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5.5 oz. MPEG-4/Audio Portable From Archos
An anonymous reader writes "Several manufacturers produce hard drive-based MPEG-4 portables now, but to date they are all big and heavy devices weighing in at around 3/4 of a pound. Archos just announced the Gmini 400, a 20GB video/audio player that comes in at the iPod's dimensions and light 5.6 ounces. Presently shipping, I guess they are ready now for the iPod Video in case that player ever becomes more that a /. myth."
Never send rotating machinery to do an IC's job.
with 35 gigs of porn, and 4 of music
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
With the onset of countless online music stores, Is it only a matter of time now before we can download feature legnth divx movies to these players? I hope so!
The original generic sig.
Gizmodo has pictures and bit better of a review:
e verything-but-a-price-019630.php
http://www.gizmodo.com/archives/archos-gmini-400-
Given the failure rate of IDE in PC computers, where one imagines they've got more than enough space and manufacturing experience going for them, I wonder how long these mini-HDDs will last even without being subjected to drops.
Especially at $400, which seems almost a bargain for this technology.
Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.
-- Dr. Spock, stardate 2822-3.
Will it let you do something as copy a video to the computer? What about your own video? Let's see, on the iPod you can compose a piece, put it on your iPod, and cannot put it on a different computer from the iPod without jumping through hoops.
-I am an elective eunuch.
Just for the metric people here, the Gmini 400 comes in at the iPod's dimensions and light 0.158757329 kilograms
The iPod looks bulky compared to the flash-based players.
Yeah, but can you put your entire CD collection on one CF Microdrive?
Lots of people say "why would I ever need to watch movies". Fair enough, but the new player takes away the biggest reason *not* to have a video player. Not everyone will go for it, but there will now be a lot more people who'll say "why not have video as well, if the form factor is the same".
People might not think they would use video, but they'd be surprised if they actually had the opportunity, as I do on my Treo. When you can't be bothered reading on a crowded train, or you've got to wait somewhere a few minutes, nothing beats pulling a Simpsons episode out of your pocket. And you're not going to bring a player especially for that, but if it's already there anyway (because you carry your music everywhere), you'll use it.
The Slashdot article is here: http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/06/14/163521 2&tid=, and the website is http://www.real.com/partners/starz.
The reason the iPod does so well is because of one principle: K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid) Want to play a song? Mash the huge button on the front of the iPod. That's it.
Other than people riding a train to work (or other stationary activity), who would actually use their device for video playback? I can't use it when I run, I can't use it when I do household chores (vacuuming, cleaning, etc), I can't use it when I draw or paint... What exactly is the point?
It would really surprise me if Apple released a video iPod.
I like big butts and I cannot lie.
He shopped around for awhile and had some pretty specific needs as he was sick of constanly burning DVDs for travel and laptops in the size he wanted were too expensive or flimsy. He wanted a decent screen but something that could still fit in the leather WW2 camera bag, decent battery life, and a mic that can record in mp3. Most of his movies are shots he has done for film classes with the odd south park or simpsons off his pvr. He settled on an archos model the av380 and the only complaint I've heard about it is that it only has a USB 2.0 interface as he really wanted firewire.
An Education is the Font of All Liberty
"5.5 oz" = 0.155922377 kilograms
"3/4 of a pound" = 0.340194278 kilograms
"5.6 ounces" = 0.158757329 kilograms.
woo for google calculator.
http://reviews.cnet.com/Archos_Gmini_400/4505-6499 _7-31000735.html?tag=cnetfd.sd
The dogcow says "Moof!"
I've lusted after the Archos media varieties lately, especially the newer one that has a CompactFlash slot without requiring a dongle. The units allow image playback to LCD or TV, which is handy when you're visiting relatives who want to see your shots before you go home to do serious prints or processing.
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I couldn't help but laugh a little bit when I read the "IPod killer" quote in the article. How does a portable video player sell? Don't most people get portable music devices for listening to music on the go? If I wanted to watch a movie wouldn't you do that on the big screen at home? I guess I can see this as being a great digital babysitter for the kids in the car on the long trips but I can think of a billion other things that would suffice for entertainment at a fraction of the cost. Come to think of it they don't have moving parts either...
believing the big bang requires a certain amount of supernatural faith
Is blocked unless you use third party or get directly at the directory structure. You can of course copy it directly on the iPod hard drive, but that's a hoop to jump through.
-I am an elective eunuch.
However, why on earth would they release a portable video player with a display only slightly larger than the iPod's (2.2 inch vs. 2 inch)? Even the gameboy has a bigger screen (2.9 inch). There is alot of wasted realestate on the new Archos which could have been used for a bigger display.
