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37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
4.5 as it doesn't make a cup of tea,but for films excellent, 2 Feb 2006
My player has out lived the Honeymoon and is going strong.
I have one of those shift jobs where your on call and hence need something to keep you alert.
I looked at MP4 players and after reading the Magazines and reviews settled for the AV500 (the 60 GB model), I have to admit I didn't buy it from Amazon as I used the Pre-Christmas sales, But for the size and quality I would advise any one to try this one.
I have now had my AV560 for over 4 months (Now 18 months) without a glitch and comparing the screen to the AV700 some of my friends have it might be smaller but it is more vibrant and clear.
I have had no signs of any glitches and my policy is to always try to break a Gadget in the first week makes the exchanging easier.
The navigation is excellent and recording via the docking station is a breeze. Although anything recorded will be Copyrighted and not be playable on another device such as your laptop.
I tend to favour PC based software to encode my films, on this matter connecting the Player via its USB port is simple and it's then just a case of Drag and drop.
I have been to the Archo site and dowloaded the Firmware upgrades with are regularly upgraded and this is easily done, again drag the new upgrade file onto the hard drive and under system select upgrade...
I find that 1000kBits rate encoding is adequate and at this ratio of encoding I get 1 film per 1Gb (you can get the files smaller but at a price of quality). I'd say I get 130 Hours of film on my 60Gb.
Therefore, on my 60Gb player I have 60 films. No music (it's a little big to be a personal MP3 player) although the tracks do sound good on it.
The external speaker is a problem in that it can be turned on as well as the headphones, This is imbarrasing when the person next to you points this out half was through a war movie as you won't hear this. You soon learn to check the icon at the top of the screen for this prompt.
If I lost my Av500 tomorrow I'd buy another one the day after, thats how good I find mine. Hours of numb waiting are now gone.
The battery life is excellent as 4 and a bit hours per charge thats a good 2 movies maybe 3. But I've invested in the super battery which makes the player 6mm thicker but now play movies for 3 time longer. MP3 playing time is oviously a lot longer too long to be an issue really.
Also for reference if you do get a 60Gb version it is comaptible with all the 100Gb extras as only the Hard drive is smaller, so you can fit 100Gb batteries to 60 Gb players.
30 Gb players are different however, needing smaller batteries.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic but a pain to set up, 24 Mar 2006
On paper this is probably the best little gadget I've ever seen, It's got great storage, a vibrant, colourful screen and the option to record directly from the television.
However upon receiving my first one, it worked for an hour and then gave up, the Archos Tech support people were not particularly helpful. Almost before I had finished speaking, I was told "Defective Unit, return to Shop" Thankfully the good people at Amazon :) replaced it free of charge.
This seems to be a common occurence, so people keep your receipts!This Unit is working fine - I find it a little bit difficult to convert my video files, even using the software supplied with the player - I am told that the files are incompatible... but I am sure I'll crack that in time. I have had no problems with recording from the television and also the music capabilities and audio recording work like a charm. Overall this is a wonderful product, a little bit on the expensive side, but definitely worth it as a portable storage device if nothing else
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
4.5 as it doesn't make a cup of tea,but for films excellent, 2 Feb 2006
By A Customer
I work in a job where we are on call and on shift so something to keep you alert is essential.Therefore, 4 months ago I plumped for the Archos Av500 (60Gb). I've checked with Archos and the 60 shares everything with the 100Gb but the slightly bigger drive, hence I purchased the bigger battery for the 100Gb to fit my 60.
I have to admit I didn't buy mine at Amazon as I was using the pre-christmas sales.
The screen is excellent and the docking station makes for easy videoing (although I favour using the PC and conversion software, unfortunately missing from the package). Also any films recorded on your Archos cannot be shared such as used on a laptop as the films are copyrighted.
As Already stated the screen is very clear much clearer than the bigger AV700 (we have all the models in work). I use mine almost every day and so far not a sign of any glitches. The external speaker is a little quiet but then it is a PERSONAL player I suppose, and the sound is very good on headphones. The battery life is excellent at 4 and a bit hours enough for 2 maybe 3 films by which time you need to do something else anyway or should be doing something useful. I find that the hard drive is ample as a film averages 1Gb at the 1000 Bit Rate. I have 65 films on my 60Gb drive..
Very good value..and fun.
I'd recommend to anyone looking to spend money on a MP4 player.
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