Archos 604 WiFi to come Stateside in two weeks

So, it's been awhile since we've seen or heard from the Archos 604 WiFi, that new wireless-enabled portable media player may well put the Zune to shame. Well, we're here to give you some happy news -- according to TechWeb, this bundle of sexiness will be released in US in the next fortnight. To review, the Archos 604 WiFi is loaded up with a 4.3-inch 480 x 272 touchscreen, a version of the Opera browser, and Windows file sharing; so gather up your cash over the next two weeks, as this will likely drop for something in the neighborhood of $500.

[Eddie @ Oct 19th 2006 12:26AM]

500 dollars? 200 bucks for WiFi? No thanks, I'll go with the $350 80 GB 504 model. Better battery life. =]

Eddie

[antrodopus @ Nov 22nd 2006 2:56AM]

Why to get 604 non WiFi (besides screen size) if the 404 is about the same price but smaller?

Another question, does 404 - 604 play every Divx formats?, how about Xvid?

[scot @ Oct 19th 2006 12:37AM]

YA! ANOTHER THIING THAT DOES THE SAME AS A N IPOD THATS MORE EXPENSIVE AND I WILL NEVER BUY! JUST WHAT THIS WORLD NEEDS!

[Eric @ Oct 19th 2006 1:01AM]

Go complain to someone that actually makes bad PMPs like Creative. I like iPods, I like Archos. Yay.

On topic, $200 is quite a premium for WiFi, and with less storage at that. What I would like is the 160GB model with WiFi and the built in video camera.

[o rly @ Oct 19th 2006 1:28AM]

It's the same as an iPod which doesn't have a touchscreen, or wifi, or as much video format support, or a 4.3 inch screen, or the battery life, or the clear screen, or the audio quality? ....right fanboy, right.
I'll tell you what the world needs less of, people like you.
That is all for now.

[Simon P @ Oct 19th 2006 12:51AM]

To #2, you clearly know nothing about Archos machines. This will be superior in every way to any of the iPod line, next gens included. Eddie is right though, I'll be going with the 80gig 504. The Wifi just doesn't warrant the extra cash in my opinion. I'm definitely biased towards Archos as I've had many, and although not the most user-friendly devices, they are way better all-round machines than anything else out there. These new models only extend their already large advantage if you can put up with the traditional Archos quirks.

[Mojorisin69 @ Oct 19th 2006 1:26AM]

It's not worth it at that price point I thought the point of the 604 wifi was to be cheaper, they already had a pmp the pma 430 that did the same thing but never took off that well. 500 bucks is way to high i will buy at 400. it seems to me a zune would be better because opera or explorer could get added in the future,

[DM @ Oct 19th 2006 1:27AM]

You idiots should know that creative zen vision m is the best out there. But then again, it's your money, go waste it on ipod/zune/archos.

[SteveJ @ Oct 19th 2006 10:03AM]

"It's the same as an iPod which doesn't have a touchscreen, or wifi, or as much video format support, or a 4.3 inch screen, or the battery life, or the clear screen, or the audio quality?"

Regarding the alleged non-clear screen on the iPod... my vPod has a very clear screen. Yes, it's small, but it is certainly sharp and clear. It works great for 4:3 TV shows. Even 16:9 TV looks good. Widescreen movies are a bit too much for it. I'm sure the Archos is much better for movies, but it is too big of a device. It's not going to be convenient to carry. Also, do you really need another device to browse the web? It's not like you're going to replace your laptop with a wifi Archos. Browsing the web at 480x272 is going to get pretty old. Have you tried browsing at even 800x600 lately? It's virtually impossible. Now try it at 480x272, plus no (physical) keyboard. Ouch. Is the Archose Wifi trying to be a portable media player or a woefully inadequate wannabee UMPC? Piling on features hasn't worked in the past and nothing about this new Archos seems to change that.

[blaine @ Oct 19th 2006 1:50AM]

this exact model has been for sale at my walmart in ohio for about a month. we carry both this one and the $300 model, without wifi. i just find it to be a hideous player and i dont know if its because they are display models but the buttons feel cheap and act as if they could fall off any second.

