First Impressions: Archos 7
So as I posted earlier, my Archos 7 arrived today. I watch a lot of movies and tv shows on the plane when I travel and I’ve been using my old iPod to do that. It served me well but the tiny screen and the 4 hour battery life wasn’t cutting it for me. I also didn’t like the fact I had to convert all my videos to a format the iPod would read because it mean I had to plan ahead of time what I was going to take with me so I could spend a couple of days converting them.
I wanted a player which had a long battery life, a large screen and a player that could play Divx and Xvid formatted movies. Thats why I ended up going with the Archos 7. The battery lasts over 8 hours, the screen is a huge 7inch and I could just drag and drop movies onto its 160GB hard drive without converting them.
My first impressions so far are good. The screen is great and much more responsive then I was expecting. It doesn’t get smudged easily because its a matte screen but the back of the device which is shiny is full of smudges. I moved a few tv shows and movies over to the Archos and it played them all except for one which had AC3 sound encoded. To play that I needed to purchase a plug-in which I did. The US site has 3 plug-ins listed for the Archos 7 at $20 each while the global version of the site had the 3 plug-ins bundled together for $40. I decided to get all 3 plug-ins for $40 and I can now play HD movies and movies encoded with AC3 without a problem. I don’t like the idea of paying for plug-ins but I am glad I have the choice to do so instead of no choice at all. I tried watching tv with the built in web tv and although it works I couldn’t find a decent channel to watch except for Sky News. The web browser on the Archos works really well and I was able to load up my blog without any issues. It even displayed the flash ad banners which I have on my site, something which Safari on the iPhone can’t do.
Now the negative stuff. The device is heavier than I expected which isn’t really a problem for me since I will only be using it on the plane. I also had trouble playing one movie, every time I tried it would just crash the Archos. I am thinking its because of the way the movie was encoded but need to experiment more with this. It was a 1.8GB file. Quantum of Solace which I have encoded with AC3 sound and coming in at around 1.4GB played flawlessly.
So far I am really liking the device. I know some of you might have specific things you want to know about the Archos just ask me below and I will try to reply. The Archos 5 and 7 are basically the same device except for the larger screen and longer battery life on the 7.
160GB Archos 7 is for $272. [Amazon Link]
320GB Archos 7 is for $412. [Amazon Link]
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39 Comments, add your own...
1. Stafa | April 5th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
Can you stream media over wi-fi from shared drives?
2. smokey | April 5th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
I’ve been a devoted fan of Archos for a very long time, i proudly own 3 archoses ;) and i can’t live without any of ‘em, they can get pretty hot though.
1 question does it play flv videos when browsing the net, coz mine doesn’t!! no youtube:(
3. Jassim | April 5th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
Congrats on the Archos Mark.
What ports are on it? Can it be charged via usb (assuming it has it)?
Connectivity (BT,wifi?)
I love the idea to dump photos from my camera while traveling. .Can i do this with the Archos without using p.c?
Enjooooy
4. Mark | April 5th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
Stafa: There is an option called UPnP but don’t know how to set it up. Will google it later.
Smokey: Give me a link and will tell u if it works or not
Jassim: Charges with USB takes 8 hours for a full charge while 3 with the power adapter. No BT. You connect the Archos to the computer via a special cable. I think I read the Archos 5 uses regular mini USB but the 7 uses something else.
5. Mark | April 5th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
Stafa according to the manual I can stream using Windows Media player 11 or something.
Jassim: Manual says I can connect a camera
6. Stafa | April 5th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
Mark: Yeah I figured, I guess it uses the same method you stream media to Xbox 360
7. DndoN | April 5th, 2009 at 11:04 pm
How about Recording T.v ?
8. Frankom | April 5th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
Yeah i asked about the recording function but i think its not supported yet.
9. Mark | April 5th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
Recording function is supported and does work BUT only if you have the DVR station. DVR station has video inputs and outputs. I would need it if i want to for example play 720p movies on my tv. costs $99 though…
10. eleventh.st | April 5th, 2009 at 11:21 pm
Thanks for the review! Def something to look into for long trips!
11. Mark | April 6th, 2009 at 12:17 am
Ok some of the channels on web tv are weird, like i get the Jewelery Shopping Channel from the States which is like fun to watch for like 2 minutes. On the brightside in another section of the Archos there is a button called news which sends me to a Euronews section where i can watch video on demand like their “no comment” stuff which i love or news clips. Due to the fact its streaming though its like watching stuff on youtube quality.
speaking of which using the browser i can go to youtube.com and just watch clips as if i was on my regular mac.
there are no games installed on the archos, i need to buy each separately but already spent $40 on plugins so i am not going to spend any more on software. I’ve got like a million games on my iphone anyway.
12. HeartBeat | April 6th, 2009 at 12:23 am
Mark, cant I just do the same on an 8.9″ netbook ?
some of the netbooks have 7 hours battery and 160GB hard disk and you can play anything with the right player and plugins and still it is a one item that does all.
unless I am missing something here!