Sony should add video and audio playback capabilities to the upcoming 4.5 inch w i d e s c r e e n PSP. That would truely be an iPod killer.
my cellphone (se p900) has a bigger screen than this thing and thats right now
do these other industrial designers even take note of Apples attention to athestics ? are they blind or just stupid ? and yet the wonder why their devices fail (in terms of consumer acceptance) people dont read specs/features first, it has to be good looking enough for them to pick it off the shelf in the first place before even reading what it does, its like Palm , constantly making clunky devices and wonder why the
oh and does it do Xvid ?
Looks like you have to use two hands to control the thing. This isn't a GameBoy, it's an mp3 player, and as such you it needs to be something you can hold in one hand or pocket and operate easily. Plus it still doesn't have iTunes, which is huge.
Over in the dpreview.com Storage forum, there have been a number of frustrated users of the Archos 220, which for some users has a high degree of file corruption, ruining quite a few pictures. Given photographers uses these devices to backup their media so they can erase it and continue on, it is fairly serious if these devices routinely corrupt files.
Now Arhos may have fixed the problem in the new version, and they may not have. I suspect I would wait on the sidelines until other people try it out, given the previous history.
I'm on my 3rd personal storage unit for photos, and I really like the CompactDrive PD6A that I got (previously I used the Image Bank and x-drive II). All it does is save photos on a disk (no MP3, no video), but it does so quite fast.
I'm just curious as to why you picked the ImageTank over a microdrive. I don't really know a whole lot about the topic, but I just see it as a feature on all the mid level and abover digital cameras.
is Rockbox, the open-source firmware for most of their devices, with features out the wazoo, assuming you're one the the lucky wazoo-bearers of the species.
I've been looking at all the portables coming out for a while and I'm passing on this one -- thought anyone who just wants a music player will probably like it. Here's the things this can do that the ipod cannot:
.
1) View photos
2) Copy photos/movies/music directly off of compact flash (or other formats with adapter) using built in compact flash adapter.
3) Play movies (Screen is only 2.2 inches, but its pretty) at *FULL* dvd resolution (impressive processing power for such a little guy).
4) Has a very nice gui for playing music on its color screen -- which of course you'll shut off to save battery life.
5) Plays Mophun games -- you know, the cheesey little cellphone games. It comes pre-loaded with 5 of 'em. .
In otherwords, it can do everything ipod can do, much more, and in the same size. It's a neat little gizmo. Not perfect though, I won't be getting one in fact -- Here's why:
1) 400 dollars for 20 gigs -- a bit more than a similar featured ipod. This is not a problem for me, but might scare some people away -- though archos is a bit less into the whole "price controlling" thing that apple does so you might actaully find it on sale for less.
2) 2.2 inch screen only takes up about half the total dimensions of this -- you could theoretically make a larger screen on this unit without increasing the size. My guess is they didn't for costs/battery life reasons. Nevertheless, if I can't read the subtitles on my anime, it's no good.
3) The real killer for me: No support for Advanced Simple Profile for divx -- this means that most of the files encoded "in the wild" will have to be re-encoded to play them. Archos is coming out with it's AV500 (pda with a harddrive) model soon which is supposed to have support for ASP.
Since I personally am looking for a video player primarily and music player secondarily, I will wait for the AV500. I don't want to re-encode all my anime. However if you guys were looking to buy an ipod, you should definately consider this little guy. For just a bit more money you get ALOT more features (video, photos, compact flash, pretty color screen, mophun games).
Well, not quite (more like a Game Gear), but still, doesn't it just beg to be a portable gaming system?
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
The iRiver H300 Series is also worth a look.0 0
20 Gigs: http://www.iriver.com/product/info.asp?p_name=H32
40 Gigs: http://www.iriver.com/product/info.asp?p_name=H34
It has a colour screen (so it certainly isn't the first mp3 player with a colour screen) and it also serves as a USB host, allowing people to transfer photos from digital cameras onto the iRiver on the fly. It can view still pictures, and has similar music playing capabilities as the original iriver H100 series (I believe). Still no AAC though. Buuut it does maintain a 16 hour battery life from what I read.
Maybe someone will come out with a firmware hack to allow playing movies on it? That would be awesome.
- shazow
Well more than an app. It's the CF slot and the adapter for SD,MS,MSpro,etc.
Imagine not having to trek back to the car to dump off pictures onto the laptop. You could even take it backpacking for several days with extra batteries. You've got a 20GB drive in you pocket that also plays tunes!
That kicks ass.
I don't use it to store 'everything', just the current set of tunes that I want to carry around with me.
...
Has the added benefit that I can do 5gig backups of my iPod at a time, to a large offline Firewire disk, and swap 'collections' really easily, 5 fat gigs at once.
I rarely listen to more than 5gigs of music in one session... it doesn't make much sense to me to carry around everything... just the set I feel like having.
I've lost too many disks containing too many valuable archives to always get 'the biggest I can' for storing stuff. I use big disks as backup devices, and 'russian-doll' my most active disks around, so I'm always pretty safe
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
How do you do your movie ripping?
