Battle of the MP3 Players

There is also the Archos Jukebox Multimedia which has an LCD display so you can watch movies. It also has a TV out connection, so you can store movies on it and watch them on your TV. It is not much more expensive than the other ones. The test reports I have read are really great.

 

Mac or PC guy?

If you have a Mac, nothing beats the iPod.
Everything "just works."

If you have a PC with firewire, the iPod is still the best, but its closer. The provided software works, but cannot overcome the limitations of the OS.

If you don't have firewire, and don't want to install a 1394 card, go with one of the others

 

I have one. I love it. But it's not perfect, it certainly has its flaws.

First off, USB 2.0 just rocks like nothing else. It comes with a USB 2.0 cable, and if you've got it, prepare to FLY.

Anyhow, I bought the Archos Multimedia because of a few things -- first, I wanted the video ability. Now, so far I haven't used that much yet. I've had my player for a month, and I haven't had time to start converting videos. They will be releasing an add-on that allows you to record directly from a DVD or VCR or TV via RCA cables some time this month, and I figured I'd just wait for that, as I want to move some episodes of Frasier to it. Second reason I bought it was b/c of its price. I bought mine from <a href="http://www.shopharmony.com/">Harmony Computers</a> for $300. Considering the 20 Gigs for $300 versus 20 gigs for $450 to $500 with an ipod, I figured the Archos was a better value in that realm. Third reason -- Ease of use. Okay, if you are not a computer person, this doesn't apply at all. But for me, I found this to be so simple -- the Archos works just like a removable hard drive. You make directories on it, subdirectories, etc. As I understand, for the ipod you have to use the ipod software to transfer stuff. For most people, that's probably better. Personally, I like doing it the Archos way.

I tried both out at CompUSA, and I found that the Archos seemed to have more sound "tweaking" controls, and it seemed to be more durable. The ipod, while very stout and well-constructed, has a "fragile" feel to it -- I'm really tough on stuff like this. I need it to be able to get bumped, dropped on occasion, etc. and still work. So far, my Archos has been awesome on that account. It comes with a nice pouch to hold it (NICE perk), and it cushions the thing very well. It has survived my daily live and abuse quite well. I'm very impressed.

The sound quality is fantastic, the interface is easy to navigate (IMO at least), and the add-on modules are a neat addition.

Now, there are some drawbacks too. First, the firmware is very bad. I've been watching some discussion boards about the Archos, and the dev. team is really putting a lot of effort into the next firmware release -- adding features and getting rid of bugs. Should be a VERY nice release and really help the archos out. Until then, you have to live with some problems. First, sometimes the player acts funny. It's happened a few times where it'll be playing a song, then do something really odd. One time, it would play the first 3 minutes of a song, then go to the next. I turned off and on and it worked. Once, I was listening to a song, and in the middle it skipped to the next, then after 30 seconds skipped to the next one, played it for 3 minutes, then went back to the first song where it left off and played the same 10 seconds over and over again until I turned it off. Sometimes it crashes and you have to power it off and jack with it to get it working. It's a pain and a bother. I am SERIOUSLY hoping the new firmware fixes this.

The earphones that come with the Archos suck also. I don't really care -- I expect included headphones to suck, and I've got a number of great sets, so that didn't bother me. Another problem is that sometimes the machine is a bit slow to respond. For instance, sometimes it takes it about 5 to 6 seconds to change directories. Once it gets going, it's okay, but the hard drive has to spin-up again for it to work.

I love my Archos, but I don't think it's for everyone. Apple's bringing out a video-playing ipod soon, and honestly, I might buy that instead of the Archos. Don't get me wrong, the Archos MMJ rules, but it has some hastles and hangups that make me not recommend it to anyone but the technically savvy. If all you want to do is listen to music, the ipod really probably is your best bet. I'm still not sold on its durability, and the Archos has some great features that really pull me towards it.