Archos 5 IMT - Honest opinion needed

[deviledeggs]

Recently ordered a 250GB Archos 5 IMT (not Android) - I was going to tear it all open and put it on charge before work this morning but I've seen sooo many poor reviews and scaremongering I'm considering sending it all back for a full refund.

I was looking for a high capacity replacement for my nano that ideally wasn't made by apple, though the only option known to me was the ipod classic. Once I saw the Archos I was convinced I also wanted video, then browsing etc. I would not pay the money for a touch, especially considering I'd need the 64GB and be left trying to fit within the restrictive apple criteria and it becoming apples Music & Video, I demand that I drag and drop MY files to and fro wherever the hell I like. Also, I don't intend converting ANY perfectly good files by default, one or two perhaps but that's quite literally my limit.

So basically, that said - should I keep it or send it straight back and save me some money and any possible hassle with something that may die on me.

Sincerely,

Disenchanted nano User.

 

[didmic]

Well, I've had my Archos 5 (not Android) for a year.
A month before taking an overseas flight, the HDD crashed on me - it took me quite some time but finally got it fixed by Archos in about 3 weeks after (had to send my original receipt and the device).

Besides that, I've been quite pleased with the device, I need a huge storage device to hold all my collection in one place as well as being able to watch a couple of ripped movies while on long trips.

On the pro side :
- I've been quite pleased with the battery life, I've been able to watch movies for about 4/5 hours with no disruption. I bought the spare battery to increase that and now can fly from the US to Europe without any problems.

- I got the VCR dock but it's not very usefull, don't expect to record anything with the device. I use it to stream upnp / web on my TV, that's all I use it for.

- The interface is not as smooth as the iPod touch (they should move towards multi touch screens) but it's not too bad either.

- I like the 'non-library' storage, you can drop your mp3 / movies in any folder structure you want sorting them as you wish.

On the negative side :
- I hate that you have to pay for plugins to be able to play MPEG-2.

- The HDD shouldn't be a cheap one, HDD crash after 12 month is not acceptable - but it might just be my device although I took extremly good care of it.


So overall, I would recommend the device, iI like it so far for what it does (huge storage, no ties to any library) - I just hope that the HDD won't fail on me again.


Now, I tried the Android one - And I didn't like it.
The device is not stable, got some errors every once in a while trying to play movies.
The internal storage is not recognized by Mac OS and requires a special driver in Windows.

 

[Amg]

have you treid cowons onces ?

 

[MEgamer]

i think the cowons had some poor reviews when it came to network and internet connectivity.

 

[Amg]

it depends I prefer to use a device that works even through it has flaws