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Review of the Archos AV320 Cinemabox
An anonymous reader writes "MP3newswire.net just posted another of their lengthy reviews, this time on the Archos AV 320, a unit first mentioned on /. back in June. The company's second portable digital video/audio player, the new unit is a significant step up from the Archos Jukebox Multimedia with a much bigger and brighter screen and the ability to record DVDs and TV programs."
I have never understood why people buy these things. Granted... its a cool gimmicky toy... but for 600USD!!! wow. Really, how much do you want to watch video on a 3" screen? Its kinda like those 15" plasma displays... that sell for a grand. Hey... plasma looks ultra cool, but... any movie looks bad on a 15" display... sheeesh... pay the same and get a nice 36" tv... it aint as sharp, but you can actually read text on the screen!
So beyond catering to "the geek that has everything"... I just cant picture why people want this stuff... having portable video, thats too damned small to see... is about as useful as having no video at all. Same guess for those stupid TV displays in cars... not to mention WTF are people putting tv's in cars anyways!!! Sheeeesh.... cell phones are bad enough.
Ok sorry... end of rant. In the end, this product just seems like a massively overpriced, relatively useless gimmick to me.
For those of you who didn't read the review I found this portion to be very interesting.
Is this a product review or an opinion piece???
It is fair use to record a show off of television for later viewing; it doesn't matter if you use a VCR or a digital video recorder. It is fair use to lend that tape or file to your friend next door so they can watch it. Is it fair use to trade with 4 million "friends" simultaneously on the Internet? In Canada it is, but the US is another story. That's what the RIAA is suing individual music file traders over (the MPAA -- the RIAA's motion picture lobby equivalent -- is waiting before taking the same route, they too might consider the same tactics against file trading.)
Since the Archos allows users to make good quality recordings of TV programs and DVDs, you will start to see more such programming reach the Net as the mediabox niche grows. The Archos player records via analog methods (a cable to a DVD or VCR), so it is unaffected by any Digital Rights management protections added to DVDs. If you can view it on your television, the Archos can record it. This doesn't make the media companies happy.
In our opinion, file trading is not the threat the entertainment conglomerates make it out to be. Yes music sales are down and that allows the record companies to blame it all on file trading, but DVD sales are up. Way up. Every major movie release has made it on the Net, usually well before the DVD comes out. Did DVD sales go down? No. Did they stay the same? No. Did they go up? Yes, by 61 percent.
But our protests and logic mean little if Disney takes you to court. You lose the moment you have to shell out for that first session with the lawyer, so our advice is to be cautious with the files you create and remember, Micky Mouse is not a nice guy in real life.
Maybe you should educate the morons of tomorrow so they'll stop believing the leaders of tomorrow. - Dogbert
Just because you don't want a multi-purpose device doesn't mean that I don't! You are more than welcome to walk around with an mp3 player, portable dvd player, palm pilot, laptop, digital camera, and cell phone all strapped to you if you wish. Or whatever subset you actually use. But for those of us that want to be able to carry every around in one package, let us! That's why people sell different products: different people want different things!
I recently got to ditch my palm pilot and cell phone in exchange for a Handspring Treo 300. So in that one device I've got phone, PDA, wireless internet and portable email. I think it's the greatest thing ever. If the Archos also did PDA and cell functionality you'd bet I'd have one in a heartbeat.
The ability to only carry around one device that could do everything I need in a portable unit is very appealing to me.
I travel quite a bit. My girlfriends parents love to see pictures that she's taken with her digital camera. So we'll go to their computer, copy the images over and sit around their 15" monitor watching it.
With this beast I could load all our pictures on there and sit in front of their 36" tv and have everything there instantly! I could take my video library with me to hotel so I'd have movies to watch instead of flipping through unfamiliar channels. I could watch a movie or listen to some music on a plane without relying on whatever THEY decide to show.
I, for one, DO want an all-in-one device. No one's making you use it. So just use the device(s) that are right for you!