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Archos 504 hits 160GB mark
Even amongst the early adopter crowd that is Engadget, something tells us few of you have (or need) 160GB of media storage on the go. But for those that do, today's your lucky day. Put that laptop away, because the Archos 504 now has a new drive size: 160GB (for $600), in addition to its previous 80GB (for $400) and 40GB (for $350) sizes. Should be available now at a retailer near you -- or the Archos web store, if you want to buy straight from the source.
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.
Archos 504 PMP reviewed
After checking out Archos' 404 and 604 portable media players, CNET's now finally rounded out the '04 PMP line-up with a look at the last of the lot, the 504. As with the other two, the 504 left 'em mighty impressed, with a great 4.3-inch screen, loads of storage (your choice of 40, 80, or 160GB), a wide range of accessory options, decent battery life (with a removable battery), and a sleek, easy-to-use interface. On the downside, that big screen and massive storage means the unit is quite bulky, and you'll also need to load up on those optional accessories if you want to take full advantage of this device -- namely, the extra kit needed to record audio and video. Going all out for the 160GB model will also cost you quite a premium, with a list price of $600, compared to just $350 for the 40GB and $400 for the 80GB. But still, it's a hundred and sixty freaking gigabytes -- in a PMP.[Thanks, Pogotom]
Archos 604 WiFi, in the flesh
We had a disappointing first turn at the Archos 604 WiFi, since the exhibition hall -- for a consumer tech gathering, mind you -- didn't have any WiFi internets to latch onto. So we didn't get to mess around in Opera or anything fun like that, but the player is still a plenty solid device, and the touch screen controls extend into the rest of the player's functionality quite well. Skipping around during live playback or skimming through a photo slideshow were both plenty responsive, and we didn't have much trouble getting at functions with our blunt finger tappings. As for the hardware itself, the unit has a definite heft, but were kind of liking the solid feel, and it really doesn't seem too bulky in comparison to its 4.3-inch, 480 x 272 screen. The model we played with wasn't quite a final version; Archos is going to add a bit to the bulge on the right side of the device for an improved antenna, and we're sure they'll have some other little tweaks before they're all ready to ship this out the door, but we're liking where this one is headed. Keep reading for the rest of the pics.
Archos' WiFi-capable 604 slips by the FCC
So Archos is getting into the WiFi PMP game. With as much buzz as devices like the Zune and the eternally unconfirmed wireless iPod get, you'd think it's the absolute holy grail of the PMP. But in truth you need some spankin' good software to back up the 802.11, or you're just wasting a chip. From the looks of the documentation of the Archos 604 WiFi, they've at least got it half right. The new version, which we spotted last week, includes not only 802.11b/g connectivity, but replaces the 4.3-inch 480 x 272 screen with a touchscreen version. As reported, they've packed in an Archos-specific version of the Opera browser, making the device much more akin to Nokia's 770 tablet than the Zune. Along with tabbed browsing and other touchscreen-based perks, the new 604 has full-fledged Windows file sharing capabilities, and seemingly robust WiFi connection tools. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any snazzy WiFi-based sync, sharing or purchasing capabilities -- all main selling points of the Zune -- so the verdict is still out on how successful this could actually be. Still, we're definitely willing to give it a once over, and a harmless little cage-match-to-the-death between it and our 770 shouldn't go too far amiss. Keep reading for a few pics of the WiFi in action.
Archos 404 PMP reviewed
After putting the Archos 604 through its paces, the folks at CNET have now thankfully seen fit to give the PMP's smaller, squarer sibling, the 404, a once-over as well. As with the the 604, they were especially impressed with the 404's video capabilities, offering support for MPEG-4 ASP up to 720x480 @ 30fps, WMV9, WM DRM and -- despite no stated support from Archos -- DivX, which they say works "flawlessly." Of course, you'll have to settle for watching all that on a 3.5-inch 4:3 screen as opposed to the 4.3-inch widescreen display on the 604. A fair trade-off for portability, although CNET says that the smaller screen is lacking in more than size, with a more pixelated image and less vibrant colors than the 604's. They also lamented the absence of the all important kickstand as well as the lack of a removable battery, both of which the 604 has. So unless you really need that extra bit of pocketability, it seems you may want to spring the extra fifty bucks and snag yourself the widscreen model.[Thanks, Old Surinam]
Archos releases 404 Camcorder, 504 and 604 WiFi
This morning, across the pond, Archos had a press conference where they presented the rest of Generation 4 of its personal media players. Those lucky French got the first crack at the latest three additional Archos models, the 404 Camcorder, the 504, and the 604 WiFi. So here are the deets: the Archos 404 Camcorder (359€) is your 404, but armed with a 1.3 MP camera and will be able to take 640 x 480 MPEG-4 videos and save them to its 30GB drive (remind you of anything?). The 504 (399€ - 699€), essentially the same unit as the 604 with its 4.3 inch screen, but it comes in 40, 80 or 160GB sizes, and packs a bigger punch too. The 504 is lightly thicker (22mm) and has a better battery life, up to 17 hours of audio or five hours of video. Which brings us to the 604 WiFi (499€): same as the 604, except with touchscreen capability (either with its stylus or your fingertips). It's designed to last for 16 hours of audio, five hours of video, and four hours of WiFi, using the Opera-based browser. According to Henri Crohas, president of Archos, the 604 WiFi will soon be compatible with IPTV. Archos also demoed some of its accessories, including the DVR Station, which turns your Archos PMP into a mini-TiVo for the cost of a cool Baroque bridge (i.e. 100€). In addition, it announced a Docking Adapter and DVR Travel Adapter for 29€ and 49€ respectively. Archos seems to raise its own bar each time it comes out with one of these -- we can't wait to get our hands on 'em.
