caused.
The good...
1. The huge LCD on the front is a big improvement on most mp3 players, it displays a lot of information including a clock, play mode, the artist, album, and song name, track progress, time remaining, and total time, volume, and battery gauge.
2. ARClibrary software built in allows you to create a file system for all of your songs based on their id3 tags, big time saver.
3. This is a great price for what you're getting, it doesn't have the hype of the iPod, but it works just as well, for a lot less.
4. The unit is very expandable, when you buy it, it is only installed with basic features, mp3 playback. Archos sells upgrade software at a reasonable price that lets you add an FM tuner/recorder, voice recorder, and madplayer.
5. This is just overall a great player, its great looking and a lot more durable and solid looking than the competitors. The way it is designed, if it is dropped on a flat surface, the impact will be absorbed by the rubber pieces on the sides, sparing the precious hardware from any damage, you don't find that on an iPod.
6. Excellent storage space and very quick USB2.0 connection let you get all your songs on it in a hurry.
7. The player allows you to create your own playlists, edit file names, create new folders, move files, delete files, anything you need.
the bad...
1. The player is a little sluggish when dealing with huge playlists, but this doesn't affect it as long as you're just listening and not trying to switch songs or navigate the file system.
2. The player is also slow compiling large playlists, the first playlist i made had about 150 songs, and took something like 5-10 minutes to finish creating the file. I thought it had frozen at first, but once it finished it went right back to normal functioning.
3. The controls are a little frustrating at first when you're trying to navigate file systems, adjust volume, etc. but once you get used to them, they are easy and efficient.
This is a great player that has been overlooked by most people, if nothing else, go to an electronics store and take a look.
Rating: 
Summary: Gmini220: Nice Versatile Box for the price
Review: This is an upgrade from the Archos Jukebox 20. I compared this to the Rio Karma and Ipod. The Karma has a 90 day warranty and Gmini220 one year. I chose this player over Ipod for price and versatility. It shows up as another 20GB hard drive on whatever computer I plug it into. (For win2K and XP, no drivers needed.) Ipod is extremely proprietary and requires cumbersome software installs to get at the data. Fast USB interface loaded 15GB of MP3s in less than 40 minutes! The Gmini220 sound quality is excellent with high end headphones. The user interface is excellent and MP3 navigation is easy. The large display is a big plus and there is plenty of useful info displayed. Creating playlists is as easy as holding down the play button on a filename or directory while browsing the music folder. (some quirks fixed by upgrading firmware to rev. 1.6.0 - a very painless task.) With standard screws on the case, I have a better chance at replacing the battery one year from now versus the Ipod which is snapped together. With some online shopping, can be purchased shrinkrapped new for 15-25% off MSRP - my purchase was 25% off MSRP (03-28-2004), 15% less than brick & mortar stores.
The drawbacks are 6 hour battery life, dim backlight, cumbersome cables, and proprietary AC adapter (no way to quick charge or charge via USB.)
I cannot reccomend the FM radio/remote with high end headphones. There is a lot of excessive audible noise created by the digital controls and hard drive when using the FM radio/remote. The remote display freezes occasionally requiring the remote to be unplugged and pluged in again.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Good:
1) Sound quality is excellent.
2) One can transfer pictures to the jukebox via a cf card port that is provided...(very simple).
3) One can add an FM tuner for a reasonable price and record MP3's directly from a radio.
4) Can be used as an external harddrive
Bad:
1) It froze up on me once and I had to wait until the battery was completely drained. No other way to reboot.
2) Customer support is not what it should be
Rating: 
Summary: ZERO Stars Should Be An Option
Review: I regret the day I bought this machine. The battery life is almost nothing. It is anything but user friendly. Cannot x-fer downloaded songs from any pay website. Heavy, clunky, and tech service is beyond useless.
There is NO reason to choose this product over any other. I gave up and bought an IPOD.
Rating:
Summary: Nice Plastic toy but doesnt work
Review: Bought to replace an old Archos Jukebox Recorder, wish I had never bothered.
1) Freezes and locks out
2) Display is always corrupting even occasionaly appears backwards.
3) Battery life is nothing like they state.
