Customer Reviews
Best MP4 player money can buy 
2008-07-09
I have bought my Archos 605 WiFi 160 Gb brand new from Amazone and it was best price I could find on the web. I works perfectly, I keep all my favorite movies to watch whenever I have time and mood for this. I use it to browse internet, too. I love this player for screen quality that is much bigger and better than my Ipod's. I recommend it to anyone who travels a lot and likes watching movies anywhere.
Archos 605 Wi-Fi 160GB 
2008-07-07
The Archos 605 Wi-Fi 160GB is a great personal media player, but there are a few design flaws that need to be addressed. I'm afraid that the design of the control buttons that are along the right side are fragile enough to be accidentally pulled loose under the right conditions, and to replace the battery, you need to send the unit in. The pullout stand on the back of the unit is a little weak, but works great. The interface is a little slow, and i'm still trying to figure out all the functions. The instruction manual is in 5 languages, but still doesn't give you all the information you need. However, the screen is awesome for both pics and video, and it hold my whole CD collection with lots of room to spare for video and pictures. The headphones sound great, but the exteral speaker is a little weak. Definately would recommend, but would probably save my money and get the 30GB if I had to do over again and if the price is right.
Do not buy Archos products 
2008-07-03
If you buy a product from this company you are in for a real headache. Their products are glitchy when working, they break easily, and their customer service is HORRIBLE. I bought a unit from them that I had to send back twice within the first seven months of ownership. The second time they had me send the unit in, I was told "Oh yeah your warranty covers this". After multiple calls my unit was supposed to be fixed and sent back to me, after a few weeks I never received my product, so I call again to speak to a manager who tells me that the warranty does not cover my product, and I would have to pay an additional $250, to which I replied, "No Way". When I asked about the four people that told me I was covered under warranty the only reply I got was generic call center jargon and apologies. Do yourself a favor and stay far away from this company.
Very good but some flaws 2008-06-23
I like my Archos 605 wifi (160gb) it plays most video files, all mp3s and it displays PDF files (slowly if they are in color).
Overall I would give it a 8.5 out of 10.
The ability to display PDFs is nice but I really wish the player was better built. A highly colored PDF page can take 20-30 seconds to load.
The ability to record via the DVR dock (not included) is great BUT the recorded avi's are in a DRM encoded format and cannot be viewed on a computer (I have yet to find a decoder)
The wifi web browser is nice but its an extra you have to purchase.
If you want the Archos 605 with all the bells and whistles expect to shell out an extra 100$ or so in add-ons.
I would have preferred a "deluxe" model with everything included.
love it 2008-06-17
I've always been a user of the Apple Ipods since they first came out. I still own 3 of them! I don't really consider those portable video players. Watching movies on such a small screen? No thanks!
I don't want this to turn into an Archos vs Ipod Touch review, but I have to point this out. I recently purchased an Ipod Touch 32gb version and could not even get myself to open the package. I ended up spending a ton on it and felt that for what I needed it just would not do the job and returned it. For MY use, 32gb is not enough. I understand it's expensive, because it's a flash drive and made by Apple. It's also really cool, so i'm supposed to pay more for that I guess. I know that sounds dumb, but yes, the Ipod Touch IS pretty cool.
Picked up the Archos and plugged it into my Computer. No drivers to install AT ALL! Took me hours to get my music and video collection organized with Windows Media Player, but that's my own problem. It turns out that you don't even need to use Media Player to copy files over. Nice! That's what I prefer.
The price isn't that good and after all the small "upgrades" of codecs you can buy, it probably comes out to a little less than a 32gb IPOD. I haven't added it all up.
Yes, they do "nickle and dime" you, but it's not as if they're forcing you to buy stuff you don't need. The most annoying thing is making an XVID movie with ACC sound, only to find out that it won't play due to needing a thirty dollar codec download. Stupid thing won't even play without sound! Geez, at least play the video and disable the sound. I had to instead either A) Buy the codec or add in mp3 sound. Second most annoying thing is actually telling you in the device that you can buy a codec for playback.
Charging the device via USB is a pain. It's slow. It's almost if they mean to make it slow just to get you to buy the dock charger. That's another thirty or so.
The orange menu icons are ugly and the interface is a bit "clunky" as someone pointed out. At least you can change the background. They also could simplify the display by turning off certain menu items. Simple is good.
Seriously, I can't possibly going into details as to how many things this thing can do. There is NO WAY EVER the Ipod Touch can match it. I could play around for hours it seems like.
Here's the coolest thing I didn't know about this device before buying it. You can setup and share video on your PC with TVERSITY or Windows Media Player and connect to it with this device! 160gb not enough? You can access all your media on your PC with this device if you wanted.
Now onto more negatives. The web browser is slow. It's not my connection. Browsing webpages is slow, yet playing youtube videos is perfectly fine!