I don't advocate video jukeboxes yet because there isn't an iTunes equivalent for DVDs yet. Insert DVD, rip, and catalogue. How do you do this for the Archos? Everyone who seems to rant about them talks about watching movies... but how do you get the movies on the drive?
GPL Deconstructed
So looking at the specs in the review I see mpeg4 sp video, but in an avi container and no aac audio. Which is misleading, to say the least.
:-)
I was bitten by this recently when I bought and 'mpeg 4' dvd player, which was nothing of the sort. Would it play mpeg 4 files? Nope.
I'm surprised that mpeg and iso seem to be offering little guidance on this. Is isn't helping them when players badged 'mpeg4' don't seem to be able to play the format.
(sorry - pet peeve
Slashdot looked deep within my soul and assigned
me a number based on the order in which I joined
Seriously, I have a laptop and have been thinking for quite a while about getting another portable device. If I get a Pocket PC (or say a Zaurus) and a CF drive, I could get all of the functionality you describe plus a fair bit more capabilities without having to carry around yet another device (i.e. could leave my laptop behind at times; and don't need PDA + player)
Granted, the PocketPC+CF disk solution is probably on a different price league than this player. And the player looks very sleek and interesting. But I keep wondering if getting such a specialised piece of hardware is really the way to go.
The revolution will not be televised.
The 20GB iPod weighs the same and has the same dimensions as this device.
Vonal Declosion
I don't trust the quality and service of Archos. I had horrible experiences with their jukebox MP3 player. It was a terrible product and their customer service to get you a new one under warranty was also impossible.
The fundamental problem is that they rush to get out the latest cool product without hammering out the details and practicality and interface. I'd rather wait until a more solid manufacturer like Apple gets everything right from the right transfer speed, charging, UI, software, etc. Sure it will be more expensive, but I'll probably buy it in the long run anyway.
can't sleep. clowns will eat me.
all of it (it's actually 18GB in the 1GB=2^20 sense).
And for your bonus question, all of it is legal. I've already filled ~60GB of space with 500 CD collection (mostly encoded with lame --preset standard, a few encoded with lame -b 192 when I didn't know better), the rest of it is free stuff like C64 remixes, stuff off MP3.com, Machinae Supremacy, etc.
Then they will be worth while. until then ill just get a laptop for a couple hundred more. Sure its bigger but it can play whatever digital formats I want.
Unfortunately RockBox only runs on the 1st gen Archos players. None of the new ones. I agree this was the best part about the Archos and I've bought two players from them because of it.
How much will it cost? Personally, investing $299 to buy an ipod seems a little pricey. If it costs anymore for all of these additions, it will be out of most people's spending range. Who really wants to walk around with a video in their hands anyways?
They have over 300 feature movies from the public domain which can be downloaded legally, and their collection is growing. I downloaded them all in 320x240 mp4 format- about 45GB.They offer different formats, high resolution, mpeg2 files are also available. The mp4 files have sizes between 150-200MB and the mpeg 2 files about 2-3.5GB. The download rate is EXCELLENT, I managed to suck up to 3.5MB/second! (on a 100mbps connection, under Suse 9.0/9.1)
Most files contain old black and white drama, western, mistery and sf movies. Abour 25-30 movies are in color. They also have a few mathematics lectures, (about 10GB, in 320x240 mp4 format, I downloaded them all) over 400 Computer Chronicles episodes (I downloaded about 20),I have the whole collection (65GB) on a 80 pocket firewire/USB2 drive The funny part is that I purchased some of these movies on DVD before knowing about archive.org and the dvd versions always contain the FBI warning that it is illegal to copy them, despite the fact that they are in the public domain! The publishers are EXTREMELY GREEDY, and want to be the only ones which make money from the public domain. Anyway if you want to get some old movies, check the archive.org list first, dont rush buying DVDs.
they are all big and heavy devices weighing in at around 3/4 of a pound.
3/4 of a pound is heavy? Don't be such a little bitch. That is NOT heavy.
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
No Ogg support - WTF, this thing runs Linux doesn't it?
And 20Gb for $400 - you're better off getting an iRiver.
#include <sig.h>
Whaat what what? 30? What kind of 90 pound weakling was that? My monitor probably weighs more than HE did. A Sun Microsystems branded 21" Sony trinitron. THAT'S a heavy monitor.
The iPod's success isn't _just_ because it's small and light. Nor is it just because it's the trendy thing. It did two things perfectly right and that's why it's managed to gain so much marketshare.
1. The interface. It's downright brilliantly intuitive. Especially the click-wheel on the 4Gs. You can't help but feel just how right Apple got the interface every time you use it. Never before has so much functionality been jammed into so few buttons. You look at some of the other players out there and boggle at how _less_ usable they are despite having several times more buttons.
