Hey, back again. Let's blame the lack of updates on my continuing struggle to find a job. Today, a quick musing on why I will never again buy an Archos media player.
They suck in all the right ways, such as:
Battery Life: Yeah, the 800x480 touch screen looks great, but it, combined with the hard drive, sucks a full battery dry in less than 3 hours. Hell, if you turn on the WiFI, you're looking at well under 2 hours.
Reliability: I fixed my Archos 605 160gb model by shaking and slapping it when the error code 102 came up. I have never fixed a device like this before. Before doing this, I emailed Archos and was told that the unit needed to sent in for repair. Now, it was a gift, and without the proper proof of purchase, this meant that I'd have to pay for the repairs. On a device that is just barely a year old.
Ad-Ons: Want to use that built-in Wifi? Give them $20 for a slow (really slow) Opera broswer. Want to play games? Pay up. Same with playing Podcast-friendly music and video formats, and playing files with digital encoding.
While the machine can play a ton of formats, it has very little else going fot it. It is too bulky to be pocketable, way to fragile for use while moving, and will break before you know it. Buy an iPod Touch / iPhone or a Creative Zen if video playback is important on the go. The iBrowser is a billion times superior, and the Apps store...well, there's no comparison. If you want more music based, check out the Sony Walkmans, or anything else but the Archos brand.