Another VERY BIG negative is that this doesn't seem to support any lossless audio codecs that i'm aware of. There is WAVE format, but that's a HUGE waste of space. Could they at least offer FLAC support?
It's also a pain converting all my Itunes music over. For some of them, i'd have to burn them to CD and encode them to WAV and then to mp3. Not the players problems, but it is hard going without Itunes at first, but that's something i'd like to get used to.
I find it funny how people who love the IPOD touch say such negative things about the Archos. The one thing they seem to mention first is the size and how it's like a huge brick. Sure, it's large, but did anyone ever complain about how portable CD players were so large and a pain to carry around? No. This can still fit in a pocket and it's not that large. Obviously, you probably wouldn't want to go running or to the gym with this thing. For that, i'd go with something else. I find this to be more of a portable video player more so than a regular music player.
I do play a lot of WAVE files on this and even with a portable headphone amp, it does not seem to power my AKG 701 headphones as well as the IPOD Classic. I just wish the volume could go up a little higher.
I have to mention the touch capabilities. I honestly don't use them really, so I can't comment. I just use the buttons.
When playing a video, it takes 3-5 whole seconds to load. Oh Darn, better not buy this! Get an ipod, it will play them in 2!
I don't know if this is for everyone. It depends on what you need. If you want a music only player, then there is no point to get this probably. I actually now like to watch movies on this. Never really did that with the IPOD classic I still have and use.
Now all they need is a remote for TV usage and a Sound Dock like they do for the Ipod.
6-29-2008 UPDATE:
Unfortunately I am forced to return this. I REALLY wish I didn't have to. Three times now I have turned the device on and it freezes up. Once it would scan all my files and then reboot. Turn it on and it does this again.
Last night I connected it to my PC and it was not detected. Tried again and it went into an endless connected/disconnected state. Another time it shows a drive letter for the device, but will not let me access it. My PC is unchanged and not the problem. I did a factory restore of the device and now it was not even detected on any PC.
It's too bad and I really liked the thing. I may just delete the review, but I haven't decided yet.
So now I have a Dock and sixty dollars worth of upgrades that are useless to me now.
WORTH EVERY PENNY!!!!!!! 2008-07-24
AFTER CAREFUL CONSIDERATION BETWEEN THE APPLE & ARCHOS, I HAD TO GO W/ THE ARCHOS. HERE'S WHY PLAIN & SIMPLE: PICTURE - NO SYSTEM OUT THERE NOW CAN BEAT THE COLOR & CLARITY, 160GB - PLENTY OF ROOM FOR ALL MY CD'S & MOVIES, IN THE PAST I CAN'T BEGIN TO TELL YOU HOW MANY TIMES I HAD TO DELETE ITEMS JUST SO I COULD ADD A NEW CD TO MY COLLECTION, TOUCH SCREEN - ALTHOUGH NOT AS SMOOTH AS APPLE'S, YOU'LL HAVE NO PROBLEM NAVIGATING THRU THE SYSTEM, TRANFERRING FILES - DROP & CLICK. PRICE - APPLE WANTS ALMOST $400 FOR A 16 GIG. YES A 16 GIG!!!! DO YOURSELF A FAVOR P/U THE ARCHOS.
PMP on steroids 2008-07-19
I am an owner of both this product and its predecessor, the 604. And I have to say that it seems that Archos has listened to user complaints and gripes, but has also made a few new mistakes.
The good side of things is that almost everything has been improved over the 604 which was a very good portable media player and probably the best one out before this device (that includes the video iPod and iPod touch). The most evident thing once you turn it on is the screen resolution. It absolutely blows the everything else away. The resolution is 800x480 which is better than standard def tv. Its almost like having portable high definition, because anything more on a screen of that size would seem unnecessary. In a way, this also comes with the same welcome problem of a real high def tv, finding portable media that takes advantage of this screen.
The overall design seems to be much improved as well, while the 604 had a very strong gunmetal paint scheme. The 605 must have taken some pointers form Apple and now has a lighter design, with a lighter gray face plate and off-white buttons. The buttons are the best design improvement, as they are now contoured so that you can tell what is what without looking.
Another immediately noticeable aspect is the much bulkier size and heavier weight (at least for 160GB version), which is to be expected. The 604 was never terribly portable, as far as sticking in your shirt or pants pocket and walking around with it goes. It's meant to be taken places, not used while you're going somewhere. A good analogy would be to treat it like you would a PSP or Nintendo DS. You could use them while traveling, like on a bus or passenger seat of a car, on an airplane or while waiting for those things, but it wouldn't be a good idea to use them while you're walking or while you are driving your car (even if you're listening to music, fumbling with it might not be very safe).
For the drawback of having such a meaty design, it is countered by having much more storage, the most for a pmp, actually. 160GB can hold entire music collections, pretty much all of most people's photos and still have plenty of room for lots of movies, tv shows and audio & video podcasts (supported with highly recommended plug-in). I'm a pretty heavy user of this device and I have put thousands of photos, hundreds of songs (which make practically no dent in the hard drive space) and at the moment 410 different video files, including movies, podcasts and tv episodes and I still have 40% left on the hard drive. All this storage comes at a much better price than the 604 did. I bought that for $414 at the time. The 160GB 605 cost me $319.
