Applications
Home - The home screen is filled with two rows of icons, for easy access to all the major features, icons listed from left-right starting with the top row; Video, Music, Photo, Web, Browser, Resume Playback, TV Scheduler, VideoCorder and AudioCorder. The icons are touch-screen friendly due to their large size, allowing users to comfortably use their fingers as stylus alternatives. The large icons and buttons are a common theme throughout the Archos 604 WiFi’s graphical user interface (GUI).
Located in the top left corner is the window tabs, this allows for switching between different windows. Top right is the status indicators, which shows volume level, battery life and time. Bottom right is the context menu, the options in this menu depending on which application or window you are using. These three GUI elements are stationary, expect to see them on every screen. Out of these three GUI elements you will be using the context menus the most.
From the context menu of the home screen you can enable WiFi, adjust volume and access help documents (in PDF format).
Video - The videos are shown as a vertical list, each video displays a thumbnail, title, date, video (bitrate/resolution/format), audio format and bitrate. When a video is highlighted the thumbnail will play a short preview, pretty neat stuff. I like how Archos gave the users plenty of information regarding videos. Normally companies either tuck this information away where you have to dig through menus or the video details cannot be found at all. This information could be very useful, perhaps you came across a video in your collection that has excellent quality / small file size and you wish to know what settings they used to achieve those results. On the other hand I can see why most gadgets don’t show this info, because to most users I doubt the information would be relevant to them.
The video playback screen has one horizontal bar located on the bottom, which is used for video scrubbing. The vertical bar located on the left controls volume. Above the volume bar is the display setting, full screen, stretched, original aspect. All of the GUI elements, including the bars, vanish after a few seconds of inactivity, to bring back the GUI simply tap the touch screen. The playback GUI layout is straight forward and easy to understand.
Music
Photo
PDF Reader
Web Browser
Conclusion
I would describe the Archos 604 WiFi as decent at best. There’s some issues that hold the Archos 604 WiFi back, it could have been an excellent device. As I discussed in the display clarity section of the review, the touch-screen used is of poor quality, which had a negative impact on the display clarity. Before actually purchasing the Archos 604 WiFi I strongly recommend watching a few sample videos on the device.
I mentioned at the beginning of the review that I’ve never dealt with any of the 04 series from Archos, so during the writing of this review I decided to drop by a local electronics store to check the display quality of the original Archos 604 (not WiFi). The display quality of the original was much better than the WiFi model, the Archos 604 WiFi has definitely taken a step back in my opinion.
The web browser was mediocre, not bad, but not great either. The web browsing was a tad on the slow side, thanks to the slow processor. The resolution of the display hurt the web browsing experience as well. Given that the size of the screen is 4+ inches, it makes me wonder why they couldn’t have implemented 800×480 resolution like the Nokia N800 has. Browsing on the Archos 604 WiFi is similar to other portables, lots of web page reformatting, zoom in/out, and horizontal scrolling from time to time.
With the current portable technology landscape, I don’t feel that the Archos 604 WiFi would be a good investment. It’s two main features, video playback and web browsing, are not up to par to what other devices can currently offer in the same price range. Especially with the news of the Archos 704 on the horizon, sporting a 800×480 display, which could greatly improve the web browsing experience and also hopefully sport a higher quality touchscreen.
Blooper - When recording videos for my reviews, sometimes strange things happen, in this case the Archos 604 WiFi felt it needed a break from the video shoot 8\.
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Filed under: Archos
15 Comments
Great review.
I was really hoping this would become my next wifi/movie player but I think I will stick with my mylo (although not a great movie player either) it does its job when needed.
David,
I’m glad you enjoyed it, this is the first review where the product left me somewhat disappointed. I typically try to select portable technology products that excite me, that I feel hold promise, but sometimes even I make bad choices. On the bright side, I feel that these type of reviews can be the most helpful to readers, as it could save their hard earned dollars.
personally, I had seen this bad boy behind the counter at many retail stores around here in Chicago and I was looking forward to it, especially with wifi and all but I guess not every good looking this is worth it.
it sad too see that this device isnt getting much love from the people, only 6 comments and I make up half of them.
Still a great review Cook.
so whats cooking for the next review?
Working on the Sony LocationFree Base Station review currently. I think there’s a lot to be said about these type of products, it’s not widely known to the public as of yet, but it’s definitely a powerful device. Thanks for dropping by David 8).
Well, I have used the 604W for a few months now and I like it a lot. Like every cutting-edge tech device it has its shortcomings but for me the DVR feature is wonderful: I have the DVR dock attached to my sat receiver and the 604W sitting in the cradle, charging. Whenever a program comes on that I’d like to see but can’t at the moment (too tired; going out; etc) I just ask the 604W to record it and the next morning I grab it on the way out the door. During the day I’ll find some free moments here & there and watch what I missed from last night. Then I get home and pop it into the DVR stand and start all over again. Battery life is fine because I just watch a couple hours at the most before returning it to its stand to be recharged.
A great device, well made, a little expensive but …. it suits my needs.
Have never used the WiFi feature (tried but couldn’t figure it out) so I can’t comment on that.
Bigmutt,
I appreciate you taking the time to share with us your positive experience with the Archos 604 WiFi. The DVR functionality sounds neat, although I didn’t test it myself, I can definitely imagine how useful it could be. Thanks again Bigmutt, take care.
I’ve read other reviews for this device that imply that if you apply the latest firmware updates that the performance greatly improves (in particular around touchscreen responsiveness and PDF rendering). Do you know what version of the firmware you tested, and did you upgrade the firmware prior to the review?
Thanks -
Ken
tivolo,
I wasn’t aware of the firmware updates, so I did not upgrade, the review was done with which ever firmware the product was shipped with. I’m glad you brought this to the readers attention, so they may take this into account when reading the review. If you have any other questions please let me know!
After I posted my question I noticed a screenshot that shows firmware version 1.5.53. It looks like they’ve made a number of updates since then(to version 1.6.21). Here’s the firmware history page:
Archos Updates
Regardless, your review is outstanding, and your inclusion of live videos of the device in use makes this the best review I’ve found of this device on the web. Keep up the great work!
Ken
I have a 604 WiFi and I love it. I mostly use it for audio play back which it dose an excellent job of. The audio quality is better than that of an iPod.
I was a little disappointed at the web browsing capability as well. Luckily, the firmware is open source so it can be hacked and made better.
The Wifi is crappy I have wifi for my laptop but i cant get a connection to the remote server of sites. But other then that the audio is loud and great and the screen is big.
I bought the 604 wifi on the basis my mate had the 604. If I had to choose again I would happily for go the wifi model as the screen on the original 604 (touchscreen LESS) - is much much better in my opinion!
The blacks are true blacks and its an easier screen to see in the light.
I find the wifi browser too slow to be useful - might do in an emergency but I am sure in most scenarios where I could get wifi on the go - I would be able to access a pc? Who knows.
Its nice to use it on my home network but again the touchscreen is uncessary to me and the compromise on the picture is not worth it.
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