my archos 704 has arrived

[scorsby]

hi recived my new 704 from qvc with dvr station first thing i did downloaded plugins from archos site.plays everything so far touch screen is easy to use and the remote supplied works well.screen is a little darker than my av700 put the colours on 704 and picture are much better set up wifi works fine.has anybody else got one whats your thoughts.

 

[madgames]

I bought one from Ebay usa couple of days ago
Not received it yet but looking forward to getting it
Will post my thoughts once ive tested
Cheers

 

[freero]

recieved mine today aswell, in fact im typing this reply on it now! still having a play with its features so not made any decisions on it yet. let you know what i think later

 

[KaraokeK]

Yep, mine arrived yesterday.

Picture much, much better than 700. I mean much better - not as good as a Sony X Black screen - but much superior than before.

Touchscreen works well – very sci-fi

Wi-Fi easy to set up – streamed avi file without a single hiccup.

On board speakers may lead you to believe that you have suddenly gone deaf. To be honest I have never used any of my PVPs except through headphones. So, for me, this is not a problem.

Not had a lot of time to “play”

Quirks:

DVD VOB files do not play seamlessly. As the DVD changes from one VOB file to another a message flashes up saying loading VOB file – this of course causes a break in continuity of playback. Hopefully a firmware upgrade will sort this.

PDF reader ok but loads each page as a separate item. This stops you from scrolling seamlessly from page to page.

Attached a self powered external 160gb hard drive and also a 2TB Lacie drive. The 704 saw both of them but said they were not compatible. My 2gb pen drive was not recognised at all. My question is – what type of drive is recognised by the 704? Really need to solve this.

To conclude – a little marvel. Well worth the upgrade from the old 700. It could be possible that some of the above “quirks” could be solved by delving into the menu – when I get home.

If anyone has solved any of the above - would be grateful.

 

[Hawklan]

DVD VOB files do not play seamlessly. As the DVD changes from one VOB file to another a message flashes up saying loading VOB file – this of course causes a break in continuity of playback. Hopefully a firmware upgrade will sort this.

Hi Hoping to play with mine tonight

If you use DVD Shrink (if I recal correctly) the default option is the Split Vob files into 1GB chunks. Unchecking this option I think creates a single vob file (can't test this until I get home)

RON

 

[Rindless]

Are there any issues with viruses and spyware when using this for WiFi web browsing ?

Also, is the 704 able to play flash videos from sites like youtube or google ?
If not, is there a way around this ?

Anyone had trouble with the 704 freezing halfway through a web download ?

 

[Karaokeklive]

Hi,
Mr Hawklan - what you say is indeed true. My problem is that i have over 500 DVDs already ripped on my various hard drives - you can imagine redoing them is not really an option. I hope that if there is no immediate solution that it is addressed in futrure firmware upgrades.

Cheers

 

[bainsyboy]

Blimey you got yours off QVC quick hopefully mine will arrive tomorrow, has anyone got saved films from a old archos and transferred them to the 704 and did they work, I have a archos av420 with loads of films on a external hard drive that was recorded by the av420.

What are the plugins for, with the 420 i just used to plug it into the dvd player and record films the ones that were copy protected would only play on the 420 which was not a problem will these films play on the 704 and will they be the right size to fill the screen ?

 

[Hawklan]

Hi

I'm not going to get much time to play with it until the weekend

Initial impressions are very good, clear bright screen, nice finish, great build quality

But boy it's a slippery little sucker - I'm a little bit worried about it slipping out of my hands during the train journey to work

RON

 

[bainsyboy]

WOW I have always been put off upgrading my Archos AV420 as it does the job and I got put off with having to buy plug ins for the new machines but after the AV420 seems to have obtained a small scratch on the inside of the screen that was becoming annoying and the fact that QVC had the 704 for a good price with the docking station included I took the plunge, the 704 looks stunning and so far picture wise looks ok, have transfered some old recordings from the av420 and too be honest they dont look that good im hoping though that that is down to the av420 being lower res ( not sure if it is ) the Borat film that i transfered was copy protected and although it plays you wouldnt want to watch it due to it breaking up, but the Casino Royale that was not copy protected plays ok but picture bit grainy so when i get the time i will record it again this time using the 704.

