• Pros Great-looking screen. Programmable video recording. View and Download Archos TV Plus 500973 user manual online. Archos External Hard Drive. And click on Follow the instructions to activate the TV Program Guide. Receiver Menu. Program Guide. View Satellite. Digital Video. Recorder (DVR). Use these codes to program in TV mode; however, if programming in AUX mode, press 0 before entering the TV code. Admiral 521 605 675. Downloadable cable guide. Content Portal offers movie rentals. Sturdy kickstand for optimal viewing. Streams from networked PCs. • Cons Not terribly user-friendly. Not many major improvements over previous model. Wi-Fi no longer includedcosts extra. Internet browsing blown away by iPhone. Mysterious organization of music files. • Bottom Line The 605 behaves more like a mini PC than a portable gadgetless fun than useful. It's a versatile performer, but the manual's a must-read. The evolution of portable media players in recent years has been a joy to observe. Players generally get smaller, yet offer better screens and abilities (the comes to mindeven though it is not technically a pure entertainment device). The new archos 605 wifi, an update to last year's 604 wifi, is a (slightly) slimmer and shorter player with some new features. Although the device no longer comes with a web browser, the 605 is a capable beast. It can record video and audio, surf the web, download movies using a new content portal feature, stream media from networked pcs, and do all the things a music and video player should as well. Unfortunately, while the rest of the tech industry is gravitating towards more user-friendly interfaces, archos devices still behave more like mini pcs with must-read manuals than like intuitive and easy-to-navigate toys. The 605 does everything archos says it will, but using it can feel a little bit like work. The archos 605 is a tad less attractive than the 604. Physically, the previous model was all about brushed aluminum and sturdiness. The 605 replaces metallic buttons with cheaper-looking white plastic, and the brushed-aluminum design gives way to a lighter, less regal metallic look. Regardless, the 605 is still a good-looking player, with the large 4.3-inch touch screen stealing the show. The button array down the right side of the player consists of the ok button (akin to enter or select), three navigational arrow buttons, a menu button, and a volume control. The two connections on the lower panel are proprietary; they enable a usb connection to a pc and docking to the dvr station unit, letting you record video to the player or watch video from the player on tv. On the left panel are three leds; one each for battery status (blinks green when fully charged), hdd (lit when files are played or being transferred), and tv (when images are being displayed on a television), as well as the headphone jack. The top of the player houses the power button, the tv/lcd-lock button (this needs to be pressed when viewing content on a tv), and on the flash model (but not the 30gb version i reviewed), an sd/mmc card slot for memory expansion. The back of the device also has a very useful kickstand to prop the 605 up at an angle for hands-free viewing. The 605 comes with so-so earbuds, two styli, a usb connection cable, and a cloth protective caseagain, a bit less sexy than the 604's leather pouch. The omission of certain plug-ins, the plastic buttons, and the switch to a cloth case all seem to be part of an effort by archos to make its products more affordable. If you don't want the web browserdon't pay for it! (browsing will cost $30 extra). I almost believe that spin, but, speaking from experience, there is nothing more obnoxious than looking at a dead, unusable menu icon on your digital media device. No one wants to spend hundreds of dollars and walk away with the archos lite, and these cost-cutting measures could easily come across as having more to do with archos's bottom line than the consumer's. Here are the facts: a fully loaded 30gb archos 604 would have run you $550 at release, and the new 30gb 605, with all the plug-ins installed, comes to $400. In other words, archos is making cheaper players, which is good for most consumers, but not the folks for whom price was less of an object. Basically, the 605 just doesn't look as nice, and there's work involved in getting it up to snuff. File support for the 605 is well rounded. The unit plays aac files, including itunes plus files (but not apple lossless), as well as mp3 (all bit rates, including vbr), wav, and wma (including lossless). There's no audible, aiff, or ogg support. In the video realm, the 605 plays mp4, divx, xvid, and wmvbut no wmv hd files (though yet another future plug-in is supposed to take care of this). As for photos, i was able to view jpg, png, gif, and bmp files, and some fairly complex pdf documentsbut these crashed the player after i played with them! The real improvements that the 605 brings to the table reside in its guts. The icons and screen look sharper and better, though the main screen layout is strikingly similar to past models. Icons on the main screen are in two rows, and from the top are: video, music, photo, files, content portal, web, recorder, and widgets. The new features are useful, if not mind-blowing. The content portal function, for instance, gives users wi-fidownloadable movies and tv shows via cinemanow, among other things. The user, of course, still needs to pay for these downloads and set up an account. The widgets icon was not yet active at review time, but it will host yet another pay-for plug-in that will give users weather, sports, time, and dictionary support. Archos also plans to add another plug-in: internet radio. We'll have to stay tuned to see how that one works out, too.. Generation 5 is a series of introduced in 2007. 605 WiFi Manufacturer: Processor: Intel PXA 255 400 MHz processor Storage: 30 GB, 80GB, 160GB, and 4 GB with SDHC slot Display: resolution, 24-bit color palette, 4.3' TFT LCD semi-matte touchscreen Video: MPEG-4 AVI, WMV. With plug-in: H.264, MPEG-2 and AC3 stereo sound Audio: Stereo MP3 decoding @ 30-320 kbit/s, WMA, Protected WMA, WAV. With plug-in:: AAC5, AC3 Photo viewer: JPEG, BMP, PNG PDF viewer: Reads PDF documents Video recording: with DVR Station/Travel Adapter. Records NTSC/PAL/SECAM in MPEG-4 AVI with VGA resolution @ 30 or 25 f/s Audio recording: with DVR Station/Travel Adapter: Stereo line-in, WAV Interfaces: connects through USB in either MSC or MTP, WiFi (802.11g) Connections: 3.5 mm Audio, Proprietary dock port Battery life: Music playback: 17 hrs, Video playback: 5.5 hrs. External Battery available Charge: USB, DVR Station, optional Wall outlet Dimensions & weight: For 4/30GB models 122 x 82 x 15 mm, 5.3oz/6.7oz For 80/160GB models 122 x 82 x 20 mm, 9.17oz. Contents • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 705 WiFi [ ] The Archos 705 WiFi was released on November 16, 2007 in capacities of 80GB and 160GB, with the same overall design of the and an updated operating system and hardware compatibility. Unlike the 405 and 605 WiFi, the 705 WiFi has an 18-bit instead of 24-bit. 605 WiFi [ ] The Archos 605 WiFi was launched on September 1, 2007. While the player is a technical update from the previous generation, the 605 WiFi is released in larger capacities, not unlike the. The 4 GB -based version includes a card slot. The player is also available in capacities of 20 GB, 30 GB, 40 GB (only in the UK), 80 GB, and 160 GB. The design of the 605 WiFi is similar to the previous line, though changes include a thinner profile and smaller buttons. The button layout remains the same but with the addition of a volume control. The battery is now irremovable, though an extended battery pack is available optionally, and the kickstand is moved to the edge of the player. The 605 WiFi features support for, which equips a portable version of. An online content portal is linked to directly purchase or rent media from various distributors. A special edition of the 605 WiFi was released in Europe. This version has a 20GB capacity and is bundled with movies and a custom engraving on the back. A edition was later released. 605 GPS [ ] Archos released a variant of the 605 WiFi with an additional feature. It was available in a 4 GB flash-based capacity and a 30 GB hard drive capacity. 405 [ ] Flash based, comes in 2 GB with SDHC expansion, and a 3.5' QVGA TFT screen in 4:3 format. Available in a limited edition lilac colour. A hard drive version of this player has been released in Europe in a capacity of 30GB. 105 [ ] The Archos 105 is a flash-based PMP with a 1.8-inch (46 mm) display that is capable of playback. The player is currently available in a 2 GB capacity. Features [ ] DVR Station [ ] The optional DVR station plays back video in DVD quality resolution through the composite, S-video, RGB or YPbPr video outputs with the audio in stereo or 5.1 surround sound through the SPDIF output. An external harddrive can be attached to the DVR station via a USB hub to increase the storage capacity. The DVR feature has an infrared emitter that can control many different brands of TV's, cable boxes, and satellite boxes. An online TV guide can show scheduled broadcasts which you can set to be downloaded and viewed at a later time. The DVR station also comes with a qwerty remote control to surf the web or to use the TV Program Guide directly on a TV screen. Note: The online TV guide service has been discontinued in North America. Content Portal [ ] The Archos Content Portals (ACP) allow the 605 WiFi and 705 WiFi to directly purchase or rent videos on the device through wireless internet. The content on the ACPs are provided through other companies that have their own 'portal'. Currently only has service for North American users. There has also been announced a deal with Paramount in April 2008. Web Browser [ ] The web browser for the 605 WiFi and 705 WiFi is an iteration of for devices. Unlike with the 604 WiFi, it is available as an optional plug-in. With Generation 5 Flash 7 support was added. On November 28, 2007, along with game packs, 7 widgets were added free as part of the Web-Browser plug-in. In April 2008, an update to Flash 9 was added giving better compatibility with the latest flash applications. GPS [ ] A add-on was announced in April 2008 for the 605 and 705 with support for the Europe, North America, and China regions. The GPS is activated when a clamp is combined with the player, which gives the Archos 605 GPS and real-time traffic report. WebTV & Radio [ ] Archos Web TV: This allows you to aggregate and watch streams of web TV and video. Archos Web Radio: This allows you to aggregate and watch streams of web radio and audio. Source Code Release [ ] Archos has also released the source code for the current generation players. However, hardware locks have disabled any easy attempt at creating homebrew firmware without the use of an exploit. GFT Exploit [ ] A software-only exploit called GFT was discovered for several Archos players, including the 605 WiFi and 705 models, that enabled the user to run Linux commands directly on the system, and further uses this to install an SSH server on the system, allowing remote root access. However, the 2.x versions of the firmware have disabled the ability to apply the GFT exploit. This is an undocumented fix on Archos' side and is not listed in the change-form for the release. They automatically include 2.0 and later on all newly shipping 605 units. QTopia [ ] The 605 WiFi, along with, reportedly, the 705 WiFi and 604 WiFi, were successfully hacked to run the Linux platform with help from the same users who had done so on the older. QTopia can only be installed on units that are compatible with the GFT exploit. OpenPMA-NG [ ] The exploit also triggers the development of openPMA-NG, based on pdaXrom. Updates show compatibility for common Linux applications such as and See also [ ] • • • • • References [ ].
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