Archos 404 30GB Portable Digital Media Player (500868)

Average customer rating:

Very good pmp device.

Major output power problem

A multi-functional mp3 player.

Archos 404 All Around Good PVP+MP3 Player.

Archos devices for do it for yoursleves

Archos 404 30GB Portable Digital Media Player (500868)

Manufacturer: Archos
ProductGroup: CE
Binding: Electronics

MP3 Players | Portable Audio & Video | Refurbished & Used | Special Features | Electronics Features | Electronics
Audio & Video | Refurbished & Used | Special Features | Electronics Features | Electronics
Electronics Available for International Shipping | Specialty Stores | Electronics Features | Electronics
Portable Media Players | Archos | Custom Brands | Custom Stores | Specialty Stores | Electronics Features | Electronics
Portable Digital Media Players | MP3 Players | Audio & Video | Categories | Electronics
Similar Items:

Archos 404 Stand Case Black (500884)

Archos Docking Adapter Kit (500879)

Archos 404 Digital AV ClearTouch Crystal Screen Protector

Archos 500856 DVR Docking Station for Archos 404/504/604 Media Players

Archos Helmet Camcorder (500876)

Accessories:

Archos 404 Stand Case Black (500884)

Archos 404 Stand Case Red (500910)

Sony MDR-V500DJ Monitor Series Headphones with Swivel Earcups

Sony MDR-V700DJ DJ Style Monitor Series Headphones

Sony MDR-V600 Studio Monitor Series Headphones with Circum-Aural Earcup Design

Product Features:

Lightweight and portable digital video, movie, music player and photo viewer with easy-to-use, intuitive controls and a bright 3.5-inch TFT LCD screen

30 gigabyte hard disk lets you store up to 15,000 songs, 300,000 pictures, or 85 movies, or any combination thereof

Compatible with MP3, WAV, WMA and protected WMA music files, JPEG, BMP, and PNG picture files, and MPEG-4 and WMV video files

Uses high-speed USB 2.0 for both file transfers and charging, and includes a rechargeable Lithium-Ion polymer battery with up to 12 hours of music and 4 hours of video life

Lets you play music through a stereo or videos over your TV via an optional docking station, weighs only 6.75 ounces, and measures approximately 3.9 x 3 x 0.59 inches (W x H x D)

ASIN: B000HAVWX2
Release Date: 2006-09-01

Product Description

Why just listen to music when you can watch videos as well - anywhere - on a sharp, bright 3.5" LCD with the Archos 404 Ultra-Compact Portable Media Player? DVD-quality video playback on TV with optional DVR Station Records directly from TV in high-quality MPEG-4 with optional DVR station Photo viewer with zoom, music and transition effects Music player displays track, artist, album, and album cover Fully compatible with DVD quality VOD and online music stores Video playback - MPEG-42 (ASP@L5 AVI, up to DVD resolution), WMV (MP@ML, up to DVD resolution). Optional software plug-ins - H.264 up to DVD resolution and AAC sound / MPEG-2 MP@ML up to 10 Mbps (up to DVD resolution) and AC3 stereo sound. Audio playback - Stereo MP3 decoding @ 30-320 Kbits/s CBR & VBR, WMA, Protected WMA, WAV (PCM/ADPCM). Optional software plug-ins - AAC3 music files / AC3 stereo sound files View photos in JPEG, BMP, and PNG formats Transfer photos directly from a digital camera with optional docking adapter Reads PDF documents (May not implement all PDF features) Voice recording through the built-in Microphone Optional DVR travel adapter or DVR Station - stereo line-in, WAV (IMA ADPCM or PCM) format. USB 2.0 High-Speed Device (compatible USB 1.1) - Mass Storage class (MSC) and Media Transport Protocol (MTP) USB 2.0 Host - Mass Storage class (MSC) and Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) (with optional docking adapter) 3.5 mm stereo headphone mini-jack and TV output (AV cable sold separately) Up to 12 hours music playback time or up to 4 hours video playback time Internal Lithium-Ion Polymer battery Charges via computer USB port, or faster with the optional docking adapter or DVR Station Dimensions - 3.9 x 3 x 0.59 inches / Weighs 6.75 ounces

Amazon.com Review

"Convergence" is a more and more popular word in the gadget world: devices that can provide the functionality of multiple unrelated electronics products. Too often, gadgets with too many bells and whistles often prove confusing instead of versatile, but the Archos 404 is an ambitious, palm-sized device that may well surprise you. This slim, sleek unit is only a little larger than a pack of cards, but it plays and records video, audio, and image files--and, with the help of the optional Archos DVR Docking Station, it's capable of recording TV and movies from a variety of video sources.

