how good are the archos recordings?

timcs

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I am aware that the recording on the archos are mpeg4(divx) just wondered of their quality.

Also is there any site that has downloadable recorded content to view?
 
Don't know of anywhere that you can view sample quality recordings but i have the Archos 5 with gen 6 DVR dock. I use it mostly to record football highlights to watch at work at lunch time. The quality is perfectly acceptable for that. You can also change the bitrate for both the sound and video to improve quality or reduce file size etc
 
The resolution is 640x480 maximum if that helps.
 
shame there isn't a small clip from a recording I could download and view. Thanks anyway.
 
Just for your info. I recently bought the 160gig Archos 605 WiFi. (the one with the buttons.) I just tried recording from my PVR to the Archos and I find the picture quality to be excellent both on the Archos and on my 27 inch TV. MY TV is an older CRT type. No high definition. Photos also are sharp and clear. I'm very satisfied with the picture quality. I also download movies to my computer and transfered a lot of them to my Archos. Again the picture quality is very good watching them on my TV or my Archos. Take note though. Archos states that you should sync your Archos using Windows Media Player 11. I have done this and found that the movies it does convert are very poor. Media player basically takes the file and makes it a much much smaller file, resulting in very bad picture quality. I recommend just dragging and dropping your files from your computer to the Archos. Works great and I find I don't even need the video plug-in that Archos sells. Most of my videos are avi files and they work just great. I don't even have the plug-in. I wouldn't waste my money on the plug in if most of your videos are avi files.
 
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Just for your info. I recently bought the 160gig Archos 605 WiFi. (the one with the buttons.) I just tried recording from my PVR to the Archos and I find the picture quality to be excellent both on the Archos and on my 27 inch TV. MY TV is an older CRT type. No high definition. Photos also are sharp and clear. I'm very satisfied with the picture quality. I also download movies to my computer and transfered a lot of them to my Archos. Again the picture quality is very good watching them on my TV or my Archos. Take note though. Archos states that you should sync your Archos using Windows Media Player 11. I have done this and found that the movies it does convert are very poor. Media player basically takes the file and makes it a much much smaller file, resulting in very bad picture quality. I recommend just dragging and dropping your files from your computer to the Archos. Works great and I find I don't even need the video plug-in that Archos sells. Most of my videos are avi files and they work just great. I don't even have the plug-in. I wouldn't waste my money on the plug in if most of your videos are avi files.

samysam1313 - thanks for that, I am really struggling to decide at the moment :confused: I have heard better things from users with the 605 than the 5 on recording alone. I wish archos could get their act together.
 
Me again, I have been looking about for other PMPs that can rivial the archos 605 and the only so far that can record is the cowon a3.

This unit does lack some of the recording functions that the archos can do such as control the sky box (panansonic in my case) but makes up in other areas such as a DVB-t module add on and built in codec support.

That said, the archos for functionality, seems better but the quality is still something I would like to see. I have been able to view short clips made by the cown and they look pretty good.

If I were to set up a temp area to allow someone to upload short clip(s) (made by the archos 605) would any one help? also the clips do not have to be long such as a minute or two. All depends on the size as well as the length.

Hope I am not asking too much here its just that I have made purchases before and have regretted it.
 
Hi again timcs. I don't know what a DVB-t module is. I've seen the cowon mentioned in this forum, but have never seen one. Never heard of it till I read about it on this forum. I don't unsterdand why you want short clips. I'm not reading you obviously. For what reason do you want short clips from the Archos. Haven't you recorded anything on your Archos yet to see what the picture quality looks like? Or is it that you haven't bought an Archos yet? I don't know what it would look like on a HD TV. It's not the best quality, but is very viewable on my old CRT TV. Plus, I haven't yet played around with the settings to see if I can get better quality. Reminds me that I need to check that. I haven't put any short clips on my Archos yet, but if it helps, I will load some and see if they will play. No guarantees, since I don't have the video plug-in. And I'd be happy to upload them to you if you tell me how & where. I don't think you're asking too much. Better to know what you're getting. I think that's a smart move. :thumbsup:

Me again, I have been looking about for other PMPs that can rivial the archos 605 and the only so far that can record is the cowon a3.

