Archos

silver fox

silver fox

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Anyone had any experience of Archos devices? Was thinking of having in the tankbag as an alternative to Ipod. Seem a lot cheaper, with good battery life. Wasn't thinking of a brand new one, someones forgotten toy from ebay i think!

Any advice appreciated
Regards
SF
 
It's got a hard disk inside it, which needs a little respect to get the best out of it. The disk will be very similar to, if not identical to, iPod disks, and a lot of people seem happy to run their iPods on their bikes.

Archos support is renowned to be worse than Apple's though, so getting it repaired is likely to be more difficult if it goes wrong.

I know several mates who have them and I've got one myself - everyone's happy with them, and there are no major quirks.

I'd say go for it, but try and create a little padded home for it on the bike so it doesn't get shaken around too much when it's playing.
 
i like the archos's no need for that i tune balls up

just drag and drop:thumb2

i've heard of one faulty one

i don't know about back up....
but they were the cutting edge of PVR/portable media devices.. and i think still are... they come up with some nice ideas... but the I pod has it on looks
had mine in my tank bag never skipped on me
 
I wasted 2 hours trying to use iTunes to rip a CD for the wife last weekend - a truly horrible, inflexible, DRM infested piece of software. I've used iTunes before, and never quite got on with the interface, but this occasion was the last straw.

So I got rid of it and used Winamp instead :thumb2
 
S F.

Use to have an IPOD - not versatile enough for my spartan/minimalist lifestyle

I have the last gen Archos AV4100 ( 100gb hard drive ) I have added an FM radio/remote control clipped to the crossbar pad that allows me to switch between radio and music and to change / pause tracks on the move ( usefull at toll booths )
And a handy media card reader
I also use a small set of travel speakers for when off the bike.

On it I have a dozen movies
Full series of LWD
Full series of Race to Dakar
A Kevin & Julia Sanders film
and about 30 hours of Programmes and Documentaries I have missed on TV and downloaded plus half a dozen audio books for good measure.,

I have approx 450 albums ( In fact I don't own an actual cd ) and all my digi photos on it.

Everything is backed up on an external hard drive .

I recently did a 10 day long trip down to Gibraltar and this machine did everything.
I watched "Children of men" and "Shooter" on the ferry crossings.
Every night in the tent I uploaded all my pics and videos taken during the day , which kept my memory cards clear for the nest day.

I listened to a 12 CD audio book ( Travels with Charlie by John Steinbeck ) accross the plains of spain and it made all the diffrence.

I powered it up along with Camera / phone / gps etc via a small multi plug thing in my tank bag.

Fantastic kit . I don't have a stereo at home , I use the Archos with the travel speakers which are great for what I need.

The only thing that has stopped upgrading to the sexy brushed ali ones is I dont think it has the sd card slot ( although it has a connector for a bullit cam ) but my camera takes decent video clips. Also this last gen unit has rubber feet on each corner and I feel it is a bit more robust.
I mount mine in the clear map pocket on my Baglux bag (where you can also use the control buttons if you need to )

Hope that all helps. Pic of my complete media solution
H6
 

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Nice one - I've got the 480 and the FM/remote as well, but never managed to source the media reader.

I take it you still can't write to the media from the Archos, so you can't upload songs or photos to an SD card? That is one feature that I really would like.
 
My son has had Archos machines for years now and swears by them. His is wifi and he travels the world with it. Buying at Xmas or Birthday time was easy - bits for the Archos or means of attaching bullet cameras to his cars. But his latest model seems to have it all. Wish I could afford one as well. Keep dropping hints near to present time, but usually get gardening kit.
 
harlequin6 said:
I have added an FM radio/remote control clipped to the crossbar pad that allows me to switch between radio and music
Click to expand...

How is the FM Radio quality while on the bike, do you need a proper aerial?

Also, can you use the remote control buttons ok with your gloves on?

Used to have a Archos 340 (I think) years ago. Great bit of kit, but it just gave up the ghost one day and I didnt get around to getting it fixed...

Mike
 
Many thanks guys, especially you Harlequin6, good bit of info there, am definately going to get searching on fleabay now, sounds a lot better than the ipods.

Regards
SF
 
Many thanks for the links, just need to find an Archos for the right price now!!!

Regards
SF
 
Tobermory Womble said:
I wasted 2 hours trying to use iTunes to rip a CD for the wife last weekend - a truly horrible, inflexible, DRM infested piece of software. I've used iTunes before, and never quite got on with the interface, but this occasion was the last straw.

So I got rid of it and used Winamp instead :thumb2
Click to expand...

Bit of an achievement. Usually takes about 4 clicks and a cup of tea. What on earth went wrong?
 
The problem was a CD that wasn't being read properly. iTunes failed silently after 2 tracks and ignored the other 5. No amount of cajoling could persuade it to rip the other tracks, or even to admit that there was a problem. It seemed very happy to try and push me over to the iTunes store, but ripping music that I actually owned already seemed to be beyond it. The height of ostrichtech, let's just ignore problems and hope that no-one notices :rolleyes:
 
Tobermory Womble said:
The problem was a CD that wasn't being read properly. iTunes failed silently after 2 tracks and ignored the other 5. No amount of cajoling could persuade it to rip the other tracks, or even to admit that there was a problem. It seemed very happy to try and push me over to the iTunes store, but ripping music that I actually owned already seemed to be beyond it. The height of ostrichtech, let's just ignore problems and hope that no-one notices :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

What makes you think it was iTunes rather than the CD or the drive?
 
It was a problem with the drive, but by that time iTunes had already listed 7 tracks on the CD, and when it couldn't read them all, it just smiled happily and left me unaware that it had barfed out after just 2 tracks. All the other CD ripping apps I have used have let me know when there have been problems, so I've been able to fix them. The only reason I became suspicious was the fact that there was no way it could have ripped a CD that quickly.

Would you be happy if you took your bike into the main dealer for a service and then found that they had ignored problems because they weren't on the service schedule? iTunes left me high and dry, so I'm off to an independent that I can trust.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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