[john @ Oct 19th 2006 1:55AM]

You're also forgetting a couple of the main features of the Archos 604 WiFi - namely TV recording and web-browsing. Beat that Ipod!

[Gerald @ Oct 19th 2006 2:37AM]

I find the buttons on the right a little ugly and they make it look cheap.

especially the part with the holes, which i assume is for the speaker.

It looks plasticky :(

lets all wait for the new Video ipod :)

[DM @ Oct 19th 2006 2:40AM]

anything from apple sucks anyway, so why wait for ipod.

[bug @ Oct 19th 2006 2:59AM]

I work @ Office Depot and we've had these for the past 2wks if the 604 Wifi is the normal 604

[Eddie @ Oct 19th 2006 4:15AM]

@bug: This is not the normal 604, it costs 200 dollars extra, in reality.

Does anybody else feel an urge to stone Gerald to death?

Part of what I love about this play is the button system.

[Gerald @ Oct 19th 2006 4:51AM]

eeek!

I did not mean to offend anyone but i am just commenting about the buttons, esp. the speaker part.

I know that the functions and the features of this pmp totally pwns the ipod but i like ipods coz they look nice, although it has minimal features.

:)

dont stone me!! ahhh!! lmao.

[michael @ Oct 19th 2006 5:11AM]

Yo Scott, I'll just mention one thing (out of the many) that makes archos devices better then anything crapple would put out - no itunes... yeah no itunes... you don't need to install some slow and crappy software just to access the music on your player, nor maintain some cumbersome library - You just connect it via usb (now wirelessly) and it shows as a harddrive on ur comp... no restrictions bitch...

[Gerald @ Oct 19th 2006 7:01AM]

Wow, i like those drag and drop players.

Do they auto-categorize them into Albums etc for you nicely?

[Sojyujai @ Oct 19th 2006 8:35AM]

Don't put too much faith in the $500 guess. It's listing at $399 on amazon now, if you add it to your wish list.

I'm still leaning towards the 160GB 504.

Being able to store your media on a samba share and stream it to the 604wifi anywhere in the world over the internet is extremely cool - but I can't imagine it would perform anywhere near as well as just storing it directly on the hard drive.

[genkikid @ Oct 19th 2006 8:49AM]

any chance this will be skype (or any other VOIP) able?

[Jeff Myers @ Oct 19th 2006 9:12AM]

I like the Archos players in theory. Unfortunately, I had one a few years ago that I could never get to work, even with all of the special fixes from online users. So, I returned it and got a Creative 60GB player that's been working well since. I just don't trust Archos after my experience. So, I'll wait for a significant number of user reviews before buying.

My wife has an ipod (a gift) and would agree that no itunes is a major advantage. She'll never buy another one.

[egloskerry @ Oct 19th 2006 9:20AM]

BB is going to carry the entire Archos Gen4 PMP line except the 504 160GB. It's already listed in the inventory, and employees get big discounts off it.

[Snoogans @ Oct 19th 2006 9:48AM]

With this sweet device, I can postpone buying a UMPC until they get cheaper and better. For $500 I can have all I'll need as a student to view online notes, take notes in class thanks to ajaxwrite.com, and many other things as features are added. One thing I don't like is lack of bluetooth, but with the USB 2.0 host, I can add it and use a bluetooth keyboard for note taking. And since I just got the Sony Ericsson w810, I don't havew to worry about lugging this thing around for small mp3 listening endeavors. I'm pretty excited about this, bring it on.

[SteveJ @ Oct 19th 2006 9:55AM]

The problem with this device is that it is far too big. To be useful (to me anyway) it has to be pocketable, and this one isn't. Given that it has a touch screen, it seems like they ought to be able to remove all the buttons and slim this thing down considerably. I'd also consider using a somewhat smaller display. 4.3" is great, but if I can't drop it in my pocket it's of little value.

[o rly @ Oct 19th 2006 12:08PM]

It's obvious by your post you haven't tried an Archos or you would know how much better the screen is than your "vPod". Of course it's a bigger device, because *drum roll* it has a BIGGER screen at 4.3" instead of a small 2" that you use to squint, I mean, "watch" TV on.

