Quirky but good
Written: Sep 24 '03
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Pros: Great sound, good battery life, real flexibility, easy to use interface
Cons: Charging problems, not so hot software.
The Bottom Line: For the price it's great -- relatively durable, excellent sound, easy to use -- but it may require some loving care.
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| rkgood's Full Review: Archos Jukebox Studio (10 GB) MP3 Player |
I've had mine for well over a year and it has accompanied me on many trips at home an abroad, and is often used with my home stereo. It works beautifully with MP3Pro, allowing for a gazillion tracks, and I get 8-10 hours out of a battery charge. With good headphones or stereo the sound is great, and after a little experience, I find it very easy to use, and Archos, which provided poor documentation, is improving its website.
But, there have been problems, beginning with the fact that the 'new' one sold me by Best Buy was actually a return, and the new one I did get didn't charge properly after a month. I sent it back to Archos, which replaced it with another that doesn't seem to charge properly, either -- maybe they just sent my original back. So I ditched the charger and simply carry around an extra set of batteries and a tiny charger when away from home. The batteries pop in and out of place easily.
The software provided is pretty lame, so I switched to Rockbox 2.0, which offers many more control and playlist options. And, Archos claims that the USB cable is proprietary and offers them at ripoff prices -- I picked up a couple of Cyberguys dirt cheap and they work just fine.
The only playback problem I've encountered was a very serious case of skipping and chirping, not helped by defragging and ultimately reformatting the drive (this is a hard drive, so be sure to defrag and check for errors regularly). But in desperation I squirted some anti-static spray into its innards and, voila, all perfect. Oh, I've had some problems transferring files from an external USB hard drive (through my computer, of course) to the Archos, so I recommend not doing that. But with an extra cable in your computer bag you will always be able to use the device for backing up files on the road, etc.
Otherwise, for a price far lower than an iPod, this is a pretty good product.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 225
Recommended for: Music Lovers - High Capacity Storage for an Entire Album Collection
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Epinions.com ID:
rkgood
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Reviews written: 5
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