When it comes to playing media Archos has always been at the top of the list of the best players and it has paved the path for today’s most popular devices such as the Ipad, Archos had portable Internet tablets when Apple’s Ipad was still a concept, and even though Archos has had more misses than hits lately, this device is a serious competitor for the Apple TV

A sleek design and great functionality Archos hits the bulls eye with this media center.

Features

• You can Record and schedule your TV shows  in high quality
• Downloable movies, TV shows and music wirelessly
• Streaming content from your PC to your TV has never been easier
• You can brows and watch videos from Youtube
• Sync with your other ARCHOS devices
• Internal 80 GB drive

Archos TV+ Demo

The Archos 101 internet tablet weighs only 16.9 oz – 480 g and is 0.47” – 12 mm thin, which makes it more portable than the highly publicized Ipad, a structure that feels solid yet durable.

It seems that Archos people decided to listen to their users fan base and equip their new tablet with a more sophisticaded and scalable OS, and by using Google’s Android the doors are open to the use and developing of new apps that will take this tablet to a new level.

Archos 101 tethering, Samba and UPnP protocols compatibility and TV output turn this tablet into a multimedia station able to stream from the web or your computer and output your videos or movies to you TV set, turning this device into the essential gadget to have at home.

Price is also a nice surprise $299.99 for the 8 GB version to $349.99 for the 16 GB version.

Archos 101 internet tablet Home Screen

I am not quite sure how bad they had to go for Archos to launch this simple music player and video.

Archos 2 is a simple player, a low-end, compatible with MP3, WMA, WAV, AVI videos and JPEG images. With capacities of 8GB and 16GB but with the possibility of extending the microSDHC memory card, it is lightweight, only weighs 50 grams and it’s 9 mm thick, enough to put it in your pocket and forget about it.

Its screen is 1.8 inches, with built-in microphone for recording voice memos and a battery that gives around 12 hours with audio, if recording video the battery drops dramatically to 4 hours.

The 16GB Archos 2 is available in Germany for € 68.50

Simple, yes, but it covers 80% of needs in a player.

Search for other Archos players in the UK here

Or if you are in the US

Archos players in the US

It seems Archos IT team keeps busy and serious about the Archos 5 Firmware updates, they recently released a new firmware update with the following fixes:

Version 1.3.05 – January 12th, 2009

Bug fixes:

• System: Sometimes the clock was wrong after a Suspend or a USB connection
• Audio: AC3 5.1 audio didn’t always work with SPDIF output (it was stereo only)
• Settings Wizard: It was not possible to select a month other than 10, 11 or 12
• Music: The display of the “Hard Drive” view is now faster when there are a lot of files or folders
• System: ARClibrary is not systematically rebuilt after firmware update anymore

You can download the new firmware from here:

Download Archos 5 and Archos 7 Firmware OS v 1.3.05 (53094Kb)

In digital media players not everything has to be Apple. Now it is the turn of Archos 5 which was kind enough to get my hands recently and that according to Archos is a device called “The Internet Media Tablet,” but beyond tradenames attractive, this proposal results in a strange combination of iPod touch tablet and multimedia.

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This review will test the Archos 5 and see if you have enough to put in consumer tastes.

The Equipment – Archos 5 60GB

Apple’s influence in the way it is presented is striking. The box in black stands out. Inside and very well wrapped an Archos 5 60GB hard drive (Flash memory is not like other players). The package includes a reference guide, an adapter for a dock that sells Archos, a flannel to clean the black player and earphones of questionable quality. If you want to read the manual, you will need to download the same player or the Archos web, this strategy seems sound, there is a saving on paper and thus avoid waste. There is also a USB cable tha is not standard, so careful about losing it.

The Archos 5G looks elegant . Its metallic gloss finish will be certainly a magnet for the curious glances and demonstrates the quality with which it was manufactured. The 4.8-inch screen adorns the front. But this beauty has its price, seems to attract grease stains from your fingers as, so it is but be very careful and bear the flannel cleaning everywhere.

