I got started on this whole portable audio thing about 3 months ago. I first wanted an ipod, but my partner objected to the cost. So when Amazon had the big clearance on the Archos JBR V2 - $20 off, $50 rebate, $20-ish gold box discount, and adding the $30 Amazon VISA credit, it was a no-brainer.
I've since had the chance to compare it to the ipod. Once my partner saw how much fun I was having with a DAP, he thought it would be cool to have a DAP and a set of speakers to use by the pool. (He's a total mac freak, so there was really no question what DAP he would get.) So I got him a 15gb ipod and a set of inmotion speakers for his birthday.
Overall, I've been very pleased with the Archos. It's not nearly as big as I was expecting, though it is substantially bigger than an ipod - front pocket-sized, not shirt or hip pocket-sized. Construction is nowhere near the ultra suave-bolla ipod standard - it's pretty clunky looking, with dorky-looking blue bumpers on the corners. On the other hand, those bumpers are really functional, I've dropped the thing on concrete a few times and there's not a scratch on it. It's a much more solid feeling device than the ipod, which is pretty dainty.
Functionally, the Archos is basic. By the standards of these gadgets, it uses pretty old technology. USB 2.0 and drag and drop to load music, though you can use freeware like Jukebox Synchronizer to sync it to your PC - available at
this link. MP3 only - no other formats supported. The interface is folder-based, so you need to have your collection very well ordered. It only has a 2 mb buffer, so the disk spins up every minute and a half or so, which could mean a skipping problem - though for me it hasn't. I've been using it walking around and on cardio machines at the gym and have had nary a glitsch (except when I've dropped it, which usually results in a shutdown). Battery life for me has been somewhere between 9-12 hours - a bit of improvement over any ipod.
The Archos UI is odd, to put it charitably. Which brings me to the best thing about the Archos: Rockbox, open source firmware replacement that is still undergoing active development. See
this link. You can either add Rockbox to the hard disk and leave the ROM as is, which keeps the unit at about a 10 second start up time, or flash it to ROM and get a start-up time of about 3 seconds. Very cool. With Rockbox, you can adjust whatever parameters are possible within the limitations of the Archos hardware - from sound settings, to text scrolling method and speed, to ff/rew speed, to the font on the screen, to the contents of the screen - more than I can handle. There are game plug-ins. You can convert video to a format that plays on the little grey-scale screen. Right now, the developers are in the middle of implementing "Talkbox,", in other words, making the menus talk, so that the unit can be easily used by the blind. Finally, if you notice a bug and post it on the Rockbox mailing list, chances are someone will fix it. For example, I use MusicMatch to rip my MP3s, and Rockbox wasn't properly reading the genre tags it generates. A post to the Rockbox mailing list brought out a couple of other users who had the same issue - and it was fixed within a week.
Build quality can be an issue. The first unit I had developed a problem with the headphone jack, which I probably exascerbated by using the straight plug on my PX100s and keeping the thing in my pocket. I returned it to Amazon and got a new one within days, which functions fine. (I also use a right angle adapter on the headphone jack now to minimize stress.) But frankly, after having looked at the message boards for a lot of the other DAPs, every one has its overall issues - ipod has battery life, the ipod mini has the headphone jack problem, Creative Zen Xtra has a terrible headphone jack problem, Rio Karma has problems with hard drives freezing and inadequate warranty support, etc. And from what I can tell, every model has its share of one-off lemons.
And there is an upside to having (relatively) simple, older technology - these things have been dissected no end by techie hobbyists. If you develop a problem out of warranty, chances are there's someone out there who can tell you how to fix it. Also, some have done a variety of hardware mods and can tell you how to do it if you're brave. For example, upgrading the buffer to 8mb, swapping out a bigger hard drive, or adding a higher capacity battery.
Sound quality is fine - I can't tell much difference from my partner's ipod, but then I haven't done a direct comparison.
Warranty shouldn't be a difference with the ipod - they're both a year, AFIK - unlike some others, which are only 90 days. Buy it with a credit card that doubles the warranty coverage and then don't worry about an extended warrant.
Would I buy the Archos again? For the right price, definitely. Full freight, at $200, makes it a much closer call. If you want an ultra-cool, plug and play consumer gadget, go with the ipod. If you don't mind a bit of tinkering, the Archos is a fine choice, IMHO better than some on this board give it credit for.