This unit does lack some of the recording functions that the archos can do such as control the sky box (panansonic in my case) but makes up in other areas such as a DVB-t module add on and built in codec support.

That said, the archos for functionality, seems better but the quality is still something I would like to see. I have been able to view short clips made by the cown and they look pretty good.

If I were to set up a temp area to allow someone to upload short clip(s) (made by the archos 605) would any one help? also the clips do not have to be long such as a minute or two. All depends on the size as well as the length.

Hope I am not asking too much here its just that I have made purchases before and have regretted it.
 
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Hi again timcs. I don't know what a DVB-t module is. I've seen the cowon mentioned in this forum, but have never seen one. Never heard of it till I read about it on this forum. I don't unsterdand why you want short clips. I'm not reading you obviously. For what reason do you want short clips from the Archos. Haven't you recorded anything on your Archos yet to see what the picture quality looks like? Or is it that you haven't bought an Archos yet? I don't know what it would look like on a HD TV. It's not the best quality, but is very viewable on my old CRT TV. Plus, I haven't yet played around with the settings to see if I can get better quality. Reminds me that I need to check that. I haven't put any short clips on my Archos yet, but if it helps, I will load some and see if they will play. No guarantees, since I don't have the video plug-in. And I'd be happy to upload them to you if you tell me how & where. I don't think you're asking too much. Better to know what you're getting. I think that's a smart move. :thumbsup:

samysam1313

thanks for the reply, the answer to your main question is that I do not yet have an Archos (money being the main reason :rolleyes:). Before I spend my hard earnt cash, I would like to see what the quality is like.

Everyone will have their own opinion on what they call ok, good, rubbish etc so hence wanting to see so short recordings made by an archos 605 as that is the unit I am looking to get.

The DVB-T is basically a freeview tuner model which attaches to the cowon PMP unit allowing the user to watch freeview on the go (depending of course how good this and the signal).

If you are happy to do some recordings ,don't have to be long, in different quality modes as well, then that will be great. Once you have had the chance let me know, and I will PM the details has I have not yet set up the means to transfer just yet.
 
OK. Then I'll try transfering some short clip to my Archos to see if they will play. It might be a few days, since I have some important things to do in the next few days. I'll let you know when I have done that and if they will play. Then we can take it from there. :cool:. I've only had my Archos since Dec. 27, but so far so good. :smashin: It seems to be working well (knock wood) (knock knock). LOL. I can't really advise you on which player to get as I know nothing about the cowan. I know price is a big factor. I was looking at the Archos for about a year and didn't evan plan on getting one since they were $400 here. Very expensive for my means. Plus I didn't know all the features. I just thought it was basically a video mp3 player. I liked the fact that it had 120gigs for movies & the size of the screen compared to other video mp3's. I only got it because I lucked out. It was on sale and I got it for $269. A big discount that I just couldn't pass up. However, I didn't know about the nickle & diming Archos does for all the plug-ins. I thought stuff like that would be included. I knew about the DVR Station & that's a heavy price for what it is. Just basically a plug device. :rolleyes: If you do decide on the Archos, I recommend paying out the extra for the Extended Warranty as some Archos owners seem to have big problems with theirs. :eek: And Archos Support is severely lacking from what I've been reading here. :nono: I cringed at paying for the Extended warranty, but now I'm very glad I did get it. :thumbsup: This machine better last for the price or I'll never buy another Archos product again. :suicide: Sorry. I'm going on here. One more thing. You might know this , but just in case you don't. :lesson: Often products that are brand new can be bought for big discounts because they are the old model and the companies want to get rid of the old stock. They are still perfectly good. I've bought a lot of gadgets that way. Actually, I get all my gadgets on sale. Never pay full price. :smashin: I'd suggest you keep an eye out on all Electronic stores. You're bound to find an Archos on sale if you are willing to wait some. Watch the sales and flyers. That's what I do and I get some teriffic buys. Another plus for the Archos, is that it will stream media from my computer to my TV in the living room. I was looking for a device like that for a long time. They run $300 or more, so the Archos was a definite plus for me. I got that plus the rest with the Archos. :thumbsup: All for about what I would have paid for the Extender (what the streaming devices are called here).