A high quality display

It has a minimalist design even in the controls, only has one button on / off, volume, headphone port and a USB cable. The rest of the functions are controlled via the touchscreen, which is certainly one of the best decisions we have seen a similar gadget: 800 x 480 pixels.

Archos has decided to stop using the stylus to its previous versions and has created a completely touch, eye multitáctil is not like the iPod touch. Its glossy finish makes the screen in certain lighting conditions are too many reflections which can be annoying, but considering that all PMP and MP3 players continue this trend, at least Archos 5 has a higher resolution screen.

The Archos 5 inside

The options menu is fairly intuitive, but has options that are only commercial attachments you can buy the Archos 5.

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Play menu has all the options to play video, music, photography, games that are purchased on the website of Archos and applications in Flash. It’s pretty simple to use as well as intuitive. Video options shows movies or videos we have stored, and even has a small pre-animated just before you play, which while not very useful, no doubt grateful. It supports the MPEG-42 (AVI), and protected WMV files, including M-JPEG, quite regularly for my taste, and if you want to support H.264, MPEG-4 and WMV HD will need to buy a plug-in $ 20 .

The option of Music organized according to the digital library IDTags of music files. So that we can find our music by artist, album, genre, title or even years. You can also play in the order of the hard disk. Far from being an iPod interface touch, touch too many and needed to start playing a song, but it is a matter of time to get used to this interface. Salido cash supports MP3, WMA and WAV, few formats, but with a firmware update supports Flac and OGG. If you want to support AAC and AAC + files you have to pay $ 20 in another plug-in.

You can also display images in JPEG, BMP, PNG and GIF.

It is sad to have to pay extra (of which costs USD350 Archos 5 60GB), in order to have greater compatibility. According to Archos is to save on licensing, as I was to express our portfolio.

¿Internet Media Tablet?

The Archos 5 has a section devoted exclusively to the Internet, hence the name. Your browser uses Opera technology, and works as a full browser even supports Flash 9. The deployment of the pages is very fast and with the screen resolution is not required to make approaches. I managed to edit entries in WordPress banking sites and enter without any problem. The virtual keyboard works like the iPod touch or iPhone, but having a larger screen, the script is much easier.

It includes a mail reader with support for Gmail, and Yahoo accounts with POP3 and IMAP. Unfortunately the software is in beta and often fail constantly. Archos hopefully resolve this issue soon. In the Contacts section, includes all the contacts you add or imported from any other software. Nothing special here, but they appreciated the effort.

All Internet connections are made via Wi-Fi 802.11g. Generally, the Archos 5 usually detect the available networks without any problems and keeps in mind the networks used. When you open Opera or required to enter the Internet, the Archos 5 will automatically search for wireless networks if available.

A very complete gadget

For the AppStore, including the so-called Media Club, which are accessible to different music stores and movies online. It was strange that the integration with iTunes is the iPod, but applauds the attempt to create a better Archos experience from Archos and different content providers.

Opera also provides Widgets andalusia Archos 5, and includes a basic calculator, currency converter, RSS news reader, and prognosis of time, and more can be downloaded from the Internet Media Tablet.

We also found two sections that bring us little, if not nil, utility: TV & Add-ons. The TV section is activated only if you have a special attachment that allows us to use the Archos 5 as a TiVo or a DVR, while the section Add-Ons are only commercial all the extras you can buy. The worst of the matter is that there is no way to remove them, so we will always have these options completely useless.

The battery is Archos promises us 22 hours of music and 7 hours of video with the latest firmware update, but only got 18 hours of music and 4 hours of video, with some downloads and loads more, I hope to reach the figure promised.

Its dimensions are 127.5 x 78.3 x 12.9 mm for the 60GB model and weighs 250 grams.

Conclusions

For many this is the best multimedia device that can be bought, not far from it. Its operating system, a modified Linux, making the touch interface respond promptly, but needs to improve the stability offered. In addition, it paid more money by simply having more codecs I did not like.

