Archos 404 (30 GB, 7500 Songs) Digital Media Player

Hello, and welcome to my review of the Archos 404. I have other Archos reviews of their Jukebox 20GB,AV500,504 160GB, and 506 WiFi, please view them as well. I have much knowledge of Archos and their outstanding products. Their the 1st company to introduce a 20GB,100GB, and 160GB mobile storage, as well as WiFi and Touchscreen onto a MP3 Player, excusing say a Blackberry or Palm Pilot.

Pros: Small size, Quality just as good as the others in the 4 series (404,504,604) Same interface and menu design, Firmwire upgrades, decent price
Cons: Small size, battery life, storage size.

When I saw this on eBay, I went stright to Archos's main page to see more, I was corious about this, just to find out that it had two older brothers in the series. Here we go:

Size
100 x 78 x 15 mm – 3.9” x 3” x 0.59”
So about 1/2 the size of the 504 or 604, smaller isn't always better. Due to the smaller size, you end up with shorter battery life (Which is already small to being with) and videos seemed crammed on a small screen. It also cuts down how much can be stored on the hard drive. It's understandable that technology is making things smaller these days, but with the 404, it has a 30GB to boot, thats the same size as the 604 and 604 Wifi.

Battery
I really don't have to explain too much here, like in all my other reviews, Archos needs improvment in this area. This model isn't any expection since it's even smaller.
Videos can play for about four to six hours
Music can play for about 12 hours or less
*Changing the screen brightness in the options and how the hard drive works will give you some added hours of playtime

Audio/Video Playback
I'm getting sick and tired of repeating what they can or can't play so I'll simply list

Can
Video: AVI, MPEG-4,WMV (Through a download:(h.264 codec(OGM,MKV), and .VOB)
Audio:MP3,WAV,WMA (Though a download: ACC,AC3,OGG, Vorbis)
I must note, through a download also means $20.00 and a download. h.264 is a video format that allows for a special kind of video formats to be played, for the most part it means Dual audio files and .VOB, which allows DVD's to be played. Wish Archos didn't charge for this though.

Can Not
Video: MP4,DivX,XviD
Audio: Lossless, Flac,ACE,Ape

I don't see why Archos can't simply allow you to Drag and Drop codecs into a folder that regularly updates itself or through Firmware upgrades, I mean they have a Plug in for iTunes, a PMEG4 Translator, Virtual Dub,WMP Reader, and Acrobat Reader, so why not something like a Codec Reader? It would alot easier on the users.

I think if this thing had a bigger Hard drive, maybe even 50GB or 75GB with Touchscreen like the 604 WiFi has, this could be an awesome product. The price isn't too bad either, but due to the smaller size hard drive, thats probably why this unit is clocked at $299.99 Retail or $254.99 on eBay, with some other Price comparison sites like PriceGrabber.com, Bizrate.com,tigerdirect.com and Newegg all averaging about $255 to $269

This is a fairly decent model, but not for those who need to hold their whole DVD collection or Discograhies, I'd suggest the 504 160GB
For those who want a more Blackberry/PDA/Palm Pilot feel, I'd suggest the 506 WiFi w/TouchScreen

And this has been my review of the Archos 404 30GB.