[mythtv-users] Archos Video Formats ?????

Chad masterclc at gmail.com
Mon Mar 17 23:17:48 UTC 2008


On Mon, Mar 17, 2008 at 4:39 PM, Brian Wood <beww at beww.org> wrote:
>
>  On Mar 17, 2008, at 4:20 PM, Robin Hill wrote:
>
>  > On Mon Mar 17, 2008 at 03:51:55PM -0600, Brian Wood wrote:
>  >
>  >> TigerDirect is advertising an Archos 504 multi-media player for $129.
>  >>
>  >> The Advert claims it supports "all popular video formats, including:
>  >>
>  >> MEPG-41, WMV2, H2643, MPEG-24 and VOB4."
>  >>
>  >> I have never heard of any of those formats. I suspect they are
>  >> "popular" only with someone trying to sell this device, or perhaps
>  >> it's just a bad job of proofreading the video format names?
>  >>
>  >> Anyone have any information? It might make a nice companion to a Myth
>  >> system if it could actually play some video format that originated on
>  >> planet earth.
>  >>
>  > You could try looking at the Archos web site - plenty of details on
>  > the
>  > device there.  Supports MPEG-4 ASP (or so they claim - they may mean
>  > DiVX only though) and WMV out of the box.  You need to download (and
>  > probably pay for) codecs for H.264, MPEG-2 and VOB.  Looks like a
>  > lot of
>  > the functionality requires the "optional DVR Station" (i.e. cough up
>  > some more cash).
>  >
>  > I'd avoid it.
>  >
>
>  I also see reference to the "optional docking adapter", in addition to
>  the DVR station. This thing might break me even if it was free :-)
>
>  But what has really caused me to decide against it is the "Microsoft
>  Screws Up for Sure" feature.
>
>  Thanks.
>
>
>
>  beww

As a proud Archos owner I would have to say this device is in a
completely different market that where it shines.  I view it as a
competitor to the Video IPOD.  I have a 40GB model and scored it for
almost an even $100.  Here's my miniature review skewed for Myth:

It's a small unit that seems slightly heavier but has aluminum instead
of plastic housing, so feels stronger at the same time.  It's mostly
screen without a bunch of plastic taking up precious video space, but
my version is not touch.

Pros:
* Very simple to use
* I read long ago it's "powered by linux" (but can't offhand find
something to back that up)
* Comes pre-loaded with plenty of "test" material
* Has good battery life with real-world use (not best case scenario garbage)
* Looks fairly sharp and sounds very good
* Price-for-given-features  By this I mean the cost of this device is
well under anything comparable (especially the Video iPOD)

Cons:
* As has been noted, you do have to pay extra on some models to view
certain types of files (h.264 encoded video, AAC encoded audio in
video files, etc).  There are 2 "packs" for mine, each are $20 bucks
that make it so I can encode video in a LOT of formats and watch it on
my archos.  Otherwise I'm limited to (so far it seems) DivX/XViD
encoded files.
* Seems somewhat heavy
* Proprietary connectors for charging/data transfer
* No touch screen (on lower end models)

That's about it.  Overall I really really really think that these
devices are a bigger bang for the buck than anything similar.  Archos
has been in business for a long time, at least 8 years ago I remember
eyeballing one of their video players and really wanting it; but it
had a high price tag and was out of my budget.

Hope that helps!

-Chad


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