I got an Archos 504 with the 80 GB hard drive a few days ago. I've been using it quite a bit, so i figured I would give my review of it now.

The first of all are its looks. The portable media player (PMP) has an aluminium case and has a solid feel to it. The buttons are all on the right side and each one has two functions. It is fairly large. It's definitely not as small as an ipod. You'll have to put this in your main front pocket, not a smaller side pocket.

Now for my impressions of the Archos...

I'll start off with the bad. Keep in mind the gripes I have are relatively minor and I am happy with this PMP.

If you've read other reviews (like on cnet.com) you'll know that this comes with a lack of accessories. There is no AC adapter and no way to have video in or out. I can't imagine it being difficult to install an A/V port and a place for the A/C adapter to plug into. I knew this when I bought it though and I'm never too far from a computer so charging it isn't too much of a problem for me. If would be nice to be able to hook this up to my TV to transfer movies from my TV to computer and vice versa without having to spend an extra $70.

The actual interface is not really user friendly or intuitive. Making matters worse, the user manual is virtually worthless. The only way I figured out how to make playlists was to do a search on google which found a step by step video on youtube!

I'm starting to get more used to it though. It's not a deal-breaker or anything, just don't expect to safely be able to operate it while driving, or just by touch.

My final complaint is the earbud headphones. They are absolutely horrible. I don't know how they compare with other media players/MP3 players. They are very cheap, extremely uncomfortable, and won't stay in. The first thing I was pick up some good headphones.

Now on to the good...

The screen is beautiful! You can put movies on the Archos and watch them with great clarity. One very cool feature when you're browsing through movies you have, there will be a small preview box that'll show about a 20 second clip of the movie when you highlight it. For a PMP, it has a very nice sized screen. The interface looks nice as well. You can set different themes and backgrounds with your own pictures quite easily.

The built in speaker is pretty decent considering its size. Bass won't come through too well, obviously, but it's not terrible.

The main reason I bought this instead of an iPod was because I didn't want to have to deal only with iTunes and wanted to be able to share between computers. This can connect to any computer and will show up as a mass media device, or harddrive, on your computer. Drag the files in or out, and that's it. Easy. It's a USB connection. Firewire would have been nicer, but it's not terribly slow. I transfered 30 GBs of music in about 20 minutes.

The main reason I bought this was for music. But like I said I didn't want an iPod and this had 80 GB vs. 30 gb for the iPod. For the same price, I'll take the one with the bigger screen, more memory, and less file type restrictions please!

I've put a few movies on there and have no complaints about watching them on this. The quality of the video is great. Thanks to the screen, viewing pictures is also a good experience.

Overall, the Archos 504 is a great PMP. If it were a bit more user-friendly and had an A/V in/out jack, it would be about perfect.

I'd say I got about 20+ hours on one charge while listening to music. One 2 hour movie left about 60-75% of the battery (judging by the bat. gauge picture).

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 250
Recommended for: Music Lovers - High Capacity Storage for an Entire Album Collection