Archos 605 finds its way with new GPS add-on

Archos just launched its new GPS In-Car Holder for the Archos 605 WiFi. True to its name, the unit holds the 605 in your car and pipes steaming hot GPS data into the unit. With that 4.3-inch LCD to view the maps it's certainly a fitting match, and features include full voice navigation. There are three versions of the device, one for Europe, one for North America and one for China, and all of them will work with all sizes of the 605 WiFi. It'll be available in May for $130, or bundled with a 30GB 605 for $400.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

[Aguiluz @ Apr 22nd 2008 5:49PM]

It looks like it had a trumpet sticking out at it's back.

[E71 @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:25AM]

What do you do when your PMP is missing support for the growingly popular x264 MKV format? Why, you add GPS of course.

Douche bags.

[paakofi @ Apr 23rd 2008 8:48AM]

growingly = increasingly... i got a headache trying to work out why that sentence didnt seem right

[Ty @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:56AM]

It annoys me too, until I realize that there's no PMP on the market that plays the MKV container, and when even VLC has trouble decoding DTS content you can understand why.

[OneLove @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:20AM]

if you want portable player that plays anything get a umpc and stuff codecs into it. I got a samsung q1 for cheap.

[Adam @ Apr 22nd 2008 5:50PM]

Please let this come to Australia.

[fischju @ Apr 22nd 2008 5:53PM]

They also announced Flash 9 support for the web browser, so suck it iTouch fans.

[Stephen @ Apr 22nd 2008 6:32PM]

It's not an iTouch. It's an iPod touch. Get it straight, people need to learn to read. But it looks cool.

[Ty @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:56AM]

"Sucking it" is actually carrying a 1 pound device that's almost 3/4 inch thick around and trying to make yourself feel better about it by touting it's Flash 9 support.

[tym @ Apr 22nd 2008 6:21PM]

but will i be able to listen to my music while using gps for navigation?

[couchpundit @ Apr 22nd 2008 6:23PM]

Just speak the name of your destination loudly into the horn!

[quag @ Apr 22nd 2008 6:28PM]

Is there really a "Dongola Road" in London?

[couchpundit @ Apr 22nd 2008 6:35PM]

Yeah--I think it's in Dingleberry Heights.

[Nick @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:54AM]

@ couchpundit:

comment of the year so far...

[anonymouspimp @ Apr 22nd 2008 6:33PM]

My 605 just got way cooler. I didn't know that was possible. Glad i didn't roll with the 705 instead.

[Ari @ Apr 22nd 2008 7:02PM]

Can you listen to tunes while in GPS mode? That would be pretty cool.

[T-Bear & BEANS @ Apr 22nd 2008 7:58PM]

What about support for the big brother 705 and being able to listen to tunes while in GPS mode is definitely important I agree.

[HalfJoey @ Apr 22nd 2008 7:59PM]

Where is the 606? I'm waiting :(

[stonedhippy @ Apr 22nd 2008 8:00PM]

My 605 is so unreliable already (my REPLACEMENT keeps crashing) I won't be getting this and putting the poor thing under even more strain.

I've had every generation of this player since the good old av400 days and they're been getting worse reliability wise without adding any real features (as wifi and touchscreen aren't useful for me).

[Jeffrey Picard @ Apr 22nd 2008 8:17PM]

1998 just called; they want their music player back. You'd think they could do better than a silver square box.

[robakalunchbox @ Apr 22nd 2008 8:52PM]

dude its not a just music player... it has wifi, it can record tv, it can do ANYTHING... and now it can tell me where to drive... which makes it THAT much cooler

[Craig @ Apr 22nd 2008 9:57PM]

If you saw a "silver square box" this small with 802.11g Wi-Fi, an 800x480 touchscreen, and 160GB of storage in 1998, you'd have thought it fell out of some Area-51 worker's pocket.

Hater.

[Smacksmackums @ Apr 22nd 2008 9:14PM]

I like the whole package that the archos 605 offers. I've heard numerous complaints of unreliability though. I'm thinking about taking the bait. We'll see.

[Craig @ Apr 22nd 2008 9:59PM]

Mine's not unreliable, it's just choosy about when it'll work. Much like famous painters...or union tradesmen.

[thethirdmoose @ Apr 22nd 2008 10:19PM]

Really, mine works fine 98% of the time. Granted, there are a few bugs, but those don't do much else besides restarting the unit, and you can avoid most of them.

Other than that, it's really really really nice.

[Septimus @ Apr 23rd 2008 6:06AM]

Mine is so unreliable. It locks up or crashes quite a bit to the point i have stopped using it and just use my iPhone for everything media wise now.

It seems to have got worse with the latest updates. Though having the dock and recording to it is very useful.

[Steffen Jobbs @ Apr 22nd 2008 9:43PM]

Is that a cup holder?

[JohnTitor @ Apr 22nd 2008 10:33PM]

no... its an ipod cradle mr. jobs

[0megapart!cle @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:50AM]

Please tell me that is not the actual UI for the GPS software, because it if it is, I don't think I could be less interested.

[f @ Apr 23rd 2008 4:37AM]

I don't think I want my 605 sitting in sunlight all day long...

[slappy magoo1 @ Jun 25th 2008 12:27PM]

You don't have to. Take it out of the cradle, plug in some headphones and take it wherever you go. Listen to music when you shop. Watch recorded TV during your lunch break. Then when you get back in the car, plug it in again and it's a GPS system again. It's like an ipod. If an ipod had GPS and could record TV. Which it doesn't. But this does.

[EJ @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:37AM]

Now all they need is for this little baby to be able to connect via an ad hoc wireless connection and we're talking serious uber gizmo.

[Doc @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:20AM]

It's using Sygic Drive as the interface. It's not bad in terms of routing, but inputting an address can be complicated as it breaks down large cities into counties.

[sheed3011 @ May 7th 2008 8:34AM]

As long as you shut it down once in awhile, mine works great. I use it everyday. I don't care how shitty the GPS is probably going to be, for 130 I might as well give it a whirl. If only it had phone capabilities.

[shrimants @ Jun 6th 2008 1:14PM]

ugh i cant stand the whole phone+mp3 player merger that seems to be the popular trend. every single phone i've tried to listen to music on has abysmal sound quality which is further effed up by the GSM buzz (the one that sets off unsheilded speakers when you get a phone call).

its a great concept and everything, but they really need to work on better sound quality before working on just getting things put together.