I wouldn't say they're horrible. First, not every manufacturer is large enough to say "I want AU optronics to supply me a 4.3" WVGA transflective screen, on yeah and I only need a couple hundred thousand. And I want it competitively cheap". An Apple or a Nokia could do it. An Archos can't.
Battery life is not trash, but they were cheap for not supplying a high current 5v charger, since lots of laptops can't put out 500ma without USB voltage dipping pretty low.
True about the stand, but then I can't even prop up my ipod with the charge cable in place either. Without a seperate charging stand that is.
Most of my devices drain power when using Wifi too.
I don't think anyone else offers a $300 hdd pmp with Wifi capability. Archos simply makes all the features a-la-carte. At least it handles flash.
As for the interface, Archos probably just didn't want to get sued by Creative for ripping off their interface. Perhaps they didn't want to become Meizu, and just copy everybody's IP. I personally find the interface just fine. If Apple or Creative came out with a WVGA PMP, I probably would have gotten one of those instead, since they have cheaper accessories. However since they don't, this is still a better PMP if watching videos is your primary concern.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Miikun @ Nov 14th 2007 7:58PM
I wouldn't say they're horrible. First, not every manufacturer is large enough to say "I want AU optronics to supply me a 4.3" WVGA transflective screen, on yeah and I only need a couple hundred thousand. And I want it competitively cheap". An Apple or a Nokia could do it. An Archos can't.
Battery life is not trash, but they were cheap for not supplying a high current 5v charger, since lots of laptops can't put out 500ma without USB voltage dipping pretty low.
True about the stand, but then I can't even prop up my ipod with the charge cable in place either. Without a seperate charging stand that is.
Most of my devices drain power when using Wifi too.
I don't think anyone else offers a $300 hdd pmp with Wifi capability. Archos simply makes all the features a-la-carte. At least it handles flash.
As for the interface, Archos probably just didn't want to get sued by Creative for ripping off their interface. Perhaps they didn't want to become Meizu, and just copy everybody's IP. I personally find the interface just fine. If Apple or Creative came out with a WVGA PMP, I probably would have gotten one of those instead, since they have cheaper accessories. However since they don't, this is still a better PMP if watching videos is your primary concern.