Archos 504 80 Gb For £206 Delivered

twe

i just bought one of these for £129.99

http://www.grundig-uk.co.uk/productdetails.aspx?pid=XGUVP6200SPK&language=en-GB

[courtesy of hukd]....

was cheaper and does the same thing as the 504.... and it includes a case and a dock, with cables, to watch and record tv.....

I can write my own mini review once i get it this thursday/friday

smsmasters

yezdi wrote:

Agree with jaymee.
I am not impressed with the Archos 504. The £206 is actually misleading. Most of the features advertised are optional add ons and are very expensive. For eg camera, TV recording, playing certain video file formats...etc. By the time you have bought them all you'd have burnt a massive hole in the pocket. The Cowon A2 has no such hidden costs though more expensive at £280.

I'm glad someone here sees the light.

I have the Archos AV500 60GB and I wouldn't trade it for the 504.

gamma

why is that?

misterE_3

Update: the cheapest and most reliable seller I found for the Archos 504 160 GB version was with advancedmp3players.co.uk. (However, pixmania did have a good price but they aren't reliable nor customer-friendly by most reviews I've read).

Starting price (on 2/Dec/2006): £399.99 including free next day delivery

With £5 discount voucher which you can find online if you search gives £394.99.

Then go through quidco for 4% cashback (search for "advanced mp3 players") (though remember cashback is never 100% guaranteed), would give a total eventual cost of about £380.

stolt

gamma wrote:

Right I got this in currys yesterday -

They have the Archos for £229 and the docking station for £79.99 (£50 on amazon) but if you buy both together you can get £20 discount on the docking station (£49.99)

I've played with it and it seems solid and a good piece of kit but Archos is out to make money on accessories and plugins (to watch certain movie formats and podcasts)

The plugins cost euro19.99 each - there are 2.

Although I nearly bought the plugins abit of software scans all you movie files and tells you which will work without the plugins. Virtualdub can then convert the files to play without the plugins - a pain for some movies but ok if you don't have many.

As for accessories - yes it charges via USB or the docking station (PVR kit) and you need that for recording off the TV or playing movies on the TV. In my opinion you def have to get the docking station to use it fully.

HTH

hi what movie formats do the plug ins let you play, i'm assuming dvix, xvid?

redfan

I have the Archos 560 (the previous model) and would say it is the best purchase I have made - well worth the 360 quid I spent. So even with the docking station, the new model at under 300 quid would be good value.

Whether you need the docking station is dependent on your use - if you want to record off the TV and/or play back on the TV then it is a must have - but if you only want to play back converted DVD films then you can do without it.

With 80Gb you can store about 80 films (in good quality i.e. watchable on the TV), 100+ with lower quality.

redfan

As to file formats - mine (see above post) plays back XVID encoded AVI files. I use PocketDivXEncoder (freeware) to convert all formats that are not compatible - the software has presets for conversion to a format compatible with the Archos players.

gamma

Well out of the box mine played divx and xvid - but one file had AC3 ? Audio track licenced to Dolby. For this to have worked I needed to buy the plugin - but I just reencoded the file to MP3

jinkssick

gamma wrote:

Well out of the box mine played divx and xvid - but one file had AC3 ? Audio track licenced to Dolby. For this to have worked I needed to buy the plugin - but I just reencoded the file to MP3

if at any point you purchase something that says it will last for 4 hours and has a capacity of 80gb then its easy to save its a complete rip off.

my psp does 6 hours

that other one that is 12 hours is the one ppl shud b after

Jefft_2

I am very disappointed with the screen on the 504. It is not as bright or sharp as the AV500 which was excellent. A refund coming up I think.