Archos 5 120 GB Internet Media Tablet

I bought this fabulous device for myself in September 08 because I was looking for an alternative to a laptop computer that would have cost me a lot more. I wanted to find something that wasn't a child of the uber rich Microsoft or Apple devices. I wanted something to play video (avi's too), music, showcase my art work images, and to be able to connect to the internet for things I needed/wanted. I don't consider myself a computer "techie" and I found this device to be easy to use. I bought if from amazon and got the 120 gb version. I showed my soon to arrive purchase to a friend of mine who is very computer literate and his interest was on high alert. When my imt arrived we both were quickly enamored with the design, feel and most impressed with the memory capability. I continue to show friends and they were all equally impressed with the video presentation and with the lightness of the device. Peoples jaws dropped when I told them of the 120 g memory. (I even love how Archos taunts the buyer saying "just try and fill it up".)
Before making my purchase I went to the archos website and looked at the full video tutorial and I was enamored. My Archos 5 connects easily and quickly to wireless and the Opera powered internet browser is fantastic. I can dowload converted files, keep up on NPR related things of interest and download quickly directly to my device. While I waited for my devise I checked out youtube to see other Archos fans enthusiasm. Bravo Archos! I look forward to the hopefully soon to come satellite tv antenna and the ability to connect without a wireless connection. I did buy the $100 DVR docking station and it acts a faster charger for the device as well as the ability to connect to a tv and record directly onto the device. (No need for a DVR of any kind from Direct TV, or Tivo, this baby even has a program record option). I'm still trying to come up with a name for my baby, but she's been good to me so far. Batman on the go, the Oblongs, 30 Rock, Battlestar Galactica, the Lword, and I've started to convert some favorite DVDs onto it as well ... A smart, well made device perfectly suited to a variety of needs/wants.

Pros: Ease of use, Compact design, Massive storage space

Cons: Playback software should have been included, Where's the plug-in charger for the 5-series? Excellent product, but buyers shouldn't feel like they're being nickle & dimed for things that should come STANDARD with the player.

Idea for the future: Two Words-BUNDLE Packages. If you want to pick up T.V. reception, sell the T.V. Bundle. You want the DVR functonality, sell the DVR Bundle. Extended Battery use? Sell the Battery Pack Bundle. We as customers would pay a little extra for the combos instead of buying the player & the docks seperately. Works for the XBOX 360 & PS3 right?

One Other Thing: Pack in the plug-in charger with the 5-series (Which is included with the 7-series). USB charging with the 5-series while packing in the normal plug in charger with the docks leaves a bad taste in the mouths of your customers.

When I was looking for a portable device, i was choosing between, Archos, Cowon, Apple, and the Nokia N810. After discovering the rather slow internet speeds on the Nokia and the Iphone/ Ipod Touch, I ruled those out. The Cowon products now on the market do not have nearly the same disk space as an Archos and they run a modified version of Windows Mobile 5, so they are very slow at times. I would suggest this Archos over the Archos 605 because of the increased internet and processing speed, the *slightly* improved speaker and the more responsive touch screen. This player looks very stylish and is smaller than I imagined. It fits in a pocket just as easily as an Ipod Classic. The kickstand is also a nice addition so you don't have to hold it or lean over ti to watch your videos. The operating system is fluent and logical and gives you unique options like saving certain videos, song, pictures, and files as bookmarks on your home screen. Some nice additions work very well, like the email is perfect for my gmail account. The pdf reader, however is very slow and has to load each page individually, even if you already loaded it. The flash player is very useful for me to play flash games and make small applications with. The widget actually let you add regular Opera widgets instead of the made-for-Archos ones. This is one of the few players that lets you rename, move, copy, and delete files, a big plus for me. Now for the internet browsing. Sites load very quickly, almost as quickly as my computer.Sites like Youtube, Gizmodo, Surfthechannel, and newyorktimes.com load in less than 3 seconds for me. Hulu doesn't appear to work, but similar sites like Surfthechannel do. The typing is very easy and I can easily get 65 words per minute. One thing I think the player can improve in is the lock function. You have to go to the Home screen, then press options, then press lock device to lock it. Then you have to press the power button, then tap the unlock button on the screen to unlock it. The sound quality is good and it allows 5.1 and 7.1 sound. Well, I hope this helps other people that are choosing a portable device.

Note: The earphones that come with the Archos are just slightly better than Apple earphones. Some people who care alot about audio qaulity would be disappointing by them. The speaker however, is a much higher quality than the Ipod Touch, but will be affected by static if you leave it on the carpet. Just keep it on a wooden table if you get a tinny sound from your speakers.