Regarding plug in's I still cant work out why i need them, all I need is to record dvds, tv programmes ect onto the 704 to watch on the 704 so do i need the plug ins any help on this front would be appreciated.

So far I cannot give the 704 a score out of ten as have only just got it and may not have the settings right but I dare say im going to love this machine as much as i love the av420.

 

[freero]

Well i`ve had a good play around with the archos now, but I think i`m going to be returning it
Reasons? firstly the whilst the picture is very good the screen has a sort of (and this is hard to describe) grainy sparkly look to it. Almost as if your looking through a pair of tights stretched across the screen, though i`m sure this is to do with the touch screen technology as the same effect can be seen on the nintendo DS with it`s top (non touch) screen being clear and it`s bottom (touch screen) having the same look to it as the archos but for me it`s very off putting. Next the internet browser whilst it`s not bad for forums and loads pages relatively quickly as soon as any large pictures come on screen or you open more than one window, it all becomes too much for it`s processor and the whole system slows to a crawl. It`s not like you can even cancel out of the browser if this happens as the unit just becomes completely unresponsive. My last gripe with it is the picture quality of it`s material recorded through the base station and played back on the tv which imo is quite poor, it looks dull and blurry and nothing like the source material (though when played back on the archos` screen it is acceptable). Apart from these let downs the unit is very nice with excellent build quality. But as these were the main features I was buying it for, for me it`s just not good enough. I`ll think i`ll be sticking with my psp which though is far from perfect, with low memory and films coming on umd, it`s picture quality is WAY ahead of the archos.
Overall i`d say the archos is good at all the jobs it does but, unfortunately, I wanted something that was brilliant.

 

[Butters]

i think mine will be going back to QVC also.......I just cannot get the thing to view files on my pc connected wirelessly. This was one of the reasons for getting it so that i could stream piccies and movies onto the TV via the 704.

has anyone else managed to do that yet?? a couple of web reviews mentioned that they could not see files e.t.c on a pc via wifi also....

 

[Hawklan]

Hi

I'll probably be returning mine - Looks like they will all be going back at this rate

My problem is that the ripped DVD playback just isn't as good as I'd like - The results I'm getting using DVD Shrink even with no compression (5GB File) are like watching a Sky TV Broadcast (A bit soft and grainy). Certainly not the DVD quality it has been marketed as

If you guys are getting DVD like quality results I'd love to hear how you are getting them

Maybe I'm expecting to much - I think I try something like a Samsung Q1

All the best

RON

 

[freero]

QVC customer service gets the thumbs up! I contacted them about returning it and they said they`d refund me the postage costs even though it`s not faulty
I was expecting to pay for the postage out of my own pocket aswell.

 

[Karaokeklive]

just cannot get the thing to view files on my pc connected wirelessly.

As mentioned above, setup wireless function no probs. Found folder needed on network and streamed video no probs. I have to say this was easier to do than any of my other "streaming" gadgets.
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think I try something like a Samsung Q1

If you go down this route then you come up against the start up lag always associated with Windows. An then one should factor into the equation the increased cost factor. If I have time and space to spare then I use my 11" Sony Vaio - X Black screen, plays all formats etc etc. I think that PVPs should fall into a different use category.
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Certainly not the DVD quality it has been marketed as

I think that there has always been a trade off on actual screen quality on all the larger PVPs. The latest Sony DVD tablet surely should never be branded a Sony. Maybe manufacturers are more concerned about reaching a point of sale price than in ultimate quality. This must have relevance as if the pricing policy gets out of sync then fewer items sold eg Sony Playstation 3 compared the the NintendoWii - the majority do not or are not prepared to pay for extra quality. Much more of a disappointment with the 704 is the inability to play DVD Vob files seamlessly.
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All in all I still have to rate the 704 as a good buy against other large screen PVPs - I will reserve absolute judgement until I have had chance to give it much more of a long term test run.

