[tailschao]

Long time, no post. I'm not holding out much hope for this thread, but I figured, if any forum could help me out, it would be this one.

For many years Archos has been the only company that seems to make portable media devices that meet my criteria. My criteria being:-

- Designed for video as well as audio, so a large screen is a must
- Large HDD based storage space (preferably 500GB)
- Wide codec compatibility for video - I can live without FLAC for audio, I just don't want to lose image quality and time by having to re-encode all my video content for portable use
- PC must be able to see the device as a simple external HDD for media copying, none of this compulsory dragging my **** through proprietary software for no discernable reason (I'm looking at you, iTunes)

I am not interested in any other capability - internet browsing, 'apps', Android crap, etc. Just media.

For years I owned a Archos 605, and I loved it to pieces, despite little idiosyncrasies here and there. I bought it second hand and used it for at least 4 years, and I was surprised it lasted that long.

At the start of the year I replaced it with an Archos 48 - seemed to do everything I wanted. 500GB hard drive, support for every common video codec (even up to 720p), no compulsory proprietary software, etc.

Unfortunately it is very unstable when playing audio files (simple CBR MP3s, and not particularly lengthy ones), and, worst of all, the headphone output jack has developed a intermittent fault on the right channel. It's definitely not my earphones, and I have tried Isopropranol Alcohol to clean it out. No joy. I just e-mailed Archos customer service, but they are notoriously bad at that (bloody French), so I am not holding out much hope.

The point I am trying to get to is - is there any other company offering a similar product to the Archos 48 that I have not heard about? I've done google searches for "high capacity portable media players", but the whole world seems to be obsessed with tablets/android based devices for web browsing and apps and little angry birds games or whatever the hell the kids like. Even Archos has gone in that direction, the Archos 48 seems to be the only HDD based media player they still make. Getting rid of the hard drives and putting in 16GB of flash storage in the name of making it slim and pretty. I don't care how pretty it is if I can only put 1/30 of my media collection on it!

If there is no other option, and if warranty replacement is a dead end, I will just buy another Archos 48... that is how unique of a device it seems to be, and how much I care about my criteria. But £100 every 6 months to replace it leaves a nasty taste in my mouth.
 
Thanks.

 

[Sefelt103]

There does not seem to be much demand for these type of players anymore which is perhaps surprising. Tablets are ideal for video but all are flash memory based. The Cowon X7 has 1/3 of the capacity you want. It also has a fairly low res. screen so no HD movies. Sound quality is likely to be better than the Archos and battery life is Cowon's raison d'etre.

 

[purk]

I used to be a big fan of Archos but their devices are highly unstable, buggy, and do not last very long.  In the past two years, I had the Archos 5 500GB HD failure, Archos 5 250GB charging problems, and Archos 7 320GB stopped booting up.  I love the fact that I can take my whole music collection with me but at the end of the day...I want a reliable player, good battery life, and excellent sound quality.  When Sony released their 64GB Walkman Z & F, I dismissed all of my Archos..  Yes, I do miss the available space...but the Walkman sound much better and are more of a complete product.