Product Description

The ARCHOS 504 is the PMP with the biggest storage capacities of the Gen 4 range. Its bright and luminous 16/9 screen brings you the best portable video experience.PRODUCT FEATURES:Extreme capacity; Reads all standard video formats in full DVD resolution;DVD-quality video playback on TV with optional DVR Station;Records directly from TV in high-quality MPEG-4 with optional DVR station;Bright, 4.3" TFT screen with 16 million colors - ideal for watching videos and viewing photos;Extremely fast photo viewer with zoom, music and transition effects;Advanced Music player able to display track, artist, album, and album cover;Removable battery for extended viewing possibilities.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #44567 in Consumer Electronics
• Color: Grey
• Brand: Archos
• Model: 500869
• Released on: 2006-09-01
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 3.00" h x 1.00" w x 5.00" l, 1.70 pounds
• Hard Disk: 40GB
• Display size: 4.3

Features

• Lightweight and portable digital video, movie, music player and photo viewer with easy-to-use, intuitive controls and a bright 4.3-inch TFT LCD screen
• 40 gigabyte hard disk lets you store up to 20,000 songs, 400,000 pictures, or 113 regular movies or 29 DVDs, or any combination thereof
• Compatible with MP3, WAV, WMA and protected WMA music files, JPEG, BMP, and PNG picture files, and MPEG-4 and WMV video files
• Uses high-speed USB 2.0 for both file transfers and charging, and includes a removable, rechargeable Lithium-Ion polymer battery with up to 17 hours of music and 5.5 hours of video life
• Lets you play music through a stereo or videos over your TV via an optional docking station, weighs only 11.15 ounces, and measures approximately 5.1 x 3 x 0.9 inches (W x H x D)

Amazon.com Product Description
With the Archos 500869 504 40GB Portable Digital Media Player and Recorder you have all the entertainment you need at your fingertips, in a package that stays ultra portable. The perfect companion for everything from long trips to short bus rides, from going to parties to just hanging out around the house, the Archos 504 lets you not only take your favorite music, movies, and moments with you, but helps you create and have new favorite moments wherever you happen to be.

With a screen size surface three times that of similar size PMPs (portable media players), the Archos 504 ensures you can thoroughly enjoy movies and videos. This unit uses a bright, 4.3-inch TFT LCD display with over 16 million colors to provide you a crystal-clear, sharp picture with a 16:9 aspect ratio and 480 x 272 pixels of resolution, as well as an intuitive GUI (graphic user interface) for easy-to-use navigation. The Archos 504 not only plays your videos and movies, but lets you store over a whopping 113 regular movies or 29 DVD-quality movies on its hard drive in either MPEG-4 or WMV formats, at up to DVD resolution. You can also purchase and download optional plug-ins from Archos' website that will allow you to play H.264 and MPEG-2 formats up to DVD resolutions as well.

Not only is the Archos 504 a portable video and movie player, but a high-resolution photo viewer as well, complete with features such as zoom, music, and transition effects. You can easily download photos from your PC, or transfer them directly to the 504 from your digital camera via the optional docking adapter. This unit is compatible with JPEG, BMP, and PNG file formats, and can hold up to 400,000 photos at a time, depending upon file size and what else you are storing at the same time. The Archos 504 can even read and display PDF documents for on-the-fly work situations, although it may not implement all PDF features.

For those times when you can't afford the distraction of watching high-quality videos, the Archos 504 can be your music player, storing and playing up to 20,000 songs so you can keep working, walking, or doing whatever you need with your own private soundtrack. This unit displays the track, artist, album, and album cover of whatever you are playing, and supports stereo MP3 decoding from 30 to 320 kbps CBR and VBR, as well as WMA, protected WMA, and WAV (PCM/ADPCM) formats. Furthermore, the Archos 504 can play AAC music files, and AC3 stereo sound files with the additional of optional software plug-ins that can be purchased and downloaded from Archos' web site. And just in case inspiration strikes or you want to make sure you don't forget something important, this handy media player lets you make voice recordings through its built-in microphone, or via the optional DVR travel adapter or DVR station through a stereo line-in jack in WAV format.

The Archos 504 is fully compatible with DVD-quality VOD (video on demand) and online music stores, allowing you to purchase and download new music and movies directly online rather than having to transfer everything from more traditional media sources. This media player can also record directly from TV in high-quality MPEG-4 with stereo sound via the optional DVR station, so you can take your favorite television shows with you wherever you go. And if you are at home, the Archos 504 can play back any of your movies or recorded TV programs on your television itself, also through the optional DVR station.

The Archos 504 has a built-in 40 gigabyte hard disk so you have plenty of space for anything you need, and includes a high-speed USB 2.0 connection for transferring files. This unit features a 3.5-millimeter stereo headphone jack mini-jack and TV output, and dedicated connectors for hooking up optional adapters or the DVR station. The 504 also features a music playback time of up to 17 hours, and a video playback time of up to 5.5 hours on its built-in LCD display, all with its internal, removable lithium-ion polymer rechargeable battery that charges via computer through its USB port, or more quickly with the optional docking adapter or DVR station, or a separate optional power charger. The Archos 504 is compatible with both PCs and Macs with a USB port and Linux, Windows ME or higher, or OS X or higher, and requires Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or higher and Windows Media Player 10 or higher for use with PlayForSure video and subscription services. This media player allows firmware updates to be downloaded via www.archos.com, weighs approximately 11.15 ounces, and measures approximately 5.1 x 3 x 0.9 inches (W x H x D).

