I purchased the 120gb version of the Archos 5 today from a local retailer.
The user interface has nice graphic appeal, but so far it fails to perform to reasonable standards. Specifically:
Device shipped retail with Beta firmware which automatically raised red flags for me. I was, however, able to download and update the firmware from version 1.05x beta to 1.07x. By the way, the firmware download and upgrade was actually successful and painless.
Unfortunately, the web browser (which is based on Opera) had poor touch screen scroll response. What this means is that you drag your finger down the screen to position the web page. As you move your finger the web page should move with it so you can reposition it as you read. If this were an iPhone you would be able to flick your finger down the screen and the page would smoothly slide by as it scrolled. Unfortunately, on the Archos 5, the screen movement lags well behind finger movement and progresses in jerks.
Just for grins, used the navigator to load up the Archos User Guide. Welcome to the Hotel California where you can check into a PDF file anytime you want, but you can never leave (unless you reset the device.) The navigation button apparently does not function. If I could have navigated the document, maybe I would have figured out how to navigate and exit the document. There appears to be a means to resize documents however I stumbled onto it by accident and have yet to figure how I got there.
In short, browser and pdf document browsing was annoying, counter-intuitive, and not acceptable.
I got onto the Archos website to purchase the IMT Cinema Plugin. Page objects like buttons, input fields, and browser controls responded slowly.
I ended up purchasing the plugin twice because it failed to download the first time and the browser crashed to the OS Navigation Screen. So I assumed the transaction failed and tried it again with similar results.
When I checked my email (on my laptop, I have not tried email on the device yet) I discovered the redundant purchases and related invoices. To manually download the plugin from Archos, I had to go to my emailed invoice and copy a code that has to be hand entered into a web form to download the plugin.
So I got on my Archos 5, went to the browser, hand keyed the download link and information referenced in their email into the webform so I could download the plugin to my device. Archos could have made the process simple by simply providing a coded link to facilitate the download, but instead the site asks for name, email address, Archos 5 device serial number, the unique purchase code from the Invoice, and then the plugin fails to download. To add insult to injury, there is no diagnostic data to indicate why the download failes. The site simply reverts to a blank webform for you to re-input all of your information again. Very frustrating.
Tech support took 24 minutes to take my call with 0 callers in the queue in front of me. Can you spell “lazy”?
But wait! There’s more!
I wanted to see if I could find and download “Sin City” from one of the 3 premium movie sites provided in the device’s navigation interface so I could observe movie performance.
First, none of the movie sites had the movie, which means I’ll have to figure out how to convert my DVD version to a format that can be downloaded and played on the device.
Second, movie choices were extremely limited.
And thirdly, as I noodled through the various media offerings I discovered that most of the content was eurocentric and not english speaking. No biggie if your native language is french or german. But very annoying if your interested in content specific to the US.
What can you expect. Archos is a French company, and the French still believe that the world revolves around them.
When I complained to Tech Support about the poor interface performance, he suggested that I ship the unit to Chicago for “repair”. …yea, right… I asked what the expected turn around time was for the “repair” and i was told 7 to 10 days. I didn’t bother to ask who would pay the shipping costs. I suggested I would hand deliver the unit and peripherals back to my local retailer for a refund.
I originally purchased the device because I wanted a hand held recorder that I could connect a small external “helmet cam” to to record motorcycle runs on my sport bike (BMW K1200S in case you’re interested). There was no video input on the Archos 5. You either have to buy the Archos helmet cam peripheral (I already have a high rez camera and do not wish to purchase another) or get the DVR attachment. (I am researching the latter option and will update this review if and when I acquire one.)
So my impression so far is: Nice looking device, about what I expected in size and weight, nice looking navigation interface, but less than lackluster web browser performance. Sample movies and audio tracks played smoothly. Built in speaker has sufficient volume to hear in a low noise environment. If you want stereo and fidelity you’ll either need to wear the supplied earbuds or get a decent headset. Archos 5 is Windows-centric. If you are an OS-X MacBook Pro user like myself or a Linux propeller head, then we won’t have the joys and benefits of using Window Media Player to manage or media content.
Device should have shipped with some kind of an AC charger module. As already stated in other reviews the only way to charge the device is to plug the included USB cable into your computer. Meh!
I’m not saying it’s a bad product. It seems to have some great features and a lot of potential which are set-off by some serious deficiencies.
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Tags: Archos 5 120 GB, Archos 5 Series, Internet Media Tablet