 "Excellent for playing Divx movies. And a good MP3 player." | 2009-03-06 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3G16QA2SFFWS4 |
This is an excellent device if you want to play DivX movies on a TV or projector. With the latest firmware update available from the Archos website it can play DVD quality DivX movies and using the included adapter can output full screen to a TV or overhead projector. The best part is if you do download movies ( not that I am saying you should ) a lot of them come already in a DivX format AVI file that the player supports. So all you need to do is copy them to the device and your ready to start watching the movie. No need to convert the file to another format. And even if you do need to convert the file the device comes preloaded with software to convert movies to the correct file format.
The MP3 player on it is very good compared to other multi-function devices on the market. Sound quality is excellent and it has a very nice user interface that even supports album covers ( if you have them ) displayed in the MP3 player.
The picture viewer functions are nice and also work while displaying on a TV or projector and has a nice built in slide show function.
The game player is very basic and only supports playing simple cell phone games using the Mophun game engine but they are in full color with sound. The player only comes with a few demo games.
There is also a built in mic and audio recording function but I have not really used it all that much.
Overall it is a very nice device and there are only a few minor problems I have with it. First off the UP button on mine had to be pressed a little harder than all the other buttons for it to work. I am not sure if that is a defect on my unit or if all of them are like that. And second is it does take a minute to load very large play lists in the MP3 player. My default play list is about 1300 songs and it takes about 45 seconds to load the playlist before you can start listening to music.
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| "Great at what it is, not so great for what it's not" | 2009-02-10 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2F8R7M3T7E9LE |
I've got an Archos Gmini 400 that I bought something like seven years ago. The battery's deader than dead, so anytime I want to use it I have to have it plugged in, but it still decodes Xvid, Divx, and WMV. It occasionally has some audio syncing problems with Xvids, but for a little 20gig device that's served me well for the lifespans of four different computer rebuilds, it's a great little machine for watching downloaded TV shows and movies by using its RCA cables.
I've only ever bought this one device from Archos, which is about as good a recommendation I can give. I've never needed a similar device in all the years I've had this one. |
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 "I still own it for more than three years!!!" | 2007-11-20 |
| - Reviewed By kartoun |
My next mp3 player will be definatelly an Archos (even though this one seems to be great, despite of its age). Good sound quality (although you might want to buy better headphones), and very robust (fell several times).
Disadvantages (minor):
1) I had to format it once (that's because it started "forgetting" files).
2) Sometimes it is a little bit slow when navigating between songs.
Uri Kartoun
http://www.compactech.com/kartoun/
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 "Archos Gmini 400 experience" | 2007-02-27 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2RFCACDHP53JR |
I like my archos 400.
Actually, I think Archos makes a better portable video player than Apple.
I've purchased both Ipod 30gig video and Archos Gmini 400.
I think my Archos hardware performed better, but here comes the negative:
Archos software is terrible
Archos technical support is terrible
Well with that said you understand why I purchased the Ipod.
Someday Archos will correct these problems, in the mean time buy
a ipod.
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 "Garbage" | 2006-08-12 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1LYKY8UZBDBY3 |
| I bought the Gmini400 because i did not want to follow the whole Ipod Trend and because it seemed to have a lot of great features. First few weeks of owning the device I was thoroughly impressed. However, these feelings soon began to fade. The Gmini's joypad style controls are very inconvient for browsing through 20 GB of music. It would tkae a few minutes sometimes jut to get to the artist I wanted. I also noticed a significant lag time when switching from song to song. These were just some of the minor inconviences. About a month into owning the device It stopped taking music off my computer. It would get to the point where i could not transfer more than one song at a time because it would say there was an error. Also, i began to notice problems with the playback. I would be listening to a song and it would cut out in the middle and then start playing another song for a few seconds and then switch back. On top of all this the headphone jack began to give out. I'd have to jiggle the headphones around just so i could hear any sound. I tried all different types of headphones on it too se eif they worked (including my bose quiet comfor 2's) and they all didnt work. I called archos and was on hold for a real long time to find out there was an internal problem with the hardrive and the headphone jack. They said they were going to write up the maintenance order form thing and email to me but it never came. I called again and they confirmed again they needed to send it however it never came even though i gave them another email. After finally being pushed over the edge i gave up on the gmini and bought an Ipod video. I am thoroughly pleased with the Ipod and would never go back to an Archos mp3 player. save you rmoney on this and any of the Gmini series and buy an ipod video. |
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| "Gmini 400 or iPod?" | 2006-02-14 |
| - Reviewed By User: AGUEO925JM1KE |
This is a review from a 16 year old that has owned it since August 05.
I'm sure you've probably read other reviews and have seen the pros and cons of this item. This is truly a great item, no doubt about it. To add, the pros definatley outweigh the cons.
+ Music, pictures, games, data, AND video
+ Fast, easy transfer- no programs needed such as iTunes.
+ Ability to record
+ Displays album art, sometimes
+ Well above average audio quality
+ Nice convinent play will impress your friends
+ Usable while charging
+ Decent battery life
+ Updates are available
- When recording, it records the clicking sound when you press the record off button
- The 'back' button takes you to the top level instead of just taking you back one level, unless you use the 'parent' button, which is too out of reach for my comfort
- It sometimes pauses while you search for a song or whatever for the hard drive to run
- When, for example, you listen to music and the screen shuts off, and you push a button to turn the screen back on, the screen takes a few seconds to turn back on
- There are no good cases available, and this is pretty fragile (I dropped mine twice and have 2 dents in the metal) Take good care of it.
Now, I'm guessing you are deciding wether to get this or an iPod. While iPods are nice looking and seems to hold together really well, I've heard they have problems with their batteries after a while, but I don't have one so I can't confirm that.
All in all, it depends on wether you want everything this has to offer, or if you're just looking for something to listen to music on. If you just want music, go iPod. They look nicer, and have that nice scroll wheel for an all nice looking product. If you're planning to use all the features, then get this obviously. Sure, it doesn't look as nice, or isn't as popular, and doesn't have a shiny blue bar when changing the volume, but most of the time it's going to be in your pocket, right? |
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