Archos MP3 Player
By Anne Ahira
Archos is a French based company established in 1988 by founder Henry Crohas. The name Archos is an anagram of the founder’s last name.
Their first product was the Archos mp3 player Jukebox 6000. This player was only compatible with mp3 files and featured one of the first 2.5-inch hard drives.
This Archos mp3 player was bulky and less portable than some of the models you see today, however the large capacity made it popular when it was released.
Archos mp3 player Jukebox 6000 is instantly recognizable by its metallic blue and silver color scheme and the large blue bumpers on each corner.
Features
This player came bundled with the music match juke box, hence the name, and required no additional software for copying files directly to the Archos mp3 player. This made the unit compatible with many operating systems.
Pros
As the first hard drive based player the Archos mp3 player known as Jukebox 6000 offered more storage capacity than any other media player on the market did at that time.
Cons
When compared with current mp3 players this unit is what you would call a dinosaur. It was the first to do many things however; its time has come and gone making way for even better technology.
Transferring music to this Archos mp3 player was simple but slow. USB 1.1 was the available protocol at the time, and transfers were about 1.0 MB per second. This is much slower than the current 2.0 USB connections.
The Jukebox 6000 Archos mp3 player was introduced in 2000 and discontinued in 2003 after years of popularity. After the jukebox series Archos moved on to creating complete multimedia units like the Archos 604 that has movie and music capabilities.
Current Projects from Archos
Archos no longer produces media players that are only mp3 players. Their current models are much larger in storage capacity and smaller in size making them more portable than earlier generations.
A popular model even now is the 605, a personal media player that allows you to record your favorite television shows or movies directly from your cable or satellite provider.
Offering customers 120 GB of hard drive space you could say the humble Archos mp3 player has indeed evolved over the years.
Rumored to be released in 2009 is Archos latest achievement. Reportedly, this unit will be a tiny 1 CM thick, 7-hour video battery life, 500 GB hard drive, Adobe flash support, high definition playback and a 5-inch high def display.
This will be quite an improvement on the Archos mp3 player, now if they could train it to wash the dishes the unit would be perfect!
Overall
Archos mp3 players have a long history of customer satisfaction and while most of the older units like the Jukebox 6000 have been discontinued, you can still find them used and refurbished on sites like:
Comparison-shopping for mp3 players has never been simpler.
Here's Archos MP3 Player Selections:
Archos Vision 24c 8 GB Video MP3 Player with 2.4-I... |
Customer Review: Click Here for More Info |
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Archos Key 4 GB MP3 Player with Built-In Micro SD ... |
Customer Review: Click Here for More Info |
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Archos Clipper 2 GB MP3 Player (Black)... |
Customer Review: Click Here for More Info |
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Archos Vision 15 4 GB MP3 Player with 1.5-Inch Scr... |
Customer Review: Click Here for More Info |
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Archos Vision 18b 8 GB Video MP3 Player with 1.8-I... |
Customer Review: Click Here for More Info |
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