samysam1313

thanks for the reply, the answer to your main question is that I do not yet have an Archos (money being the main reason :rolleyes:). Before I spend my hard earnt cash, I would like to see what the quality is like.

Everyone will have their own opinion on what they call ok, good, rubbish etc so hence wanting to see so short recordings made by an archos 605 as that is the unit I am looking to get.

The DVB-T is basically a freeview tuner model which attaches to the cowon PMP unit allowing the user to watch freeview on the go (depending of course how good this and the signal).

If you are happy to do some recordings ,don't have to be long, in different quality modes as well, then that will be great. Once you have had the chance let me know, and I will PM the details has I have not yet set up the means to transfer just yet.
 
OK. Then I'll try transfering some short clip to my Archos to see if they will play. It might be a few days, since I have some important things to do in the next few days. I'll let you know when I have done that and if they will play. Then we can take it from there. :cool:. I've only had my Archos since Dec. 27, but so far so good. :smashin: It seems to be working well (knock wood) (knock knock). LOL. I can't really advise you on which player to get as I know nothing about the cowan. I know price is a big factor. I was looking at the Archos for about a year and didn't evan plan on getting one since they were $400 here. Very expensive for my means. Plus I didn't know all the features. I just thought it was basically a video mp3 player. I liked the fact that it had 120gigs for movies & the size of the screen compared to other video mp3's. I only got it because I lucked out. It was on sale and I got it for $269. A big discount that I just couldn't pass up. However, I didn't know about the nickle & diming Archos does for all the plug-ins. I thought stuff like that would be included. I knew about the DVR Station & that's a heavy price for what it is. Just basically a plug device. :rolleyes: If you do decide on the Archos, I recommend paying out the extra for the Extended Warranty as some Archos owners seem to have big problems with theirs. :eek: And Archos Support is severely lacking from what I've been reading here. :nono: I cringed at paying for the Extended warranty, but now I'm very glad I did get it. :thumbsup: This machine better last for the price or I'll never buy another Archos product again. :suicide: Sorry. I'm going on here. One more thing. You might know this , but just in case you don't. :lesson: Often products that are brand new can be bought for big discounts because they are the old model and the companies want to get rid of the old stock. They are still perfectly good. I've bought a lot of gadgets that way. Actually, I get all my gadgets on sale. Never pay full price. :smashin: I'd suggest you keep an eye out on all Electronic stores. You're bound to find an Archos on sale if you are willing to wait some. Watch the sales and flyers. That's what I do and I get some teriffic buys. Another plus for the Archos, is that it will stream media from my computer to my TV in the living room. I was looking for a device like that for a long time. They run $300 or more, so the Archos was a definite plus for me. I got that plus the rest with the Archos. :thumbsup: All for about what I would have paid for the Extender (what the streaming devices are called here).

samysam1313, ok whenever you are ready to do this. I assume these clips you are transferring to the archos are recordings made via the DVR?.
 
The clips I was talking about were ones I already have on my computer. Was going to see how good they looked on my TV. However now that you mention it, it makes more sense to record them directly to my Archos. I will do that and get back to you.

samysam1313, ok whenever you are ready to do this. I assume these clips you are transferring to the archos are recordings made via the DVR?.
 
The clips I was talking about were ones I already have on my computer. Was going to see how good they looked on my TV. However now that you mention it, it makes more sense to record them directly to my Archos. I will do that and get back to you.

samysam1313 - okay, recordings are my main reason for buying an Archos and the 605 is meant to be one of the best for this. Thanks again for doing this samysam1313 as it is the deciding factor.
 
