Electronics Archos 5 60 GB Internet Media Tablet
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Rating: - Sell your 605 wifi
There are already some excellent reviews here that are very thorough including one comparing it to the 605. For those who know me I will do something utterly out of character and be short and sweet. I bought the 250GB 5 just four months after buying the 605 wifi 80GB. Hard to believe my first PC had a 40 MB drive but I don't recommend pinching pennies for gigabytes of space you will later want. Why did I buy this unit?

On youtube there is a video comparing the 605 and the 5 side by side starting up, playing a movie and loading a web page. No words, just video set to music. Every time I took out the 605 to show someone a picture or a video it was a major attention getter. People were impressed. However I often didn't want to get it out when I was selling for several reasons. It was slow starting even from standby and unacceptably slow from boot. It was really hard to see the screen if we were in sunlight. Unfortunately living in Oregon I haven't verified the sunlight aspect in our recent winter storms. However I found myself just using my Blackberry curve for browsing the web instead of the 605 because it was on and it ended up being less work to read.

With my new Archos it is really fast to come on. The screen on the 605 was pretty good but on the 5 is amazing. I had to adjust the brightness up on the 605 and I've never touched it on the 5 and it blows it away. Browsing the web though is amazing. I have to say Archos says 800 pixels is wide enough and that's not always true. However going to 100% or enlarged is not too much scrolling. Plugging it into the DVR dock and outputting 720p through HDMI is luxurious!

Okay, maybe not so short... I never had an ipod. I thought the dinky screen and proprietary music distribution was good for Apple and I don't begrudge them, but not for me. I had an iRiver and then an Archos 605. In my opinion there was nothing that could match the 605 and the 5 blows it away. Archos is in a league by themselves. I'm even thinking of getting a 7 too later this year.

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Rating: - The best present I ever bought myself
I bought this fabulous device for myself in September 08 because I was looking for an alternative to a laptop computer that would have cost me a lot more. I wanted to find something that wasn't a child of the uber rich Microsoft or Apple devices. I wanted something to play video (avi's too), music, showcase my art work images, and to be able to connect to the internet for things I needed/wanted. I don't consider myself a computer "techie" and I found this device to be easy to use. I bought if from amazon and got the 120 gb version. I showed my soon to arrive purchase to a friend of mine who is very computer literate and his interest was on high alert. When my imt arrived we both were quickly enamored with the design, feel and most impressed with the memory capability. I continue to show friends and they were all equally impressed with the video presentation and with the lightness of the device. Peoples jaws dropped when I told them of the 120 g memory. (I even love how Archos taunts the buyer saying "just try and fill it up".)
Before making my purchase I went to the archos website and looked at the full video tutorial and I was enamored. My Archos 5 connects easily and quickly to wireless and the Opera powered internet browser is fantastic. I can dowload converted files, keep up on NPR related things of interest and download quickly directly to my device. While I waited for my devise I checked out youtube to see other Archos fans enthusiasm. Bravo Archos! I look forward to the hopefully soon to come satellite tv antenna and the ability to connect without a wireless connection. I did buy the $100 DVR docking station and it acts a faster charger for the device as well as the ability to connect to a tv and record directly onto the device. (No need for a DVR of any kind from Direct TV, or Tivo, this baby even has a program record option). I'm still trying to come up with a name for my baby, but she's been good to me so far. Batman on the go, the Oblongs, 30 Rock, Battlestar Galactica, the Lword, and I've started to convert some favorite DVDs onto it as well ... A smart, well made device perfectly suited to a variety of needs/wants.

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Rating: - Almost Perfect All-In One Media Center
Pros: Ease of use, Compact design, Massive storage space

Cons: Playback software should have been included, Where's the plug-in charger for the 5-series? Excellent product, but buyers shouldn't feel like they're being nickle & dimed for things that should come STANDARD with the player.

Idea for the future: Two Words-BUNDLE Packages. If you want to pick up T.V. reception, sell the T.V. Bundle. You want the DVR functonality, sell the DVR Bundle. Extended Battery use? Sell the Battery Pack Bundle. We as customers would pay a little extra for the combos instead of buying the player & the docks seperately. Works for the XBOX 360 & PS3 right?

One Other Thing: Pack in the plug-in charger with the 5-series (Which is included with the 7-series). USB charging with the 5-series while packing in the normal plug in charger with the docks leaves a bad taste in the mouths of your customers.

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Rating: - Archos Review
When I was looking for a portable device, i was choosing between, Archos, Cowon, Apple, and the Nokia N810. After discovering the rather slow internet speeds on the Nokia and the Iphone/ Ipod Touch, I ruled those out. The Cowon products now on the market do not have nearly the same disk space as an Archos and they run a modified version of Windows Mobile 5, so they are very slow at times. I would suggest this Archos over the Archos 605 because of the increased internet and processing speed, the *slightly* improved speaker and the more responsive touch screen. This player looks very stylish and is smaller than I imagined. It fits in a pocket just as easily as an Ipod Classic. The kickstand is also a nice addition so you don't have to hold it or lean over ti to watch your videos. The operating system is fluent and logical and gives you unique options like saving certain videos, song, pictures, and files as bookmarks on your home screen. Some nice additions work very well, like the email is perfect for my gmail account. The pdf reader, however is very slow and has to load each page individually, even if you already loaded it. The flash player is very useful for me to play flash games and make small applications with. The widget actually let you add regular Opera widgets instead of the made-for-Archos ones. This is one of the few players that lets you rename, move, copy, and delete files, a big plus for me. Now for the internet browsing. Sites load very quickly, almost as quickly as my computer.Sites like Youtube, Gizmodo, Surfthechannel, and newyorktimes.com load in less than 3 seconds for me. Hulu doesn't appear to work, but similar sites like Surfthechannel do. The typing is very easy and I can easily get 65 words per minute. One thing I think the player can improve in is the lock function. You have to go to the Home screen, then press options, then press lock device to lock it. Then you have to press the power button, then tap the unlock button on the screen to unlock it. The sound quality is good and it allows 5.1 and 7.1 sound. Well, I hope this helps other people that are choosing a portable device.

Note: The earphones that come with the Archos are just slightly better than Apple earphones. Some people who care alot about audio qaulity would be disappointing by them. The speaker however, is a much higher quality than the Ipod Touch, but will be affected by static if you leave it on the carpet. Just keep it on a wooden table if you get a tinny sound from your speakers.