Thin Netbook for Sale

The first 8GB personal media player. The Archos 2 plays video and audio and FM radio, supports microSD expansion and voice recording and song lyric files, and is only about the size of a credit card. Sound too good to be true? …Well, it kind of is, but aside from a few minor snags the Archos 2 is still a heck of a value for this price point. The player itself is all business, with a simple black or white facing and a sensible square pad of push-button controls, but adds a touch of class with a clean aluminum backing (which iPhones don’t even have anymore).

The screen itself is a 1.8″ LCD with a 128 x 160 pixel resolution and a vertical orientation, which means you need to turn the player horizontally to watch video. The headphone jack is at the base of the player next to the USB port, which makes it more pocket-friendly, with the top of the player reserved for the power switch and the microSD card expansion slot. There’s no “hold” switch on the player to prevent “involuntary pocket shuffling”, but the buttons are flush enough and require a solid push to activate that it was never a problem for me. The Archos 2 supports only non-DRM’ed .mp3 and .wma files for audio, so it’s not going to play well with your iTunes purchases, but ID3 tags are supported and the drag-and-drop functionality when connected via USB is always welcome.

Note that album art is not supported, which seems like an odd omission. Sound quality is excellent, however, with powerful volume and equalizer settings available. FM radio works just fine on the player, and I found the station scanning to be sensitive, picking up plenty of stations.

Pros:

• Small, lightweight player

• Great sound, with EQ settings available

• ID3 tag and lyric file support

• Strong FM radio performance

• Huge storage

• microSD card expansion for even more storage

• Drag-and-drop file transfers

• Extremely low price for the features Cons:

• Utilitarian menu theme • Poor video quality

• No album art support Video is 15-FPS .avi only and the player comes with a software disc to help convert most video formats to one that will work on the Archos 2. But I’ve got to say it: if you get this player, don’t get it for video. Scanlines and ghosting are abundant–watching video on this player isn’t easy and at best is suited for content that focuses on large subjects that don’t move much in frame. Things like sitcoms, news video podcasts, and stand-up comedy are watchable, but don’t bother converting, say, Lord of the Rings for the plane flight. All in all, you’re looking at an admittedly utilitarian player, the Archos 2 packs so many features into a single tiny package that it’s almost worth picking one up even if it’s just as a backup player. Even if it didn’t do video at all, it’d still be a strong value for a tiny player with that much space, considering your nearest iPod in price point is a 1 GB Shuffle.