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- Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 30 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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12 out of 17 people found this review helpful
5.0 stars
"Best product since the Apollo rocket"
Pros: Best screen in the world, best processor in the world, best storage in the world, best codecs support in the world (now with HD), HSDPA (with Dongle), Flash video support in the browser Youtube/Dailymotion/GoogleVideo...
Cons: The Archos 5G is going to be even better cause it has the HSDPA built-in, but storage, pricing and availabillity of the 5G model is not available yet.
Summary: Donald Bell posts several errors in his review. Video resolution support is 720x576 without the HD 1280x720 plugin installed, not 640x480. The Archos 5 has several advantages over the iPod Touch and the Archos 605 WiFi, not the other way around. Archos is the only company supporting Flash video the way they do, in pure full screen streaming. Try getting full Youtube, Dailymotion, Google Video, Myspace TV and more support on any other device the way this one does it.
Current firmware is slightly buggy, but should be fixed in firmware updates soon.
The browser on the Archos 5 is 5 times faster then the iPhone 3G or iPod Touch browser. I don't know what Donald Bell has smoked when he is saying that the web browser dissapoints. Sure it's got 1 or 2 bugs in the current firmware, but it loads NYT.com in less then 3 seconds, Engadget.com in less then 5 seconds, it requires no horizonthal scrolling because of the 800x480 resolution screen.
Sure the mail client is currently beta, but it works fine for me. And you can easilly load the full AJAX version of Gmail anyways in the browser and use that very effectively.
Other then recommending people to consider getting the Archos 5G with built-in HSDPA, if that suits their HSDPA needs and convenience of having HSDPA built-in. Only thing I would say the Archos 5 currently misses is support for third party applications. But just as Apple took a while to release their app store as a firmware update, I am confident that Archos can release support for Android applications at some point in the next few months. This would make this device even more future proof, and would replace the need to buy an Android phone or an iPhone just to get access to HSDPA based social networking and instant messaging applications.
Also I believe this totally trashes the iPhone, cause you don't need a big screen on your phone. Just use a very cheap other $8 phone in your other pocket for your basic voice needs. And then anything that is about video or using the Internet, the Archos 5 is the best solution ever made.
You can find more information about this product on my site at http://forum.archosfans.com
- 4 replies to this review
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In Dreamland, the OS is open, all kinds of new apps will be made for it, all the bugs will be fixed, vast improvements to the functionality will be added, it competes with the iphone instead of the ipod touch, and 20 hot naked models live at my house and await my arrival home each night.
In reality, this is an Archos product, and none of the above is true... unless pron on the internet counts. -
It does not have an open OS... It may be Linux based, but they have it locked down so that it is impossible for any third pary developer to create apps for it. The only add on software that will be available for it will be what Archos produce, and as of yet there is nothing to indicate that this device is going to impliment VOIP.
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It can't make calls... YET. Unlike the iP____ , it has an open operating system for third party software... such as VOIP clients. Besides, if you actually read the paragraph above that line, you'd understand.
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How does this trash the iPhone? It cant even make calls! What a daft comparison to make.
Where to buy
Archos 5 (60GB):
$199.99 - $338.37
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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