Speaker - The mono speaker found just beneath the right side controls are of low quality. I detected crackling and static on a few audio tracks I listened to at max volume. I demonstrated the Archos 604 WiFi for some co-workers, I played the video clip from the Hellgate London trailer. Because of the poor speaker quality and low volume, the video lost a lot of it’s umph, I could tell by the look on their faces that they were left unimpressed. I like to demonstrate gadgets to my co-workers to gauge their reaction, first impressions are priceless, and theirs only confirmed what I felt about the speaker quality.The headphones are of average quality, with built in volume control located where the headphone wires join.

Indicators - On the left side of the Archos 604 WiFi are the status lights, starting top to bottom; Power, Charge, Hard Disk Drive, and TV/LCD. Below the indicators is the microphone, which is good for taking voice memos, but not so much for classroom lectures, where distance becomes a factor.

Ports - The two ports located on the button are for (left to right) PVR and USB data transfer and charging. To the right of the ports is a switch to unlock the battery.

Storage - Normally I prefer Flash based storage in my portable gadgets, because of the battery life conservation and added durability (no moving parts). Although there are great benefits associated with this form of storage, the higher cost and lack of capacity leads manufacturers in the search for better alternatives, namely the platter based storage drives. Video centric devices are much more storage capacity hungry as opposed to audio centric devices. A minute of music at a bitrate of 128Kbits/s will require roughly 1MB of space, where as a high quality Video with a bitrate of 1500 Kbits/s(video) and 128Kbit/s(audio) would require a little more than 12MB per minute. From these values it becomes obvious storage space is critical factor in the Archos 604 WiFi’s design. The greater capacity required for videos and lower cost of storage outweighs the advantages of current Flash based storage technology. The Archos 604 WiFi’s storage capacity is 30GB, which provides roughly 41 hours of high quality video, translating into about 27 movies (90 mins each), I believe most consumers will be satisfied with the Archos 604 WiFi’s storage capacity.

Stand - The stand looks flimsy from it’s appearance, a thin twig of a stand, but don’t let the appearance fool you, the stand does it’s job well. I attempted to knock down Archos 604 WiFi with my 1-inch punch, Bruce Lee style, but to no avail that twig of a stand withstood my onslaught. The stand can be adjusted to any angle within it’s maximum range, which is roughly 45 degrees.

Case - The case serves as a protective cover for the Archos 604 WiFi as well as a stylus holder. I’m not really bothered by the lack of built-in stylus holder. How often would people carry their Archos 604 WiFi in public without the case? Almost always you’ll want to have your case with you, since it only adds roughly 3 mm thickness, a small price to pay for the added protection.

Too often companies rely on cloth cases to protect their products, which does a great job at avoiding scratches, but not so much at taking physical hits. I was glad to learn the Archos 604 WiFi went with a more rigid case design as opposed to purely cloth based, giving the case a very sturdy feel to it. The outer surface is made of smooth black pleather and on the inside is a layer of fuzzy fabric. The case looks very similar to a book cover, two elastic straps located on each end of the spine keeps the case from opening and holds the Archos 604 WiFi snuggly in place. The stylus holder can be found in the spine of the case, where there is a small indention at one end for easy access.

Battery - In my testing I achieved 4-5 hours of video playback. The web browsing was less than I expected in terms of battery life, only achieving a little over 2 hours of web surfing.

PVR Dock - The Archos 604 WiFi comes with a PVR dock, but in order to get the PVR functionality you need to buy additional accessories.

Table of Contents:

Page 1: Physical Aspects P1Page 2: Physical Aspects P2Page 3: Display ClarityPage 4: Conclusion

Filed under: Archos