Gmini XS 202S sez black is back
By Paul Miller 
posted January 20th 2006 2:23PM
posted January 20th 2006 2:23PM
posted January 20th 2006 2:23PM
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Oh now archos is soo 2001:)
No.
This looks like a 1999 MP3 player.
Just say no.
Explain why we should care about PlaysForSure. As far as I can tell, the most important aspect about it is that you're limited to using connecting the player to a machine running Windows XP with MediaPlayer 10. This seems kind of a drawback for anyone running a Mac, Linux box, or PC with older version of Windows...
A lot of the newer mp3 players try to be more entertaining than the music they contain. Understandable, considering the quality of popular music these days. I have a huge collection of very good music that does not need color screens and other expensive gimmicks to make it enjoyable. This player by Archos provides all of the functionality a person could need. My only wish is that they would bump the capacity up to 60GB so I could fit my entire collection on it and still have room left over for backing up computer files.
tk, you are wrong. The xs202s supports both UMS and music managers for file transfer (you need to use a compatible music manager for DRM content though). With UMS you can use it on almost any platform without drivers or software - it just shows up as a removeable drive and you copy your mp3s on to it.
The XS202 has the best rated music navigation system as you don’t have to choose between id3 and folder browsing. You can just have both in one device. You do, however, have to update (can be manual or automatic set) the player's database if you are using id3 tag navigation mode and add new songs.
It's the smallest 20gig dap on the market as noted (about the size of an iPod Mini 4G). Good ergonomics, good screen to size ratio, simple controls, 17 hour battery life, has on-board delete, move and rename, OTF playlists, bookmarks - a lot of good stuff in a small package. There isn't much more you really need if you just want to play some music. The only thing it doesn't have is the iPod's hype, oh well...
have the Archos Gmini 402 and could never be happier with my choice. oh yeah a color screen for the Gmini XS 202S would help.
I own an Archos Gmini 202 (the original), and i can fairly say it's a GREAT mp3 player. It's cheap and small and has a good size capacity.
The sound is great and all that, but we requested black almost a YEAR ago.
If mine was working and i didn't send it out to get fixed i'd be listening to it today.
I'm with syadasti on this one.
Colour screens, video capable, photo viewing etc... are all garnish as far as I'm concerned. This device is designed to play music.
I hope Archos' quality as gotten better. I'm an old Archos Jukebox owner. It was an okay product (and was definitely made better by using the Rockbox firmware.) Navigation was quirky, it had delayed button action, and it has problems hooking up to WinXP/2000 (the drive seems to seek back and forth forever before it shows up on the system.) But it was solid music player and it was good enough that I decided to stick with Archos on my next product, the Gmini 220. Wow, what a total piece of crap! After 4 firmware upgrades it was still crashing, random turn offs in the middle of songs, nav buttons failing to work requiring a hard reboot. Now I have a Creative Muvo and it's like a night-and-day difference from the Archos. I don't think I'd ever consider another Archos product again.
17 hours, huh? I was lucky to get 4 on the last generation one that I had.
Lots of skips, glitches, hangs, and just plain shut-offs for no particular reason.
I am a huge fan of Archos. I own a older Jukebox Recorder which still works like a champ (although I agree the bockbox addon is essential). I liked it so much becuase I did not have to jump through hoops with a music management software to load it up. I just plug it in and its a drive letter. Recently I tagged all my music though and can benefit equally with the player becuase it supports those too. Their CS was good too as I purchased an older 15gb model that was stickered on the box as being usb2 but didnt transfer at the faster speed). They RMA'd me the next model, the 20gb in less than a week and ive had it since.
I liked mine so much I got an archos (Gmini 200) for my gf last xmas. It obliterates how cool i thought mine was and is the best player I have seen and used (rios, muvos, ipods). I only wish it had teh recorder feature that mine has built in for band practice recording. That, and a built in FM Transmitter would be cool (hint hint).
My next player will be an archos for sure.
Clarke
My last two players have been Archos, and I've been really happy with them. The 220 did have some issues with freezing and skipping. Sent it back to Archos for repairs and they replaced the unit.
Its great that this was posted, Archos has some nice stuff, now...
My Only complaint is the ability to purchase some of their stuff. I can't find the XS 202 or the XS202s at
any retail place, Amazon, Buy, CompUSA and others arn't carrying it.. (yet), many searches don't give it up either.
Archos xs202 has more GB per cubic inch than an iPod nano.
This player has more GB per cubic inch than an iPod nano.
Any idea on a price for tihs or the original? I haven't really noticed archos a lot.
Where can you buy a 202 in either color? Every store that purports to carry them says they're on backorder, except for the superseedy ones with no contact numbers or addresses. The people at the Archos store haven't even HEARD of it. What the hell?
What does this use? 0.85 inch HD?
You can buy it from here: UK only though...
http://www.archos.com/store/fsearch.html?country=gb&lang=en&fam_id=MUS0030
On backorder, but you can buy them from http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?products_id=1124 if your in the states, they ship to US.