 

[Butters]

Yep, mine arrived yesterday.

Wi-Fi easy to set up – streamed avi file without a single hiccup.

.

How exactly did you do this as it's driving me nuts!!! i can surf with it no probs so know the wifi is okay. It just cannot find my PC. i have 3 Roku's that work with the PC no worries.

I have set a folder on the c drive to share but i think it's a more fundamental issue than that. The Archos can see the wireless router obviously as I can surf with it.

 

[Karaokeklive]

The Archos can see the wireless router obviously as I can surf with it.

I have a Netgear router DG834G, the only additional thing that I had to do was, under the Wireless Settings Option /Wireless Station Access List /Setup Access List, to make the 704 a Trusted Wireless Station.
Netgear say "Note: If the Turn Access Control On is enabled and the Trusted Wireless Stations list is blank; then all wireless PCs will be unable to connect to your wireless network."

Hope this helps?

 

[Butters]

I have a Netgear router DG834G, the only additional thing that I had to do was, under the Wireless Settings Option /Wireless Station Access List /Setup Access List, to make the 704 a Trusted Wireless Station.
Netgear say "Note: If the Turn Access Control On is enabled and the Trusted Wireless Stations list is blank; then all wireless PCs will be unable to connect to your wireless network."

Hope this helps?

Cool - I have exactly the same router so will give that a try (and probobly end up losing my Roku's, Xbox360 and Wii !!!! but it's gotta be tried !!!

Cheers for the advice.

 

[Butters]

Poo....still get the same - searching for computers then get nowt!!

 

[Karaokeklive]

Poo....still get the same - searching for computers then get nowt!!

OK, so yesterday had a mate round. "Look a my new Archos" says I. "You can stream wireless video" Oh no we couldn't - couldn't find network.

My router is "uptairs" and at the time we were "downstairs". Took the 704 "upstairs" and no problem found network. Haven't had time to do full test but I suspect that the wireless range of the 704 maybe a little limited.

 

[Karaokeklive]

Further to my previous post, has anyone managed to get an external drive to be supported by the 704. I have now attached several drives through the "A" port: all all recognised but then the message "this device is not supported" appears.
I feel that I must be doing something wrong.

 

[Butters]

OK, so yesterday had a mate round. "Look a my new Archos" says I. "You can stream wireless video" Oh no we couldn't - couldn't find network.

My router is "uptairs" and at the time we were "downstairs". Took the 704 "upstairs" and no problem found network. Haven't had time to do full test but I suspect that the wireless range of the 704 maybe a little limited.

I had the Archos standing infront of the wireless rooter and ontop of the pc that is connected to the router via cat 5..........buggerall!!!

Me thinks it's gotta go back which is a real shame. the potential for this thing is huge but due to zero support from Archos (i have emailed them twice and had no response - and there is no way I'm paying them 25ppm for support) it just too much like hard work.

Surfing with it seems to have slowed somewhat as well - although that could be down to me frigging around with router settings I guess.

 

[Butters]

Further to my previous post, has anyone managed to get an external drive to be supported by the 704. I have now attached several drives through the "A" port: all all recognised but then the message "this device is not supported" appears.
I feel that I must be doing something wrong.

Just tried mt Toshiba drive for you - i get the same. it recognises a mass media device then states it is unsupported. It works fine with my Panasonic camera!!

 

[Karaokeklive]

It would be good if Archos started their own forum (no disrespect to AV Forums) - then their experts could answer the questions we are asking. I have a Pixel Magic mediabox - many niggles and minor flaws - but an active PM forum with nearly instant replies from Pixel Magic themselves really helps.

 

[Butters]

yeah agreed.......same with the Roku/Pinnacle soundbridge. Suport is very very good. Archos are a nightmare - still no response from the first issue I raised last wednesday - submitted another yesterday.