Archos AV500 30 GB Multimedia Player and DVR Review

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(More customer reviews)As many of you have probably done, I have researched and read the few limited reviews I could find on this item, but finally i purchased it yesterday from the Sharper Image. So far its amazing, I did have the Archos AV420 but returned it because the battery failed on me. The AV500 is truly an amazing machine. The screen is so much sharper than the AV400 that it is indescribable. You can record directly from your DVD player, VCR, Satellite or Cable Box, which I am doing as I type this. I already put about five different cd's on the AV500 from my collection from Windows Media Player, and that took a mere twenty seconds for each cd. Also, the AV500 displays the album cover for each cd. The AV400 did not recognize many of the album covers that the AV500 does. The "TV Pod" is much easier to hook up on your tv than that of the AV400, and it seems that there are many less wires coming out from the pod. The built in speaker is good if your sharing with someone else, but the included earbuds have very good audio quality. In the case comes a user guide, 2 sets of audio and video cables, a USB 2.0 cable and USB host adapter, AC adapter and charger, Stero headphones, the TV cradle and IR emitter cable, Remote control with batteries, and the Protective Case. All in all the AV500 is a must buy for anyone who likes music, photos, and videos. I am in luck too because I am going to Washington in a few days which is an eight hour drive. On average the AV500 probably will have about 4 hours of playback on the battery while on video, and 10 hours of playback for music, but I have yet to test that. I am very happy i purchased the AV500 from The Sharper Image.
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Your movies, your games, your music, your photos -- all in one little device. That's the Archos AV500 30 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 30 GB model, which is less than an inch thick, lets you store up to 130 hours of video, 85 movies, 15,000 songs or 300,000 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 for video playback on the built-in LCD.
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 them on 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 pad to 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 host adapter, AC adapter and charger, stereo headphones, protective case, user guide.

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Memorex Mi8000BLK iFlip 8.4-Inch Portable Video System for iPod (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)The unit is not bad for its ability to charge the ipod while on DC and for its decent and very customizable IQ with videos. The photos don't look good on its LCD screen at all due to blowing out of highlights and distortion of color. The audio is OK, but not great and there is a picking up of the drive's whine and noise that most of the time gets through the speakers at the highest volume settings you will need. I used the Ipod 80GIG video and it fit in the iFlip OK with the 60GIG bracket that came with the iFlip.
As for Tiger Direct, I had to call 5 times to arange for the return and full refund with a call tag due to a bad pixel on the screen! Every time someone said a different thing and 2 people promised me to issue call tags for return. Both did nothing. On the fifth call I got lucky and spoke with a nice guy who has just assured me that he will issue a call tag and gave me his extension number for future reference. So... they do have some good people working for them, but what a hassle this has been! We will see if they come through with the refund for the unit that came from them with a dead pixel. I will post a follow up if and when they do!...
As to the unit, I suggest buying locally and checking it out thoroughly and with a return policy.
It is also not small nor light, so don't think you will carry it along in your pocket of the coat or jacket. This is for these times you go on the plane or the train for a long trip. The audio and video can be just as easily connected from the ipod to any TV or monitor so you don't need the Iflp to do it although it can. Enjoy....

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The iFlip may look like a mini laptop, but underneath the lid sits a whole newworld of video possibilities. Open the iFlip's cover and you'll see a universal dock on thebottom that holds and charges select iPods, along with an 8.4-inch widescreen LCDdisplay for video playback. The screen is ideal for watching stored iPod movies onplanes or entertaining the kids on long car trips, plus it offers an easy way to share yourfavorite digital photos with friends without hooking up to a full-size TV. Add in anintuitive onscreen menu system and a host of connectivity options and you have theperfect portable video player for almost all on-the-go applications.
The video screen is crisp and versatile, with such features as a selectable aspect ratio(16:9 or 4:3), a 480 x 234 native resolution in RGB mode, a 300 cd/m2 brightness rating,and a 350:1 contrast ratio. In addition, the 75-degree horizontal viewing angle and 70- degree vertical viewing angle lets fellow passengers see the screen without strainingtheir necks. And don't worry about the iFlip running out of juice on the first leg of yourcross-country trip, as the integrated rechargeable lithium-ion battery delivers roughlyfive hours of video playback per charge. To renew the battery, simply plug in the ACadapter and you'll recharge both the iFlip and iPod simultaneously.
Finally, the iFlip isn't restricted to iPod use only, as it connects to other video devices viathe S-video output and line-in jacks. Other details include dual headphone jacks forpeople who travel in pairs and adjustable brightness, color, hue, and contrast controls.The iFlip--which is compatible with the iPod nano (1G and 2G), iPod video (5G), iPodphoto (regular and U2 model), iPod 4G with click wheel (regular and U2 model), andiPod mini--measures 8.7 by 1.8 by 6.7 inches (W x H x D) when closed and is backed bya 90-day warranty.
What's in the Box iFlip video system, iPod adapters, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, S-video cable, line outcable, AC adapter, warranty card, user's manual.

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Aluratek Cinepal APMP100F Personal Media Player Review

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(More customer reviews)I have just purchased this unit and find that it works real good with videos. So far I have tried it on .MP4 files (downloaded using Firefox DownloadHelper) and it plays these files perfectly. I have also tried it on .AVI files downloaded with Torrent, and it plays those fine too. It will not play .FLV files at all. It also plays .MOV and .AVI files from my digital cameras.
It does remember the last position in the file and if you turn of the unit and return later, it asks you if you want to start at the last location it stopped.
It does not offer the ability to speed up the playing of the video.
As for MP3, it plays the files just fine. But it fails to do a couple of things I would like to see:
1) I would like it to remember the last location and start the file from that location. Instead, it always starts MP3 files from the beginning. This is not useful for Podcasts.
2) It does not offer ability to speed up play back with MP3 files. This would be real useful for Podcasts also.
3) It does offer the ability to fast forward through a file, but control is coarse and difficult to find a particular spot in the file.
I have looked at some .JPG pictures, and they look real good. It does display a thumbnail page of pictures so you can pick the one to look at.
I have tried this player with both a 8GByte SDHC card, and with a 8GByte USB Flash Drive, and it works perfectly. I also tried connecting to a 1TBype USB drive with lots of video files. It took a long time to display any files and I never did get it to play. I suspect it was overwhelmed by the size of the drive.
I have not yet tried it with any eBooks.


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Hi-Definition 720p, Ultra portable ALL-IN-ONE Solution for all your videos, photos, music and ebooks (txt only).

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