There's no doubting that when it comes to portable media players (PMP), Archos is leading the way. The company has been around for years but its recent assortment of PMP's has left the likes of Apple and Creative in its wake.
Replacing the AV500 (and a few of its annoying foibles), the Archos 604 sports a bright, 4.3in widescreen display and a 30Gb hard disk; enough to store thousands of photo, music and video files. However, it retains the right-sided rack of control buttons, which isn't innate to get to grips with at all. On the other hand, everything needs a chance and in time you'll be whizzing through the crisp and colourful interface.
Browse photos and a nifty magnifying tool enlarges the thumbnails, start a slideshow and the transitions are smooth and quick. If fact everything (menus, files, features) are now much faster to respond than before. Picture quality is good but the viewing angle is picky; unless you're looking straight on, shadowing and colour displacement can occur.
The 604 is sold in component parts. In its purest form (just the player itself), it has a suggested selling price of £270 but we found it online for £225, which is £36 more expensive than the 30Gb iPod. However, the bigger screen, compatibility with most common file formats (including protected WMA files), removable battery pack is worth that extra few quid. The 604 will also playback MPEG-2, VOB, H.264 and AAC file formats, but only with paid-for plug-ins totalling £28. Quicktime isn't supported.
Add the optional DVR docking station (£70) and the 604 morphs into a PMP superhero capable of recording live TV into MPEG-4 format and playing back movies on a TV through a composite, s-video or component connection.
The DVR station also has an optical audio output for hooking up to 5.1
surround systems and an infrared sensor for controlling the 604 and any set-top
box you've got connected via remote.
The dock will also charge the housed 604 and has two USB ports for connecting to
a PC and hosting a USB storage device.
Sound quality is a little under-par when compared to Sony's portables, but battery life is impressive, lasting for about 12 hours with music and three and a half with full-screen video. And, as previously mentioned, this battery can be replaced with another. Another nice touch is the kickstand on the back, which props up the player – great when on a train or plane.
The 604 is almost the epitome of a PMP as we know it (bar a DAB radio feature). With the dock added, the price rises to £300, but it's not enough to knock it off its perch as the best PMP of its ilk. Look out for the Archos 604 Wifi-enabled version too, costing £320.
Also consider
Centrix MVP-120
A good all-round mp3 player, but no video recording facility
Apple iPod 80Gb
No TV recording but a bigger hard disk, better battery life and a brighter
screen
Dream'eo Enza
One of the few remaining Microsoft Portable Media Centers
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