Archos 20 GB Gmini MP3 Player $224.99

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jmanchester

Junior Member
Feb 4, 2005
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Archos 20 GB Gmini XS 200 MP3 & WMA Player

Friday Sale: $224.99

Capacity: 20 GB Hard Disk -- Up to 300 hours of music
Interfaces: USB 2.0 high-speed, compatible USB 1.1, PC & Mac
Music playback: Stereo MP3 decoding @ 30-320 Kbps CBR & VBR, WMA and WAV (PCM)
Display: 2" level gray scale LCD, 128 x 128 pixels. 9 lines of characters Intuitive menu with icons
Audio connections: Stereo analog Earphone/ Line Out jack
Battery Life:
Up to 10 hours

Link

 
R

robsdeals

Golden Member
May 19, 2001
1,135
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Jr, Referral Links are a No no.

If you look at the side everyone else sells it for the same price.
 
M

MrPeacock

Member
Oct 18, 2004
48
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I don't have any experience with this model, but I had the older Gmini 120, which I bought from Circuit City for $199 last summer. Took it back within a month. It had good ideas, but was poorly executed. Like, I'd push the Up button, and the cursor would move right.

On the good side, this newer model doesn't seem to rely on Music Match, which sucked, big time.
 
M

MIDIman

Diamond Member
Jan 14, 2000
3,594
0
0
Has anyone bought one of these? Opinions? It got a rave review at PC Magazine and I'm seriously thinking about buying one. I like how these work more like HDs rather than MP3 players, and replacing the HD in the future looks very promising when compared to their previous models.

I am a bit bummed there's no lossless support. Is it typical to find any kind of hacked firmware for Archos' devices that might include lossless codes later on?

Curious about real-world battery life.

$215 shipped @ newegg
 
preslove

preslove

Lifer
Sep 10, 2003
16,755
63
91
Originally posted by: MIDIman
Has anyone bought one of these? Opinions? It got a rave review at PC Magazine and I'm seriously thinking about buying one. I like how these work more like HDs rather than MP3 players, and replacing the HD in the future looks very promising when compared to their previous models.

I am a bit bummed there's no lossless support. Is it typical to find any kind of hacked firmware for Archos' devices that might include lossless codes later on?

Curious about real-world battery life.

$215 shipped @ newegg
Click to expand...

I bought it for $212, shipped last week with the $50 off mp3 players coupon at compusa. I like it so far. I've gone about 6 1/2 hours without a recharge, but it shows it on 1 bar out of three. Haven't pushed it farther.

It is TINY. I didn't really realize how small it is until it arrived. super tiny. I don't know about lossless support, but I don't use it, so I didn't need it. One thing that's nice is that you just use windows explorer to put files on it.

The UI takes some getting used to, it took me a while to figure out shuffle, and navigating while a song is playing took me a minute to understand, but it's powerful and intuitively set up. If you have to look at manuals and rely on software wizards it might not be for you.

All in all, I think it's the right player for me and I would recommend it.
 
M

MIDIman

Diamond Member
Jan 14, 2000
3,594
0
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Thanks preslove for the quickie review. I have yet to see how the UI system really works, and I think I'm going to just mess around with in store before I buy it.


Is it a given that this unit does have a laptop-like HD that is easily replaceable? It looks that since its nothing more than a mass storage device, you could just format it right in Windows? Can anyone confirm this as being an issue with previous Archos players?
 
M

MIDIman

Diamond Member
Jan 14, 2000
3,594
0
0
After comparing dimensions of laptop 2.5" drives and this player, I realized a typical laptop HD will not fit! Is this a "microdrive"?

[edit] - still can't confirm what type of HD is in here, but would a 1.8" laptop HD fit?

Just curious to see an article or hear from someone who has opened one up. I mean, what if the battery fails - do you have to send it back to Archos?
 
M

MIDIman

Diamond Member
Jan 14, 2000
3,594
0
0
Originally posted by: Shippy
does anyone know if this has a gap between tracks during playback?
Click to expand...

From what I understand, there is a slight pause between tracks sometimes on shuffle mode if the drive is very full or fragmented. From what I've read after applying the firmware updates, normal playback has no gaps between tracks.

 
M

MIDIman

Diamond Member
Jan 14, 2000
3,594
0
0
Thought others might find this interesting. I e-mailed Archos' tech support asking if 1) the HD was replaceable, and 2) if we'll ever see a lossless codec for this player.

Here is their gramatically correct response ;)

We highly NOT recommend customers to do change the hard drive in the
player by themselves and it will void the manufacturer warranty which
Archos will not responsible to any defective cause by that.

Note that not all the hard drive will be compatible with our player, we
do not have any further information to provide either.


Our player do not support lossless format since our player will only
support WMA file up to 192 kbs and MP3 files up to 320 kbs.

Thank you for taking the time to write us. Your feedback is important to
us. We will forward your feedback to our development team for
consideration in future firmware implementation if it's possible.
Click to expand...

'nuff said. I ordered one and although it should be arriving at my work today, I can't pick it up since I'm sick!
 
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