 "Good idea, bad product" | 2008-10-18 |
| - Reviewed By User: A23TF21AEZBUCG |
| I did a lot of research on this product and decided to purchase it based on the screen size, user reviews, and hard drive capacity. From the moment I downloaded my music onto it, I had a problem. There is either a software or a hardware critical error, as the machine, while playing MP3 files, locked up and I had to shut it down via pulling the battery out. I sent the device in four times, each time I received the device back and Archos indicating that the problem had been fixed, within 2 hours of having the device returned to me, the same problem occurred. In the end (after 1 YEAR of repairs), I asked for a different model entirely. I was told that I could not get a device that actually cost less money than I paid for mine (I wanted an upgrade to the 700 WiFi unit which cost over $100 less than what I paid for my 700 series unit) and was forced to take a 500 series with a smaller screen. While this model is nice, it was never what I wanted and would never have purchased it in the first place. I am very unhappy with this company and their products and do not recommend them. |
| |
 "Good product, Poor Customer Service" | 2008-02-27 |
| - Reviewed By User: A7ZE97DL6GDBV |
I received an Archos AV700 as a gift just under a year ago. The first one had no sound output, so we called Archos "Customer Support" and were told that we should return it to them at our expense and it would take up to 6 weeks to repair. I then contacted the retailer I purchased it from and they sent a replacement.
The unit worked well for about 3 months. Then the battery died. I purchased a replacement and that worked for about 5 months.
The other day I tried to switch it on and it would not start up. No lights, nothing. Thinking it may be the battery again, I purchased another new one along with a new power supply. Unfortunately this did not solve the problem, so I begrudgingly called Archos to find out how to proceed.
Archos informed me that this model is no longer supported and that I need to purchase a newer model.
I assume that if I do purchase a newer model, that too will be obsolete in a few months!
Beware of very poor customer support! |
| |
| "Quite complaining ..." | 2007-02-04 |
| - Reviewed By User: A11NQ0X9V4WV2Q |
When reading these reviews, be careful. There are a lot of people out there complaing that this device wasn't able to replace an entire DVD collection, or that the video isn't high enough quality to play on a TV. Quit your complaining! This device is to be used to store and play video ON THE DEVICE.
The product description never states that you can use this device to replace your DVD library, or that you'll be able to hook it up in a movie theater and watch a movie on a 30x50-foot screen.
This device was made to do what it says ... to store and play back movies ON THE DEVICE.
Now, for the actual product. Yes, you can record video directly on the device. Granted, if you hook this thing up to a VHS player, or even a DVD player, you are actually encoding analog-quality material. Yes, I will repeat myself, even if you hook up a DVD player, it will not be digital quality. If you want true digital quality, encode your DVD with your computer, and transfer the file to the Archos! You'll get better quality video and audio without sacraficing hard drive space.
If you plan on hooking this thing up to a 31" television, expect loss of video quality! It's a no brainer! Same thing happens if you take a small .gif file off the internet and try to print an 11x14 out of it. It get's pixelated.
If you're looking for a good, solid and reliable device to replace your clunky "portable" DVD player, then this is the device for you. Granted, you have to encode your collection and load it on to the device before leaving home, but that's the price you pay for the convenience of not having to lug around your DVD library.
Is the interface as thought out as an iPod? Definitely not. But let's face it, Archos is NOT Apple. Apple does what it does very well. That's why the iPod is so popular.
Look, the bottom line is, this device does what it says it does. It stores video, music and photos, and plays them back. If your looking for something solely to replace your DVD library, buy an AppleTV. If your looking for something that plays music, then buy an iPod. If you want something to store photos, buy a friggin photo album. If you want to schedule and record TV, buy a DVD recorder or a Tivo.
This device does three main things (Movies, pictures, music), and it does so pretty decently. Don't buy this if your expectations are too high. If you are buying this in hopes to replace your iPod, tablet DVD player, digital picture frame, Tivo, microwave oven, 50" plasma TV, sister-in-law, etc., then you're setting yourself up for a huge disappointment.
Buy this device, toss on it a few movies, songs and family pictures, and take that vacation you've always wanted. At least this way you'll have some entertainment to pass the time during your trip. |
| |
| "Don't try to watch on a big screen!" | 2007-01-06 |
| - Reviewed By avdeals |
| I got rid of this after a few months of recording DVDs. I had hoped to replace my DVD with this digital storage, just like I did my CDs. But the resolution on the Archos is so poor (even when you set it to record on its highest resolution, which eats up considerably more storage space)that it broke down into pixels on my 27 inch LCD TV. It works great if all you intend to do is watch it on the Archos player or a tiny TV screen. I guess I should have expected this since the Archos only record thru analog. I also found the recording process very tedious. It is a simple matter of hooking it up to the DVD player and recording, but you have to wait through the 2 plus hour DVD to turn the unit off. You can set it to turn off automatically after a set amount of time, but that dead space at the end of the DVD recording while the machine waits to turn off also eats up your storage space. Overall, a great idea whose time has yet to come for replacing my DVD collection. |
| |
 "Perfectly fits my needs" | 2006-11-09 |
| - Reviewed By jonathonzener |
I purchased this a couple of months ago and love it. It is well made and the attention to detail that went into everything from the products design to the little things such as giving you batteries for the included remote control really sum up the feel of the product. It is well done. The video compression on the fly for recording off a VCR works great. The ability to pop in movies that one rips off a DVD and then recompress and play works well.
It holds my music, my videos. It's a super fast hard drive.
I purchased it after seeing a friend who had another archos product with a smaller screen. This one is perfect. The screen is just the right size.
Thanks Archos! And good purchasing.
Tips:
-If your on Windows, get the newest copy of VirtualDub and the DivX codec to really make your movies fly. You can use it to recompress DVDs and captured video (if you have the time)
-If your on a Mac, get Handbrake
-If your going to be displaying video on a TV that your capturing, tweak the contrast and saturation levels as well as the audio levels while viewing the "TV out" of the Archos, that way you know what your getting!
Enjoy!
|
| |
 "my precious archos." | 2006-11-06 |
| - Reviewed By scorpio300x |
I began to love this item for about 4 months..I researched up everyone else's reviews and such to check on faults and other cons about it. I found none...until One day my archos's battery died completely...I even tried another spare power cable then...it just never came back on...so I sent in my player to archos support not too long ago...and hopefully they've fixed all the problems with it...
Other than the battery problem...the player was the best electronical deveice I owned...I had over 100 videos on there and 3 thousand songs...it pretty much consumed my life... |
| |
Expedited Available
