I Finally took the jump purchasing the Archos. Had a hard time deciding if I should get the 5 or the 7. I decided to try the 5 and consider getting the 7 at later time.
The Archos been around for a long time but I was not sold by the older Archos player design. The new archos IMT 5 has very sleek design and a very wonderfull and sharp screen. I still think Ipod touch has slightly better screen quality, but in my opinion the Archos beat the ipod in many categories.
What I like about the Archos:
I like the fact that I can plug the Archos to my PC without synching with any software. You can copy the file from your HD and paste them to Archos 5, as simple as copy and pasting file to a usb flash drive. There is of course option to sync it with windows media player. (I have not however try synching it with WMP or pluging this to a Mac). I also like the fact that it takes avi format, wmv, divx. Touch screen is very sensitive, but since I applied a screen protector on mine, I find it easier to use my nail instead of finger. Some Opera Widget can be use in the Archos and flash seems to work decent in the archos. I also like that the archos 5 has wifi, email client, Opera for web browsing (full web browsing), great viewing angle, plane mode, Adult and Child Mode (keep violent movie lock away from your child , this mode will completely hide the video file mark as adult content in child mode), pdf reader and allow browsing of directory with the ability to edit the file such as deleting it.
What I did not like about the Archos:
battery is not removeable, it is a bit heavy and it might not be ultra portable for some people, Web browser end the session once you go back to main screen, pdf reader is there but not very useable, it has to load every pages that you browse…. page 1 loading….. scroll to page 2… loading…. scroll back to page 1 loading…. good for 1 page pdf maps, or train schedule, etc. (Text is readable in IMT 5, however if you want to get the archos to do lots of pdf reading, wait at least until they make it better through firmware upgrade I hope). Other than free flash game that you find online, there is no free game made specifically for the archos 5. I do not like that they charges too much for codec. if they bring the price down to 9.99, I can guarantee, many people will be very willing to buy all the plugins. (for Vob, HiDef Video and H264).
Comparing to ipod touch:
I like archos 5 over ipod touch for watching movie, aside from the larger screen (rather unfair comparison), the archos accept srt file as subtitle, usefull because it allow you to turn it off and on instead of having it hardcoded.
I also like the archos for playing music because the archos allow you to create a playlist and arrange the order of the songs within the archos itself. You can also edit the playlist.
web browsing definitely better in archos as compared to ipod touch.
I have not purchase any game in archos 5 but I think ipod touch do better in this section.
support pdf although its lame but it works (better than not having support for it like the ipod touch)
Archos 5 does not compress the image file you transfer to it, if I am not mistaken the ipod touch compress it. (i have done it in iphone, but have not tried this yet in ipod touch)
Archos menu is good and make sense to ME, but i think ipod touch menu is pretier or ’sassier’ whatever it is. I am stating this because I know some people def like the ipod touch menu better. (depending on the person i guess, I like both menu)
Both have alarm function – Ipod touch is better because it allow multiple alarm, archos only allow one and you can only set it by hours and minutes before the alarm sounds, whereelse the touch let you set it by clock or hours and minutes. The archos however allow you to use both music and video for the alarm.
Archos seems to have bad reputation with their customer service, Apple is much better with that department (I figure I mention this in case people experience RMA)
Archos uses HD you can choose from 60GB, 120GB, 250GB but you can feel the vibration form the hd spin wherelse the ipod touch uses flash, very silent, no vibration but since flash is still expensive, range is only between 8gb, 16gb and 32gb
Bottom line I think archos is for people who travel for longer time, like plane, long bus ride, long train ride, vacation and above all if you want to watch video, need large storage and you dont care so much about ultra portability, the archos 5 is for you. You should get the ipod touch though if you do short commute like 30 minutes train ride or bus, need the device to be ultra portable because you whiz around the metro area and keep your device in your pocket most of the time or you need to entertain yourself for short period of time with silly games or if you listen to music most of the time.
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Tags: Archos 5 120 GB, Archos 5 Series, Internet Media Tablet