Archos AV500 100 GB Multimedia Player and DVR Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Note: I have only had the player for a week. This is a first impressions report.

Overall: the Archos AV500 100 gb player is pretty impressive. It is a good size, the screen is bright, and the built-in interface is easy to navigate. It feels small and heavy at first. Built-in speaker is tinny but adequate for its size. 100 gb is a lot of space! It is a little heavier than the AV500 30 gb model, but I don't have one for direct comparison.

Functions tried:
(1) Links to Windows XP computer via USB 2.0 without a problem, can use as Device Player with Windows Media Player 10 (auto-sync libraries, etc), or can set to Hard Drive Mode and drag and drop files. USB 2.0 is fast.

(2) Transfer DVDs: Lots of stuff on the internet about doing this for Archos devices, but this is still complicated and some technical savvy is required. There is some built-in software that I didn't bother with.

The easiest (and legal) way is to just record direct from your DVD player; however, not the best quality by report and any Macrovision protection is preserved (can only view on LCD screen, not video out). I actually have not tried this yet, though.

If you have DVD's without copyright protection, one of the better (and free) programs (in my opinion) at this point is Auto Gordion Knot (or AutoGK for short) to convert these to the DIVX format. This works well; however, conversion is processor-intensive (5 hours on my 3000+ Athlon XP for 2 hour video). The picture is pretty good, some minor compression artifacting. There is a large community working on DIVX codecs. I used the XVID codec, which the AV500 is compatible with (even the Windows Media Player 10 didn't think so and refused to transfer without conversion).

(3) Listening to music was easy. Dragged and dropped a bunch of MP3's, worked well. Nice loud volume.

(4) Slideshow for pictures work well. JPEG and BMP only. Can't listen to music while looking at pictures, though.

Functions haven't tried yet:

(1) Camera record - can hook up lipstick camera (separate accessory) directly to AV500 and record.
(2) Direct file transfer from camera. (Has separate mini USB port and cable to hook into camera)

Drawbacks:

(1) Probably a little fragile - handle with care. Lots of people have reported issues with the previous AV400 models. Basically, this is a very fancy hard drive with a screen. In fact, if you take the battery off, you can see the hard drive sitting in there.

Running with it, or any activity with lots of vibration/shaking will likely cause early hard drive failure. It would be like running with your laptop. You might get away with it for a while, but those hard drives can't take a lot of jolting.

I can see mashing the small buttons could result in problems. This is not a ruggedized portable by any means. Even thought the case feels solid, the buttons are cheap-feeling and flimsy. My bet is that the buttons would be the first component to break on this device.

(2) Video transfer is still complicated. Could try Windows Media Player 10 for automagic conversion, but I like to have more control over settings. Video must be DIVX in specific format. This is not a Video Ipod. It takes some savvy.

(3) Note before you buy the file types it supports. Won't do AAC, Ogg or other music formats.

(4) Comes with a disc shaped connector hub for AV in/out connections, but no travel AV in/out. That is a separate accessory. So, if you want to see your video on a separate TV, bring the big hub, or spring for a separate set of travel connectors.

(5) Inadequate carrying case provided. I am already looking for a better carrying case.

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Product Description:
Your movies, your games, your music, your photos -- all in one little device. That's the Archos AV500 100 GB Mobile Digital Media Player. This exciting media companion offers direct TV recording and the best of home cinema, gaming, digital music and more. Now you can bring all your entertainment with you wherever you roam. This 100 GB model, which is less than an inch thick, lets you store up to 400 hours of video, 250 movies, 55,000 songs or 1,000,000 photos. Using the AV500's rechargeable, removable battery, you'll get up to 15 hours of life for music and up to 4.5 hours forvideo playback on the built-in LCD.
The AV500 measures up nicely.

A world of entertainment in your hands. And the included TV Pod docking station makes connectivity a breeze.

Record video directly to the device.