13. Mark | April 6th, 2009 at 12:27 am
I don’t know of any 8.9″ netbook that lasts over 8 hours. I know the 10″ asus that lasts I think close to 8 hours but its a lot bigger and bulkier than this archos. Even is there was an 8.9″ netbook that could last 8 hours, it would be a lot bulkier than this archos to use just for watching movies.
14. Mathai | April 6th, 2009 at 8:15 am
Mark I was looking for a photo viewer device like the Epson 3000 for dumping pics from my camera while travelling. Unfortunately from a user review on Amazon it says you need the the DVR station to connect the camera. Dammit ! :(
review “Comparison vs Archos 705, December 10, 2008″
link
15. FAH-Buzberry | April 6th, 2009 at 8:54 am
I have tried the old one before.. the touch screen is a bit irritating
16. Mark | April 6th, 2009 at 9:54 am
Mathai: according to the owners manual you don’t need a DVR station. They have a picture of a camera connected to the Archos via a USB cable. You can download the manual and check it yourself
http://www.archos.com/support/download/manuals/english_user_manual_archos_5-5g-7_v3.pdf
FAH-Buzberry: i read a few complaints about the touch screen thats why i was expecting it to suck but its not bad at all. its not as responsive and smart as the iphone screen but its really great for flipping through the menus and browsing the web
17. Mathai | April 6th, 2009 at 10:02 am
thanks Mark, I’ll check it out, in that case this would be a better option than buying the Epson, or I could just buy a few more 8 GB SDHC cards.
18. Mark | April 6th, 2009 at 10:11 am
The archos 5 might be better though since it would be easier to carry around
19. Mathai | April 6th, 2009 at 10:27 am
hmm.. yeah, the archos 5 250 GB and Archos 7 160 GB are almost the same price. I guess the 5 would do it for me, but man I hate paying for plugins X(
20. Mark | April 6th, 2009 at 10:34 am
Tell me about it but at least most of the stuff work out of the box. the 720p and AC3 plugins aren’t that important and honestly I didn’t have to get but I did just so I dont have to convert any of my files in the future
21. wi-fi | April 6th, 2009 at 10:44 am
but which one has longer battery life ?
This device seems the best so far ..
about the internet .. is it only connected throw wi-fi ?
is there a usp port ?
22. x | April 6th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
I used to have one of these
very complicated stuff ;/
23. Mark | April 6th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
wi-fi: Archos 5 I think the battery lasts 5 hours, Archos 7 its 10 hours. Internet is via wifi only on the Archos 7 but there is an Archos 5g (not just 5) that I think takes a sim card and you could connect with 3G. There is a mini USB port on the Archos 5 I believe but on the Archos 7 its a different kind of port.
x: With the Archos 5 and 7 they mount like an external hard drive when u plug them into your computer and then u just drag your video files to the “video” folder and thats it.
24. Abdullah | April 6th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
I love Archos ,,, I had their 1st AV device back then it was way ahead of its time …what I love about it that you can record and play from or to TV
but careful Mark ..I drop mine .. kill the screen and its now only an external hard drive.
25. Mark | April 6th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
point taken!
26. 2twentythree3 | April 6th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
I had this and sold it, I found it really complicated to use, but I’m a girl so that’s probably why.
Good luck with it Mark! Hope you have fun with your new toy!!
Boys and their toys! eh?
Why is it men need gadgets like women need chocolate???
LOL
27. jami | April 6th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Gadget to Men is what Make-Up to Women!
I fail to understand why Archos do not market themselves as well as Apple does?
28. 2twentythree3 | April 6th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Gadgets and makeup are completely different Jami.
Makeup costs …. lets say on average 10kd. Most gadgets cost 100kd. Proper gadgets. and by that I mean, mens toys.
Makeup is a necessity. a7em a7em.
Gadgets are not.
:)
29. jami | April 6th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
Oh no….you forgot to mention 10kd daily on an average!
And STOP saying men TOYS!
30. wi-fi | April 6th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
Thanks mark ..
This is the best PMP i have seen so far.. the only downside for me is the USB port .. if I can use Zain e-go would be just perfect !
31. Agam | April 7th, 2009 at 12:06 am
i have an archos 605 wifi, and my only complaint is the battery life, i sure hope yours is good, mine was defective
32. azizbrown | April 7th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
can you iron your shirt with it?
33. smokey | April 7th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
azizbrown: well as i said it does get pretty HOT sumtimes, so yea maybe ;)
34. Mark | April 9th, 2009 at 12:31 am
wow, just found out i can connect to my home network with the built in file manager and play movies over wifi! Thats crazy cool.
35. Glad | April 18th, 2009 at 12:18 am
i’m wondering if a headset splitter would work here, i have 2 kids so this is a big consideration.
36. Mark | April 18th, 2009 at 12:24 am
yes it would work. i have one which i am planning to use when i travel with nat, the screen is large enough for 2 people to view easily
37. Glad | June 5th, 2009 at 1:26 am
bought the lovely Archos but have not been able to load any DVD. I must be doing something wrong, can you advise?
39. omar | September 22nd, 2009 at 8:39 pm
Hi Mark,
I just bought the archos 7, but i have a small problem connecting to the internet (the wi-fi)
i don’t know why ?
except that the screen shows that there is an error occurred when trying to open the web
Could you Help please ??
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