You, SteveJ, are just another fanboy spouting off against a device you've never used, but I'm sure you'll love WiFi if it ever gets added to an iPod.

[thequinox @ Oct 19th 2006 10:22AM]

I agree with SteveJ. I bought the Archos Gmini 402 because it was the best pocketable video player at the time. I have always liked the Archos line as they offer true MSC and are able to index their own files instead of relying on a crappy program. The only gripe I have with Archos right now is that they have messed up their lines. The AV line used to be bigger, more video oriented players that sported large screens and TV recording. The Gmini line was a smaller more compact player still capable of video playback and TV output, but all in all, more oriented towards portability. Now with the newer Gmini players, they are just stripped down AV models. If I am to eventually replace my 402 which does everything I want it to (wish it supported more video codecs though), it would have to be something of similar size.

[JD @ Oct 19th 2006 10:26AM]

I never understood the point of portable video players in the past -- they were too small or bulky to watch anything and there are cheaper and smaller ways to transpost video files.

This is the first device that is starting to make me drool. I could actually watch videos on this thing and I could dump my HTC Wizard and still surf the web. Anyone know if there is an open API so I could hack a Calendar on this thing?

Now, Archos, why only 30G???!!!

[eoin @ Oct 19th 2006 1:56PM]

im still very happy with my ageing gmini 400, but ive got to say the design is getting poorer and poorer on archos devices (style now), and i still wonder why they make such terrible buttons. on the other hand my 400 did video years before apple, and supported way more formats and was easier set up, i can only imagine how powerfull the newer generation are

[Rahim Virani @ Oct 19th 2006 4:28PM]

When i check froogle, all the retailers list the price as $449.99 and below. They also state the availability as being 11/25/06. The 604 without wifi is $349.99, so that's only $100 for wifi. It's worth it if all these sorry ass internet tv services get their stuff together.

[James @ Oct 19th 2006 4:37PM]

Will the 604 support the helmet camera its brethren used?

[HoneyMonkey @ Nov 4th 2006 3:11PM]

What a bargain this thing is. Just bought the 604 WIFI at Sam's Club for $369

[HoneyMonkey @ Nov 26th 2007 11:10PM]

OK, this thing blows away my IPOD

[Bobarama7k @ Jan 17th 2007 12:43PM]

these things blow ipods away, i say this because i had the AV500 30 gig, with the camera, and later on, i owned the ipod video 5th gen, and lemme tell ya, i freaking hated the ipod, how i had to load all of my MP3's into some other third party program, just so i could put music on the dang thing. i had so many problems with iTunes, i just gave the ipod back to my sister. lucky for her, she had been using the iTunes software since she started putting CDs into her laptop, while i used winamp and windows media 11. also, planed obsolescence, something i really hate apple for. the ipod doesnt have a replacable battery, gotta ship it away to get a new one. then all the accesories are so dang expensive because the ipod is a fashion item, i hate fashon items. i hate being with the popular crowd, so if you want the best money can buy without actually getting a UMPC or a laptop, then the archos is the way to go. if you wanna look hawt roflol! get an ipod. i can see less technical people using the ipod, like older people, because its easier to work, archos takes more effort, but the rewards are great. i dont rember if the 04 serries came with a remote, which was a really nice feature on the AV500, it had a IR remote to change tracks and all kinds of goodies, something it shipped with. altho i wouldnt take this thing jogging, if i had one, i woudlnt worry about taking a Vaio UX joging, lol, but i dont run laps :( but i really really hate the permenant battery, whare moding is needed to replace it. $40 gets ya a new archos battery!

[Alex May @ Mar 5th 2007 7:23PM]

I finally got this toy and couldn't be happier! Watching 'The Wire' and 'Family Guy' on the Elliptical at the gym for an hour per day is changing my life, 1 pound at a time :)

Ok, so it gave me a little static in the beginning for trying to play .wmv files, but we've made peace since then.

[chris @ Apr 16th 2007 4:37AM]

fuck archos COWON Q5 kills all Archos models