Organize and play your music library. Personal Video Player
Used in conjunction with the included TV docking pod, you can record television programs, movies and home videos directly from your TV, VCR, DVD player, cable box or satellite receiver. Then watch themon the go whenever the notion strikes you. Plus, with the integrated scheduler you can program your recording schedule a week to a month ahead of time. Play back your favorite program on the 4-inch widescreen or on any external screen in near-DVD quality. The unit plays DivX, Windows Media, protected Windows Media, and MPEG-4 video files. You'll also have excellent control over your viewing experience with features such as slow motion, adjustable screen size, video editing, and a video bookmarking function.
Photo Viewer
The AV500 is a great digital photo companion. Transfer thousands of photos directly from your digital camera, or another mass storage device using the built-in USB connection. You can also transfer from a computer using the AV 500's high-speed USB 2.0 interface. Then, organize your photos and watch them in slide shows on the unit's screen or on any external display.
Music Player
The AV500 features Archos' newly-designed music player application. Now you can easily organize your songs and customize your view by artist, album, type of music, title, year, and play lists without having to use a computer. The AV500 also offers an audio recording application that records in high-quality WAV format from almost all analog stereo sources. You can also use the stereo microphone if you want to record notes, presentations and lectures.
Connectivity
The player has a USB 2.0 port that enables you to copy, share, connect and transfer files directly from other powered mass storage devices. The unit is also recognized as a mass storage drive on your PC or Mac, giving you the ability to transfer any computer file using the high-speed USB 2.0 interface.
PlaysForSure
The AV500 lets you purchase, download, subscribe to or rent protected video and music content from Microsoft PlaysForSure websites. The Archos AV500 works with many online subscription and pay-per-download music services such as Yahoo! Music Unlimited and Napster To Go. The PlaysForSure designation ensures compatibility with Windows Media Player 10 and Windows XP. Using the USB 2.0 interface, the AV500 will easily auto-synchronize this content with Windows Media Player 10 each time you connect it to your PC, or convert your Windows Media Player 10 library content to one of many compatible formats (MP3, WMA, WAV, protected WMA, MPEG -4, WMV and protected Windows Media Video).
Play Games Anywhere
Because the AV500 supports the popular Mophun gaming engine, it's designed to integrate with the Archos Web site for purchasing and downloading games. You can also connect an optional mini game padto kick your games up a notch.
What's in the Box
AV500, TV docking pod, remote control (with batteries), audio/video cables, USB 2.0 cable, USB hostadapter, AC adapter and charger, stereo headphones, protective case, user guide.

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Olympus LS-10 Linear PCM Recorder Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I was about to buy either a tascam pro digital recorder or one of the competing models - both in the $800 - $1200 price range when Olympus demo'ed me this item just in time to stop my purchase!

UPDATE 9/2010 - this review was from 2008 and one of my first portable recorders.2 years later all pocketable recorders are using sd cards and compact flash is left to rackmount touring case equipment. I added 2 recorders to audio kits I take on the road - I wanted the quad channel abilities of the zoom h4n which I later found out had its own hidden vices, but it did give me 1/4 TRS and XLR inputs which I needed plus 4 channel recording.I also bought what is perhaps my favorite sounding recorder, a marantz PMD-661, which has a wide variety of inputs including XLR line or XLR mic, selectable, plus digital and 3.5mm TRS, (zoom lacks digital in and just attenuates line down to mic with a 1%-100% attenuator on the frontend instead of a line switch).For high quality mics those recorders come out, but for verbal notes or telephone calls I still use my LS-10.I feel people seeing this review in 2010 should explore what I feel are quality options, the zoom h4n and the bit more pricey marantz PMD-661 before making the buying decision based on mics, price, size, and any factor important to you.Both the zoom and marantz, for example, feature optional remote controls.

In the past 2 years I learned there is not one "BEST" recorder for everything.The olympus is very compact, the zoom can do 4 channels at the same time, and the marantz has a great display & metering, plus a power saving mode like zoom to run close to 20 hours on 2700 mah nimh cells.Everyone standardized on SD memory along the way which is convenient if you own more than one recorder (I'm in the business so it's a big deal for me - maybe not for someone who just wants to take notes in class.In 2010 there is a wider choice of recorders to choose from.I've reviewed the zoom h4n and the Marantz PMD-661 on strengths and weaknesses.Also keep in mind from the LS-10 to the 661 is almost triple the price, so set your budget before you go buying.

