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Archos PMA400 Linux Based Media Portable
freitasm writes "The new Archos PMA400 is a Linux based portable- entertainment/PDA/DVR/Internet device. It comes with wireless and ethernet LAN connections, plays Mophun and Qtopia and supports Microsoft DRM protected files (WMV, WMA).
The company will release a SDK on its dedicated website sometime before the end of January 2005. The device will retail for around US$800."
The display is a 3.5" TFT transflective touch screen (QVGA) 320x240 pixels, 262,000 colors and TV output. Archos says it can play up to 4 hours for video playback or 9.5 hours for music. A removable battery option is available. The unit is approximately 125 x 78 x 20 mm (4.9" x 3.1" x 0.8") and weighs 280 g (9.9 oz).
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I have an 80GB Archos AV400 that I received for a Christmas present this year. A couple of things annoy me about the unit but that would happen with anything... The UI takes about 15 minutes to get used to as I really haven't encountered anything like it. Even after having it for three weeks I still find myself fumbling with the keys. The player display is very simple and tells me what I need to know but I would really prefer options to repeat one track/all tracks/etc right on the player screen itself rather than having to go into the setup each time to change these options.
The AV400 doesn't seem to have a removable battery which is worrisome as in my experience batteries start losing their charge after a year and if I am not able to replace it that would suck, bad. As far as length of play... The AV400 seems to easily get 15+ hours to a charge for music. I haven't been able to give it thorough testing on video playback and battery life yet though.
I love the fact that you can record *and* playback to TV. I am currently waiting for Tivo2Go's Tivo update to come down to my unit but until then I use the "Record to VCR" option on my Tivo to play the episodes and I use the Archos to record them. It's nice because I can watch the Tivo'd episodes anywhere in the house or bring them along with me.
It does play WMV DRM media and that's what it uses when you record a DVD to it. It's a bit annoying that you can't record a DVD and play it back elsewhere (it physically disabled the TV-out when you try) but other than ripping to AVI you really have little choice.
I haven't tried to use it to connect to my satellite receiver but knowing the issues I had trying to use the IR channel changer from Tivo I could only imagine the Archos wouldn't interface well either.
The LCD screen is nice on mine but it gets finger smudges all the time. I'd really like to see how well this Archos unit handles being a touchscreen. It might get ugly. I have one bad pixel (which is common) and I only notice it when playing movies but for the screen size it's pretty annoying. Maybe Toshiba can back these units too?
The AV400 comes with a CF expansion slot, currently used for picture retrieval, but I really wish they would allow for some wireless CF card integration. It would be VERY cool to be able to network via wifi instead of USB and surf the web and check email as the newer unit allows
All in all, I'm impressed with my Archos and I would recommend it to anyone that's looking into a portable media player that does more than just play music and display photos.
Like my old Jukebox Multimedia 20, it will be overly large, have horrible horrible build quality, require ripping movies in bizzare formats with hard to find utilities, and have just enough battery life to turn on before turning off again. Not to mention buggy firmware, slow product support, incompetent technical support (when the actually respond) and a slew of vaporware... have fun with your toys kids.
This thing looks really cool... I mean awesome, except for two things.
First, it's $800. Second, it has a 320x240 screen. Who wants a screen that small anymore? You get better resolution on any $100 Palm now...
I can get powerful laptops at this price.
Is there a market for a device that's more capable than a $100-200 PDA and less capable than a $1000 laptop? Of course I want one, but does anyone need one of these?
Disclaimer: I work for a company, but I don't speak for them.
but will it run Windows Mobile ?
"System requirements: PC: Pentium® III 800 MHz or higher, Windows 98 SE (with driver downloaded from ARCHOS web-site), ME, 2000 or XP. 64 MB RAM (128 MB recommended) with USB port and CD-ROM drive Mac: 9.2 or X (10.2.4) USB Manager version 1.2 or higher with USB port and CD-ROM drive "
...runs linux but requires windows/mac. :(
What the hell does it matter?
<rant>
I don't give a damn who posts what, or who makes money from something.
If something interests me, I'll have a look.
Its not like I have to get my credit card and sign my life away.
Adverts are all around you, do you spend time cutting evil adverts out of newspapers before you read them?
Do you close your eyes whilst driving past billboards?
Your just an arrogant tosser who can't see the wood for the trees. Slashdot is built JUST like Roland or anyone elses "advert supported blog", except slashdot editors dont even find the articles, they leave it upto the readers.
At least people like Roland seem to have their finger on the pulse, and find decent interesting articles for the rest of us to discuss.
</rant>
liqbase
It doesn't play Qtopia; it runs Qtopia. Qtopia isn't a media format but rather a smallish environment, meant for handhelds, based on Qt/Embedded.