Reviews Written by ThrowingShade

A great device with a few minor flaws.

Pros: Great style ans substance. Gorgeous touch screen, intuitive menu layout.

Cons: No Ad-hoc mode(yet perhaps?), a little slow calling up functions. The stylus doesn't slide into the unit. Pricey add-ons and software plugins.

I've had several Archos PVP's in the past, and this is the one I was waiting for! A very nicely machined piece, it feels substantial and has a nice heft to it. With the wi-fi option I now have a device other than a cumbersome laptop(PSP's stink at web browsing btw) to browse wirelessly with. Extremely responive touch functions, with crisp movements. Perfect for even the biggest of fingers. The screen is gorgeous, albeit it has a layer on it for the touch functions. Seems this layer makes the screen a little less clear. Get the plain 604 already! Great menu layout, very easy to understand and browse immediately out of the box. Stellar video and audio output, I've tried my custom made Shure earphones with this and the sound is spectacular. Nano who, iPod what? Okay, now the room for improvement stuff. No ad-hoc mode! What? There go a few of my favorite hotspots around town. Battery life is pretty bad, make sure you grab a spare one if you're traveling. No FM. Processor at times feels overwhelmed even with the simplest of tasks. The styli do not slide into the main unit. I think I'd lose them more because of this. No dedicated wall charger. Whats with all the pricey add-ons guys? $100. just for the DVR funcionality!? My previous units came with that right out of the box. You even have to pay for a few software plugins that should be FREE. Lucky I'm an honest guy otherwise I'd find a crack somewhere for the software. Did I mention pricey all around? Outfiiting this thing to my liking has cost me almost $700. Now if Archos can address these issues(like a FREE patch for ad-hoc mode support for instance)they will definately have a winner. I must say I can't wait to try out the helmet camcorder, I'll be going rock climbing in Tennessee in a few weeks and I want to show my 90 year old grandma what it's like! Cool.. ...