Few rivals in the mp3 player market attempt to tackle Apple head-on, with most offering a different range of features or price point to target a slightly different market.

Archos is taking the initiative with the 104, modelled on the Gmini XS 100, with a colour screen and a similar design to the iPod Nano .

It features a comparable 1.5in colour LCD, a stylish rubber-look case and a dark chrome trim; certainly one of the more aesthetically pleasing players out there today.

Music can be transferred by drag-and-drop into the default folders set up on the device and, when disconnected from your PC, the Arc Library tool picks up ID3 tags to sort music into the common artist/album/genre lists.

From here you can select your tunes via the circular keypad and central control button, a simple but effective design that facilitates easy browsing.

There’s a playlist creator that lets you create your own collections quickly and easily, along with options to adjust graphic equalizer settings, play modes and a few other settings such as display colour and wallpaper selection.

This is about the extent of your audio control though, which is disappointing after our recent review of Sony’s excellent A1200.

Aside from audio the device works as portable storage, and there’s a photo viewer that supports Jpeg images so you can carry your favourite snaps around with you or customise the backdrop wallpaper.

There’s no movie player, FM radio or any of the handy extras that are built into many recent players, and you won’t see a contacts database, calendar or th e similar tools found on the iPod Nano. This makes the Archos 104 pretty light on features.

Limited features can sometimes be excused if they're implemented extremely well, but we came across some niggling setbacks during testing.

The main problem is with audio playback. If you have music playing and want to browse your photos or search for music without stopping playback – which most people do – you'll be disappointed.

To move out of the Currently Playing screen you need to use the cancel button. This immediately stops playback and takes you back one menu level; very frustrating and there seems to be no need to have the menu structure designed like this.

What’s more, a fourth option (alongside Music, Photos and File browser) on the main menu is Resume. This picks up a track from where it was interrupted, suggesting that Archos knew the menu would be a pain and offered a compromise solution instead of just making it possible to leave tunes playing.

The 104 is also a mini hard drive player (rather than a solid-state flash player), which is a strange choice considering the relatively small 4GB capacity. As a result you’re plagued by an irritating clicking noise as the drive seeks data while you’re browsing around.

In terms of general performance, audio quality is good and battery life is touted at 13 hours max.

The player is pretty small, but slightly longer and wider, twice as thick and twice as heavy as the Nano. In fact, the only area in which it has Apple’s baby beaten is the price. You should be able to pick up the 104 for £20–30 less than the Nano.

This host of trivial problems doesn't bode well for a player that’s light on features in the first place. While there’s nothing crucially wrong with the 104, it’s simply not up to scratch in today’s market.

If Archos’ intention was to square up to the Nano, as seems to be the case considering the design and spec, it falls sadly short on most fronts.

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