Beautiful, fast, light, and excellent screen. Although, Archos loves to nickle and dime you; have to purchase additional apps and plugins for higher quality videos and sound. The speaker is a little tacky, better on my Ipaq 210. Cant view word or PowerPoint which is a bummer, but the internet w/ opera mobile is fantastic, extremely fast and full web browser. I love the drag and drop capability, not having to deal w/ software like creative zen and apple ipods. It does attract finger prints but seriously who cares (get a screen protector). Battery is excellent which I found to be a shocker. Also, certain flash games work quite well. All in all I am happy w/ my archos, just hope archos continues to update it w/ additional features soon, like GPS capability so I don't have to get a separate GPS unit.

I Finally took the jump purchasing the Archos. Had a hard time deciding if I should get the 5 or the 7. I decided to try the 5 and consider getting the 7 at later time.

The Archos been around for a long time but I was not sold by the older Archos player design. The new archos IMT 5 has very sleek design and a very wonderfull and sharp screen. I still think Ipod touch has slightly better screen quality, but in my opinion the Archos beat the ipod in many categories.

What I like about the Archos:
I like the fact that I can plug the Archos to my PC without synching with any software. You can copy the file from your HD and paste them to Archos 5, as simple as copy and pasting file to a usb flash drive. There is of course option to sync it with windows media player. (I have not however try synching it with WMP or pluging this to a Mac). I also like the fact that it takes avi format, wmv, divx. Touch screen is very sensitive, but since I applied a screen protector on mine, I find it easier to use my nail instead of finger. Some Opera Widget can be use in the Archos and flash seems to work decent in the archos. I also like that the archos 5 has wifi, email client, Opera for web browsing (full web browsing), great viewing angle, plane mode, Adult and Child Mode (keep violent movie lock away from your child , this mode will completely hide the video file mark as adult content in child mode), pdf reader and allow browsing of directory with the ability to edit the file such as deleting it.

What I did not like about the Archos:
battery is not removeable, it is a bit heavy and it might not be ultra portable for some people, Web browser end the session once you go back to main screen, pdf reader is there but not very useable, it has to load every pages that you browse.... page 1 loading..... scroll to page 2... loading.... scroll back to page 1 loading.... good for 1 page pdf maps, or train schedule, etc. (Text is readable in IMT 5, however if you want to get the archos to do lots of pdf reading, wait at least until they make it better through firmware upgrade I hope). Other than free flash game that you find online, there is no free game made specifically for the archos 5. I do not like that they charges too much for codec. if they bring the price down to 9.99, I can guarantee, many people will be very willing to buy all the plugins. (for Vob, HiDef Video and H264).

Comparing to ipod touch:
I like archos 5 over ipod touch for watching movie, aside from the larger screen (rather unfair comparison), the archos accept srt file as subtitle, usefull because it allow you to turn it off and on instead of having it hardcoded.
I also like the archos for playing music because the archos allow you to create a playlist and arrange the order of the songs within the archos itself. You can also edit the playlist.
web browsing definitely better in archos as compared to ipod touch.
I have not purchase any game in archos 5 but I think ipod touch do better in this section.
support pdf although its lame but it works (better than not having support for it like the ipod touch)
Archos 5 does not compress the image file you transfer to it, if I am not mistaken the ipod touch compress it. (i have done it in iphone, but have not tried this yet in ipod touch)
Archos menu is good and make sense to ME, but i think ipod touch menu is pretier or 'sassier' whatever it is. I am stating this because I know some people def like the ipod touch menu better. (depending on the person i guess, I like both menu)
Both have alarm function - Ipod touch is better because it allow multiple alarm, archos only allow one and you can only set it by hours and minutes before the alarm sounds, whereelse the touch let you set it by clock or hours and minutes. The archos however allow you to use both music and video for the alarm.
Archos seems to have bad reputation with their customer service, Apple is much better with that department (I figure I mention this in case people experience RMA)
Archos uses HD you can choose from 60GB, 120GB, 250GB but you can feel the vibration form the hd spin wherelse the ipod touch uses flash, very silent, no vibration but since flash is still expensive, range is only between 8gb, 16gb and 32gb

Bottom line I think archos is for people who travel for longer time, like plane, long bus ride, long train ride, vacation and above all if you want to watch video, need large storage and you dont care so much about ultra portability, the archos 5 is for you. You should get the ipod touch though if you do short commute like 30 minutes train ride or bus, need the device to be ultra portable because you whiz around the metro area and keep your device in your pocket most of the time or you need to entertain yourself for short period of time with silly games or if you listen to music most of the time.