Well I had to pick up an Archos AV 700 when I saw it in a store. It can come configured with a 40GB or a 100GB hard disk. The one I picked up was with the 100GB hard disk.
First impressions:
- Very sleek metalic finish, nice kick stand to allow upright positioning on desk for viewing
- Large screen (Unfortunately the screen resolution is rather poor 480x236, scaling makes up for this with nice video)
- Direct view is pretty good. Screen viewing angle is not a good as I would expect
- USB Powered Host port. Excellent!!! Can plug a USB 2.0 card reader directly. Seems a bit sluggish compared to PC though.
- Using the device as a hard disk I achieved ~1GB per minute transfer
- Plays MPG, MP4, DIVX, XVID. Doesn't like SVCD, VCD, Sony MPG4.
- User interface took a bit to get used to. The button for selecting is the play/pause button. Not very intuitive at first
- With continuous play the unit got a bit warm to the touch
- A bit heavy, but what would you expect with a 7" screen
- Pricey, pricey. $799 Retail Price (You could get a Dell 700m barebones for around $900)
I never got around to testing the Video recording from my TV as the unit died on me after around 5 hours of use. The unit wouldn't turn on anymore. I returned it to the shop I got it from and I am waiting for the replacement.
Conclusion:
Considering the other options out there, if you absolutely need something portable and don't want to get a laptop this is for you. I on the other hand am leaning toward a Dell 700m, 4lbs laptop to satisfy my requirements.
- DVD/Video player
- Backup for my compact flash during photo trips
- Viewer for pictures
- Occasional image editing
I have also though of the Epson P-2000 but the 8.3 filenames and only MPG4 support really turned me off. Also I have been seeing some complaints about performance.
Alex