The bright, 3.5" TFT LCD displays up to 16 million colors.
Take a product tour using Windows Media Player

Form Factor and User Interface

Looking at pictures from the literature on the Archos 404 before receiving it for review, I expected a relatively large and unwieldy form factor--but once out of the box I was pleased to see it's less than four inches across, or about the size of a man's wallet. It will certainly fit comfortably in a jacket's inside pocket or the back pocket of your jeans, though some may find it a little too thick to fit easily into a front pants pocket. The device is sturdily built, with buttons that don't jiggle or stick. And though this is a hard-disk-based device, I was able to wave it around and shake it lightly without any interruption or skipping during audio/video playback. Those who found themselves turned off by the occasional "jiggle factor" of disk-based iPods shouldn't run into any problems here.

The interface itself is fairly straightforward, forgoing the animated visual pizazz of similar SanDisk and Samsung players in favor of a GUI (Graphical User Interface) similar to a Windows PC desktop: arranged icons of shortcuts to the player's main functions, as well as to a directory-style file browser. (Note: feature icons become greyed out if the feature isn't currently availiable, such as Video if your don't have any videos loaded onto the player.) You can set the player's wallpaper to anything you like--if you have the (sold separately) Archos DVR Docking Station, you can even pull single frames off of live television to use as wallpaper with total ease.

Navigating this interface isn't always completely intuitive, however. The vertical row of buttons down the right side of the player take some getting used to, as each button has two functions for the left and right side. "OK" and "Menu" in particular occasionally seem to be interchangeable, other times not, and it's not always immediately apparent which button is required to navigate to the desired goal. Though it takes a little longer, I found it generally preferable to use the directory-style navigation, going straight to the desired files rather than navigating by function, and I think anyone used to the iPod clickwheel scheme may find it easier as well.

Playing Audio and Video

Simply put, the Archos 404 plays audio and video extremely well. The 3.5" screen is bright and crisp with a wide viewing angle, and the compressed MPEG-4 video files look great in the player's native 320x240 resolution. You can watch video in broad daylight, which can't be said about many portable devices that are even designed solely for video playback.

Audio sounds fantastic, as the player will support up to 320kbps audio compression in nearly every conventional format, as well as most subscription music and video download services. (iTunes is not supported.) Though the external speaker is not very loud even at full volume, you can really crank this baby up with a pair of headphones on. The unit comes with a pair of earbuds, but while they do the job, as with most portable players on the market you'll want to pitch these for a higher-quality pair before too long. Unfortunately there are also no audio equalizer presets, but the native levels are well-balanced enough that one would be hard-pressed to complain. I listened to both loud rock and jazz and had no complaints with the sound quality of either.

You can continue to browse your photo collection or hard drive while music is playing. Playback will stop if you start a video file.

Easily transfer media from your other portable electronics
devices to your Archos

Creating Your Own Audio and Video

The Archos 404 can take pictures with its 1.3 MP camera, though this is easily the player's weakest feature. With no flash or optical zoom, this probably won't ever be your go-to digital camera, but it's suitable for daytime outdoor shots when your normal camera isn't at hand. The camera function and photo library are easy to use at least, and pictures turn out crisp and stable...and the 30 GB hard drive will hold all the 1024x768 digital shots you can take.

There's a pinhole-sized mic on the bottom of the Archos 404 to either record audio or to work with the camcorder, which are technically seperate functions. The audio recording function takes some experience to get comfortable with, but once you get used to it it's a great substitution for a typical voice recorder. To test this function I recorded about 15 minutes of dialogue with a friend with the player sitting about arm's-length away, on a porch in front of a busy street. Despite the ambient traffic noise, the resulting audio file was crisp and distinct, and I had no trouble transcribing anything from the conversation. For recording a lecture or an interview, the Archos is just about perfect.