4) Photo plug in useless will not work with large cards or large files.
I personely think this is the biggest waste of money, Archos technical help is a waste of time.
Now sits in the car where if I have had a bad day at work I use it as stress releiver. Doesnt bounce well though.
Gave it one star cos it looks cute
Rating:
Summary: I'd recommend the Gmini 220
Review: I wasn't even in the market for an MP3 player - I thought MP3 players were a gimmick marketed to "kids" - but I've become a fan after using the Archos Gmini 220 for a full month.
I'm going on vacation halfway around the world and wanted a way to store digital photos without lugging a laptop. Despite the negative reviews on this site, I decided to try the Gmini 220 because it was the only reasobnably priced, small device with 20 GB of storage and a built in CF card reader.
I've tested photo storage using the CF reader and it works great, and I've also come to love the MP3 player. The sound is great (I bought a $15 pair of headphones to replace the earbuds that came with the player). After loading over 200 CD's using the enhanced MP3 format from the MusicMatch software, I still have 15 GB free to store my photos. Now I have entertainment for that long plane ride as well as the photo storage I wanted!
The Gmini is small (easily fits in a shirt pocket) and well designed. The interface is intuitive, and gives you several ways to access music or data on the drive, including a straightforward browser.
After many hours of use, I've only had one problem: When I first got the player, I couldn't get the ArcLibrary to update after loading new music. You can use the browser instead of the ArcLibary, but I wanted everything to work as designed, so I called Archos technical support. They answered promptly, were courteous, and walked me through solving the problem in a few minutes (I had a corrupt ArcLibrary file - they had me delete the file and update the player, and the Gmini automatically recreated a working ArcLibrary file). This problem has not recurred and everything else has worked well.
I wonder if the people who are flaming the player here have read the manual - e.g. - the person whose Gmini froze. The manual's troubleshooting section identifies this as a possible outcome of subjecting the player to electrostatic shock and says to hold the power button down for 15 sections to shut off and reboot the system if this happens. The person complaining here talked about pushing all the buttons and now waiting for the battery to die - he doesn't mention tryintg the solution easily found in the manual (hmm - operator error?)!
Anyway, I'm very pleased with the Gmini 220 - very small size; huge storage capacity; very good sound quality; felxible, intuitive interface; versatile (self powered external hard drive, photo storage direct from CF card); good technical support.
Rating:
Summary: Save your money and your aspirin
Review: I've had two of these units so far, I'm working on getting a third. The first was a Christmas present in 2003. It had tons of problems right out of the box and would only hold a charge for a maximum of 4 hours, not the advertised 8.
The unit really started acting up within the first two weeks of owning it. It would stop playing for no reason, songs would skip like an old record player at times, the thing would shut off without warning. It wouldn't properly charge, it stopped connecting to Windows once and there were multiple firmware updates needed before support would even talk to me.
After threee days andmultiple phone calls I finally convinced the technical support team to issue an RMA number and returned the unit to Archos for replacement. They simply put new batteries in it and shipped it back to me... in 3 weeks! Not the 10 business days they promised. Note that they only looked into the charging problems, not the playback issues.
I used the returned gmini for all of 4 hours and the batteries were done... so was the display! It quit working. I saw lines, but nothing was legible. So back to Archos it went. They replaced it with a "new" unit. Well they said it was new anyway.
This second one lasted for 37 days of off and on use and it finally failed with the same display problems. I'm currently fighting with them to issue a third RMA so I can get this one shipped back and they can replace it again!
There is no toll-free number to call when you need help... only long distance to california. Then you get to talk to a terrible technical support rep... if you get through. I spent 15 minutes on the phone today only to have their phone system hang up on me before I ever got to speak to a real person!
Emailing support is almost worthless since they don't respond. Or of they do respond, they don't offer any solutions.
I'm telling anyone who will listen to stay away from this shabby company. They suck.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful ultra small mp3 player external hard drive !!
