Archos 405 Portable Media Player
Sebastian Thorndike
In January 2009, Archos released their first netbook, the Archos 10, following the naming scheme of the IMT players. It is a standard netbook featuring the intel Atom N260 CPU, a 10.2" WSVGA screen, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB Harddrive, and Windows XP. It is a rebranded Hasee MJ125, but includes additional anti-virus, multimedia, and productivity software.[1] It is no longer available on their website.
The Generation 4 series is an upgrade to the previous AV Series. The eight models include the 404, the 504, the 604, the 604 WiFi, and the 704 WiFi. All players in this series are Microsoft PlaysForSure compatible.
The Generation 4 players were modular, with the unit base priced cheaply and additional features available at extra cost. The add-on DVR Station and DVR Travel Adapter, sold separately, allowed video recording from sources including satellite, cable, and terrestrial television, as well as DVD players. The players included some working video codecs, but licensing costs meant support for MPEG-2/VOB videos with Dolby 5.1 Sound (AC3) sound and H.264 with AAC sound were not included as standard.
Documentation of the series' processor core and operating system is scant. The 404, 504 and 604 are known to use a TI DaVinci processor of type DM644x, combining an ARM9 and a DSP processor. For the 700 models a TI DM420 (no further details found in public) might serve as the CPU. For the rest of the models no documentation is available, though parts of the firmware loader were licensed under GPL and thus published. A single source claims the OS to be Windows Mobile on all models.[citation needed]
The 605 Wifi and 405 officially went on sale on September 1, 2007. The 605Wifi comes in 30GB, 80GB, and 160GB models as well as a 4GB model with an added SDHC slot. There is also a DSGi (Electrical Retailer) model specific to the United Kingdom which has a 40GB Hard Drive. The 405 comes in 2GB with SDHC slot. A 30GB version was added later.
The main upgrade in this series was the addition of the Archos content portals (ACP). The Opera web browser was made optional, and support for Adobe Flash, facilitating online video streaming, was implemented. Firmware 2.1.04 was released on May 27, 2008 which allowed YouTube and Google Video streaming.
Labeled as "Internet Media Tablets" or "IMTs" for short, they shipped with a full-function Presto-based web browser, vTuner-based[3] web TV and radio applications requiring registration. These devices used a built-in hard disk for storage, with capacities of 60, 120, 160, and 250 GB; while the Archos 7 is available in 160 and 320 GB capacities and the Archos 5G is in 30 GB. Though similar to the Archos 5, the Archos 5G features 3.5G HSDPA wireless connectivity.
The optional AVCam 300 turns the device into a digital camera and camcorder, with other selective addons available such as an FM radio remote control (which also enables radio recording) and a memory card reader. The battery life of the device is stated at 3 and a half hours when watching video or 10 hours when listening to music.
The AV400 runs the same software as AV300, the camera has been removed and a CompactFlash card slot has been built directly into the product. Image preview slides and DRM WMA support, as well as WMV access are also included.
The AV500 came just before the PMA400 was released; there was a name conflict within the models. The PMA400 was scheduled to be released as the AV500. Ultimately, the name went to a new model of Digital Video Recorder (DVR). The Archos AV500 is similar to the GMini 500, but it has extra facilities (video recording and the new AV Pod).
The Gmini 402 replaced the Gmini 400 featuring PlaysForSure compatibility. The Gmini 402 Camcorder was later introduced which includes a 1.2MP (Megapixel) digital camera, and has video recording capabilities, with up to a 2x digital zoom. The player also holds 3 resolution modes, which enables users to choose size over quality, as well as recording directly into MPEG4 in VGA resolution.
The Gmini 120 cannot play DRM-protected WMA files, and was also released as Archos Gmini SP. There is also an optional FM radio attachment available for this player so users can play and record directly from FM radio.
The Gmini XS 100 group of players features a 1.5" screen, and full PlaysForSure capabilities. The Gmini XS 200 has a monochrome screen that supports gapless playback. It was replaced by the Gmini XS 204, which adds a color screen and image viewing capabilities.
The Archos Jukebox 6000 was one of Archos' first portable media players, containing a 6 GB hard drive. This player is only MP3 compatible, and was bundled with Musicmatch Jukebox to allow users to rip their music collection onto the jukebox. The Jukebox Studio succeeded the Jukebox 6000.
The Archos Jukebox Multimedia is the first official portable media player, which enabled users to upload digital camera content via accessory card readers that connected directly to the device's expansion port.[clarification needed] It also featured an audio and video player, an image viewer, and appropriate AV cables included. The player also has the ability to record audio from a line-in source straight into MP3 format. The player features a 10 or 20 GB hard drive and uses DivX MPEG4 format for video recording and playback.