Archos 404 and 604 now on pre-order
Yep, in typical Archos fashion, their new 404 and 604 media players are on their site for pre-order, due to ship (presumably) September 1; you'll have to pony up $299 or $349 to get 'em while the gettin's good, but at least you'll be the first on the block to get this mid-to-late-summer / early-to-mid-fall's kinda-must-have portable media player, um, du jour.[Thanks, Scott]
Archos officially announces all five Generation 4 devices
Not too many surprises here -- after all, we've already seen a full review of one of these new models -- but now PMP pioneer Archos has officially taken the wraps off of all the so-called Generation 4 devices we initially spotted over two months ago. First out of the gate will be the 3.5-inch 404 and 4.3-inch 604 media players whose specs and performance have gradually been revealed over the last few weeks, and all we really had wrong about the two thirty giggers was their prices: the former will go for $300 while the latter will set you back $350 when they ship next month (though pre-orders are already being taken). Coming later in the year will be a version of the 404 with an integrated camcorder as well as a touchscreen, wireless-enabled iteration of the 604 (for downloading internet content), and like all the Gen4 models, these will require a separate DVR docking station in order to record content from and playback content to external sources and monitors. Last but certainly not least is the surprisingly capacious 160GB 504 (we originally thought it would sport only a 40GB HDD), although at this point Archos is keeping mum on such deets as screen size, pricing, and availability. All-in-all a very exciting new crop of PMPs, and like previous products from the company, these will likely continue to be the media players against which all other competitors are judged.
Archos 604 30GB portable media player reviewed
It appears that Archos has got this portable media player gig down pat, as the 30GB 604, unveiled as an affordable replacement for the well-received AV500, has done quite a commendable job building itself a bit of buzz. Rather than altering too much of a good thing, Archos decided to just tweak the 604, adding several meaningful extras while removing a few advanced features in order to get that price tag down to near-bargain basement levels. The folks over at CNET were able to get some face time with the new PMP, and in similar fashion to its predecessor, received an excellent rating. Although the 604 isn't the most pocket-friendly unit reviewers had seen, they felt that increasing the screen size from 4.0 to 4.3-inches (and improving its durability / performance) was well worth it. The brushed metal look must have really struck a chord as well, as this sexy sidekick was touted as being "pretty hot" in regards to its design. One feature that definitely made the review crew sweat was the nifty kickstand, something sorely absent on the AV500 (and its "main competitor," the Cowon A2). The controls and well-developed GUI left a very positive impression, and its ability to play back all types of media ranging from AVI, MPEG-4, PlaysForSure WMA and WMV, MP3, and WAV garnered even more praise. But, as expected, not everything was entirely peachy, as those looking to record video / audio right out of the box won't find the tools they need. Archos apparently made a purposeful omission and left the DVR gear as an optional accessory, just in case some folks didn't want to pony up the extra $100 for the at-home convenience. It was noted that the unit performed well when paired up with the Archos DVR Station, and the staff was more than satisfied with the 14+ hours of audio / 4 hours of video use reportedly on tap via the removable battery. If you haven't caught the drift at this point, here's the skinny: the Archos 604 is a worthy update to the respectable AV500, and if you're looking to snap up a PMP (and maybe add recording capabilities down the road), it's not a bad way at all to spend $350.