Review: After months searching for something else than just a mp3 player I decided that the Gmini 220 was the most suitable for me in terms of features and price
For a relatively low price you get an external ultra small 20 Gb hard drive, which also plays mp3/wma music files with very good sound quality. The USB2 port worked perfect in my Win2K and winXP PC's. No need of any extra software. Just drag and drop any type of file. Gmini 220 also reads CF cards (with few limitations I have to investigate yet), show pitures in B&W records from external devices using line in input (max bitrate 192 kbs), live records using the integrated microphone (max bitrate 112 kbs). It comes with Musicmatch (plus version!) soft which is necessary to create libraries but you don't really need it to play your music. OS sofware updates are free from Archos web site (I upgraded the unit's OS from v1.5 to v1.6 with no difficulty). Finally, I've been PC biased but Mac users be aware that Gmini does work as an external hard drive for Macs too!
In more detail:
- The huge screen and friendly interface makes it very easy to navigate and look for any file in your Gmini. You can move files between folders, create or delete files, see info like size etc, and even rename files with a keyboard screen that works pretty well for what it is.
- The huge screen also allows you to see the pictures you have stored (or the ones in the CF card) meaning you can 'identify' them, though don't expect to really 'see' details within the picture..
- The compact flash reader is an additional feature that works very fast and works wonders in conjunction with a digital camera CF based, to do backups or empty your card when full. I'am using that feature a lot too. However, I should mention that I couldn't move 1.2 Mb pictures taken with a Nikon 8mpx on a lextar CF card.
I read somewhere that Gmini might have some troubles with big files and/or some CF card brands.. In any case, I didn't have troubles with other 2 CF cards (sandisk, canon) transferring files of more of 1Gb.
- The microphone is another cute additional feature that impressed me with the quality of the recordings. It's true, you have to wait until the screen goes off (which you can set as fast as within 10sec ;) to get rid of a somewhat annoying hum that gets in, but I can live with those first 10 sec and filter or cut them out later.
- I converted a tape into mp3s playin it in my audio system which I connected to the gmini via the line in input. The quality of the mp3 recorded at 192 kbs was impressive, though of course you get the tape hum you can only get rid of by doing some simple sound filtering afterwards. Now I can digitalize old inedited tapes anywhere I don't have a computer. Gmini does it right there!
- Gmini comes with options to reproduce your music using playlists and so on. I haven't explored this yet, I am not too fond of playlists but I know you can do it easily in the Gmini. Using the Musicmatch soft that comes with it (plus version) you can also create libraries but I don't find this necessary either. I prefer to organize all my files by their names, and I decide what folders to create, play, etc. No need of tags either!
- I haven't really tested the battery life but I trust more those users who coincide in an average of 6 hs instead of the 10 hs advertised in the manual...
- One disadvantage is that the battery is internal but at least the unit comes with little screws that I think will make battery replacement possible.
- Another nice surprise is that the AC charger/adapter works for both 110V and 220V !! So no need of transformers anywhere! (I will eventually go to Europe and South America so this feature will be extremely convenient).
- Still, to be fair, I read about the i-river hp 120 and it does seem superior to the Gmini 220, with the included remote and everything... but...it's about 100$ more expensive, and it doesn't read CF cards. So, it depends on your needs and your pocket!
And finally some things that could be improved:
- Gmini uses the same port for both power and USB (they can be connected simultaneously though) but you cannot use other 'typical' AC plugs different than the one provided. Also, it would be more convenient to have the plug at the top on the unit instead of at the bottom.
- Buttons are just fine for my small fingers, but bigger hands might find them too small. Also, in my unit, the left arrow sometimes gets a bit stuck or does the 'down arrow' job instead. Seldom, some other buttons mix up their job, but in general it works ok.
- I noticed that just sometimes the unit warms up quite a bit and it might be bothersome if carrying it close to your skin. I guess it's a general behavior of these type of batteries.
- While music is playing you can browse the whole hard drive but you cannot delete or move files. Actually you can but the unit would then stop playing the song.
- A few times when playing mp3 and rewinding or forwarding my unit either stopped playing or kept playing not being able to rew or ffw in that song anymore. Everything came back to normal after changing the screen and restarting the song. No need to reboot.
I though that bug had been fixed with the last OS update but it seems it was not quite. Still, it happened very few times, in general it rew and ffw without a trouble.
