Best Reviewed
Portable Media Players
- Best portable media player Apple iPod Touch *Est. $300
- Budget portable media player Archos 405 *Est. $150
- High-capacity media player Archos 5 *Est. $420
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- Great video display
- Audio quality
- Variety of options
- Wi-Fi
- Hard to use
- Battery life short of manufacturer claims
- Options cost extra
The Archos 605 WiFi is multitalented, and the consensus is that it's a great video player with a screen resolution that blows away reviewers. But even a couple of veteran evaluators admit they found themselves turning to the manual quite a bit in order to use it. As with most Archos video players, it costs extra to enable some of the features, including high-definition video (a $20 plug-in).
Most review sites don't offer a lot of direct comparisons of competing portable media players because there are so many differences in features. CNET reviews the Archos 605 and the Apple iPod Touch, giving them four stars and 4.5 stars out of five, respectively. Both have touch screens and Wi-Fi Internet access. But the Archos has a 4.3-inch screen compared with the iPod Touch's 3.5 inches, and it offers expandable memory options, which the iPod Touch does not. Customer reviews are less glowing than you'll find on most products. CNET readers scored the 605 at three out of five stars at this writing, and Amazon.com had it at 3.5 out of a maximum five, but there was no real common thread to the complaints.
The Archos 605 WiFi portable media player, by all accounts, plays video and audio well, yet still draws diverse opinions from review sources on usability. CNET, Laptop Magazine and ConsumerReports.org are more positive than PCMag.com or PC World. ConsumerReports.org merely offers a chart on video players rather than individual reviews of each -- you probably can skip it if you don't already subscribe. CNET offers by far the most-glowing review of the Archos 605 and is more thorough than anyone else, but we recommend reading the others to balance it out.
| Archos 605 Wi-Fi Portable Media Player (30 GB) | |
(373 reviews) |
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Our Sources
1. CNET
CNET gives the Archos 605 WiFi a score of four out of five stars and an Editors' Choice award. It comes in just a half-star below the iPod Touch among portable media players. Bell notes that the battery life isn't great, but there's a plug in-battery pack (*Est. $50) that Archos says will improve it by 50 percent.
Review: Archos 605 WiFi (160GB), Donald Bell, Sept. 20, 2007
2. Laptop MagazineDetails/Subscribe
Laptop Magazine is in the middle on the Archos 605 WiFi -- less enthusiastic than CNET and more than PCMag.com or PC World. Reviewer Kobrin says that downloading content via Wi-Fi can be slow, and tat the touch screen's response "isn't as smooth as the iPhone's and doesn't support multi-finger touch."
Review: Archos 605 Wi-Fi, Mike Kobrin, Aug. 30, 2007
PCMag is less enthusiastic than some about the Archos 605 WiFi, giving it three stars out of a maximum five and likening it to a PC, "less fun than useful." Reviewer Tim Gideon says of the 605 WiFi, "I found myself constantly having to refer to the manual."
Review: Archos 605 WiFi, Tim Gideon, Aug. 30, 2007
AnythingButiPod.com's Grahm Skee reviews the Archos 605 WiFi and notes, "It will take a good amount of time to get used to the interface, and even after weeks of use you will still find yourself pressing the wrong buttons."
Review: Archos 605 Wi-Fi Review, Grahm Skee, Oct. 15, 2007
PC World reviews fewer digital media players than CNET and PCMag.com, but it does a thorough job on those it chooses. An exception is this perfunctory effort on the Archos 605 WiFi that doesn't give a clear indication of why reviewer Paul Jasper rates it a 78 ("good").
Review: Archos 605 WiFi 30GB Portable Media Player, Paul Jasper, Sept. 22, 2007
6. Amazon.com
There are separate comments for the Archos 605 WiFi's various memory sizes, and the 160 GB version has more than 300 comments, with an average rating of 3.5 out of five stars. There are plenty of complaints, but no common theme emerges.
Review: Archos 605 Wi-Fi Portable Media Player (160GB), Contributors to Amazon.com, As of June 2009
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Archos 605 Wi-Fi Portable Media Player (80 GB)
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