Archos AV400 80 GB Video Player / Recorder and MP3 Jukebox Player AV480 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Actually, I am very much astonished from the reviews written on the AV480 here on amazon as well as on other sites.

Since this device is no cheap at all, i had to run an extensive survey trying to evaluate this equipment. And all the feedback was very discouraging.

All the reviews said that the AV480 fails much and doesn't work and stuff like that. But, since i was desperate to have a large (more than 50 GB) portable media device and i couldn't find other choice (May be except the iPod, and the Zen) i decided to take my chances and try one.

Let's cross our fingers:

I have it now for around a 1.5 months, and this piece of art is really amazing.
I tried almost every possible combination of features together to check if it is working. And yes, i admit that i have extensively tested it.

- I connected it to my computer, and it worked fine, nothing needed to recognize the AV480 as a USB 80GB harddisk.

- I ran up to 10 copy operations of large data from the PC to AV480 (2GB) simultaneously and with 3 copy operations from the AV480 to the PC. This test was done all together to randomly test the scheduler (OS) of the AV480 and does it que the data in a correct manner or not. With these threads opened, the odds should be very high that the disk will fail in one of them. But, amazingly it went through very smoothly. So I am now pretty sure from the OS is rigid.

- The other tests were rather easy, i tried to run MP3's on the unit and sucking the battery dry. Trying to check when the unit abnormally or urgently shutdown, and expecting a failure when booting it, i didn't have any problem. The unit when just charged, started up very normally.

- I tested recording as well (Audio only) and it is very clear to me.. It records to WAVs, but there is no problem. Any ripper will change that to MP3's.

- I still have the video recording test to go. I didn't try that yet, though i believe that it will pass fairly.

Ok, looking very impressive with the above tests, i tried to be picky, and try to catch anything bad in that device:

1. The battery charging looks very primitive. When you charge the unit, it just charges over the level it is originally at. Meaning: If you have a total empty battery, charging in 4 hours. Then a half empty battery will charge in 2 hours, a 1/4 empty battery will charge in 1 hour and so on. I think that this way the battery will experience memory effect. Meaning that for a half battery charging, the next time the battery will tell the unit that it is empty only after a 1/2 battery discharge. Though my unit is not experiencing a memory effect, but this rather takes long times.

2. The unit power connector is sloppy. Using the charger that came with the unit, it is very easy for the charger to get disconnected from the unit if you accidentaly pushed the unit a bit away.

3. I don't know if the power connector is a standard size! I tried buying a car charger from RadioShack. The charger didn't fit in the unit. Actually the unit needed a little longer jack to fit in. The jack at RadioShack was short, and when you push it hard in it contacts the power, when you release the pressure it disconnects.

4. The design was meant to be elegant, but the finishing quality isn't that elegant. If you look from the side of the unit you can see the light of the LCD.

5. The carrying case is very premitive. It has no place to carry the earphones with it. And it is very hard to reach the buttons when the unit is in the carrying case.

6. The recording unit comes with a very large bunch of wires that makes the connection with the TV and Sound system in my room even more harder and messy :)

7. Archos' customer service SUCKS! When i was researching for this unit, and found the discouraging reviews and found a more encouraging reviews on the AV380 i asked them if they still support the AV380 (because Archos' site is the only place that doesn't sell the AV380!). And till now i have no answer back :)

Conclusion:

It is a very efficient device with couple of drawbacks that can be solved by firmware upgrades.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Archos AV400 80 GB Video Player / Recorder and MP3 Jukebox Player AV480

Product Description:
The 80 GB Archos Pocket Video Recorder AV480 is the ultimate handheld digital video recorder that offers TV recording and a portable home entertainment center in one pocket-sized device. Watch videos and view photos on the large color LCD screen, listen to and record music, and transfer photos from your digital camera and data files from your PC. It features a TV Cradle, an external speaker for enjoying music and video without headphones, and a built-in Compact Flash reader for transferring photos directly from digital cameras.
The AV480 has an 80 GB hard drive, which can record up to 320 hours of video content from a TV, VCR, or cable/satellite receiver using the TV cradle. It plays MP3 and WMA digital audio files (included protected files) as well as WAV audio.
Once the TV Cradle is connected to a TV, VCR or cable/satellite receiver, you won't have to reconnect the cables again--just dock the AV400 and you're ready. The Recording Scheduler directly controls the tuner inside your VCR or cable/satellite receiver to automatically adjust the channel and record based on the time and duration of the schedule. The Scheduler will also synchronize with Yahoo TV Guide (where available) from the Internet so you can prepare your recordings for the week or month in advance.
What's in the Box
Archos AV 480, TV cradle with audio/video connections, remote control with 2 AA batteries, protective case, USB 2.0 cable, stereo headphone, manual, AC adapter/charger with US/UK/EU plug