A flash-based MP3-player with bit-mapped 112x64 LCD. It is powered by three AAA-cells and features an MMC expansion slot and 128MB of internal memory. It is the smallest MP3 player in the Archos lineup.
For the past couple years, I've carried around a Cowon D2 mediaplayer. This little device has 2GB of onboard memory (there also are 4GBand 8GB versions). It also has a built-in SD slot for storage expansion. Ipurchased it because it plays every audio format I care about: MP3,Ogg Vorbis and FLAC. As a bonus, it also can play 320x240 MPEG 4.2 AVIvideo files.
This little player has served me very well, but lately I've becomeinterested in getting a portable media player that is as good at videoas the Cowon is at audio. Specifically, I'm getting tired of convertingvideos just so I can play them on my D2. I'd like a player thatcan handle unmodified versions of all of my media, and a lot of onboardstorage would be a nice perk.
Cowon has some higher-end devices that look like they might makecompelling replacements, but they run Windows Mobile, which I don'twant. There also is the ubiquitous iPod from Apple, but I'm not reallyinterested in getting one of those either. With Cowon and Apple out ofthe running, I went searching for alternatives, and the first possibilityI encountered to replace my D2 was the Linux-based Archos 5.
Physically, the Archos 5 is quite a bit larger than the D2. The 5 inArchos 5 refers to the screen size, which actually clocks in at 4.8inches. Measurements aside, the screen feels more than twiceas large as the 2.5" screen of the D2, partly due to the higherresolution (800x480) display, which is a good bit more than twice theD2's 320x240 resolution (at least in width).
The thickness of the Archos 5 varies based on which model you get. The60GB version appears (from the images on the Archos Web site) to be thinnerthan the D2, and the 120GB and 250GB models appear to be about twice thethickness of the 60GB model. I picked up the 120GB version, and part ofme wishes I had the thinner model, despite the smaller drive size.
Rounding out the exterior of the Archos 5, there is a power button, volumecontrol button, a reset hole, a headphone jack, a pair of docking portson the bottom and a sturdy foot that pivots out the back to prop itat a nice viewing angle.
In addition to the base device, you can purchase several add-ons for theArchos 5 that give it new functionality. These include a TV antenna,a DVR, a helmet-mountable video camera, an FM radio and a GPS. AlthoughI don't foresee myself purchasing any of these add-ons, they certainlyprove that the base hardware is capable of a great many things if attachedto the right accessories.
The Web browser on the Archos 5 is Opera-embedded. It is a little slow,but renders most pages well. AJAX-heavy sites, like Google Reader, seemed togive it the most trouble. It has Flash support, and for video sites likeYouTube and Google Video, it will offer to play the video full screen,which is a nice touch. The Web browser has tabs that allow you to havemultiple sites open at the same time. You also can zoom in (and out)on pages by double-tapping on the screen.
When downloading large files, the download screen takes over the interfaceand does not let you queue other downloads or continue browsing. Thatannoyance aside, it will try to put files you download into theproper folders automatically (Video, Music and so on), which is nice. If theArchos 5 doesn't recognize a file, such as zip or tar.gzfiles, it places the file in a Downloads folder that you can accessthe next time you connect the Archos 5 to your computer.
The photo viewer is nice and turns the Archos 5 into a decent digitalphoto frame. In the photo viewer, a vertical top-to-bottom swipe willrotate the picture clockwise, and a vertical bottom-to-top swipe will rotatethe image counter-clockwise. Horizontal swipes will move to the nextand previous pictures.
The audio player lets you sort music in all the standard ways: by genre,artist, year, album, title and so on. The Web radio section of the audioplayer is powered by vTuner and has a nice selection of stations. Localmusic (not streaming music from over the local network or Internet)can play behind the slideshow or Web browser.
Thanks to the built-in Wi-Fi and the appropriate software, the Archos 5can connect to UPnP servers on the local network. This has turned outto be one of my favorite features. It turns the Archos 5 into a sortof roving satellite television for the house. Both my file server andmy Popcorn Hour media player are set up as UPnP servers, so the Archoshas access to all my media. Well, it would, if it could play allmy media (more on that later).
Some pieces of software on the Archos 5 are missing. One of these is theFile Sharing item in the tools menu, which reports that you needto update your firmware to gain access to the feature (even though I'mrunning the latest firmware).
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