Archos 605 Wi-Fi Portable Media Player (160 GB)

If this product could do what it SAYS it could do, then I'd have no problems. I consider myself semi-savvy with technical gadgets; the problem is NO instructions!!! The instructions included are sketchy at best. Tech support??? Forget it. I was on hold for almost 1/2 hour, and a woman finally answered that rushed me off the phone. She spoke really fast and said that the agents were busy, but one of them would call me right back. 5 hours later, I'm writing this, and I still don't have a phone call back. Their recording warns people not to call on Monday or Friday because its their busiest days; I'm calling on a Wednesday night and can't get anyone. And the monotone recording of a man who continues to tell me how important my call is to Archos gets wildly annoying after 45 minutes. There's really no excuse for that.

I purchased this because I record a lot of things on my Dish network DVR, and Archos and Dish network have a partnership with this gadget - when you use the dvr to record your shows, you can download it "easily" to the Archos device. Problem is, there are NO instructions - you literally have to search them out on your own, scouring tech sites to put all the pieces together. They brag about their excellent customer service, but we consumers know better.

Finally, after reading countless forums, I was able to get it to work (on my own). I will update everyone after I am (finally) able to use the product, but like I said, I'm SO not impressed right now. User-friendly guides would be a great improvement. And a live chat feature would be handy as well - come on!!! Get into the new millenium!!!!!

When I compare this to my Gen 5 Apple ipod that recently died, I really like archos 605 a lot better. The touch screen works well with fingers or stylus and the operation is intuitive and easy to figure out. The money I saved from Amazon was staggering. On Jan 1 it was a deal of the day at $150. This is good because that $50 I saved will be used to buy the rest of the apps I need to do anything else other than music.
This thing has a lot of promise....after you buy a $30 web browser and a $19 set of movie codecs. There are the docking stations and chargers etc. It seems that archos wants your money and are willing to pretty much con you into buying something that can do a lot of things AFTER you finish paying for those things. I wouldn't have paid $200 plus for this as is. It will be worth $200 maybe after I have full functionality. Might also mention that the apps are only available from the Archos store. They don't take paypal or Amex.

I purchased the 80Gb 605 in Feb. of 2008 despite the reviews complaining of service/support after the purchase. This is a good unit..until it breaks. I sent my 605 in for a simple battery replacement Dec 10th,2008,was informed it would take 10 to 15 days to complete the repair and waited.The automated response to an RMA inquiry on the 29th of December indicated that although my RMA number was valid, my unit was not in the warehouse nor in shipping.Two calls to support and one email has left me with a promise to send tracking information..no such info as of Jan 7,2009. Just a warning to all, the complaints of poor service are true.

This could have been the best video player out there, but the product will break on you within a year. I already went through 2 of then, and I will no longer be an Archos customer after my experience. Until they improve their customer service and quality of products, stay away...far far away...

I bought the 605 wifi gps system which arrived only the next day. I tried to load up the DVD for the GPS only to realize that the 13 character map code was invalid. I called customer support to resolve the problem. After being on hold for 48 minutes a lady came on and promised to send me a new code within 24 hrs. Today is day 5 and I still cant get through to support/ customer service. On day 6 I was put on hold for 1 hr 17 minutes only to be cut off at the end. since then I have sent 7 e-mails but no reply. I have requested a return merchandise number but no reply and this is day 2. now i have the device but no gps and no ending solution to my problem. I would strongly advice people to stay away from this product (gps attachment) because there are too many unanswered questions which customer service/ support services are unwilling or unable to resolve.