The Archos Jukebox Recorder 20 is more than a good MP3-player, much more.
Written: Dec 20 '02
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Sound: |
 |
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Durability: |
|
|
| Portability: |
|
|
| Battery Life: |
 |
|
|
Pros: Good possibilities for recording, great sound quality, portable 20 GB hard-drive
Cons: Heavy, clumsy, supports only MP3, menu-system
The Bottom Line: A digital- and analog recorder, a sound recorder, a portable 20 GB hard-drive and a good MP3-player all in one box isn’t bad for about 200 $
|
|
|
| goldmember2803's Full Review: Archos Jukebox Recorder 20GB MP3 Player |
Do you have a large collection of MP3-files? Then listen to this. A portable MP3-player with 20 GB of storage and a super fast transfer through USB 2.0. Sounds interesting? If it does, then check out the rest of my review of the Archos Jukebox Recorder 20.
Just so you now it, I don’t own a Archos Jukebox Recorder 20. I own a Apple iPod. Though my brother owns a Jukebox Recorder 20, and it is this I’ve tested. I have used it for a couple of weeks now, mainly for two reasons:
1. I wanted to check out if it is better than mine.
2. I borrowed it so I could write a decent review of it
============================================================
On many ways, Archos Jukebox Recorder 20 is a little beast of a device. It is large and clumsy, but at the same time crammed full of impressive functionality and lots of storage. Handy and awkward, large and little, all at the same time.
Simply told this is about a 20 GB portable hard-drive, which is capable of playing MP3-files (max 320 kbps), equipped with USB 2.0, built-in microphone, as well as ports for both digital and analog recordings (max 160 kbps). It’s delivered with a carry bag, a good collapsible headset, a USB-cable, manual, software, and a analog audio-cable.
============
There’s nothing simpler than to transfer files between your PC and your Jukebox Recorder 20. Once you’ve plugged in the USB-cable, “Jukebox 20” appears as an extreme hard-drive in Windows Explorer (it supports Mac as well). Then it’s just to drag and drop files as usual. With USB 2.0 this is done in the twinkling of an eye, and 1 GB is copied in about 7 minutes.
You stand freely to copy all kinds of files and documents, since this really is a portable hard-drive. Though Jukebox Recorder 20 is just capable of playing MP3-files. That’s a shame, cause when you have 20 GB of storage, you may wish to bring along music in CD-format (WAV). Support for other file types, like WMA and OGG Vorbis, are also greatly missed.
The sound quality though, is absolutely great, especially if you use better speakers than the ones following. Archos gives you the possibility of adjusting the sound level, together with loudness and bass-boost, and all MP3-files at 320 kbps has about equal quality as good MiniDisc-standard
The Jukebox Recorder 20 wasn’t as user-friendly as I thought it would be. The display is small, the operative system is slow, and the menu looks like it were only half done when they had to release this player. Luckily, this is compensated for by the big navigation-buttons, which is quite easy to use. But I still feel that Archos should have managed to make the operative- and menu-system better.
============
Conclusion:
If you think of the Jukebox Recorder 20 just as a MP3-player, it may be beaten by other products in the same genre and price-level. The elegance and user-friendliness of for example Apple iPod puts the Jukebox Recorder 20 in the shadow. But if you extend the specifications a bit beyond “music in your pocket”, it’s not difficult to see, that Archos’ Jukebox Recorder 20 has a lot of potential areas of application that exceeds most of its competitors.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 199
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
goldmember2803
|
|
Location: Norway
Reviews written: 12
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
He's got the lightest touch, but he touched it to much, he's Goldmember, he's Goldmember.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.