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I purchased this as an upgrade to my beloved Archos 605 160GB. I actually purchased this directly from archos because I had trouble getting it through Amazon.

First impressions: beautiful sleek design, love the rubbery backside and the enlarged screen! I find that the touch screen UI interface is quite improved over the 605, the buttons all flash when you press them so that is a nice confirmation that you hit it. Also, play buttons and such seem to be bigger than before, easier to hit. Although the glossy, shiny look is pretty to look at, it also shows fingerprints (much like the Touch). Not a big deal to me, I'm used to wiping off my glossy surfaces regularly.

So lets get into the nitty gritty, starting with the things I love about the new Archos 5. Just one caveat, I am using this primarily as a replacement media player for the Archos 605 so I won't speak much to internet browsing issues. I will use as a basis of comparison my collection of MP3 players (ok I'm an addict so sue me!) which includes iPod Touch 2nd Gen 32GB, Creative Zen WiFi 16GB, iPod Classic 160GB, Archos 605 160GB, Archos 604 30GB, iRiver Clix2 8GB.

*) 250GB: gotta love all that storage space, especially since the new Apple Classic tops out at 120GB now it seems Archos is in a class all to itself.

*) Big beautiful glossy color screen, definitely an improvement over 605.

*) Easily connected to my Wifi, browser is now free instead of costing extra like before. Upgrade to firmware was accomplished easily.

*) Easy synchronization of my entire music library and playlists using Media Monkey in Windows Media Mode (605 had problems here, so glad Archos fixed this!)

*) Beautiful full featured DVR dock available (apple doesn't even make one as far as I can tell!)

*) Esthetically the most appealing player I've seen yet from Archos.

*) Nice context menus on most pages (tap upper right corner) that make it easy to get around.

*) Love the ability to switch between hard drive mode and Windows Media Mode (something I do quite frequently). Also nice to be able to put a password on folders with sensitive or Adult content.

*) Ability to play all kinds of audio/video files, although you do have to pay up to $40 for additional plugin firmware in order to play apple and cinema formats.

*) On screen touch qwerty keyboard is really nice, easy to use -- I found it much easier to type accurately than the Touch/iPhone onscreen keyboard.

*) Browser supports flash controls, woohoo, welcome to the 21st century fercrissakes!

*) That 250GB of data is readily available to the PC as a hard drive so I can use it for backups or whatever else I want to do with it. (unlike the Creative Zen for example).

*) Convenient built-in speaker can be used in a pinch: everybody seems to have one of these now but as far as I can tell Archos did it first on the 605!

*) Now Playing music screen is easier to use, volume, and play buttons are easier to use now and it displays the name of the next and previous songs: a feature that I don't see on any of my other MP3 players.

*) Nice dedicated volume and power buttons, the volume buttons are definitely easier to find and use than the 605.

And now, my suggestions to Archos for how they could improve on what I think is a cutting edge beautiful product. Please understand, I'm a nitpicking software engineer so I give 5 stars even though I can find room for improvement!

*) I miss the dedicated hold/tv-out button which has been removed. Not a big deal since can still be done through the context menu.

*) Some of the text menus just look a little strange and seem to take a too much space on the screen. For example, I have to scroll down to get to the "Playlists"... at the very least "Playlists" should be on the first page as its the one I use the most. Really it seems like too many button presses are required to dig down and play a playlist, I wish "playlists" was available from a top level menu because I use it more than anything else...

By CL - See all my reviews

I bought the Archos 5 160gb mainly because I thought it would be a cool device to surf the net in the airport without getting my laptop out and also good to watch movies / tv while on the plane. For the most part, it is cool. Be aware, however, that Archos seems to make a lot of money on add-ons and accessories. In order for me to do everything I want to do on my Archos, I've already sunk an additional $200 into add ons and accessories. Even so, I like the Archos and would recommend to anyone. I especially like the high storage capacity, which blows away the iPod touch.

I've had no problems connecting to available wiFi networks. I've had no issues playing music and videos on the Archos. Charging takes a while through the USB, but I'm ordering the DVR dock and I think the Archos will charge faster on that. Also, I'm intrigued by the digital tv tuner and cannot wait until that's available. All in all, I think the Archos was a good purchase.

Archos 5 160 GB Internet Media Tablet

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