What's in the Box
Archos 504 portable media player, headphones, dedicated USB 2.0 cable, DVR station adapter, protective case, quick-start guide, and legal and safety notices.

Customer Reviews

Now only if it actually works!
I am now the proud owner of an Archos 404, after spending one traumatic month having owned, in my opinion, the far inferior Archos 504.

Inferior, you say? But the 504 has a larger 4.3" screen, better battery life, a removable battery, and much larger Hard drive capacities (even for the 40 GB). How then, can I say that it is a far inferior product? Well, primarily because the Archos 404 actually works, while the 504 (much to my dismay) does not.

You see, beneath that beautiful metallic exterior and beautiful screen of the Archos 504 lies a niggling problem that Archos doesnt want you to know about, especially if you live in a hot and dry location. This product is extremely, and I mean EXTREMELY, sensitive to Electro Static Discharge (ESD), and hangs almost instantaneously if you expose it to even the slightest amount of static. Using this player had become an absolute nightmare for me. Whenever I was listening to music, and would for example want to see which track is playing or skip to the next track etc., I would simply touch the player (whether in its case or outside), and not even press a button, and it would hang instantly. Soon after, I actually used to become nervous every time I needed to touch the player, and soon developed a habit of beforehand touching a metallic object (eg. doorknob) every time I needed to use the player. Needless to say, when one has to do such things just to touch a device, it kind of ruins the experience of owning that device. The 404 suffers from none of these problems, I have been using it for over a month now, and it has not even frozen once.

Having said that however, I still give this product two stars instead of just one, because a) the video playback is very good (much better than the 404, and not only because of the larger screen), b) the battery life is decent, and the battery is removable and c) it offers capacities larger than most other video players available today.

As for the sound, anyone interested in an Archos 04 series product should know that the volume on these players is significantly lower than the others, even with the latest firmware 1.6.20. I have made a direct comparison using the same pair of headphones with the 5G iPod, iPod Nano, Cowon A2, Cowon X5, and Creative Zen Vision M, either owned by me or by friends, and they are all louder than the Archos. Better, I cannot say, as that is subjective, but certainly and verifiably much louder.

Love it!
The Archos 504 is everything I hoped it would be. It is necessary to order the adapter kit to tape TV shows, but the ease of use and picture quality is great. The sound is good, but could be a little louder.

Decent Value but Flawed
Decent Value for what you get. Glad I didnt shell out the 300-400 bucks for it when it first came out. Yes, as other reviewers mentioned, to get all of the functionality that is advertised, you'll have to shell out more money. Also, as mentioned by other reviewers, the case that comes with this unit isnt adequate. The design is poor and wont protect the unit if you drop it.

This unit is best used if completely stationary. It freezes when moving, so not great for MP3's when on the move (walking at a fast pace). Obviously, because of its size and weight, AND propensity to freeze, not good for jogging.

Yes, there might be a static issue that some people have claimed causes the unit to shut down- I haven't experienced this. But another reason the unit freezes is that you are carrying around a laptop-hard drive (you can see it when you remove the battery).

These drives are designed to stop working when too much movement occurs. This is done to make sure that your hard-drive doesnt crash and you lose all of your information. If you know anything about hard drives, you know that this was a big problem with early hard-drive designs.

Not sure why they didnt just design these with solid state memory (the kind you see in most mp3 players- maybe cost related). At any rate, just be prepared to remove the battery and snap it back in, if the unit freezes.

The only other issue I've experienced is the unit freezing when I was recording a presentation(obviously the unit was stationary). It froze sometime during the recording. When I reset the unit, the data from the recording was corrupted and therefore lost. Yes, not pleased to learn this the hard way!

BUT, it does well to serve as a great portable media unit to use when in a car, on a plane, or to switch info back and forth from your PC to have on the go. Also, if you get the travel DVR unit and the additional cable to play on your tv, you can both record dvd's, tv programs, AND play stuff on your TV (but again have to shell out additional money). You'll also have to invest more if you want the proper codecs that let you play additional formats. BUT I'm cool with just having .AVI and MP3's for now.

In re to powering this thing up: Not a big deal plugging into my laptop at home or work. It powers up just fine. Not sure how well the "very hard to get ac adater cable" is, but you'll be fine without it. I think you can get a 3rd party one for around 20 bucks, but again you don't really need it in my opinion.

The sound from the speakers aren't great, but most portable units dont have great sound- that is if they even have external speakers at all. Make sure to get your own set of headphones, dont use the ones that come with the unit. The sound that is played from my personal headphones is adequate. Not supurb, but not terrible.

Also, you can buy an additional battery for the unit, which is nice. I havent had to need a replacement, as you would only really need this for really long trips.

Overall, not a bad price for what it does. Definitely some flaws. I would not purchase any of the more expensive models until I was sure these flaws were addressed.

You can get this unit from Walmart with the mini-dvr adapter for the same price you see here. If you want the most from this unit however, for another 80 bucks, you can get the full-sized DVR unit. But, it's not really all that travel friendly. Think I covered everything. Hope this review is helpful!