As a camcorder the Archos is decent, but again doesn't quite measure up to a dedicated video device. Files created with the camcorder feature are in MPEG-4 video format. Audio as just mentioned is generally very good, and picture quality is satisfactory as long as you're outside on a relatively bright day. I would not recommend trying to record video in low-light situations--there's an option called "Brighter" in the camcorder and camera menus which is supposed to increase the light sensitivity, but using it had no noticeable effect when I tried it and low-light video turned out rather poor. However, in sufficient light the picture is stable and motion blur isn't a problem, so as an impromptu method of recording vacation video or similar material the player won't disappoint.

The Bottom Line

As a piece of convergence hardware, the Archos 404 performs most of its tasks very well, only falling short in regards to the camera-related functions. Still, under the right conditions the camera/camcorder is adequate, and those looking for a portable and economical way to achieve the functionality of several popular electronics devices will likely be very pleased with the Archos 404. And with 30 GB of space, you've got plenty of space to store audio, video, and photos: you can record a class lecture, watch a movie on the plane, take photos of your pets, record some spontaneous video of your friends goofing off, and listen to your entire music collection and still have plenty of disk space left over.

Best of all, with the Archos DVR Docking Station this truly becomes a piece of convergence hardware, as it adds the ability to record live television turning it essentially into a mini-TiVo. Once the 404 and the docking station are connected to your TV, you're ready to record television in MPEG-4 format, play previously recorded programs, or watch video files from your computer on your television, all with DVD-quality picture and sound. Connected to the docking station, the Archos 404 can even pump out 5.1 surround sound if you download a separate MPEG-2 plug-in.

Nestled within the 404's main menu page you'll find icons for a TV Scheduler and VideoCorder. Using the TV Scheduler interface, you'll find it simple to set times and dates for the programs you'd like to record, and the VideoCorder helps work out the rest of the details--negotiating with the DVR Station and preparing the system to capture your entertainment preferences.

What's in the Box

Archos 404 portable media player, headphones, dedicated USB 2.0 cable, DVR station adapter, protective pouch, quick-start guide, and legal and safety notices.

Amazon.com Product Description

With the Archos 500868 404 30GB Portable Digital Media Player you have all the entertainment you need at your fingertips, in a package that approaches iPod size. The perfect companion for everything from long trips to short bus rides, from going to parties to just hanging out around the house, the Archos 404 lets you not only take your favorite music, movies, and moments with you, but helps you make new favorite moments wherever you happen to be.

With a screen size surface twice that of similar size PMPs (portable media players), the Archos 404 ensures you can thoroughly enjoy movies and videos. This unit uses a bright, 3.5-inch TFT LCD display with over 16 million colors to provide you a crystal-clear, sharp picture with a 4:3 aspect ratio and 320 x 240 pixels of resolution, as well as an intuitive GUI (graphic user interface) for easy-to-use navigation. The Archos 404 not only plays your videos and movies, but lets you store up to a whopping 85 movies on its hard drive in either MPEG-4 or WMV formats at up to DVD resolution. You can also purchase and download optional plug-ins from Archos' website that will allow you to play H.264 and MPEG-2 formats up to DVD resolutions as well.

Not only is the Archos 404 a portable video and movie player, but a high-resolution photo viewer as well, complete with features such as zoom, music, and transition effects. You can easily download photos from your PC, or transfer them directly to the 404 from your digital camera via the optional docking adapter. This unit is compatible with JPEG, BMP, and PNG file formats, and can hold up to 300,000 photos at a time, depending upon file size and what else you are storing at the same time. The Archos 404 can even read and display PDF documents for on-the-fly work situations, although it may not implement all PDF features.

For those times when you can't afford the distraction of watching high-quality videos, the Archos 404 can be your music player, storing and playing up to 15,000 songs so you can keep working, walking, or doing whatever you need with your own private soundtrack. This unit displays the track, artist, album, and album cover of whatever you are playing, and supports stereo MP3 decoding from 30 to 320 kbps CBR and VBR, as well as WMA, protected WMA, and WAV (PCM/ADPCM) formats. Furthermore, the Archos 404 can play AAC music files, and AC3 stereo sound files with the additional of optional software plug-ins that can be purchased and downloaded from Archos' web site. And just in case inspiration strikes or you want to make sure you don't forget something important, this handy media player lets you make voice recordings through its built-in microphone, or via the optional DVR travel adapter or DVR station through a stereo line-in jack in WAV format.

The Archos 404 is fully compatible with DVD-quality VOD (video on demand) and online music stores, allowing you to purchase and download new music and movies directly online rather than having to transfer everything from more traditional media sources. This media player can also record directly from TV in high-quality MPEG-4 with stereo sound via the optional DVR station, so you can take your favorite television shows with you wherever you go. And if you are at home, the Archos 404 can play back any of your movies or recorded TV programs on your television itself, also through the optional DVR station.

