Good, but not good enough to attract my dollars

Rather than go through the advertised specs on the Archos 604 WiFi, I will focus on some details you won’t find there. Let me first admit to never having liked a single product produced by Archos, although this one has come the closest yet.

The screen is good but not great. It has a slight haziness reminiscent of a low quality screen protector. I’m guessing that this fuzzy effect is due to the touch sensitive layer on the screen. Comparing it to the screen on my Creative Vision W, the Vision is noticeably sharper… like the difference between a HD TV channel and a good standard analogue channel.

Streaming video over my home network worked well. There were no video jitters or audio sync issues, so I was impressed by that. The wireless networking was easy to set up and network shares were easy to navigate to. However, the administrative shares (C$, D$, etc.) also appear in the file browser, which is a little disturbing but as long as they are not accessible I don’t mind much.

The Opera web browser works well but it sluggish, and ultimately only serves to expose the limitations of the 604. I found myself soon wanting to listen to streaming audio (Internet radio stations) and video (YouTube, etc). The 604 can’t manage this, and is unlikely to ever manage it even with future firmware revisions.

Out of the box the unit plays MPEG4 and WMV video, but will not play AC3 audio. Many players have this limitation, but Archos’ solution is to up-sell you the “Cinema” codecs for $20. These codecs are already on every player, but they get activated when you download and install a special “.aas” file (great name!). This file contains an encrypted key tied specifically to your Archos device, so those of you so inclined can forget about downloading a cracked version!

Charging is via the USB sync cable, which has a special connector at the Archos end. Charging this way is slow, perhaps 4 hours or more from empty to full. The Archos up-sell comes into effect every time you connect the USB cable as a popup appears telling you that it will charge quicker with the optional AC adapter. An irksome feature is that the 604 can’t rest on its kickstand correctly when the USB cable is attached. Of course, Archos have another up-sell for you - the optional docking station.

A slip-cover (pouch) comes included with the 604 and is actually quite good. It has stiff sides to protect the screen, which was a criticism on mine with an earlier model (AV 500). You will however need to remove the device from the pouch in order to use it.

The speaker on the device is almost unusable because even at full volume it is very low.

Bottom line: wait for the Cowon Q5 to appear before buying this. It promises to fill a lot of the gaps that Archos have left wide open.