Archos 604 Wi-Fi

The PMP daddy

The Doyen of portable media players is back with its latest video-playing, music-blaring, web-browsing offering.
Boasting an improved screen, a redesigned menu system and Wi-Fi, the 604 from French specialist Archos looks very tasty indeed. Niall Magennis gave into temptation and took it for a test drive for a month.

First impressions
I took the 604 out of its box and was immediately impressed. It's so solid I'd swear you could use it to hammer nails.
After transferring a few movies from my PC, I watched a recording of Aliens that I'd made from Freeview. All
I can say is: wow. Obviously, that's not all I can say, thats just a turn of phrase. The screen is seriously impressive, bristling with sharpitude and contrastulation - even the murky corridor scenes ooze detail. However, despite their snazzy appearance, the menus aren't all that intuitive.

Hidden costs
In order to record video, you need to spend an additional £70 on a dock.
Unfortunately, the spending doesn't stop there. The 604 refused to play a video with an AC3 audio track for surround sound, so I had to take a trip to the Archos website and buy the downloadable Cinema plug-in for 20 Euros - about £13. Cheers!

Surf's up
This latest version of the 604 has Wi-Fi. The browser is particularly impressive for checking out websites, so I decided to try out its media streaming capabilities.
After inputting some settings in the File Server screen I could access the player's hard drive from my computer, and in return my PC's hard drive from the player. It seems like a cool idea, until you actually start to use it - it's ridiculously slow. Seriously, it's almost impossible to use. After browsing a video stored on my PC's hard drive, it then took around 30 seconds for it to start playing on the Archos, and sometimes it wouldn't play at all.

Where's the plug?
I had a meeting in Glasgow, so I packed the 604 in my bag and headed off. Unlike the old AV 500, this new player comes with a kick stand, which is ideal for resting it on the table on the train.
I managed to watch about four hours of video before I arrived in my hotel room, where I tried to listen to some music. On cue, the 604 promptly died. Now, four hours battery life isn't bad. The problem is that Archos doesn't provide a power adapter with the player - I blame Apple for starting this trend - and I didn't have my laptop with me to charge it via USB.
All of which meant my journey back to London was sans entertainment, save for the random comments of the guy, who I was sure was an escaped convict, sitting next to me.-
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Final thoughts
I have mixed feelings about the 604. It packs an awful lot into a small space. The web browser is surprisingly good and the quality of the audio and video playback can't be faulted. The screen is also one of the best I've seen on a portable device. However, the iffy menu system, lack of a recording dock and need to purchase plug-ins are all significant downers. Be sure to think about what you're going to use it for before buying, kids...

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