Yeah...I didn't see anything about GPS or HSDPA 3G.

And what about Bluetooth? There was no mention of that at all either.

Chooch

if it had built in GPS and not some connection port (ie more clutter) Id buy it in a heartbeat as I frequently travel in several different company cars

oh well, the iPhone will make do for now....but damn it if that thing aint awesome as all hell

Jakelshark

@ripfire: PMPin' ain't easy.

DMF

The base model costs just as much as a netbook.

FinalValgas

@Lobaba:

uhmm...Archos plays DivX and Avi... they even play .vob files!

jcrockerman

hmm...is the screen glossy??? or matte like the 605? I have an Archos 605 and an iPhone..and boy is the iphone screen sexxxy

jcrockerman

@Benny Goldman: Cool beans, just wanted to confirm.

Tim Faulkner

Supports Mac OS X. It's a contenda....

Kaiser-Machead's WALL-E fetish

Does it really have GPS? They don't mention that anywhere on the Archos site. If this thing did navigation, I'd buy one right away.

Lev_Astov

mmm, just ordered a refurbed Touch 16 gig... but heck, it was 250; however, 250 gig hdd, 7", touchscreen, HSPDA, GPS - that sounds like what I want my spec list for the iPad to read like

yogibimbi

How about AVI? Or DIVX? Hm? Codec wise, cowon A3 still trumps Archos.

Lobaba

I want to see some nice handhelds with a good ole' CRT monitor on them - bring back the soul and nostalgia in these products.

comfortablesofa

Does the touchscreen support multi-touch, or whatever they call the capabilities of the iPod touch touchscreen?

BlindEagle

no built in gps/bluetooth? ... sounds like a 605 wifi with cosmetic changes mostly

king_of_fools

@Tim Faulkner: Used baby, used, updated with that info, good eye.

Benny Goldman

@albokay: "Insert SIM card" *Play tada.wav*

ripfire

"The interface on the 5G is incredibly smooth, scrolling is similar to the iPod touch."

Have you actually used it, or are you just reading their press release?

Tim Faulkner

wow. how will it work with 3g?

albokay

So with the wi-fi and 3g connectivity, is one able to download movies directly to the unit and playback without using a computer for conversion?

chonnes

damn..my Archos 605 looks like a fat ugly gray monster....

*cries*

jcrockerman

Oooh, that's PMPin.

ripfire

but...does it make a statement?

helldiver

Drool!

Grifter

The Archos 5G should be sold through cell phone HSDPA carriers as well, which means it could be subsidized if you sign a 6-month or 2-year HSDPA data service subscription. So the Archos 5G with carrier contract could be made available at much cheaper with a HSDPA subscription then the unlocked price.

Archos has confirmed they have a carrier partnership for France and with one other carrier based in Europe so far. But more of such carrier partnerships could be signed quickly if the initial Archos 5 release is a hit.

Charbax2

Archos 5G has HSDPA built-in, Archos 5 and Archos 7 need HSDPA dongle to get HSDPA feature.

Archos has the GPS in-car holder which probably work for all of these for in-car navigation.

The Archos 5G, since it has HSDPA built-in, might even have built-in A-GPS type of positionning, the same type of GPS that would be in the iPhone 3G, but that is not yet confirmed. It's just my deduction given built-in A-GPS is fairly standard with HSDPA chipsets.

Anyways, you can use GPS navigation in the car using the GPS Dock.

Charbax2

.

str88f

Stunningly sexy, crazysexy French... But, as someone mentioned: it costs as much as a netbook. That's a major downside

str88f

.... I like how on the Archos website, if you look at the features and such.... it basically takes a direct STAB at the iPod Touch.

... WAY TO GO ARCHOS!!!

not sarcasm either. can't stand the Touch. very little space for a lot of money... mostly just because of the asthetics (which now Archos is damn near matching), and the Apple logo.

ElementalDragon

Man, with the .pdf capabilities and its other file support, that thing could kill the iPod and the Kindle all in one go. Can you download .pdfs using it? Because if so, it's like Whispernet without the proprietary nature.

Plus, 250gb ftw! Finally, someone gets it. Maybe I can give up iTunes and carry my music around with me. Woo!

Will Entrekin

@Lev_Astov: No, I lied. Yes it does, via a dock connector, as explained in the post.

@Chooch: Check out Archos for more details on the 3G, but that info came from the source.

Bluetooth wasn't mentioned because, SURPRISE!, we're not in the business of making stuff up. The Archos doesn't have Bluetooth.

Benny Goldman

I want that. Touching me. All. Over.

mhlaxp

@thehackerdude: that seems kinda dumb to me, since you'd be giving up hard drive space (well, dpending on your model)and DVR functionality (assuming you're using that).

Zlevee

You know Benny, I agree the Gen 5 devices weren't as sleek, but they were also touchscreen devices so you didn't have to use the buttons (just saying, though obviously that makes it that much more retarded to have had buttons to begin with).

@chonnes: yeah, and actually even with the genneration 5 ones you could download movies directly 'cause those had WiFi and a browser.

@Lev_Astov: GPS only works with the optional vehicle dock. On foot it's reduced to just being a map.

Zlevee

Have to say I can possibly see myself losing the iPhone for an Android device and picking up one of these. I'm sure their Opera implementation isn't as slick as mobile Safari, but man... this device is just the sex. Wow.

wild homes loves you but chooses darkness!

I don't want to be a member of any media club that would have me as a member.

mcdj

@str88f: The 16gb iPod Touch costs more than this in its 60gb incarnation, so I'm not sure what you or the other "netbook" commenter have a problem with.

Will Entrekin

Hrm, not much improved over the 5th gen series that are immediately obvious, while the 5th gen had significant improvements over the 4th gen.

E.g. - 5th gen had Flash Video and Flash support, 800x480 screen (vs. QVGA, except 7 series), USB 2.0 host and client (4th had only 1.1 host, 2.0 client).

The only big thing I see here is that it can do 720p DivX (MPEG-4 ASP) and WMV-HD (720p). Alas, all my WMV-HD is 1080p. MPEG-4 AVC is still limited to DVD, as is MPEG2...

More like Gen 5.5 than anything...

Worf

Ehh, I own a 605 wifi. This new one just isn't enough to move me to buy it. Actually, I want to sell my Archos for an ipod touch!

thehackerdude

For people saying they dont see anything about gps or hsdpa 3g...u have to look in the 5G area...remember...theres the 5...the 7...and the 5G...three different units. I was reading over EVERYTHING this morning and i dont remember them mentioning the HSDPA. Bottomline..this thing is a BEAST..i don't think i can hold off from getting either the iphone or the touch pro until january though (when the 5G drops).

Nokstar

@Daniel: I love the fact that it works with Linux. I have to see this thing in person, however. I'm not totally convinced that I could use this as my only player, cuz size can be a problem for those days I'm just sporting for audio.

Kaiser-Machead's WALL-E fetish

I'm surprised no one's mentioned the price (or lack thereof) of firmware updates.

Kaiser-Machead's WALL-E fetish

I want this so bad it hurts. It fulfills my wish for an ipod touch by having a huge screen to watch videos on. The huge HD gives room for my 150+ gigs of media...

and... It isn't locked into a crappy, windows/mac only, DRM'd, ugly music player (aka iTunes).

WANT. Especially after I can get mobile Firefox on it (someday?).

Daniel

Oh... and i find it funny how people are always saying that Archos's support sucks and blah blah blah, sending them e-mails and never hearing a reply. I sent an e-mail to their tech support not even 2 HOURS AGO, asking if it'd be possible to trade my current archos in, since returning it would probably be impossible without also losing the money that i paid for the plugins. Already got a reply stating that they have yet to determine whether such an exchange policy will be available, and won't know until the products are actually released. They then went on to tell me that my best route to take right now would be to return the device to Amazon, and if i send them proof of the return of the player, they would be able to refund the cost of the plug-ins i purchased.

If you ask me.... that's some pretty freakin quick support right there.

ElementalDragon

So sexy... should've been marked NSFW!!

OtterKing

kinda find it funny though....

Archos 604 WiFi = free web browser plugin provided, other's paid for

Archos 605's = no free plugin's provided

Archos 5 = free web browser AND WebRadio/WebVideo plugins provided.

Seriously would be nice if i could trade in my Archos 605 WiFi 160GB for one of these. Only bought it less than a month ago. Would return it to Amazon where i bought it, but already bought the web browser and cinema plugins for it, which as far as i know, are not refundable. If i can't trade it in directly through Archos... might just eBay it ASAP.

