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Archos Jukebox Multimedia Reviewed

Posted by timothy on from the do-everything dept.

An anonymous reader points to Richard Menta's review of the Archos Jukebox Multimedia (mentioned in this earlier Slashdot posting). Here's a snippet from the review: "Right now my wife and I are watching an old episode of a TV show no longer broadcast in our area or available tape. How are we watching it? We are playing it off of a 9oz. MP3 player -- where I have digitally stored the episode -- hooked up to the small TV in our room and inconspicuously placed on top."

12 of 114 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Picture Quality? by rco3 · · Score: 5, Informative

    The picture quality is MOST DEFINITELY not full DVD quality. See this: Archos's website. It's limited to "MPEG4 video compatible with DivX? (CIF format - 352x288 pixels, 25 frames/sec.)".

    Thanks, but no thanks. The reviewer mentions some pixelization - I think I know why! :-)

    Rob

    --

    Ce n'est pas un vrai mouvement de robot!
  2. Re:VCR's by JonWan · · Score: 2, Informative

    The problem is that the Congress critters don't get it. They think "Digital is Different". Untill that changes, laws will be passed to stop first sale and fair use. I just hope someone has the money to take these laws to the Supreme court and the court figures out that the Congress is going too far.

  3. CIF Resolution. by Grendel+Drago · · Score: 5, Informative

    Umm. Unless you have a really nice TV, it's only displaying 352x240 NTSC or 352x288 PAL. The quality is the same as a VHS tape---if there's "pixelization", the reviewer probably means the blocking artifacts that DivX has at too-low bitrates.

    --grendel drago

    --
    Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
    1. Re:CIF Resolution. by rco3 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Does nice mean newer than 1940's?

      The NTSC format is, as I'm sure you're aware, 525 vertical lines. An average TV shows around 480 of those. Depending on quality, an average 19" TV probably is capable of better than 500 lines of horizontal resolution - the current version of my JVC 27" is capable of over 600 lines of horizontal resolution. Depending on how the signal gets to your TV, you may (OK, will) get lower effective resolution... but the source is what we're discussing here, isn't it?

      I've worked as a truck engineer in television production for the last 7 years, and regardless of what the local cable company may do to my signal you may rest assured that it's appreciably nicer than 352x240 when it goes up on the bird.

      Seriously. 352x240 on my home TV? If you've got $400 to spend on an Archos Jukebox, you aren't watching an 8" B&W portable.

      --

      Ce n'est pas un vrai mouvement de robot!
    2. Re:CIF Resolution. by sambo99 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Just because you didn't order the USB 2.0 cable when you bought it doesn't make it a valid step 5 complaint. You should have put it before step 1.

      Very valid, for me, nero burns a cd faster than usb 1. The latest on the usb 2.0 cable is there is a kit out there that costs $50.

      Come on I forked out $440 already on my ajmm and was under the impression I was going to get the usb 2.0 cable bundled in.

      What do you mean by step 4? You set the resolution when you make the file. How can you foul this up? Do you mean filesize?

      I forget to go to Filters... Add -> Resize -> 352*(I forget what to put here so I have to look it up on the archos site)

      My bad - I know - but it keeps on happening - thus a problem for me

      --
      - Sam
    3. Re:CIF Resolution. by FlemLion · · Score: 2, Informative

      Before ordering on of these MultiMedia players, my idea of the resolution was not that high either. Thought of the postage time stamp videos on the net.
      Having it for some time now, I must say that I am pleasantly surprised. The viewing quality is indeed at least the same as a VHS tape, even on a 70cm sceen TV. There is a requirement for that however, the DivX needs a sufficiently high bitrate (have been using round 1000 myself) and preferably encoded directly to the correct size. Transcoding or lower bitrates are indeed visible with the typical artifacts.
      It seems this little box has quite a nice analog out, which shows the same AVI a lot better on a TV than you can ever get on a PC, at least with the nVidia chips I've used so far.

  4. From the betamax ruling: by therealmoose · · Score: 4, Informative
    In summary, the record and findings of the District Court lead us to two conclusions. First, Sony demonstrated a significant likelihood that substantial numbers of copyright holders who license their works for broadcast on free television would not object to having their broadcasts time- shifted by private viewers. And second, respondents failed to demonstrate that time-shifting would cause any likelihood of nonminimal harm to the potential market for, or the value of, their copyrighted works. The Betamax is, therefore, capable of substantial noninfringing uses. Sony's sale of such equipment to the general public does not constitute contributory infringement of respondents' copyrights.

    This doesn't seem to restrict based upon the type of the device very much.

  5. Re:No video in :-( by Syvwlch · · Score: 3, Informative

    There is a Video In accessory. With it, you can record video directly to the unit's HD. I've ordered it, but unfortunately it is on backlog. Gee, I wonder why it is THAT popular. Oh, and a USB 2 accessory is also available. Get one, plain old USB is just too slow or moving media files in and out of this thing.

  6. Re:USB 1.1 by XaXXon · · Score: 4, Informative

    err, did you read the article beyond the first paragraph? It SHIPS with a 1.1 cable, but it supports USB2.0 *AND* IEEE1394.

    Please read *carefully* before posting.

    Thank you and have a nice day.

  7. Re:No video in :-( by Syvwlch · · Score: 2, Informative

    The difference with your DV cam is that the video is encoded directly in DivX, ready to be shared over P2P file sharers, rather than stored in a cassette tape that can only be read on dedicated hardware...

  8. Re:Anybody used their audio recorder? by Syvwlch · · Score: 2, Informative

    The recorded sound is very good, @ 128kbps. The only issue is that you hear the drive spinning up and docking if you use the internal mic. Archos sell a preamplified stereo mic (external), and with that, the sound couldn't be better, as far as recording voice is concerned. But if you already do interviews, i suppose you already have a good mic lying around...

  9. Re:Battery time? by Syvwlch · · Score: 2, Informative

    I can testify that you can watch at least two full length feature films with it, and still have over a third of a charge left. Haven't flown transatlantic since I got one, so haven't tested it to battery death yet. Archos say you can last 8 hours, and judging from experience, the truth must be very close. I did test the MP3 only Jukebox before I upgraded, and it does play MP3s for more than 8 hours straight. Including after dozens of charge cycles.