Hi timcs. Update. Sorry I haven't gotten back to you sooner. Been busy. I recorded 4 clips on my Archos via the DVR. However, they are pretty big files for clips. I found out you can't record less than 2 minutes when you set it to record manually. The files are 27 megs each. So they may be too big to send. I haven't played with the settings yet though, so I may be able to make the clips a smaller file, but the video quality will suffer I'm sure. That's if I can set it to a lower quality. I will try again recording some clips, but will stay with it while it is recording to see if I can stop the recording to make it a much smaller file. Will keep you posted.
 
Hi timcs. Update. Sorry I haven't gotten back to you sooner. Been busy. I recorded 4 clips on my Archos via the DVR. However, they are pretty big files for clips. I found out you can't record less than 2 minutes when you set it to record manually. The files are 27 megs each. So they may be too big to send. I haven't played with the settings yet though, so I may be able to make the clips a smaller file, but the video quality will suffer I'm sure. That's if I can set it to a lower quality. I will try again recording some clips, but will stay with it while it is recording to see if I can stop the recording to make it a much smaller file. Will keep you posted.

samysam1313 thanks for this, if you are used to using ftp software then that size of file should not be a problem. if you are not used to ftp software then it should still allow you to send the file via the web browser. Thanks again for you time on this and I didn't expect you to come back quickly as you are doing me a great favour here.:)

I am still considering a 605 but may have to but it via ebay. My only thoughts were if I did this, could I still purchase the archos extended warranty?
 
It's not a problem timcs. Doesn't take that much time. And I'm sure you would like these ASAP. I know I would if it was me. So thanks for your patience. Not sure what you call ftp software so obviously I'm not familiar with it. I find my way around computers OK, but am far from an expert on such things. I am thinking ftp is for making web pages maybe or uploading to web pages??? As for sending files that size by web browser. What do you have in mind? I'm pretty sure email doesn't let you send files that big. Only thing I've ever uploaded to a web page is pictures.

I have no experience with ebay. Never bought anything from there and I don't know that I'd trust that. As for a warranty from something off of Ebay. Maybe if it's from a store. Seen some sell stuff on Ebay before. That's about how far my experience goes with them. Better be real sure about a warranty if you do go with Ebay. Are the prices there much better? I definitely recommend the extended warranty if you do buy an Archos seeing as the customer support is so bad. :thumbsdow

samysam1313 thanks for this, if you are used to using ftp software then that size of file should not be a problem. if you are not used to ftp software then it should still allow you to send the file via the web browser. Thanks again for you time on this and I didn't expect you to come back quickly as you are doing me a great favour here.:)

I am still considering a 605 but may have to but it via ebay. My only thoughts were if I did this, could I still purchase the archos extended warranty?
 
It's not a problem timcs. Doesn't take that much time. And I'm sure you would like these ASAP. I know I would if it was me. So thanks for your patience. Not sure what you call ftp software so obviously I'm not familiar with it. I find my way around computers OK, but am far from an expert on such things. I am thinking ftp is for making web pages maybe or uploading to web pages??? As for sending files that size by web browser. What do you have in mind? I'm pretty sure email doesn't let you send files that big. Only thing I've ever uploaded to a web page is pictures.

I have no experience with ebay. Never bought anything from there and I don't know that I'd trust that. As for a warranty from something off of Ebay. Maybe if it's from a store. Seen some sell stuff on Ebay before. That's about how far my experience goes with them. Better be real sure about a warranty if you do go with Ebay. Are the prices there much better? I definitely recommend the extended warranty if you do buy an Archos seeing as the customer support is so bad. :thumbsdow

Don't worry if you are not used to ftp, it is mainly for transfer files to web sites but is also used for transferring files to other links. Accessing over the web will still be using ftp but it should be more straight forward.

