Great player with short battery stamina (Archos 504)

Member Name: geek_squad

Product:	Archos 504
Date:	02/07/09 (47 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: fast download times, high quality photo and video resolution, average sound quality

Disadvantages: fragile, large sized, lacks radio capabilities, takes a long time to charge, poor playback time

Like any other multi media player design by Archos, it is equipped with an exceptional screen that provides high quality photos and videos.

The high quality display screen and large storage space is ideal for use whilst commuting or travelling but its fragile construction makes it vulnerable to drops, this along with the factor of its size makes it unsuitable to be used during sporting activities. After a slight drop, the player's HDD suffered substantial damage and stop functioning.

Therefore it is highly recommended to avoid any knocks or drops by using additional accessories such as docking stations and padded carry pouches which would not prevent them but will minimize the damage.
The player has other additional functions and features such as a supplied wireless remote control that controls features such as watching television/DVDs and also watching footage from a camcorder.

It would be recommended to use a docking station to charge the device because of the appalling charging duration when charging via the USB cable. On average a 420 minute charge only managed to provide about 810 minutes of audio playback and 270 minutes of continuous video playback.

The menu structure is simple and easy to understand, the supplied quick start guide makes it a breeze to get familiarise with the player's functions and controls.

In addition, an online guide that is updated can be accessed for further reference. A combination of clear menus and responsive buttons, results in a user friendly device that is easy to navigate.

The large screen is fantastic with vibrant colours and high details, which means both photo and video can be displayed in high quality. In addition, it is also capable of showing slideshows with music. When watching videos its interface is equally as good, with reasonable audio quality and functions to compile favourite lists and resume capabilities.
It is also widely compatible with a range of operating systems, such as Mac, Windows and Linux. It supports music files in the MO3, WMA and WAV format. For photos, it supports PNG, BMP and JPEG.

For keen readers, the player supports text files in the form of PDF files. All the different contents can be downloaded at outstanding speed, on average taking a mere 1.9 seconds for each 10 megabyte.

Summary: Player that is more suited for indoors use rather than for use on the go

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