Archos 204 digital audio player gets reviewed

Archos typically does a fair job kicking out leading-edge PMPs, but the oddly small (and relatively stripped) 204 didn't exactly do the brand any favors. Sure, the 20GB DAP rocks an unnecessarily sweet 1.8-inch OLED display, but the curious lack of video playback was deemed an unfortunate omission by the folks at ArchosLounge. The thorough review remained pretty downtrodden the whole way through, citing the lack of innovation, smallish hard drive, and less-than-inspiring interface as tidbits that really hurt the overall value. Of course, it was noted that the sound quality exceeded that found on "even the iPod," and the diminutive size and somewhat rugged casing were also nice touches. But unless you just can't live without owning every single Archos device that leaves its doors, it sounds like your €179 ($235) could certainly be better used elsewhere.

[Via DAPReview]

[ken @ Mar 31st 2007 5:00AM]

It looks like something out of the late 1980's with the black finish, silver buttons, and red text.

[wabguard-email @ Mar 31st 2007 5:09PM]

Laser tag anyone?! :)

[Mark @ Apr 2nd 2007 2:07AM]

I had one Archos mp3 player, the 5000...and it royally sucked. I'm never buying another Archos product again. I went with Apple after that...

[No @ Jun 7th 2007 4:02AM]

More engadget comments here:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/07/archos-204-compact-dap-announced/

It is frustrating when reviewers (or, worse, reviewers of reviewers) fail to see the whole point of a product. This product is SMALL. It does FEWER things, but does them well--and smaller, and probably for less money. You just can't make the smallest music player with all the features like radio, video play, audio recording, etc.. All those things take room. If you want all-in-one, Archos ALREADY designs most of its products for you!

What the review-of-review didn't say: this device is an update of the XS202s (not XS202). Yes, it is disappointing to not see 40GB, since 40GB drives are now available in this form factor. I am a happy owner of an XS202s. I actually prefer the less-glitzy monochromatic screen of mine, because it draws less electricity, therefore lengthening playtime (which is long). Honestly, the addition of JPEG viewing could be moderately useful to me, but what I'd really like to see is the ability to view & compose text files, as well as play OGG/FLAC files--which, unlike other fancier features, would NOT increase size, cost, or energy usage.

The user interface is good--so good, in fact, that I have not updated my firmware to the latest, because they say they 'reworked the layout', yet gave no details of what that meant, and don't let you go back to the previous version.

But perhaps most importantly, you are not held captive by some kind of software you don't want on your computer, in order to make the thing work. I don't know why it is so rare with music devices, but I simply plug it in, and it shows up in Windows as a mass storage device. I drag and drop files (music or not) into the folders I want, and I'm done. No silliness. And hey, if you want to use stupid software to transport your files over, Archos makes that available for you too--or you can even use stupid Windows Media Player, which a lot of people do. Archos even includes an iTunes plug-in! No DRM, your music is your music, that's it. Apple has said it's going to go in this direction in the future, but Archos has been there for a long time. I just don't know why these products are almost impossible to find in the States!