Video AV340 with Dvr 100 MODULEMPEG4 Video & MP3 Play/rec 40GB – Customer Reviews
Archos AV 340 rocks!
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I purchased the Archos AV 340 online about a month ago, and I have enjoyed it more and more every day since then. It is the pinnacle of technology in MP3/MP4 players today. The main reason I bought it was for the music capabilities, but the photo and video parts are just as awesome. I transfered over 3 gigs of music incredibly fast with Win. XP and a USB 2.0 cable. The music play back is awesome. Very clear sound(but it is recommend that you buy new headphones because the one's Archos supplies are not very high quality).
The video playback is awesome as well. I have recorded a family video, "Can't Stop" music video, and 10 Seinfeld episodes onto my Archos and they all work great. Of course the resolution from a VHS tape is not going to be as great as a DVD but they still look good on the 3.8" color LCD display. When you plug it into your tv to show them on that, the movies do become a little pixilated, but not very much
I cannot wait for the camera attatchment which comes out soon so I can start taking photos and home videos with it. Overall this product is absolutly incredible. The only thing that could be a little better is battery life, but thats because the screen is so big and beautiful. I would buy this if you are lookin for a great MP3 or Video player. It definetly puts the Ipod to shame. If your considering it....GO OUT AND GET IT!! You'll thank me later.10/12/2003 12:00 AM | Rating:
THE ARCHOS AV340 IS AWESOME!!!
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I got the Av340 for Christmas and its awesome. It has a huge h/d and you can transfer any type of file from comp to comp. You can hold TONS of mp3 and movie files. I have recorded movies off my dvd player and t.v. The voice recorder is good quality, but not very useful.
I have had one problem with my Archos. When i put in headphones it only plays in one ear sometimes, i have used 3 different headphones and have the same problem. When i called tech support, IT SUCKS. You give your name and # and they are supposed to call you back, but they don't.Anyways I strongly recomend the Archos. Hopefully you don't have problems with yours.12/29/2003 12:00 AM | Rating:
A little advice to anyone owning an Arcos
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The Arcos is fantastic! Although I do not own one myself, my friend owns one and I get regular use out of it... what a cool dude. But to the point of my entry: When you first get the Arcos, DON'T go straight into using it without charging the battery first. This is what my friend did, and we figured this is what cause the battery to be so pathetic. He re-ordered and CHARGED the new one first, resulting in a better battery. So remember to charge the Arcos BEFORE you use it 4 the first time.
7/6/2004 12:00 AM | Rating:
Archos AV340 vs. IPod- Substance over Style?
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I started researching Mp3 players when a few of my co-workers picked up Ipods. Though I thought these were sleek and clean gadgets with a very nice feel and design, I really wanted something that did more than just play Mp3s. Then I found the Archos products and imediately knew this was what I was looking for. I wanted a product that had more substance than style.
I just got my Archos AV340 and couldn't be happier. It really is like the Swiss army knife of Mp3 gadgets. It is so easy to use as a portable drive and to record both audio and video from any source that I'm sometimes amazed that it's that easy. I use it to record my live concert DVD's to hear and see at work deskside. The sound quality is absolutely amazing and it maintains that concert sound that I love so much. The image quality from the capture is also very good especially if you're viewing from the AV340. My plan is to capture all my favorite music videos and concerts on to it and then play them as playlists or random to have my very own custom MTV style channel while on the go. My channel will actually play videos though!!
Now all my Ipod friends are jealious and want to trade their's in for Archos AVs! Ipods look nice but this product is a solid and powerful piece of hardware that just does so much more.
6/26/2004 12:00 AM | Rating:
Nice features but lacking in some areas
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Now, I'm a gadget freak. I considered buying a portable DVD player so I could watch movies on the road without dragging along a laptop. When I saw this little beauty, it seemed an obvious alternative! I already had a decent MP3 jukebox, so video was my main draw here.
First, the good stuff. The quality of the video is great! Solid colors will show some artifacts, but nothing too horrible. Don't expect DVD quality here, but it's quite reasonable for the type of device and amount of compression being done.
The included recording device works great. A little tricky to figure out the interface for recording, but once I did, had no problems recording off my TV.
Sound quality of MP3s is fine. Nothing to write home about, but okay. There's a decent playlist feature and the usual play modes. I tend to get lost in the menus though.
So, some negatives. I'll try to include stuff other people haven't mentioned. A big one for me is that you can't bookmark a video! That means if you don't finish watching it, you have to remember where you were and forward to get to that spot! Absolutely horrendous. Even my little Palm device can bookmark a video. At least the new upgrade has fast forward feature that will get there quickly.
I also find battery life to be much worse than reported. My first one was so bad, I returned it thinking the battery was bad. The new one is just as bad, I get maybe 1-1/2 hour of video playback. Not even enough to watch most movies. Even most DVD players (known battery hogs) are better than this. MP3 playing is certainly better, with the screen off, but I definitely don't get anywhere near 10 hours (or even the 8 that some report). Worse, the new model has a button that does not seem to work well, I have to press extra hard to activate its functions. So there's a good chance this one will go back as well. Just wish there was a reasonably decent alternative!
The music functions are pretty inadequate. It doesn't seem to sort my records in proper track order (alphabetical instead), which is really frustrating, not sure if there is a setting for this, but any decent MP3 player should do it by default. As mentioned before, the menuing is really counter intuitive at times and I often find myself unable to find the playback screen to forward to the next song. No quick mute feature that I could find either.
Overall, it's main plus is that there just aren't many great PVPs out yet. It wouldn't take much to improve this one, but right now, it's a tough sell for me.
6/22/2004 12:00 AM | Rating:
