Archos 5 250 GB Internet Media Tablet | 
| Brand: Archos
List Price: $449.99
Buy New: $414.00
You Save: $35.99 (8%)
New (5) Used (1) from $404.00
Rating:  43 reviews
Sales Rank: 1859
Media: Electronics
Hard Drive Size: 250
Display Size: 4.8
Size: 250 GB
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 5 x 0.8 x 3.1
MPN: 501129
Model: 501129
UPC: 690590511293
EAN: 0690590511293
ASIN: B001D0E4DA
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | 250 GB capacity for up to 300 movies, 2.5 million photos, or 145,000 songs | | • | Up to 22 hours music and 7 hours video playback time on a single charge | | • | 4.8-inch TFT LCD touchscreen; 800 x 480 pixel resolution; 16 million colors | | • | Video support: MPEG-4, WMV, and M-JPEG; Audio support: MP3, WMA, Protected WMA, WMA pro 5.1, WAV; plug-ins available for further video and audio format support |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
ARCHOS offers a concept: the Internet Media Tablet. The ARCHOS 5 is the flagship of the range, bringing the customer a way to enjoy Internet, Media and TV and so on in a handheld device.With its built-in capabilities, your Internet Media Tablet becomes the ultimate way to surf the web. The amazingly sharp and high-resolution screen lets you navigate effortlessly through the web just like you would on a PC. Browsing becomes almost seamless with the ARM Cortex processor and the Adobe Flash 9 video support. Surfing on a handheld device has never been so fast and smooth. The full email application lets you read, write, download and send attachments, and manage your contacts.The ARCHOS 5 features a very high capacity internal hard drive from 60GB to 250GB, in slim and sleek enclosures. You can thus download a vast number of music and video from the unique selection of renowned movie and music partners assembled in the Media Club. You can play movies in HD or DVD quality for the richest media experience on the go.Enjoy your ARCHOS content back on your TV, with the DVR Station. Schedule recordings in few clicks any TV program from you cable channels or your setup box, and choose when and where you want to watch them. Play back all your digital content from your ARCHOS 5 to your TV, even in HD quality, at 720p. With the TV Snap-on, Digital free TV is broadcast live on your Internet Media Tablet, wherever you are.
Amazon.com Product Description -- Posted August 19, 2008
Archos, award-winning for its constant technology innovation and leadership in portable media players now introduces a new concept: the Internet Media Tablet (IMT). The Archos 5 is the flagship product of this new line, bringing you a new way to enjoy the Internet, your media, and TV--all in a handheld device. The Archos 5 250 GB IMT is a high-end portable device with an ultra-thin design, a black stainless steel body, a high-resolution 5-inch touchscreen, and the horsepower of a laptop.  Enjoy Internet, media, and TV in a handheld device with a 5-inch touchscreen. Click to enlarge. | Uncompromised Web Surfing in the Palm of Your Hand
With an 800-pixels-wide resolution and a 5-inch screen, you can browse the Web just as you would on your PC. No need to zoom in and out, as web pages are fully displayed on the Archos screen. Plus, with Adobe Flash 9 video support, you can natively browse video-sharing websites, such as Dailymotion or YouTube. The Archos IMTs boast enough processing power to surf the Web on the go, just like you were doing it with your laptop. No more endless waiting for the page to load; just grab your Archos 5 and check the latest news right away. Your PC wouldn't have finished booting up by the time you've put the Archos back in your pocket. Once connected to a Wi-Fi or 3.5G network, the included email software allows you to check your email accounts (compatible with POP/IMAP) whenever you want. See the number of awaiting emails right on the Archos 5 home screen, answer back, or share attachments with anyone (only compatible formats). Stay in touch while on the go. Download hundreds of useful and fun widget applications and then put your favorite ones on the Archos home screen. Check the weather before leaving for work, or see the latest sports results without having to start a new application. In less than three clicks, you can access nearly 1,000 Web TV channels, more than 10,000 Web radio stations, and 100,000-plus podcasts. There's no downloading wait time. Radio and TV start streaming right away from a worldwide list of traditional and independent radio and TV stations. Your Digital Library in a Thin Handheld Tablet
The Archos Media Club remains the easiest way to get video and music content on the go. With an even richer library featuring new partners and the biggest industry players, the Media Club lets you discover a large library of movies, documentaries, music, and games. Buy or rent your entertainment in a couple of clicks and start watching it on your Archos 5. Enjoy a great multimedia experience on the go with a high-resolution 5-inch touchscreen right in your hands. Enjoy your favorite videos, browse through your photos with a simple flick of your finger, or play a slideshow of your last vacation. Plus, you can store your entire CD collection comfortably on your Archos device--there's plenty of room. Rediscover songs left aside for months, or show your friends your latest discoveries. The unique Archos music browsing system allows you to create your playlists without using a PC, and the displayed album covers complete the experience. Don't get bored on your commute. For a little fun before getting to work or whenever you have a little time to kill, grab your Archos and enjoy some poker, Sudoku, or a round of golf. Premium games can be purchased directly from the tablet or at www.archos.com, or find Flash-based games downloadable for free on the Web. When you're at home and want to watch a movie or listen to music stored on your PC, just browse the device's hard drive wirelessly and play it without transferring the file. Just stream it via your Wi-Fi network and enjoy it on your Archos. Experience the Best TV at Home or on the Go
With the optional DVR Station, you have the perfect match for your Archos 5 at home and on the go. Schedule and record TV shows and movies in one step with the included remote control. Just locate the TV show on the program guide grid, and you'll have a recording to enjoy at home on your widescreen TV or in the palm of your hand. The DVR Station also will turn your TV into a real multimedia platform connected to the Web. Enjoy all the Archos functions on the big screen in your living room. Watch your movies in HD, listen to your music, share your high-resolution pictures, play games, or surf the Web. Technology Meets Design
The Archos 5 features a comfortable, clear widescreen that'll earn a few looks over your shoulder. The touchscreen technology ensures the most instinctive and direct way to access your movies, view your pictures, listen to your music, or browse the Web. The new graphical interface has been designed for total touch control. Reach the main functions with a tap, return at any moment to the home screen, and use the search function to access your files right away. Add shortcuts to your favorite files and display them directly on the Archos home screen for quick access. You also can bring your home screen to life with the new animated wallpapers. This Archos 5 gives you 250 GB of storage for up to 300 movies, 2.5 million photos, or 145,000 songs--and the processing power to handle them. Enjoy blazing speed with the ARM Cortex superscalar microprocessor. Add-ons--Enhance Your Archos 5
- DVR Station
Record TV, play video back to your TV, and charge your Archos device via the DVR Station. With the included TV Program Guide, scheduling and recording from your satellite receiver, cable box, Digital TV adapter has never been so easy. You also can surf the Web or stream web video to your TV while comfortably laid back on your couch using the included remote control as a keyboard and mouse pointer. - DVR Snap-on
Record from most any audio or video analog source on the move with the DVR Snap-on, a small device that's no bigger than a pack of gum. - Mini Dock
Transfer your files directly from USB keys, digital cameras, or other portable media players with the Mini Dock. Quickly charge your Archos with the included charger/adapter. Play video out to your TV with video output in high quality S-Video or standard quality composite. - Battery Dock
Benefit from all the great features of the Mini Dock and get extended playback with the built-in backup battery. - Helmet Cam
Turn your Archos into a hands-free digital camcorder with the Helmet Cam, perfect for sports and family fun. - FM Remote
Built-in FM receiver and microphone to listen to radio anywhere or make voice recordings. This item is not yet available at Amazon.com. - Protective Cases
Protect your Archos and show your style with one of the many protective cases. This item is not yet available at Amazon.com. - GPS Car Holder
Turn your Archos 5 into a high-end GPS with the GPS In-Car Holder. - TV Snap-on (Available by end of 2008)
Watch live digital TV right on your Archos, record, and enjoy the time-shifting function. What's in the Box
Archos 5 250 GB Internet Media Tablet, headphones, Archos USB cable, DVR Station adapter (DVR Station is sold separately), screen cleaning cloth, quick start guide, legal and safety notice.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 38 more reviews...
 Beautiful upgrade for an Archos 605 fan October 1, 2008
Alan E. Moore (Sanford, FL)
39 out of 40 found this review helpful
I purchased this as an upgrade to my beloved Archos 605 160GB. I actually purchased this directly from archos because I had trouble getting it through Amazon.
First impressions: beautiful sleek design, love the rubbery backside and the enlarged screen! I find that the touch screen UI interface is quite improved over the 605, the buttons all flash when you press them so that is a nice confirmation that you hit it. Also, play buttons and such seem to be bigger than before, easier to hit.
So lets get into the nitty gritty, starting with the things I love about the new Archos 5. Just one caveat, I am using this primarily as a replacement media player for the Archos 605 so I won't speak much to internet browsing issues. I will use as a basis of comparison my collection of MP3 players (ok I'm an addict so sue me!) which includes iPod Touch 2nd Gen 32GB, Creative Zen WiFi 16GB, iPod Classic 160GB, Archos 605 160GB, Archos 604 30GB, iRiver Clix2 8GB.
*) 250GB: gotta love all that storage space, especially since the new Apple Classic tops out at 120GB now it seems Archos is in a class all to itself.
*) Big beautiful glossy color screen, definitely an improvement over 605.
*) Easily connected to my Wifi, browser is now free instead of costing extra like before. Upgrade to firmware was accomplished easily.
*) Easy synchronization of my entire music library and playlists using Media Monkey (605 had problems here, so glad Archos fixed this!)
*) Beautiful full featured DVR dock available (apple doesn't even make one as far as I can tell!)
*) Esthetically the most appealing player I've seen yet from Archos.
*) Nice context menus on most pages (tap upper right corner) that make it easy to get around.
*) Love the ability to switch between hard drive mode and Windows Media Mode.
*) Ability to play all kinds of audio/video files, although you do have to pay up to $40 for additional plugin firmware in order to play apple and cinema formats.
*) On screen touch qwerty keyboard is really nice, easy to use -- I found it much easier to type accurately than the Touch/iPhone onscreen keyboard.
*) Browser supports flash controls, woohoo, welcome to the 21st century fercrissakes!
*) That 250GB of data is readily available to the PC as a hard drive so I can use it for backups or whatever else I want to do with it. (unlike the Creative Zen for example).
*) Convenient built-in speaker can be used in a pinch: everybody seems to have one of these now but as far as I can tell Archos did it first on the 605!
*) Now Playing music screen is easier to use, volume, and play buttons are easier to use now and it displays the name of the next and previous songs: a feature that I don't see on any of my other MP3 players.
*) Nice dedicated volume and power buttons, the volume buttons are definitely easier to find and use than the 605.
And now, my suggestions to Archos for how they could improve on what I think is a cutting edge beautiful product. Please understand, I'm a nitpicking software engineer so I give 5 stars even though I can find room for improvement!
*) Album art is so small, I wish they would take a look at the apple Touch interface and how they have represented album art. In general, the "Now Playing" music screen seems a bit sparse and could have more information on there.
*) I miss the dedicated hold/tv-out button which has been removed. Not a big deal since can still be done through the context menu.
*) Harking all the way back to my 604, I still miss that removable battery! Of course, that would get in the way of the sleek look so I can see why they don't make the battery removable.
*) Some of the text menus just look a little strange and seem to take a too much space on the screen. For example, I have to scroll down to get to the "Playlists"... at the very least "Playlists" should be on the first page as its the one I use the most. Really it seems like too many button presses are required to dig down and play a playlist, I wish "playlists" was available from a top level menu because I use it more than anything else...
When all is said and done, I honestly believe that there is no comparable product with a big beautiful high resolution screen like this and a huge hard drive. This is it!
Now if you are happy with a smaller screen and less storage, the iPod Touch is arguably a better product: my solution? Buy one of each!
Update 12-31-2008: As of New Years Eve I am still quite happily using my Archos 5 as an entertainment center. It seems Archos heard me and they have made the album art a little bigger in firmware release 1.2.05! I have to add a minor complaint, that my firmware upgrades have not been terribly smooth and I have had to reformat the hard drive and re-copy everything to the Archos a couple of times now.
A Nearly Perfect Device! October 5, 2008
wehladky
31 out of 31 found this review helpful
The first thing anyone should know about the Archos is that as of 10/5/08, the Archos 5 Firmware is still in beta. Beta means very different things for different products, but for the Archos 5 it means that some of the features are crippled, and that the firmware is still buggy. I have been using the 5 for about 2 weeks now, and during that time the device has crashed 6 times. Keep in mind this is only relevant if you want to purchase it right now. If you choose to wait, I think Archos will have the firmware finalized in a few months.
I migrated to the Archos 5 from an iPod Touch, my main reasons for doing so being the significantly larger capacity and the larger screen. I use a mac, so it was quite jarring migrating out of the Apple universe. Some things you should know if you are coming to this device from an Apple product:
1. The Archos will not sync with iTunes. This means that music you downloaded from the iTunes music store will be incompatible with the Archos. This also means that the playlists from your iTunes library will not natively work with the Archos. For many people this will not be an issue, but I have a rather large library (7000 songs), and depend on playlists to separate my music. The Archos uses the universal .m3u playlist format, so if you want to have your iTunes playlists on the Archos, you will need to find an iTunes playlist exporter.
2. Even if your songs are not copy-protected, the Archos will not play AAC files without a $20 plugin. For some, this is a moot point, for others, it could be a deal-breaker.
For the PC users: The Archos can either function as an external hard drive (very useful), or as a Windows Media Player Drive.
Now, the device itself:
HARDWARE:
THe specs of the Archos are impressive, and best most other "IMT"s of its class. I have the 60GB version, however all models boast a 4.8" (Resistive, not capacitive) touch screen, Wi-Fi, a speaker, and a pull-out stand. But keep in mind that the Archos uses a proprietary USB connector, and that all previous Archos accessories (for the 605, 604, etc.) will not work with the 5. The back of the unit is mirrored, and scratches incredibly easily. The front screen is susceptible to glare, but this is not very noticeable unless viewed in direct sunlight. Keep in mind that all the models use hard drive based storage. This enables a large capacity for a cheap price, however, the unit will be slower because of this. The iPod Touch uses flash memory, which is very expensive and has a low capacity, but is less likely to break. The Touch is also thinner. (You wouldn't think so, but the Archos is surprisingly pocketable) The speaker on the unit is small and tinny, but I am amazed on how many occasions I have found to use it. The 2nd gen. Touch also has a speaker, and I highly doubt it is much better than the one on the Archos. Something no one else has mentioned: The Wi-Fi antenna in the Archos is located on the right side, a place where you normally might hold the unit. It is very easy to accidentally block the Wi-Fi signal, and I have noticed that the connection can be tenuous (this might just be my network). The external volume control is very useful, but I wish the 5 also had a hold switch, as it can be annoying to have to find the "lock device" command throughout the menus. Also: on the original settings, the device will automatically power off after 5 minutes when locked (and when not in music mode). This can be very annoying if it is not changed.
I know that in the above paragraph I have criticized the Archos, but I cannot stress that the device itself is a beautiful, well made, piece of technology. Everything works very well, and most BIG problems with the device lie in the...
SOFTWARE:
The software is currently the Archos' weak point. As I said before, the firmware is still in beta, and this means that a few of the features just don't work. (A good example of this is the file sharing feature. When I select "file sharing", a notice pops up telling that the feature will be enabled in a "future release"). The parts of the software that do work function adequately, but could be better. The Music menu is a good example. Scrolling through large lists is jerky, and I find the organization of the metadata perplexing. However, the Music section works.
The Video section, on the other hand, is near perfect. Videos can be organized any way you want, and watching movies on the 4.8" screen is enjoyable. I think that the software can be summarized by working, but having quirks. You might want to wait for the firmware to become more stable.
A few more notes about the software:
1. The Add-Ons section is just ADS for the optional add-ons. Yes, ADS. This is just a minor annoyance, but please, a major company should not put ads for other products in their flagship product.
2. There is no way to directly skip tracks from other areas of the device (unlike, for example, the Touch, where you can tap the home button twice and control the music).
3. The Archos takes about 20 secs. to boot, and, when the device is "locked", the screen does not shut off for about 30 secs. (this can be changed)
4. The Opera web browser is fast and, renders pages as well as the Touch. The Mail app is not as good as Apple's, but if functions.
5. Games cost $20 for 4, but you can load your own flash apps onto the device.
6. One great addition to the Archos was internet radio and video. This is a feature I have seen in very few other devices, and the Archos implements it very well.
Lastly: Should you buy the Archos?
If you can escape the Apple universe, and don't mind the beta firmware for a few months, then buy the Archos. If is truly a great piece of hardware. if you can't stand betas, then wait a few months (the price will probably drop too).
The Archos 5 blows the Touch right out of the water, but the software could use some work. By now the iPod had become so ubiquitous that it doesn't really fit into Apple's "Think Different" philosophy, as many of its features have been matched and transcended by other devices. I don't mean to sound cliche, but if you truly want to think different, buy the Archos 5.
UPDATE: As of firmware update 1.0.87 the "file sharing" feature mentioned above has been completely removed from the settings menu. I don't know if this is because Archos has killed the feature or because they want to release it in a future release.
Also, as of 1.0.87, the Archos no longer lists its firmware as beta. However, the firmware is still buggy. The Archos firmware is definitely a work in progress, but Archos seems to be updating the device frequently, so most of the bugs will eventually be ironed out.
So many good things but no Wifi access at pay sites like Starbucks! OUCH!!! Must be a free connection to use wifi. September 20, 2008
David A. Morehead (Lockport, IL 60441)
18 out of 20 found this review helpful
UP DATE-later in the day on September 20, 2008: I just found out today that you CANNOT use the Internet at Starbucks, Barnes & Noble and McDonalds. I confirmed this with Archos' technical support. This is really bad! The whole point of me getting this was to use it to access Internet on the road. It only work with an open connection (free Internet) This is a serious limitation in my opinion and I may be sending it back because of this. Archos really dropped the ball on this one! What is the point of having mobile Internet access when you can access hardly anywhere!? No thanks!!! The sad thing is, this was the same problem with the Generation 5 series and they have done nothing to improve it. Very disapointing.
ORIGINAL REVIEW-written earlier today: I ordered my Archos 5 directly from Archos because I wanted to get it ASAP. I just got it a few days ago. My initial reaction was very negative because the first thing I tried to do was load some of my photos taken with my 40D. I quickly realized the Archos 5 cannot handle large photo files. It was very slow and locked up almost every time. Also, the screen got very distorted when I tried to look at the photos. Since this was my very first impression, I really thought this thing was a piece of junk and wanted to send it back immediately. I took some time away from it to cool down a little and came back to it later with a fresh attitude! :) I looked at the other photos it came with and they looked fantastic. They displayed perfectly and the scrolling was very fast. I looked at their size and they were much smaller than the photos I uploaded. I downsized my photos to about half a meg. each and now they display/work beautifully. Whew! Boy, was I glad about that! I was hoping sooo much that this thing would work really well because I really looking forward to using it. I chose it over the Ipod touch because the screen is slightly bigger. The Ipod touch's screen is too small for me.
Pros
Reads pdf files so you can use this as a Kindle type of reading device. You can upload all of your ebooks that are in pdf format and read them on a very clear screen. (Just watch out for the glare) I am a musician so I can store sheet music on there.
Great screen-bright and clear. Very inviting to look at. High resolution. Photos and videos look great when you use smaller photo sizes. 5-6 meg. photos do not work so plan on downsizing your 8-10 megapixel photos if you want them to display properly.
Photo viewing is very simple. Just swipe to turn to the next photos. To zoom in on an area, just press your finger on the screen and hold it there and you will zoom in on that area. Need to change from portrait to landscape. Easy. Just swipe up or down.
Touch screen works very well.
The Internet works great. Not too slow. And, it supports Flash files when you are viewing web sites. IPod touch does not. Apple really dropped the ball on that one!
60gb of hard drive space. The bottom end of the Ipod touch family is only 8gb. That isn't going to help very much at all. Especially when you start uploading some larger photos and video files. 60gb is a nice starting point and you can always upgrade to one of the other higher capacity players when you need more space.
Music sounds amazing (when you listen on good headphones and use very little compression when making your mp3 file) I used my studio headphones to listen to a Chris Botti CD today and the sound was amazing.
Comes with the Opera browser for free. Last year's models made you purchase this separately. All you have to do to get it is choose the Internet button, it will search for a wifi connection, then it installs Opera. Take a while but it is worth the wait. As far as I know, you must be at a wifi connection to install/register. You can't do it through your computer when the Arches 5 is hooked up to it. You can download the latest firmware, and then stick it in the Arches 5's root directory. When you switch off the Archos 5 and turn it back on again your firmware will automatically be installed.