ElementalDragon

Archos specs are always mouth watering.. but the only Archos (a Archos Jukebox somebody gifted me) I had died within 6 months. It worked like a dream while it did, but the buttons on it were the lousiest piece of crap I've seen on any device. And now, I'm wary of buying it without touching, feeling and playing around with it first. What a pity they dont sell it in the Best buys and circuit citys. Seriously, these companies need to learn marketing from apple. If Archos could display their wares in Best Buy right next to the iPods and the Zunes, methinks they can make a serious serious dent in the marketshare. Right now, the average Best buy or Frys electronics guy has not even heard of Archos! I am serious, just last week I was a Frys electronics enquiring about Archos and the associate was like.. "Archos? What?".. I felt like firing the entire Archos sales and marketing team right there! Too bad I don't get to :x

btw, I am still hanging on to my Archos jukebox. Does anybody know what I can do to bring it back to life? Or atleast how I can salvage a precious concert recording sitting on its hard disk. Its been some time (like 4-5 years) since it went into coma and I've even lost the power adapter to charge its NiMh batteries.. which anyway I presume are useless after these years of disuse. Please help.

sisya

@RiceBandit: Not much of a selling point if it's only able to show video on its native display, but if it can show HD video outputted to a television, I'd say that's pretty dandy.

Kaiser-Machead's WALL-E fetish

Okay, I REALLY have to ask (because I truly don't understand this)...

What is the point of having HD video support for an 800 x 480 screen? Isn't a pixel = pixel? I've even seen this "feature" for cellphone screens (in 1080P!), and I can't believe it's considered a selling point. Can you really see The Hoff's pimple on this screen the same way you'd see it on an HDTV?

RiceBandit

1) Too expensive.

2) 12Hr battery for audio. (why?)

3) Still have to buy DVR station to record direct from TV.

...otherwise a decent offering.

newtype2011

I was suprised that the following word did not show up anywhere in this page: "games". For a device to replace my iPod Touch, it will have to run games.

marcelino_martins

@RiceBandit: As others have said, it's because you can output to your TV. The dock has HDMI output (scroll down after following this link [www.archos.com]).

Zlevee

@Kaiser-Machead's WALL-E fetish: Firmware updates on the 605 were free. Policy is basically that updates to features you've already paid for are free. Hence, if you paid extra to get GPS, all the future GPS updates (like maps) are free.

They charged for most of the plug-ins, though not all. The widgets utility pack was free.

Zlevee

I WANNA TOUCH IT!

efenili

@sisya: The CC here on Union Square has, or at least it had, an Archos in the same display with the Creatives iPods and Zunes, but only that one, and it was even funnier because the sales guy seemed confused for a moment when I mentioned it and suddenly remembered that they had one sitting in the store somewhere. It was pretty sad.

As for your dead Archos, it could be a number of issues, but this site might be of some help regarding some DIY repair work.

[repair4player.org]

Just hope that the source of the problem isn't the HDD itself.

Kaiser-Machead's WALL-E fetish

@RiceBandit: Firstly, it can output video to your television.

Secondly, Take an HD video and play it on a screen that size, then take that same video and size it down to the native resolution of the screen. It actually does look a bit worse.

Because when your playing a video with higher resolution, there's more details available in the picture. It's just blended a bit by the smaller resolution.

But it indeed does look a bit better than having the video in native resolution.

Kakkoister

@ElementalDragon: You had luck pal... different people, different experiences. Live with it.

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

Looks great... but is Archos still charging for every little bit of extra codec/software/acessory?
The OS, still proprietary?
Because if so, it's still crippled.

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

If this is really the official Archos 606. It looks really stunning. They really took effort on the looks and UI. Huge improvment over the Archos 605, and 250 gigs. *drool*

One thing Archos is known for is it's low sound. I hope they really improve it's sound quality.

LeonChan

Not sure I need it, But I and my Friends NEED IT. How awesome is to not listen to what the teacher is talking while enjoying a movie on a 7 inch Display. Aww, Just Imagined how Wall E would look like on one of those... not sure if the babies is the correct term.

Minimum91

Archos sucks. I bought the PMA model from them years ago when it was only a few months old. Clock stopped working and I sent it back for repair and after six weeks they send it back and it was still busted. Sent it again and same result. I ended up selling it on eBay. Someone from their customer service called like 6 months later to check up on me and when I told them that they didn't do jack shit the girl just stuttered "umm...sorry" and hung up. Do not waste your money on this company!