Well the warranty comes from Archos themselves but I wondered if they would allow this on a second hand item.

The space I use it ok for sizes such as 27mb it just may take a little while.

If I send you a private message with the details would you be okay to try?
 
Hi again. I wouldn't imagine that a warranty is transferrable. They usually aren't. If you get your Archos second hand, I'd be very surprised if there is a warranty with it. Unless it is a refurbished unit that comes directly from Archos or a store.

As for willing to try. I am. :)

Don't worry if you are not used to ftp, it is mainly for transfer files to web sites but is also used for transferring files to other links. Accessing over the web will still be using ftp but it should be more straight forward.

Well the warranty comes from Archos themselves but I wondered if they would allow this on a second hand item.

The space I use it ok for sizes such as 27mb it just may take a little while.

If I send you a private message with the details would you be okay to try?
 
Hi again. I wouldn't imagine that a warranty is transferrable. They usually aren't. If you get your Archos second hand, I'd be very surprised if there is a warranty with it. Unless it is a refurbished unit that comes directly from Archos or a store.

As for willing to try. I am. :)

Reading the warranty thing on archos's website, it says that the product has to be in its first year warranty to qualify for this. So I suppose if I find one second hand but no older that a year I could be lucky.

Otherwise I will have to take the risk .
 
don't know if you have now ruled out the Archos 5 but if you want i could record some short clips via the dvr station and send them to you for comparison if you like
 
don't know if you have now ruled out the Archos 5 but if you want i could record some short clips via the dvr station and send them to you for comparison if you like

Derek my only reason for steering clear of the 5 and 7 is that I understand the audio/video goes out of sync. Do you get this problem?
 
I do get some audio/video sync problems - i have recorded a few movies from my sky box - some are quite bad for this and others are absolutely fine so i am not sure what the problem is. I have read the stuff about it being ok if you have the tv out cable disconnected etc but that doesn't seem to be the problem. I think that the ones i have recorded that are ok are the ones i recorded before i swapped the original cable for an hdmi lead so i think it may be to do with the tv out setting - i'm going to have a play over the weekend and see if i can come up with a definitive answer. I'll post back once i have looked in to it a bit more and as i say if you want me to send some vids for comparison purposes i can:smashin:
 
I do get some audio/video sync problems - i have recorded a few movies from my sky box - some are quite bad for this and others are absolutely fine so i am not sure what the problem is. I have read the stuff about it being ok if you have the tv out cable disconnected etc but that doesn't seem to be the problem. I think that the ones i have recorded that are ok are the ones i recorded before i swapped the original cable for an hdmi lead so i think it may be to do with the tv out setting - i'm going to have a play over the weekend and see if i can come up with a definitive answer. I'll post back once i have looked in to it a bit more and as i say if you want me to send some vids for comparison purposes i can:smashin:

Derek

I really appreciate this, I have to say that I was going to get the archos 5 until I heard about the audio/video sync issue. One thing would be interesting is if you do a recording where the audio is out and one (if you manage to ) without. Then I can see how bad it is as well.

Also, if it is of use to you, I read on another site that using a free program called pocketdivx allows you to sync the audio in line with the video.

On reading that archos are going to realise a new Archos (or the same) with a new O/S from google makes me wonder if they have hit a limit on the one they used on the archos 5 and 7.

Keep me posted as this will really help me decide. Again thanks for your time on this.
 
Sorry for the delay here. I haven't forgotten about this - just having some difficulty getting the time to have a proper look and get a couple of clips recorded - My sister is getting married on Saturday so things are even more hectic than usual - i'll get on to it as soon as i can.
 
Sorry for the delay here. I haven't forgotten about this - just having some difficulty getting the time to have a proper look and get a couple of clips recorded - My sister is getting married on Saturday so things are even more hectic than usual - i'll get on to it as soon as i can.

Derek thanks but I have decided to go for the 605 for now and wait until the newer model is released later this or next year.
 

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