Archos Recorder

Archos Recorder

archos recorder

By Anne Ahira

Portable media has definitely gone to the next level and nowhere is that more evident than in the product description of the latest Archos recorder?

The Archos AV700 offers consumers a full 100 GB of movie, music and image portability. It was not too long ago that home computer hard drives were smaller than this! The massive amount of storage in this one-inch device is just the beginning of all the features of the Archos recorder.

Features

100 GB storage
2.0 USB for fast file transfer
Record from your television movies and more
30 hour battery life audio
4 hour battery life video
Audio format- WAV, WMA, MP3
Video format- WMV, MPEG-4 SP, MPEG-4, DivX, DivX 5.0, DivX 4.0
Display 7 inch LCD

Pros

The ability to bundle all your media into one handy device is nice. Music, movies, pictures and even a few games is a definite improvement over other media devices.

The screen size is off the charts, few other media players have a 7-inch screen like the Archos recorder.

Recording movies from your television is also a great feature. Other products require a plug in for satellite recordings but not the Archos recorder AV700. Simply hook up your Archos to your TV, DVD player, or satellite and record all your favorite movies or television shows.

Cons

Battery life is not as described, is it ever for these devices? You can expect about 3 hours of video time before needing to recharge the unit. That being said the manufacturer’s recommendation was four hours of video viewing so this is not a huge discrepancy.

The advertisement tells you that the unit will hold 250 movies depending on the size. That is a bit of a stretch, 50 movies at about 2 hours each is the maximum you will get on the Archos recorder. That is still a lot of movies however the claims should be revised.

Video resolution when trying to play movies or videos from the Archos recorder to a television is less than impressive. It is a capability of the player but for the most part, you will want to stick to watching videos on the player itself. You will not be able to store all your DVD collection on the unit and then toss out your DVD player. The resolution going from a 7-inch screen to even a small 32-inch one is not great.

Overall

The Archos recorder does what it claims to do, hold music, video and images for playback on the device. It is a nice replacement for lugging around portable DVD players and DVD’s or a laptop. You can take the device on vacation with you and never worry about losing or breaking an expensive DVD. The price on this player is quite steep, $1200 manufacturer’s suggested retail, however you can find it on Amazon for just under $900 plus shipping or even less if, you choose a used model.

Check out these sites for pricing:

Amazon
Compusa
TigerDirect
4AllMemory
Microsoft Store
Jr.com

Other post you may be interested in reading: MP3 80GB and Archos Media Players

Here's Archos Recorder Selections:

Archos 604 30GB Wi-Fi, Ultra-Slim Portable Digital...	Customer Review: Has quite a few pluses going for it -- wifi, nice looking design, plays most formats, etc.Also has a few negatives -- you have to pay extra to be able to play some very common formats, network connectivity is weak, browser will not work with some of ... Read More	(97)
Archos Jukebox Recorder 20: massive data storage a...	Customer Review: Click Here for More Info	$5.95
100% NEW USB 2.0 Data Sync Cable for Archos FM Rec...	Customer Review: Click Here for More Info
Archos 504 80GB Portable Digital Media Player and ...	Customer Review: I travel a lot for work and the archos is perfect for passing the time. It is small enough to carry in your hand as your walking on the plane. 80 gigs is plenty to hold all of my music, personal videos that I like to bore my friends and family with a... Read More	(68)
Archos 504 160GB Portable Digital Media Player and...	Customer Review: I had initially set out intending to just go and buy an iPod video - I had one of the original iPod's which proceeded to break, and then I had the colour photo one which made it to just over a year after I bought it and then decided to stop working. ... Read More	(27)