I Won't Let it Out of My Sight
Written: May 14 '03
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Pros: Easy to use, great price for lots of storage
Cons: Sometimes a little cumbersome, not as portable as some other MP3 players
The Bottom Line: For its price, I can't recommend the Archos Jukebox enough. For a little more money though, get FM radio and more gigs.
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| pillowphat's Full Review: Archos Jukebox Studio (10 GB) MP3 Player |
Wow. Just... wow. I was a pretty dorky teenager and never really caught onto the Walkman/Discman thing. I've been a reader all my life and have always preferred to have a book in my hands than almost anything else. All of that changed recently when I purchased the Archos Studio Jukebox 10.
I'd decided I wanted to be more active and thought I'd listen to audiobooks while walking around the city. The discman I borrowed from my fiance skipped constantly and drove me nuts. So, I spent a lot of time pricing many different MP3 players and eventually came to the Archos Jukebox. The 10gig player was actually priced as low or lower than many of the 128mb players. Hmmm.... 35 songs, or 2,000? Decisions, decisions. I do think that, from everything I've read and heard, the iPods probably are the best product but I'm just not willing to spend that much at this point.
I finally bought the Archos after begging my fiance and promising him that I'd spend hours every day exercising and then dancing at his feet.
Setting it up. Getting the Jukebox home, I was able to install the software, download the recommended firmware update, and connect with my computer in less than 5 minutes. It was simple and intuitive, and I think most people should be able to handle it fairly easily. However, I would not necessarily pay a compliment to the writers of the owner's manual. It is clumsy and dry, and doesn't seem to provide very much information.
The first night, I went nuts and dumped about 1200 songs on the Jukebox. It took about an hour for all the files to transfer, which didn't seem too bad. I had all of my songs set up in folders by artist, and then discovered that the Jukebox cannot shuffle across folders. As I am very fond of shuffling, I re-loaded all the music, now all dumped in one folder called "Music".
Navigation. Navigating the file system is pretty easy once you get the hang of it, too. At first I was mystified but after about a day I was clicking through the menus like a pro.
One thing I did not see in the manual or any of my documentation, but the Jukebox does NOT seem to be equipped to handle anything but MP3 files. This was discovered after several days of frustratedly trying to listen to Anthony Robbins CDs and getting all demotivated. As most of my files were .wma files, I had to download a tool to convert everything to mp3 format. Not a big deal, but something to be aware of.
Battery life. I have read in several reviews that the Jukebox has poor battery life. I would actually list this as one of my favorite things about the Jukebox. I love chargeable batteries; for some reason I get unreasonably stressed out at the concept of having to replace batteries. (Perhaps this is why I never cared for Walkmans.)
In a typical day, I listen to my Jukebox for 1 hour in the morning, then sometimes up to 2 hours in the middle of the day, and then another 1-2 hours straight on my way home. Usually, by the time I get home it is starting to get low but all I have to do is plug it in and it's ready for another day tomorrow. It does need to be turned on while transferring files over a USB connection, so that would run down the batteries a bit more too.
The Jukebox is fantastic for working out. Its design seems to be pretty sturdy. I'd love a player that is smaller and lighter, but I have dropped this one several times and appreciate how sturdy it is. When at the gym, I can just put it in my pocket or even just resting next to me on a weight machine. While walking or jogging, it is unobtrusive and of course never skips.
For its price, I can't recommend the Archos Jukebox enough. However, if you're willing to spend a little more, I'd recommend getting one with FM radio capability or even another 10 gigs. Right now I have about 1000 songs plus several complete audiobooks and can't imagine running out of room, but we humans have a way of trying to fit more into less.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 225
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Epinions.com ID:
pillowphat
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Member: jessica marjoribanks
Location: Rockford, IL, USA
Reviews written: 13
Trusted by: 4 members
About Me:
I'm a board game lovin', jujitsu jivin', Cowboy Bebop cravin', book devourin' thirtysomething.
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