Archos 104 4GB digital audio player reviewed
Archos is no stranger to the portable audio player market, and while we've known about its 104 for some time now, PCMag has finally given it a good once over in the testing lab. Apparently designed to compete with other miniaturized devices like the iPod mini / nano and Cowon iAudio 6, the 104 sports a 4GB hard drive, 1.5-inch OLED display, and an enclosure that's about twice as thick (though just as tall) as the nano. Available in black, silver, or pink, the relatively bare-bones DAP didn't have a whole lot to showcase aside from its decent design. Reviewers noted that controls and menus were simple, yet effective at navigating through libraries, and did allow bookmarking to keep your place in those lengthy audiobooks. The inability to play any flavor of lossless format was a bit of a letdown, and although its "playlisting functions" were said to be "excellent," the included headphones were anything but. The unit took some serious criticism when the review team attempted to view pictures on the color display, and found the results to be "terrible," as "jaggies" distorted every photo they tried, even turning attractive faces into "scary sights." The biggest dig, however, came from the lackluster battery life -- by keeping the tunes rolling for only 11 hours, 50 minutes under "normal listening conditions," it fell several hours of short of expectations. The so-so player earned a well-deserved "average" rating, as the lack of extras (like an FM tuner) and poor display / battery performance really put a damper on things. But if your primary interest is keeping it simple, and you don't mind finding a charging port every 12 hours or so, you can snag the Archos 104 for a very competitive $159.99.
The new Archos 604 gets a hands-on look
Archos is looking like a winner with their new 604 PMP. T3 got some hands-on time with the new player, and they have nothing but praise for the unit. For starters, they much prefer the new rocker key control setup to the confusing layout of Archos' AV500, and find the 4.3-inch screen to be much sharper and glossier than that device as well. There's also a kickstand for propping the 604 up on a desk, and little enhancements like interface tweaks and USB charging. With the weight loss and other refinements, T3 finds the 604 to be "infinitely more portable than its ancestors," but that approximate $510 launch price might keep this thing from mass market aspirations all the same.[Thanks, Ash]
Archos to launch new 404 and 604
We're getting a clearer picture of Archos's new line of portables on the horizon, and we like what we see: the 404 (aka the Page Not Found) media player looks to be equipped with a 3.5-inch QVGA 4:3 aspect ratio display, while the 604 packs a 4.3-inch 480 x 272 16:9 aspect ratio screen. Both should have 30GB of storage to work with in their 0.6-inches thick frames, and support a video-capturing DVR-Station and travel DVR adapter, camera add-on (on the 404), and play back MP3, WMA, WAV, MPEG-4, XviD, DivX 4/5, and WMV9 (don't rule out PlaysForSure capabilities at all). We should know more any time now, since it seemed like they were on target for a July / August launch, last we heard about this new series. Oh, and for what it's worth the 404 is listed to be going for about €350 (about $450 US), and the 604 for about €400 ($510 US)
Archos roadmap reveals WiFi-, DTV-, and 3.5G-enabled PMPs
In a refreshing change of pace from the frustrating veil of secrecy under which most consumer electronics companies keep their future plans, Archos has done us all a big favor and posted a roadmap highlighting some of the technologies we can expect to see in its upcoming devices. Most prominently featured in this so-called investor kit is one of the models we spotted in a Swiss catalog last month, which is now starting to look very much like the ultimate PMP: besides a 30GB hard drive and 4.3-inch screen, it seems the 504 will also sport the always-popular docking cradle, along with WiFi, GPS, and even a 3.5G cellular modem for pulling in Internet TV broadcasts and direct downloading of purchased content. We also saw what looks like a revised version of the AV 700 called the AV 700 TV (pictured), which appears to have no less than four antennas sticking out of the top for tuning into Freeview and presumably other OTA digital TV formats. Keep your eyes peeled, video fans, because it sounds like Archos is really planning to shake things up this year by packing in more connectivity options than anyone else on the market -- and that's just fine with us.[Thanks, Bray]
New Archos PMPs appear online
A trio of new PMPs from Archos have been popping up around the web courtesy of a snapshot from the Trois Suisses winter catalog, but details are still scarce as all that's known about these models comes from the little big of information we can glean from the included French description. Making matters even more confusing is the fact that the so-called 604, with its 10.9-centimeter screen and 30GB hard drive, appears to cost about $130 more than the $500 504 which has the same screen but 10GB greater capacity -- although its seemingly slimmer design may account for some of the disparity. Meanwhile, the 404 sports an identical drive to the 604, but only an 8.8-centimeter screen, and is supposedly priced at $440. Both 30GB models are said to be scheduled for a July release, while the 504 should be available in August, but we'll do our best to get specs on these before then, because we like knowing about stuff before anyone else does.[Via GenerationMP3]
