Archos 605 WiFi user reviews (4GB)

Pros Bright screen, great video resolution, feature-full (on the surface)

Cons Poor touch interface, hidden/poorly organized features, poor WiFi portal

Summary I bought the 605 WiFi based on the CNET review and after using it for a couple of days, I'm very disappointed in the product.

The main problem (and, in hindsight, an aspect not covered at all by the CNET reviewer) is that the user interface is terrible. Touch buttons are all different sizes. Some functions you can do via touch, some with the dedicated keys, and some with both. You have to double-click in order to select an item with the touch interface, and who would realize you have to click "X" in the corner in order to simply go back a level in the interface? (Windows user would, I suppose.) The options for each app are communicated by tiny indecipherable buttons. And the touch interface itself is not very responsive at times (which, combined with the need to double-click some times, but not others -- makes you never sure if the unit heard you or not). I could go on and on -- have the reviewers never tried an iPhone to see what a real touch interface should work like?

Unit itself has a nice form factor and a beautifully sized screen, but the overall fit and finish is a bit lacking. For example, the dedicated buttons don't have a very nice feel to them (and their poor arrangement is another usability issue).

After using the unit for a day or so, it started trying to get a software update, but if I used the unit, it kept having problems with the WiFi connection dropping. Finally I left it untouched for an afternoon and it succeeded. (In other words, you can't use the product while software is downloading in the background.)

Tried to register for downloading content from the WiFi portal -- it was pretty confusing to get registered, and I think when I finally entered my credit card to start downloading something, something went wrong and I would have had to start over again, so I never bothered.

On the positive side, the screen is very nice and videos look pretty good once you manage to get content onto the device.

As a music player, though, it took way too many taps to get it to play a song. And when I accidentally copied over some songs with DRM (I have subscriptions to Rhapsody and Yahoo music services), it just silently refused to play. There should have been some sort of error dialog at a minimum. Don't know if it's supposed to be Plays4Sure compatible or not...

Overall, this product has great "specs", but in everyday use, the usability is poor.

If all you want to do is copy some video content onto it and watch it on the plane, I suppose it's fine.

But if you expect this product to "just work" and fit seamlessly in your life as a WiFi-enabled portable music and video player, the implementation is half-baked.

Pros Hackable, hi resolution, wifi, sd expandability

Cons no pda features

Summary Makes a great device for videos, supports usb host, has component outputs, everything. period.

Pros Easy to use, Gorgeous screen, Excellent audio, supported audio/video formats

Cons Device freezing 5 times in 2 days, slightly unresponsive touch screen, absolute necessity to buy wall charger, No SDHC support by default

Summary I've been using the device for 2 days and it managed to freeze 5 times, and seriously slowed down a few others. After 24 hours charging on my laptop's USB, the battery is still not considered full by the system; I will test it with a wall charger. The screen is sometimes a bit unresponsive. But all this is nothing compared to the absolute pain in the a** to find a compatible SDHC card to upgrade the 4GB unit.

After searching on internet's forums, I stumbled across a user created list of compatible SD cards with the Archos 605. It seems according to a post, that customer service asserted SDHC is not supported by default, for the High Capacity SD cards to function with the device, it requires a line of code in the firmware FOR EACH BRAND AND MODEL of SDHC. As such, Adata 8Gb class6 will work, but Adata 16Gb Class6 will not, but Integral 16Gb Class4 will... Added to this madness, Archos does not provide a list of compatible SDHC cards, has apparently only tested Sandisk SDHC cards, and yet, still maintains the device is upgradable with SD cards up to 16Gb... This behaviour is intolerable. How can you say to support SD upgrade up to 16Gb and not be compatible with ALL SDHC cards? Why screwing up people that buy your device by making them buy memory cards that won't work?

This device has the potential to be the King of PVP's, a few serious firmware updates should do the trick.

As a music player, sound is perfect, but would have liked some more visual customization during playback.

If your emphasis is on video don't hesitate to buy the 605 but with a 40Gig hard drive or more. It's a tad heavier, but you'll avoid the hassle of upgrading with unsupported SDHC cards.

Pros Multi format support (With Extra Plug-Ins), good looking display with great resolution, steady construction, easy to use.

Cons EVERYTHING IS AN OPTIONAL EXTRA! Meaning you will end up paying a lot more after you buy the device! Additional plug-ins go start at $19.99. Accessories are even more expensive, to have a fully operational Archos you will end up paying around $500!

Summary It is a really flexible device, its got really nice features (Cost Extra), so I recommend you do a really good research and see how much you will need to spend for it to do what you want, other that that, I have no complains! So be ready to pend some bucks on this device if you want it to do what Archos says it can do. Read the * next to each feature!