The Archos 404 has a built-in 30 gigabyte hard disk so you have plenty of space for anything you need, and includes a high-speed USB 2.0 connection for transferring files. This unit features a 3.5-millimeter stereo headphone jack mini-jack and TV output, and dedicated connectors for hooking up optional adapters or the DVR station. The 404 also features a music playback time of up to 12 hours, and a video playback time of up to four hours on its built-in LCD display, all with its internal lithium-ion polymer rechargeable battery that charges via computer through its USB port, or more quickly with the optional docking adapter or DVR station. The Archos 404 is compatible with both PCs and Macs with a USB port and Linux, Windows ME or higher, or OS X or higher, and requires Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or higher and Windows Media Player 10 or higher for use with PlayForSure video and subscription services. This media player allows firmware updates to be downloaded via www.archos.com, weighs approximately 6.75 ounces, and measures approximately 3.9 x 3 x 0.59 inches (W x H x D).

What's in the Box
Archos 404 portable media player, headphones, dedicated USB 2.0 cable, DVR station adapter, pouch, quick-start guide, and legal and safety notices.

Customer Reviews:

Very good pmp device........2007-12-26

I owned a Zune 30 before i bought this. But the new updated software just killed the Zune. I had been looking at this Archos 404 for sometime now. This blows away any Zune or Ipod and its 4th generation. I forgot how great it is to have a device thats not linked to bad software or any software period. It does everything really easy and video and music look and sound great on it. You can buy the 2 extra plugins for it to give you more codec choice and thats only 40 dollars more,but trust me its worth it. The device will almost play anything. Drag and drop truely is a wonderful thing. I have put my Zune up for sale and i'm glad i finally got the 404.

Major output power problem.......2007-12-23

I am surprised that none of the reviews here has mentioned one truly serious problem with this device. This player suffers from a very low and insufficient output power.
Actually the output signal is so week that even my high power vehicle and home stereo systems can not get the music to loud enough levels ( I am using a direct audio-out cable). When used in sports this gets really irritating.
I have been pleased with the various video formats that it supports and I have been using it to watch DVD quality movies while on long flights. I was able to play WMV and AVI files out of the box while for the MPEG2 I did purchase the additional Cinema plug-in from ARCHOS Web site.

The following are additional cons:
* Cumbersome stone age menu and controls
* In video mode the battery dries out very quickly
* No power supply included
* The device crashes from time to time in the midst of playing a file. This does not happen very often but still it might be irritating
* For some reasons it would not play some AVI/DiVX/MPEG4 files. I can't explain this and I am unsure why would it play perfectly some files while fail with some other files.

In summary it is still probably one of the best players around due to the wide range of supported video file formats and outstanding screen quality.

A multi-functional mp3 player........2007-12-04

I bought the Archos 404 to replace a Gmini402 whose screen broke, and I like the new 404 better in some ways, but worse in others. I had all of my files backed up as mp3's and was able to copy them directly into the Archos 404 and be up using them very quickly. The UI is about the same. I really like the larger color display, and being able to view video's is nice, but I got it mostly for music. I was able to record wav files into my Gmini402 directly, and they sounded pretty good, when I used an external mixer. Also, I did like the option of being able to copy my camera's pictures to the 404, which I couldn't do with the Gmini. The features were not documented well enough on the Archos 404, and indeed I can do the same, but discovered I needed to buy the DVR station to do most of the things I took for granted, and that's a pretty spendy add-on. By reading the info I could get my hands on, I decided to "cheap out" and buy the $27 Docking Adapter. With it, I could charge my unit from the wall, and use it to transfer files between my camera and the unit. It works fine. I also thought I could plug a audio Line in cable into my headphone jack (with an archos supplied addapter) to get the audio line-in signal into the unit, but after ordering the video/audio cable for $20 incl shipping, I discovered that didn't work, and I need to buy the Travel adapter for another $60 to get that, and only suspect it will work to record just the audio, since I can't find that documented anywhere. Maybe I should have gone with the DVR station, but I wasn't interested in using the unit as a DVR.