(original review from 2008)

A digital recorder is simply a musical fidelity, 2 channel recording device that can record uncompressed digital or compressed (MP3,WMA) formats.The professional models give you a high quality VU meter for adjusting levels, compression options to prevent digital clipping, usually XLR jacks with 48V phantom power (which this lacks, but that's not a big deal as it does have line in), and the ability to insert additional memory cards.Limited editing can be done on the unit, but it includes PC software for real editing later (see below)

For half the price of the cheapest tascam unit, Olympus has the same audio specifications, includes high quality stereo microphones built into the unit, makes a unit that is 1/8 the size of the tascam and literally fits in your pocket, and basically the only 2 things you "give up" are

1 - it is modernized to SD memory while older units are on compact flash
2 - it lacks XLR inputs but has a line level input plus 2 built in mic's

Other than those two limitations, at half the price, it's a killer deal for recording in the studio where you have a line out on your mixing board or on the road with the built in microphones.Since XLR->Line adapters are cheap and I have SD memory (it includes 2GB built in flash which will record for over 3 hours uncompressed digital, w/ USB 2.0 out) I'm not disappointed.Yes, it would be nice to take a high quality sennheiser XLR microphone and plug it right in, but the compact size (just slightly larger than a dictation recorder including microphones) makes this just too optimal to pass up.The extra $400 savings will buy some very nice microphones to go with it!

If you are thinking about migrating from a CD-ROM to a digital recorder to put on your mixing board or a portable digital recorder to capture music / speech / etc, this literally can drop in your shirt pocket and be ready instantly.I've recorded several hours with it now and am perfectly satisfied with the CDs I burned on my laptop.I'm sure any musician will be as well!

Misc:

Other features - it can act as a USB disk drive, includes a CD rom software package of Steinberg Cubase LE4 for compilations, and has both mic and line in jacks for input, as well as 3.5 mm stereo headphone outputs.

Summary:

I had my heart set on the $800 Tascam "lugable" digital recorder when I was given a chance to demo this recorder and at half the price the only real difference to me is I loose the 2 XLR jacks and get 2 quality microphones built into the unit - I loose the weight and get a 2xAA 12 hour runtime, and with the built in 2GB I get over 3 hours of linear PCM recording or 60+ hours of WMA audio.The built in backlit LCDs are comparable between recorders.It's complicated my buying decision, but at half price with all the same "recording" capabilities I'm now searching for a simple XLR -> Line mic preamp to compare an equivalent configuration.I would have liked the XLR+48VDC phantom feature but Olympus chose to put in 2 good mic's instead.I've returned my demo unit and am researching the XLR input issue now but I plan to go this route instead of the comparatively huge tascam recorder.

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Product Description:
2 GB internal memory 24 bit/96 kHz linear PCM recording WAV, MP3 & WMA recording & playbackSecure Digital Card (TM) removable media card slot5 foldersLED backlightIncludes 2 AA batteries

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RCA VR5220 512 MB Digital Voice Recorder (Black) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I was about to return RCA VR5220 back to the store. The reason to return was a recording VOC audio format which is not a very common for an average user. A need to convert files from one format to another, often with a loss of quality was not an option for me.

Last night I opened a manual... To my surprise VOC recoding is only done in LP and SP mode, and HQ mode, the one I was going to use, records in WMA (Windows Media Audio). No need to convert files anymore, just copy them to PC and play with Windows player or any other player. Reading a manual saved me a trip back to the store.

With a recorder price under $30, ability to record in WMA format, play and edit options, easy file transfer via built in USB port, in my opinion, this recorder offers a really good value.

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Product Description:
Use the VR5220 digital voice recorder by RCA for taking notes at lectures and seminars or to simply record important day-to-day notes. With 512MB of built in flash memory, you can enjoy up to 200 hours of recording. The digital voice recorder features a multi-function LCD display that shows the time, low battery indicator, recording countdown and other information. The built-in USB allows for direct PC connection, helping you listen, share, save and organize with ease. Enjoy worry-free recording with the Automatic Voice-Activated Record (AVR) mode which will sense sound and start recording automatically once sound begins and stop recording when sound ends. Choose from three different playback options: bookmark, variable speed and pitch correction for slow/fast play. By using the date/time stamp you can quickly find specific recordings without the hassle of listening to complete recordings. Additional features include editing functions, headphone jack/external microphone jack, selectable recording mode and key lock function.

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