2. iTunes. No hard drive based MP3 player is ever going to be able to compete against the iPod until it comes packaged with an audio player with the power and flexibility of iTunes. You can add capacity, fancy screens, or what have you, but unless there's something as plug-and-go as iTunes to get the music onto it it's not going to fly. I'm not even talking about the iTunes music store, I'm just talking about smart things like smart playlists, party shuffle, and other ways of easily and powerfully customizing how your music plays. When all of that functionaltiy can then be transferred right over to your portable player as well _then_ you've got a winner. Previous attempts at playlist management were always clunky and unrefined and often not worth the effort. Dynamically updating lists based on infinitely customizable triggers is a huge evolutionary leap.
I just bought a 20gig 4G iPod earlier this month. It cost too much, but I can say without reservation it was worth it. Oxymoronic, I know, but it's the truth. It's the best value for your money and the little extras make you feel like you got your moneys worth even though you know you spent too much. There's nothing out there, yet, that can compete, and I really don't think anything will until my points above are satisfied.
in the article:
Of course all of their digital media players (music/still photos/video) since the Archos AV100 series have a color screen, but this time the menu system for selecting tracks is in color. Nice, but no big deal.
They have had color screens (and video) since the original Jukebox Multimedia player. Then came the JBM 20, then the AV's.
When I read the title, I thought this was a music player that google was releasing...
Archos Gmini400 - CNET Review
archos can claim anything they like, but they're wrong. the iriver was the first player with a color screen, not the archos. the iriver h300 series has been shipping for several months now.
Why is a $299 iPod pricey but a $274 Sony 400-Disc MegaStorage CD Changer is not?
Why is a $299 iPod pricey but 50gb of music CDs is not?
Why is a $299 iPod pricey but a $499 Alpine CDA-9833 car CD Player is not?
Why is a $299 iPod pricey but a $349 Pioneer 600W 5.1-Ch. Home Theater System w/5-Disc P.-Scan SACD/DVD-Audio/MP3/DVD Player is not?
GPL Deconstructed
If you look at the specs, it has composite video out.
I personally would have liked to have seen SVideo or DVI (or Mini-DVI, or what ever that funky new HDTV connector is called).
Does anyone have one to crack open? I'm interested in what chipset it uses for divx/xvid decoding and to drive the LCD. It has to be some sort of existing dedicated chipset, or at least a somewhat affordable programmable setup. I don't think they could have designed their own custom chipset, included a color LCD, used a 1.8" hard drive, and still keep the price this low. I doubt they sell enough units to get the same volume discount Apple gets when ordering parts to build its iPods.
My brother is a DJ and I'm a VJ
I know what a Disc Jockey is, but what's a VJ?
The reason: I already keep my DVDs in a travel case. If this gadget can replace that, I'll gladly dump the movies to it and use that instead.
A firewall can not protect you from yourself. Turn off what you do not need. Do not use the firewall to do your work.
I'm just talking about smart things like smart playlists, party shuffle, and other ways of easily and powerfully customizing how your music plays.
Yes yes yes, iTunes is reasonable in these areas, but it's still playing catch up to Media Center's more flexible, refined and downright powerful implementation of these things, is coming from a long way behind, and has a long way to go. iTunes doesn't even support multimedia, which for a multimedia handheld the subject of this posting, is a bit of an oversight!
Da Blog
"Plus it still doesn't have iTunes, which is huge.
No, but you will have Media Center, which is way cooler anyway anyhow. How useful would iTunes, currently a non-multimedia software with very limited codec and transcoding support, actually be for a multimedia handheld?
Da Blog
I kinda hope I didn't burn myself, but this has got to be too good to be true: there's a "new" dealer on Amazon who claims to sell 15GB iPods for $75.o rm/002-9329946-3576057/
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-f
They have absolutely no feedback or record at all. It smells to high heaven. However, Amazon has a guarantee. If this dealer doesn't come through, I'll put in a claim.
Anyone else ever bought anything like this before from Amazon ?
Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
The link didn't come out right, sorry bout that.
Not sure why it won't work, but if you're geniunely curious, just go to amazon.com and do a search on iPod, it'll come up on the page. The seller is bedu seller.
Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
take a look @ this for example.
Does your digital stills camera use CompactFlash cards? If so, then yes, you have a winner.
Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
will they need alternative firmware? see http:/www.donat.org/archos
The ZVUE
Now that 1 Gig SD cards are $140 who needs a hard disk.
It plays 1.5 MB/minute so a 256 MB SD card holds a movie and a half.
the iriver h300 series has been shipping for several months
And Archos has been shipping the AV series (and their predecessor the Jukebox Multimedia series) for months before that, years even.
Still doesn't explain why they would claim that the Gmini 400 is the first, unless for some reason they consider the AV/JBMM models to be some other kind of device...