VereLepidus

newtype2011: ok... let's compare to the competition... namely Apple since they're just about the only OTHER company to have touchscreen PMP's

1) too expensive? iPod Touch 16GB for slightly more than the Archos 5 60GB? plus having a larger screen than the iPod Touch. Also not requiring iTunes, or as a friend of mine told me about his experiences with an iPod... screwing over the filename's of songs you put onto your iPod so even if you WANTED to retrieve music directly from it, it'd be damn near impossible?

2) 12 hour battery life for audio... how is that so much of a problem? I mean yeah... the iPod touch has 22 hours battery life for Audio... but makes me wonder how they can have 10 hours more battery life for audio... but only a single hour more for video. something's a tad odd there. Makes me wonder if Archos's rated 12 hour battery life is with the backlight on or off.

3) hmm... need to buy the DVR station to record directly from TV. And.... that's compared to what from Apple? Buying AppleTV which starts at $229?

Yeah... getting 44GB less storage for more money, plus having to pay more for a device to record directly from TV and copy the video's to the iPod Touch is SOO much more of a decent offering.

sisya: I brought that up to their tech support quite a while ago, saying that if they advertised more here in the US, they could easily be an iPod killer. They told me that they would love to market more in the US, but their advertising budget for the US is severely limited. Best Buy USED to have Archos products. bought my Archos Jukebox Studio 20 from there... and i think their next product release... the one that first had a color screen... was also available there. Don't think i've seen anything from Archos in any Best Buy from the Gmini's onward.

ElementalDragon

@sisya: since you have no warranty I suggest you start by opening it up. It is very likely that it uses laptop 2.5" hdd if that's the case you need a usb case or just adapter from 2.5" to USB.
- for fixing the device i would go that way:
1. look if there's any black(burned) components in it
----if so try found what they were, usually its just some protective smd capacitor(any value would do 10nF - 1uF preferred) to be replaced
2. if not, you have to get power source and voltmeter, and go by the lines to the battery and from the battery follow the obvious pcb paths: first check the switch and voltage on chips(for some of them you can find datasheets at www.alldatasheets.com) or just look which lines could bee.
possible defects: some piece stopped working (replace it)
some connections got loose (resolder it)
battery go dead(should work when on charger)
p.s. let me know how did it go

rrwakc

now does it play avi?

Felix26591

@Zlevee: Yeah, that's what I meant by "lack thereof" :D

Kaiser-Machead's WALL-E fetish

marcelino_martins: Archos products have supported games... i believe starting with the Generation 5 (or at least the 605's) products. If you look at the Archos website, Games are featured.

ElementalDragon

Bummer, i had my heart set on the pandora before, but if this can play games, i am officially sold.

roflwaffles

Some tme soon I'm going to have to get rid of a lot o fCreative ZENs, I guess.

The only thing lacking.. and it's a big one...why no ATSC tuner?

Azogue

Do these things play FLAC? Does any PMP do that natively?

noamjamski

noamjamski: don't think they play FLAC... and i don't remember seeing any player that DOES.

ElementalDragon

I need this immediately.

nuggetz

@jcrockerman

how about mkv, ogm?

Does it support H.264 HP?

Lobaba

After a number of years of tough love (in other words I'm a damn klutz -- it's survived at least one fall down a stairwell)) my 4th gen Archos is finally starting to die on me. I'm so glad it looks like it will hold out a little bit longer because damn I want one of these. I've never had a media player that was as good as the Archos and personally I always had prompt and helpful support from them.

It will never win a popularity contest against an iPod product but I definitely think it's the better machine.

Sven.T.Sexgore

Amaizing stuff again from Archos!
My Gmini400 is more than 5 years old and is still working fine. And that with the original battery!
I'm proud not beeing a part of the big FruitHype and on top of it it get's me more features and less hassle... :o)
Especially when these sweet players become available.

On the other side, it's sad to read that such a fine company has no resources for proper worldwide advertisment.
But with these Gadgets, word of mouth combined with the Net will do that for them!

freunde24

The annoying thing with archos is they lock the device to the hard drive, so if the hard drive dies, you gotta RMA it (or replace it).

Can't upgrade 'em either - device is locked to the disk.

Worf

@noamjamski: Cowon players do FLAC (and a ton of other audio and video codecs). I have an A2, handles 'em great.

baglunch