Archos Jukebox Recorder 20 for $180.95

[Wanderer89]

Hey everyone,

Buy.com is selling the Archos Jukebox Recorder 20 (20 GB MP3 player/recorder) for $245.95 before $50 rebate and $15 off $200 coupon. So your final price is $180.95. Save 2% more when you use stockback or ebates. Click here to take you there.

Hal

 

[rockyct]

It's a New Rochelle rebate but other than that, it's a good deal.

 

[ojai00]

It says USB 2.0, but I think that's a mistake...right? I thought the player can only support USB 1.1. Anyway, it'll take a loooong time to transfer 20gbs of MP3s, but for the price, sounds like a good deal.

 

[Ephibian]

No, that isn't a typo. The 20g recorder has USB 2.0 support. Even at 1.1 speeds, it is quite useful (it takes songs only a second or two to transfer) Good price, and with Rockbox, it is an awesome player.

 

[pshlortz]

how doe sthe rockboxx compare witht he builtin UI. i have heard that the builtin one sucks, but the rockboxx one only looks mediocre. either way, we aren't approaching ipod niceness, but for so much less money; who'se to complain?

 

[Esoterica]

I heard that the first Archos has an electrical problem. In any case, 4 batteries? That is one heavy load. I bought a Rio CD player which can read MP3 for $75. You can get around 150-200 mp3s per CD. Best of all, when you drop it, and you will, at most you will be out $75 and not $180.

 

[Jenova314]

i've had mine for about 7 months and i have to say i've been pretty happy with it. most of you have just "heard stuff," but with most cases, those who complain will always be the loudest. the UI does kinda suck, though, no excuse for that (i've yet to try the rockbox). battery life is pretty good when you're doing playback (5+ hours), but not when you're using it as a USB HD or recording (1+ hour) since it uses the HD constantly.

the USB 2.0 interface is a really useful feature to have and adds to the unit's useability as a portable HD. as for ipod... my friend's ipod's sound quality is horrific compared to this. as with most mac products, you pay out the nose for "prettiness." but hey, to each their own.

you can find a more detailed review i posted at pricegr@bber . notice that i've actually had the longest usage compared to the other reviewers.

 

[mikeford]

This seems like a really hot deal to me, I have been regreting missing the $129 deal Fry's had about a week ago for the old 6 GB unit, so $51 more to get 20 GB, newer and more flexible firmware, plus USB 2.0 sounds really very good.

BUT

My concern is that prices are dropping FAST and we aren't even that close to the blood in the aisles holiday selling season, maybe a bunch of newer and better units are "coming soon". Better user interfaces are a given, maybe more format choices, but that doesn't effect me too much, my big concern is that those newer better units will have nice steps forward in sound quality, battery usage and weight, which could easily result in the dreaded buyers remorse.

 

[Jenova314]

Originally posted by: mikeford


My concern is that prices are dropping FAST and we aren't even that close to the blood in the aisles holiday selling season, maybe a bunch of newer and better units are "coming soon". Better user interfaces are a given, maybe more format choices, but that doesn't effect me too much, my big concern is that those newer better units will have nice steps forward in sound quality, battery usage and weight, which could easily result in the dreaded buyers remorse.

i hope you're not talking about archos's newer units. archos has been known to release products prematurely, meaning very buggy firmware. it usually takes a year or two to have them hammer out the glaring bugs and then some more to refine the firmware.

UPDATE: i just downloaded and am using rockbox. it really is a better interface; very intuitive. it's relatively bug-free, and responds much faster than what Archos has to offer. the only gripe i have is the lack of the recording feature, but Rockbox allows you to load the factory firmware at a moment's notice to gain access to that.

 

[Jenova314]

well lookie what we have here
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1392376836

 

[RBC]

Jenova314, if you look a little further in the stupid ebay description you'll see the following:

***IMPORTANT! IMPORTANT! You are not bidding on the actual product, rather you are bidding on how you can get it for $196 including shipping and handling after REBATE!!! (You cannot buy more than one at this price because of rebate). You must act on or before 10/26/02 to enjoy this low price. Hurry!!! ***

HUH?!? You pay $15 to learn how to order it for $196?

 

[jasonja]

I think he knew that the Ebay auction was for info. I really hate those auctions...

Anyway.. I've had a 6gb Archos for about two years. It's a good little player and it can be upgraded with larger HD's and it takes AA batteries. I never knew about RockBox until I saw this thread a few days ago. I've since downloaded it and I have to say it's a little nicer. Not THAT much different but I did notice that it seems to let you really crank up the volume much more than the standard Archos UI did. But it lacks the short cut to turn up the volume (On & + or -).. if there is a shortcut to adjust the volume without menu's in RockBox someone please tell me. It is also faster, but the jury is still out on whether it makes it any more useful.

 

[Jenova314]

Originally posted by: jasonja
I think he knew that the Ebay auction was for info. I really hate those auctions... But it lacks the short cut to turn up the volume (On & + or -).. if there is a shortcut to adjust the volume without menu's in RockBox someone please tell me.

yea i knew it was for the info, not the actual unit.

but anyways, there IS a shortcut to the volume. it's the same as the original firmware from archos, just the "up/down" buttons in the "while-playing screen". i don't know why yours doesn't work, mine does.

 

[RBC]

Sorry 'bout that.