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"Best All Around DAP/PMP out there" on by audioman09
Pros: great video/audio quality, tv-output, colourful and large screen, user-friendly interface, very compact, file-tree navigation AND id3database browsing
Cons: battery life could be better, still easily to forget after the video quality
Summary: This is now my second dap in a month, and I could not be happier I sent my iAudio X5 back for this. It has excellent video quality, and if your looking for a PMP but do not want to spend over $500 than this is the ticket. It's the same size as a 4th Gen ipod if not smaller, even though the pictures online I find very deceiving, some make it look bigger than it is. I was really surprised how great sound quality is, there isn't as many options for audio control liek there are on the X5 but it does have bas boost,trebl,bass etc... which is all need. I found the audio quality to be extremly similar between the X5 and the 400, and the video quality blows the X5's video out of the water. The screen is 2.2" compared to the X5's 1.8" and I don't know about the rest of you but I really noticed the difference. It also has the TVout feature so you can watch your movies or listen to music play the games or do anything you want through a tv or projection screen. By pressing on button the gmini's screen comes up on the tv and you can navigate through the tv.
The horizontal design is very comfortable, allows to to use two hands for very quick navigation, and can easily be operated while in your pocket (changing songs). The buttons are great there very accurate (I really disliked the X5's joystick, sometimes skip to the next song instead of FFW or if you aciddently moved it on a bit of an angle it would go through songs extremly fast, this for mine I dunno about everyone)
The photo viewer is excellent, the pictures are very clear and you can zoom and tilt the axis.
I already mentioned the screen is very colourful and bright and it doe support album art and wallpaper changing.
What else can I say? The X5 and the Gmini 400 in my opinion are the top two DAP/PMP players out there. If you want a music player, and an fm tuner than get the X5. But the Gmini 400 is also a great music player, plus superior video quality, and if you get the lcd remote you get the Fm tuner, line out recording, and mic built into the remote, and of course you can navigate your music through it as well. I will say the X5 is a lot more sophisticated looking compared to the gmini's gameboyish look, but once you hold the gmini 400 and begin to appreciate all it's great features the gmini 400 will look just as good as the X5, if not better.
In my opinion the Archos Gmini 400 is the best music/video player on the market right now, and Archos has a lot of potential and will defintly be realsing players in the future with great battery life, and even more features. GREAT JOB ARCHOS! -
"The Swiss Army knife of personal media players" on by AussieCol
Pros: Ideal for the person on the go who wants great audio performance, digital photo storage and playback, FM radio and recorder (option), basic games plus superb video playback
Cons: Not the best manual I've ever read, some features not as intuitive as they could be and the battery life, whilst not bad, could be improved.
Summary: Sound quality is great for my varied MP3 collection (my son even grudgingly admitted it sounds better than his new iPod) and this is probably helped by the Sony earbuds that I opted for. The supplied earphones are good and have an in-line volume control, but I prefer smaller earbuds.
I don't play the pre-installed games (I've actually deleted them) but they will keep most users amused.
Saving video into the Archos format can be a bit of a hassle, but with the plug-ins from their website the process is not hard to master. The resulting video quality just has to be seen to be believed. The colour LCD screen is the best around - and not too small, even for my ageing eyesight.
The built-in compact flash reader is a huge "plus" for me and it has replaced my X-Drive storage device when I travel. Photo playback is a little slow but adequate. I mainly use the Gmini for freeing up my Canon flash card (I can edit and view when I get home).
The optional wired remote controller and FM radio unit is easy to use and has a clever little feature that I love - as soon as you switch the FM radio on, the Gmini starts recording a 30 second continuous loop. This means that whenever you hear the first few lines of a favourite song you can hit the record button and not lose the beginning of the track. The track is recorded as an MP3 file to the hard disk, and can be cleaned up later with any MP3 software - neat eh?
I did have a couple of operating "glitches" at first (actually my stupidity), but they did not stop the unit functioning and Archos provided the fix reasonably quickly via email.
So, all in all, I would recommend the Gmini 400 to anyone who wants a very portable, top performing, hard disk based player suited to pretty well all media types. Great for carrying data files too!!
Check it out - you won't be disappointed if you want something a lot better than just another MP3 player. -
"This IS the one" on by latetrain
Pros: Great looks, size, sound, interface, extras over the Ipod
Cons: Battery life could be better
Summary: This unit over an IPod? Yes, hands down winner.
Slick design combined with great music playback makes for a near perfect unit. Did I say you can also watch Divx movies too? Or record audio? Or uses a very polished OS? I love this thing. Yes battery live could be longer but I can live with that. I don't understand why C-Net tends to avoid this unit in its lists when even they raved about it. GET ONE ! -
"This kicks ass!!!" on by JoboTheHobo1213
Pros: ability to do video very well, audio spectacularly, and pictures moderately well, price, and is pretty straightforward
Cons: cant record video directly, animation looks a little weird (dont worry family guy still looks fine), but that comes with having a pvp
Summary: I just got this and it is sooo awesome. The video conversions were easy as heck; I simply used Smartripper to rip the DVDs and PocketDivX to encode them for the Gmini. Any sync problems were fixed with VirtualDub. Ok ok, so the videos good, but wat about the players OS? Well it can be described in three words: drag and drop. Its really easy, alot easier that the stupid iPods auto-sync (which you hav to turn off if ur taking songs form one comp. and moving them to another). And the audio,well lets just say it probably isnt better than iRivers (although the difference between the two is really really unnoticable), but it is better than the iPod. I ranked the pictures as moderate because, well the picture viewing isnt that great, same as the editor said. Overall, this is soo much better than an iPod. Oh yeah, and this costs the same amount as an iPod, but it does so much more, now thats wat i call a bargain.
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"Awesome portable entertainment center" on by Lauren7178
Pros: Color screen, video and photo capabilities, compact flash card, great look, and great music quality
Cons: video converting and file converting a bit difficult at first, but do-able!
Summary: I was at first drawn to the Gmini400 as opposed to other 20 gig mp3 players because of the CF slot and the possiblity of putting pictures on it without having to use a computer. This way, while traveling, I don't have to carry my laptop to put my pictures on.
Well, once I got it and began playing around with it, I realized how many other great features it had. I can put movies, pictures, and tons of music on it. It's like a portable entertainment center!
At the moment, I have about 2 Simpsons episodes on it and a couple of Family Guy episodes and they look great!
The only drawback to the Gmini that I've found so far is at first the transferring of files to it may become a bit confusing. (I've heard the Ipod is easier, but so not as cool!) After you figure it out the first time, though, it's super easy after that!
All in all, this is the ultimate portable media center, especially for the price.
Archos GMini 400 / 20GB HD / MP3 and Video Player user reviews
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