Free widgets-Currency converter, unit converter, and a simple calculator. I think this will come in handy on many occasions. The one odd thing about the currency converter is that it uses a rate that you cannot adjust manually. At least Ihave not found a way to do it yet. It says at the bottom of the screen that the conversion rates are over two weeks old but it doesn't tell you how to get or program current ones. Very odd.
Cons
Takes about 25 seconds to boot. But, my computer takes 5-8 minutes so I should stop complaining.
They shipped it with beta firmware. There are messages in a few places saying, "This feature will be added/updated soon" with an upcoming firmware version. I didn't get too bothered by it though because I am pretty they will resolve this very soon. It is a very new product and I think it has a very bright future. It is an excellent alternative to the Ipod touch.
No wall charger included. Comes with a USB charger- It
takes forever and you have to have your computer running for it to work.
Speaker is small, tinny and not very loud. But, it will come in handy for watching a movie in a quiet room.
Headphones sound OK as far as included-mp3-headphones go but you won't get the full potential of this thing's sound until you use professional headphones. This is true with any audio device. It is worth it to buy a nice set of headphones for this because it does sound amazing. I can only hear absolute silence when I am waiting for a song to play! And, that is a good thing!
I wouldn't want to do much typing when I am on the Internet (cause the virtual keys are pretty small), but just having a look around and pressing a button now and then is a lot of fun. It gets more readable when you enlarge the text a bit.
I suggest getting the dock accessory with it when you order it. It gives you a charger, usb port to download pics from your camera when you are on the road, European plug and American plug, and video out to T.V. for only $30 bucks. It is worth it.
Have to convert DRM files to play in this. That is not Archos' fault but it will be a pin in the but if you have a lot of files to convert. (ITUNES!!!)
Here is a great program that works very well. It will allow you play DRM files on your Archos. Daniusoft Digital Media to ARCHOS Converter
Overall, I am impressed so far. The more I use this thing the more I like it. The only real problems I had was uploading huge pics. I just won't do that anymore and things should be fine. Also, a product should never be shipped with beta firmware.
I will update this review when I think of more things. Enjoy your Archos 5!!!
Excellent player. September 20, 2008
R. Petko (Lehighton, PA)
17 out of 18 found this review helpful
Unlike what that idiot who "reviewed" the Archos 7 320GB Internet Media Tablet, i actually OWN this product. pre-ordered it from here at Amazon on August 25th, recieved it today. Have been playing around with it for a little bit, and so far, i love it. Seems much faster compared to the previous 605 WiFi 160GB i had, as well as the 604 WiFi 30GB. Websites load up rather quickly. Now... in all honesty, and also in all common sense... websites with more to them take a bit longer to load than others... say for instance navigating to Gizmodo.com takes a couple seconds longer to load than loading up a video from youtube after searching for it on Google.
Don't think i've seen a more beautiful player on the market. yeah, sure... the iPod Touch has a glass screen.... but who wants a $[...] 32GB player when you can have 120GB for $[...], or 250GB for $[...]? Opening the box to reveal the player that's pretty much all screen was freakin great. only 3 buttons on the entire device: power, volume up/down (kind of a rocker button, one button with two functions. Volume can also be controlled with the touchscreen. Almost makes me wonder why they bothered with that button), and if you can call it a button, the nearly microscopic "reset" button on the bottom edge of the device.
audio quality is good, although the earbuds that come with it aren't that great. the built-in speaker sounds quite good. video quality is great, also due to the great screen it has. Nice that it comes standard with the WebTV And WebRadio plugins, as well as the web browser, unlike the previous 605 players.
All i can say... is if you were looking at this player (or any of the other storage capacities), or another manufacturer's player.... do not hesitate on buying Archos.
 Nice Sizzle - Less Meat October 27, 2008
J. G. Gomberg (Signal Mountain, TN)
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
I purchased the 250gb version of the Archos 5 today from a local retailer.
The user interface has nice graphic appeal, but so far it fails to perform to reasonable standards. Specifically:
Device shipped retail with Beta firmware which automatically raised red flags for me. I was, however, able to download and update the firmware from version 1.05x beta to 1.07x. By the way, the firmware download and upgrade was actually successful and painless.
Unfortunately, the web browser (which is based on Opera) had poor touch screen scroll response. What this means is that you drag your finger down the screen to position the web page. As you move your finger the web page should move with it so you can reposition it as you read. If this were an iPhone you would be able to flick your finger down the screen and the page would smoothly slide by as it scrolled. Unfortunately, on the Archos 5, the screen movement lags well behind finger movement and progresses in jerks.