Is it worthwhile to leave the iPod touch with a reliable Archos 5? If it is dependent on iTunes and is married to the iPhone OS X interface, it is better to stay there. But if you want one of the best screen for watching movies or series, and plenty of hard drive capacity to store music and photography, then the Archos 5 is a much better buy.

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• GUI: new added support for Arabic User Interface
• Music: There is now support for FLAC files with an ID3V2 tag

Archos Firmware Bug fixes:

• System: Clock drifted when staying ON for a long time that could lead to wrong TV program being recorded.
• Network Browser: Some directories had wrong names (first letter repeated) and could not be opened
• Flash Video: Sometimes video did not play in Full Screen mode
• Flash Video: Sometimes audio did not play in Embedded mode
• Flash Video: Embedded video display sometimes flickered
• Flash Video: Embedded playback sometimes rebooted the device
• Video: Subtitles were not outlined
• Video: Lower part of the subtitles was cut, especially in 720p mode
• WebRadio: Accentuated characters were not displayed correctly (now depends on the current language used)
• Music: WMA files smaller than 500KB did not play
• TV Program Guide: Channel name was sometimes not well updated in the bottom detail line
• GUI: Some Chinese messages were wrong

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You can dowload it from here

Archos 5 and Archos 7 Firmware

And if you don’t know how to update the firmware in your Archos, there is a guide in the following link:

Archos 5 and 7 firmware update manual

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We started seeing the multimedia generation Archos 6, where we find support for MPEG-4 video, MPEG-2, H.264, WMV, and M-JPEG and audio in MP3, WAV and WAM. Clearly, as we have come Archos, we can increase the formats supported by plugins that we must buy separately. We have always said we do not like anything that policy, but appears to relate to the manufacturer in an attempt to lower the price of their devices.

With these additional plugins can play video at HD resolution (up to 720p) in MPEG-4 and WMV. As plugins audio AAC and AAC + are also supporting 5.1 through the DVR.

This base, as in previous models of the manufacturer, we can record television format 640 x 480 pixels, to display later. But it also allows us to display that content in HD (with the necessary plug-ins) on our TV through the HDMI output that incorporates.

The last options on television are those that allow us to display anywhere. On one hand, we can do as long as WebTV have Internet connectivity and basic DVR connected to the wireless network at home.

On the other hand, put up for sale an accessory, called Snap-on TV to receive television, allegedly with TDT.

Archos DVR

Finally, we point to the Internet, where connectivity through Wi-Fi or 3G connectivity in the case of the Archos 5g, we can navigate through Opera, the browser that comes pre-installed and also includes support for Flash. It also comes pre-installed an email client.

Just reviewing the capabilities of each model. The Archos 5 will be available in sizes of 60 GB ($ 350), 120 GB (400 euros) and 250 GB (500 euros), weighing 250 grams in the first instance and 300 grams in two. The Archos 7 is available with capacities of 160 GB and 320 GB, weighing 640 grams.

Finally, the Archos 5g, whose connectivity is compatible with 3G HSDPA, will be available with a 30GB hard drive.

The other prices are still to be announced, although the Archos 5g is not expected to be out until early next year, while 5 will go on sale next month.

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Long expected the new Archos players from the French manufacturer has introduced his generation 6, which consists of three models updating its entire product range.

They are the Archos 7,  Archos 5 and Archos 5g, the latter of  has 3G connectivity, as expected.

You wanted to call these devices Internet Media Tablets. Quite rightly, since they are not talking only about media players, but they are halfway between a player, an MID and, as we shall see, a TV.

The three players shared the majority of its features and functionality, all developments of the previous models, but with one important change in the interface, which was being quite old and has been completely renovated.

The screen of the Archos 5 and Archos 5g has a size of 4.8 inches and a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels and can display 16 million colors. The Archos 7 keeps the same resolution, but increases the size to 7 inches.

In these models we forget the buttons, and everything is controlled via the same touch screen, unlike in some previous generation which included side buttons. Sound ¿? Yes, provided that the interface is good enough.