The web browser is the next major improvement. The larger screen helps a lot when it comes to web browsing and the stronger processor shows when switching and loading web pages. Youtube browsing is still a bit slow and overrated, most of the time you're just better served waiting until you get home or saving a video rather than searching and streaming it. The 605 acts somewhat quirky when you start using it, but that should be improved with more firmware updates. (Note: you need to purchase the web-browser plug-in from Archos.com to use it.)
Bonuses that now come with the web browser plug-in are now free widgets and some games(currently available @ Archos.com for $9.99 for a pack of 4). These additions aren't necessary, but are a nice addition. I enjoy the "Bejeweled" rip-off Tactic 2: Vitamin and the No-Limit Texas Hold'Em games. Oh, & Sudoku, I know alot of people like Sudoku and it is there in all its touch screen goodness.
Widgets are nice way of adding some PDA functionality to this normally media heavy device. The Widgets go from mildly useful to pretty much useless, Currency and Unit Converters are useful tools that you might not find on your cell phone, Data Vault and Notes writer are a good tools for saving information and data vault makes what you write password protected. Calculator and Calendar widgets are not really useful as you probably have this stuff on your cell and it probably is more easily accessed. While World Factbook and Weather Forecast are just about useless (Factbook seems to take way too long to load so skip it, and Weather Forecast is useless for smaller cities).
The final two major improvements I'll mention are the greatly improved speaker and its volume level the ability to add parental control to your video and photo files. The speakers are much louder and clearer now. So while headphones are still highly recommended (the ones included are actually passable), now you can share music and video with people around you without having the room completely silent. The Parental Control hides files or folders that have been labeled adult content until the password protected Parental Control is lifted.
As for the bad side of the 605, it basically comes down to the battery. With the improved performance of the device and the resolution and the web browsing, you expect the battery life to take a hit. But some choices just seem unacceptable. The battery is NOT removeable, they must have taken some bad pointers from Apple on this one. When this battery goes down, you are going to have to ship it back to the manufacturer, which many 604 owners might know is a VERY unpleasant experience. It usually costs money because the warranty only lasts a year for the brand new units and the battery eventually is going to die after that. That costs money and no matter how good the service, no one likes to lose their favorite device for a couple of days to a couple of weeks. A VERY bad choice.
Another major gripe about the battery is the choice they give you to charge it, the USB cable. With a normal tiny cell phone it already takes a long time. With the powerhouse 605, it takes most of the day! The USB cable is ONLY good for charging. Read that sentence more than once, because you do not want to be watching video and/or web browsing for a few hours and then spend the rest of the day charging the device. It will basically amount to watching one movie and doing a few other small tasks on the 605 before its time to put it down for rest. Get the DVR station here or refurbished from Archos as soon as you order this or any one of the other Archos peripherals for charging the device (preferably with a wall charger or at least the battery docking adapter ).
On a final small note: the case is also not very useful. It offers little protection from falls (do NOT drop this device) and the 605 can easily slip out. Spend money on a leather case if you can.
Overall, I have to say the 160GB 605 is the very best pmp on the market right now. It has massive storage, plays many different formats of video and audio (w/ optional plug-ins) and photo, can work as a basic PDA with widgets and can even play games. It is perfect to take on a vacation or over to someone's house to share media or even to take with you to someplace very boring. It is expensive, but a good useful investment if you think you could use this sort of thing. Think of it as a device in between a laptop and a MP3 player and you should be able to figure out if you really could use this device or not. For those who already own a 604 and are wondering whether they should upgrade to a 605, my answer is yes. It doesn't have to be the 160GB version, it could be 80 or lighter 30GB, but it is definitely a great improvement.
If you love static, get one! 
2008-07-15
This is my second unit in a year and Archos has obviously not solved the static problem. I waited 9 months to get the second one, thinking they would have the bugs worked out. That was a mistake! The problem occurs when streaming media over wifi while using headphones. It's totally unbearable. I sent this second unit in for repair and after 3+ weeks, have the same problem. If you don't intend on using the wifi feature to stream your videos/music while using headphones then by all means go for it!
Regret buying 2008-07-14
The 605 looked nice the few minets it work, the first thing I did when I got it was to install the firmware update, after that it no longer worked. I've returned it to amazon just waiting now for my refund. Took seconds to buy but I probably won't see my money back for weeks. From all the reviews Archos is not a good product and if you have to deal with Archos customer support it seems your really going to regret buying one.
Archos 605 Wi-Fi Portable Media Player (160 GB) 2008-07-10
Hard to understand owners manuel. Had to call the company 3 times with questions. Awesome, after I got to know it.
