Review of the Archos 604 Wifi 30GB Hard Drive Portable Media Player
 £157.45 Your Best Buy |  £157.45 |
Imagine a donut, without jam or sugar, it just wouldn't get your tastebuds going. Well, now consider the Archos 604 without WiFi and a touchscreen and tell me you’d still find it tasty. Archos have supplied their latest 604 portable media player with a few groovy gadgets to get us going. Design |
| Archos have kept to the same design as the 30GB 604 model, with a slimline design and 4.3” screen, but this time it reacts to touch. Or if you don’t want to get your greasy mitts all over it, you can use one of the two styli provided. There is a 3.5 stereo headphone jack and TV output, but you’ll need to buy an AV cable separately. Other connections are for the DVR station, and other optional adaptors. It measures 133 x 78 x 16mm, and weighs in at 290g. |
| Features |
| For a top of the range portable media player, the 604 WiFi has an average amount of features to boast about. It’s 30GB hard drive can store up to 85 movies, 300,000 photos, or 15,000 songs. So you’ll need a screen that gives you the best images and picture performance. That’s why Archos have given the 604 WiFi one of the brightest touch screens around, with 16 million colours, and 480 x 272 pixel resolution. Using a high speed 2.0 USB you won’t have to wait around to view your uploaded files on the device either. Archos have used a 802.11g WiFi connection alongside the Opera browser for web browsing. Compatibility for video and audio playback is impressive, with MPEG-4, WMV, MP3, WAV, WMA and protected WMA. If that’s not enough for you, there are optional plug-ins available, giving you the chance to listen to AAC and AC3 files. For viewing photos, the Archos 604 WiFi supports JPEG, BMP and PNG files. You can download or rent videos and music from online stores. For viewing photos there is a zoom option, and you can also add music and change the side transition to your liking too. When music is playing the screen displays the track, artist, album and album cover. If you are interested in what the 604 WiFi offers in the less recreational activities area, you will be glad to know you can read PDF documents. Voice recording could also come in handy for saving little memos for yourself. The lithium-Ion polymer battery is removable, and charges via a computer USB port, or even faster with the DVR docking station or docking adapter. Archos offer a large choice of convenient accessories for TV recording, direct digital photo transfers, and hands-free video capturing. Check out their website for more info. |
| Performance |
| We were more than happy with Archos 604 WiFi’s quick and responsive performance. Using the stylus was great, and very precise. Even after using a fingertip, the screen didn’t have too much distracting residue on the screen. We loved the large colourful screen, delivering some of the brightest and sharpest images we’ve seen on a portable media player. All applications opened quickly and acted promptly when asked to complete a request. The menu system is vast, offering all the necessary options, and is easy to navigate too. We managed to get 14.75 hours of music playback, and 4.25 hours of video playback which was fairly good. The powerful sound provided us with clear dialogue, and plenty of bass. |
| In the Box |
Archos 604 WiFi Headphones Dedicated 2.0 USB cable DVR station adapter Pouch QSG Legal and safety notice 2 Styli |
| Overall Opinion |
| We liked the previous Archos 604 (the no-frills donut) so you can imagine how happy we are now we’ve got the jam and sugar. Having WiFi and a touchscreen has brought Archos into the future of portable media players, and they have really succeeded with the Archos 604 WiFi. You can expect to pay around £300 for this model, which is maybe a bit on the expensive side. |
| By Lisa Malyon |
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Pros + WiFi enabled + 4.3” Touch Screen + Ability to read PDF files + Slimline design + 30 GB |
Cons - Accessories can be expensive |
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Overall Rating 
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By Lisa Malyon
24/11/2006 at 2:38:20pm
24/11/2006 at 2:38:20pm
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