Some people need everything fed to them on a spoon, in easy bite-size chunks. They haven’t figured out that AOL
and the Internet are two different things. They take word-processing
advice from Clippy. They think there’s only one way to download videos,
and only one line of devices to watch them on. Take a moment to pity
these poor souls, but only a moment. Because a web-savvy videophile
like you has better things to do, like immersing yourself in the
greatness that is the Archos AV500 30GB 4” Portable Media Player.
Reviewers everywhere have hailed the Archos AV500’s incredible picture, brilliant 4” widescreen LCD,
and slender body, so we won’t bother repeating what they’ve said.
Instead, we’ll point out that it plays a wide variety of video formats,
from AVI to MPEG-4 to WMV,
and it’s compatible with DivX and Xvid codecs. All those movies on your
hard drive are aching to get out and wander around a little, and they
don’t want to jump through some proprietary-software iHoop to get
there. Same goes for your vast MP3 collection. If you know what torrents are and you know how to use them, the Archos AV500 is the player for you.
While
we’re talking about this unit’s vast range of video-format options,
we’ll casually mention that the included TV pod lets you record video
directly from your TV, VCR, DVD player, cable box, or satellite receiver to the AV500. (Of course, audio recording is a snap, too.) If you’re in the mood to pay for stuff, the AV500
also lets you purchase, download, subscribe to, or rent protected video
and music content from Microsoft PlaysForSure websites. And it works
with fee-based music services like Yahoo! Music Unlimited and Napster
To Go.
Whew! Give us a second here, we’re running out of breath.
OK, moving on…the AV500’s
30GB hard drive is big enough to hold hours upon hours of your most
treasured chick flicks, docudramas, Hong Kong thrillers, and Bollywood
epics, not to mention more songs and photos than any one human could
possibly enjoy in one lifetime. Content loads easily thanks to the USB 2.0 interface – the AV500 can even act as a USB hub for direct file transfer from other powered USB devices, like your MP3
player or digital camera, no computer required. And the battery will
play 15 hours of music or 5 hours of video on a single charge.
You
know us, right? You know we don’t blow sunshine up your posterior. When
a product is a piece of garbage, we say so. So we’re not just feeding
you a line of BS when we say that the Archos AV500
does so many things, and does them so well, that we can’t believe it’s
less than an inch thick. If Archos had one-tenth the marketing budget
that certain of its competitors enjoy, you’d own one already.
Warranty: 1 year
Features:
- Capacity: 30GB Hard drive – store up to 130 hours of video, 85 movies, 15,000 songs or 300,000 photos
- Display: 4” LCD 480×272 pixels, 262 000 colors and TV output.
- Video recording: MPEG-4 SP and stereo sound, optimised resolution for TV up to 640×480 @ 30 f/s, in AVI format.
- Video playback: MPEG-4 SP with B-Frames with stereo sound. Near DVD quality up to 720×480 @ 30 f/s (NTSC), 720×576 @ 25 f/s (PAL), AVI file format. WMV9 (including protected files) up to 352×288 @ 30 f/s, and 800 KBit/s.
- Music recording: From an analog source in stereo sound for WAV (PCM & ADPCM) format.
- Music playback: Stereo MP3 decoding @ 30-320 kb/s CBR & VBR, WMA (including protected WMA files), WAV (PCM & ADPCM).
- Photo viewer: JPEG or BMP.
- Download photos from computer through USB 2.0 port.
- Transfer photos from digital camera3 through USB Host port.
- AV connections: Earphones / Audio & Video line out.
- TV
pod with video pass through, AV in & out cables (SCART In & Out
for European version) and IR emitter cable for tuner control of VCR, cable box or satellite receiver.
- Speaker: Built-in speaker.
- Interfaces: USB 2.0 high-speed device, compatible USB 1.1, PC & Mac.
- USB Host port compatible Mass Storage Device.
- Battery life: Up to 15 hours for music.
- Up to 4.5 hours for video on built-in LCD.
- Firmware Upgradable: Yes
- Dimensions: 0.7×3 x 4.9
- Operating System: MS Windows 2000, ME, XP; Mac OS X 10.2.4 or later
- Integrated scheduler
- Slow motion
- Adjustable screen size
- Video editing/bookmarking
- Sideshow view
- Share function
- Syncs with PC
- Compatible with PAL and NTSC video systems
- Supports Microsoft PlaysForSure
What’s in the Box:
- Archos AV500
- TV docking pod
- Remote control (with batteries)
- Audio/video cables
- USB 2.0 cable
- USB host adapter
- AC adapter and charger
- Stereo headphones
- Protective case
- User guide