I tried to play some of the video's my little Casio camera took after loading them into the Archos 404, but discovered that the format wasn't compatible. I figured out how to use Windows Media player to convert the video files to the right format on my computer -so I'll still need to bring it with me on trips if I want to review them in the field, but then discovered I needed to order the $20 Cinema plug-in SW to do view them on my unit even after I converted them with Windows Media Player. I've thrown another $100 at the basic unit to get most of the functionality I "need", but I've resigned to not bother with anything better than recording from the internal microphone.

Archos 404 All Around Good PVP+MP3 Player........2007-09-06

Well, I got my Archos 404 30GB about two weeks ago, and as of this point, I'm in love with this little device. It works well for videos and music, and photo's look great.

Pros:
Great looking video's and photo's.
Resilient LCD, I've used this device quite a lot, and so far not a single scratch.
Gapless playback.
Portable and Compact.
Tactile Buttons- I like these!

Cons:
Gets hot, gets hot rather fast.
Video Format can be hard to get right, but Total Video Converter works well.
AAC, have to buy plug-in for this.
Battery Life-Haven't gotten much for video on it....Ah well!

All in all, I think its a great product, but could use some refining! Other than that, I totally recommend this product!

Archos devices for do it for yoursleves.......2007-09-01

This device is perfect for those who really know how to use a computer, so on that note, I am sorry apple users. The company gives you the option to synchronize with Windows Media Player 10 or higher, but it is not essential. Just drag and drop files into the folders inside external drive icon.
It can play several file formats like mp3, wma, wmv, and whatever else. It can't play an astonishing number and you need plugins for a couple of encoded formats, which you can purchase from the company. DON'T WHANT TO?
Well then how bout you open the file in a media editing software and render it again in wmv, or wma and compressed it to a 75%(save some space)...It is not that hard People, one of the biggest complaints are that it doesn't play the podcast files you got or something like. Well if you are expecting to let the magic of technology do everything for you then you have a problem with this device, LEARN HOW TO DO SOMETHING YOURSELF!!!!!!

Not everything is Wonderful with this particular model. The 404 has a built in battery, like the ipod when it goes down you have to pay to repair the thing. TigerDirect did a poor job handling my order and return so after I returned it and upgraded with Amazon to a 604 Wifi, for 19 dollars more!!!!! and it has a replacesable battery, so if your battery breaks then buy another one, it is cheaper.

Nice things about the device:
Really powerful accesories, The optional port is a great thing to use for do it yourselves.PDF file reader (I got French and Italian comics, e-books and magazine articles in pdf format), if you want all that then again learn to use Adobe Acrobat people!!!! A built in microphone records straight into the hard drive, good for when I am on meetings or critiques.

Archos company: Archos has been making portable devices for 20 years, other than sony and some other giants there aren't a lot of people that can say that.

Again Learn to do some things yourself. This is something not only important for this but for everything else in your life.

Archos 404 30GB Portable Media Player - 500868

Average customer rating:

Archos 404 30GB Portable Media Player - 500868

Manufacturer: Archos
ProductGroup: CE

Combo Receivers | Receivers & Amplifiers | Audio & Video | Categories | Electronics
Product Features:

ARCHOS 40430GB Personal Video Recorder General Features:
30 GB capacity: Store up to 40 movies, 300,000 photos or 15,000 songs
3.5-inch bright TFT LCDwith 16 million colors Compatible with USB 2.0 and USB 1.1
Reads PDF documents Built-in microphone Built-in speaker
Reads standard video formats in full DVD resolution

ASIN: B000YTNJ0K

Product Description

Massive Multimedia in the palm of your hand!This ARCHOS 404 is the perfect ultra-compact portable Multimedia player for the smallest of purses or shirt pockets. With a 30 GB hard drive, this pocket size companion can store up to 40 movies, 300,000photos or 15,000 songs. Use the advanced music player to display track, artist, album, and album cover.The 3.5-inch TFT LCD has twice thescreen sizesurfaceof similar size PMPs with 2.5-inch screens. Experience DVD-quality playback in the palm of you hand, or on any television with the use ofthe optional DVR Station (not included). Your music, videos and movies have never sounded sweeter whether you use the built-in speaker or headphones.Create slide shows with transition effects and music to share with your family and friends. This Multimedia player is highly customizable tomeet even thosemost demanding user's taste. At these prices they won't last long. Order your ARCHOS 404 today!

Cheap Consumer Electronics:

Cheap Consumer Electronics List

Cheap Consumer Electronics