Just for grins, used the navigator to load up the Archos User Guide. Welcome to the Hotel California where you can check into a PDF file anytime you want, but you can never leave (unless you reset the device.) The navigation button apparently does not function. If I could have navigated the document, maybe I would have figured out how to navigate and exit the document. There appears to be a means to resize documents however I stumbled onto it by accident and have yet to figure how I got there.
In short, browser and pdf document browsing was annoying, counter-intuitive, and not acceptable.
I got onto the Archos website to purchase the IMT Cinema Plugin. Page objects like buttons, input fields, and browser controls responded slowly.
I ended up purchasing the plugin twice because it failed to download the first time and the browser crashed to the OS Navigation Screen. So I assumed the transaction failed and tried it again with similar results.
When I checked my email (on my laptop, I have not tried email on the device yet) I discovered the redundant purchases and related invoices. To manually download the plugin from Archos, I had to go to my emailed invoice and copy a code that has to be hand entered into a web form to download the plugin.
So I got on my Archos 5, went to the browser, hand keyed the download link and information referenced in their email into the webform so I could download the plugin to my device. Archos could have made the process simple by simply providing a coded link to facilitate the download, but instead the site asks for name, email address, Archos 5 device serial number, the unique purchase code from the Invoice, and then the plugin fails to download. To add insult to injury, there is no diagnostic data to indicate why the download failes. The site simply reverts to a blank webform for you to re-input all of your information again. Very frustrating.
Tech support took 24 minutes to take my call with 0 callers in the queue in front of me. Can you spell "lazy"?
But wait! There's more!
I wanted to see if I could find and download "Sin City" from one of the 3 premium movie sites provided in the device's navigation interface so I could observe movie performance.
First, none of the movie sites had the movie, which means I'll have to figure out how to convert my DVD version to a format that can be downloaded and played on the device.
Second, movie choices were extremely limited.
And thirdly, as I noodled through the various media offerings I discovered that most of the content was eurocentric and not english speaking. No biggie if your native language is french or german. But very annoying if your interested in content specific to the US.
What can you expect. Archos is a French company, and the French still believe that the world revolves around them.
When I complained to Tech Support about the poor interface performance, he suggested that I ship the unit to Chicago for "repair". ...yea, right... I asked what the expected turn around time was for the "repair" and i was told 7 to 10 days. I didn't bother to ask who would pay the shipping costs. I suggested I would hand deliver the unit and peripherals back to my local retailer for a refund.
I originally purchased the device because I wanted a hand held recorder that I could connect a small external "helmet cam" to to record motorcycle runs on my sport bike (BMW K1200S in case you're interested). There was no video input on the Archos 5. You either have to buy the Archos helmet cam peripheral (I already have a high rez camera and do not wish to purchase another) or get the DVR attachment. (I am researching the latter option and will update this review if and when I acquire one.)
So my impression so far is: Nice looking device, about what I expected in size and weight, nice looking navigation interface, but less than lackluster web browser performance. Sample movies and audio tracks played smoothly. Built in speaker has sufficient volume to hear in a low noise environment. If you want stereo and fidelity you'll either need to wear the supplied earbuds or get a decent headset. Archos 5 is Windows-centric. If you are an OS-X MacBook Pro user like myself or a Linux propeller head, then we won't have the joys and benefits of using Window Media Player to manage or media content.
Device should have shipped with some kind of an AC charger module. As already stated in other reviews the only way to charge the device is to plug the included USB cable into your computer. Meh!
I'm not saying it's a bad product. It seems to have some great features and a lot of potential which are set-off by some serious deficiencies.
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Web browser: Open up your Archos device to the full power of the Internet with a full-fledged Internet browser. Surf the Web via the Opera web browser with Adobe Flash 9 video support. 
Web TV & Radio: Receive via the Internet nearly 1,000 Web TV channels and more than 10,000 Web radio stations. Select your stations by popularity, genre, country, etc. from the Archos video and audio browsers. 
TV Program Guide: Easily schedule your recordings with the TV Program guide embedded in the tablet. A couple of clicks are enough to check the scheduler, get instant information about the program selected, and schedule the recording.