Archos 704 80 GB WiFi Portable Digital Media Player
The Archos 704 WiFi features a wide, high-resolution 800x480 7-inch color touch screen that allows you to navigate through menus easily with a stylus or even a fingertip. The size of screen enables a great visual comfort. The integrated 802.11g Wireless Interface is perfect for those who want to access their media wherever they go, including surfing the Web, sending and receiving email from Web-based mail applications and connecting the device to a home network to transfer files or play content directly from your network. Its 80 GB hard drive capacity allows you to store up to 100 movies encoded with a PC. Play them in high resolution up to 720x576 DVD quality with the optional DVR station. Photo viewer - JPEG, BMP, PNG, Transfer your photos directly from your digital camera Music playback time - Up to 25 hours Video playback time - Up to 5.5 hours on built-in LCD Connections - WiFi (802.11g) connection (Opera Browser for web browsing), 3.5 mm mini jack for headphones or TV output (PAL & NTSC), DC-in to connect power adapter/charger, Mini B for USB 2.0 computer connection, Mini A for USB 2.0 host connection, Docking connectors to optional DVR Station and other Archos accessories System requirements - Windows ME, 2000, XP, Media Center, Vista, Macintosh OS X or higher, Linux, USB port Unit Dimension - 7.05 x 4.96 x 7.75 inches / 182mm x 128mm x 20mm Unit Weight - 22 ounces/1.4 pounds/630 grams
More than just a Portable Media Player (PMP) with a bright 7-inch screen and the ability to store all your favorite movies, tunes and photos, the groundbreaking Archos 704 is also outfitted with Wi-Fi capabilities (802.11g). Through your home wireless network, you'll be able to browse through your multimedia library stored on any computer on the network. You'll also be able to connect to online video stores to download content directly and wirelessly to the 704 WiFi. It features an 80 GB hard drive (providing capacity for about 70 DVD-quality movies), a 7-inch bright LCD touchscreen, and integrated speakers. Additionally, when paired with the optional Archos DVR Station docking station, you can easily connect the 704 WiFi to your TV to watch movies and photo slideshows on a larger screen as well as turn the 704 into a digital video recorder (DVR) to take your favorite programs with you wherever you roam. It measures 7 x 5 by 0.75 inches and weighs just 22 ounces. 
Amazingly compact at 7 by 5 inches, the Archos 704 WiFi is also easy on the pocket with a weight of just 22 ounces. |
Wide Touch screen
The Archos 704 WiFi features a wide, high resolution (800 x 480) 7-inch color touch screen that allows you to navigate through menus easily with a stylus or even a fingertip. The size of screen enables a great visual comfort. WiFi
The integrated 802.11g wireless interface is perfect for those who want to access their media wherever they go, including surfing the Web, sending and receiving email from Web-based mail applications, and connecting the device to a home network to transfer files or play content directly from the network. 
With 704 WiFi, you can set it in your living room, hook it up to your home entertainment system with the optional DVR Station, and wirelessly stream movies and music stored on your PC. |
Video player
The Archos 704 WiFi is the perfect companion for people on the move: its 40/80 GB hard drive capacity allows you to store up to 50/100 movies encoded with a PC. Play them on the built-in 7-inch LCD color screen or playback on TV in high resolution up to 720 x 576 (DVD quality) with the DVR station. Play a large variety of video files, including MPEG-4, WMV and protected WMV and read MPEG-4 AAC/H.264 (.MP4 QuickTime files), MPEG-2, and VOB with optional software plug-ins (available on this website). The Archos 704 WiFi also offers many more functionalities such as slow motion, adjustable screen size, video editing and even a video bookmarking function. Record TV or external video sources
Transform your Archos 704 WiFi into a Digital Video Recorder with the optional DVR station. Record TV or most video sources such as satellite/cable box, VCR, DVD player or camcorder in MPEG-4 format. Set up the DVR station by connecting it to the external video source; simply slot in your ARCHOS and record instantaneously or make scheduled recordings with the included infrared receiver that controls the external video sources. Turn your ARCHOS into a camcorder
ARCHOS allows you to transform your device into a camcorder by connecting most digital cameras to your Archos 704 WiFi, or by connecting the optional high resolution helmet camcorder. The Archos 704 WiFi records video directly on its 40 GB hard drive in MPEG-4 format, up to VGA resolution (640 x 480). 
The Photo Wall shows thumbnails of all your stored photos. |
Photo wallet
Transfer your photos directly from a digital camera with the USB 2.0 Host interface. Store and view up to 800,000 photos (JPEG, PNG and BMP formats) and display slideshows with music and transition effect. Manage your files and folders directly on the device for a better mobility. Enjoy the large size of the screen and the cool sleek design of the product to display the Archos 704 WiFi in your living room and use as digital photo frame. Music Player
Store up to 40,000 songs on the hard drive and play most popular music files such as MP3, WAV, WMA and protected WMA files. Easily organize songs with the enhanced ARCLibrary and customize your view by artist, album, type of music, title, year, and create your playlists without having to use a computer. Use the voice recorder to store notes quickly for a later use. Charge and sync
Charge your Archos 704 WiFi with the included power adapter. Purchase, download, subscribe to or rent protected video and music content from online stores on your PC, and, using the high-speed USB 2.0 interface, the Archos 704 WiFi will easily auto-synchronize this content with Windows Media Player 11 each time you connect it to your PC, or convert your Windows Media Player 11 library content to one of the many compatible formats (MP3, WMA, WAV, protected WMA, MPEG-4, WMV and protected Windows Media Video). What's in the Box
Archos 704 WiFi, headphones, USB 2.0 cable, USB 2.0 host adapter, DVR Station saddle, 2 styli, remote control, power adapter/charger, protective pouch, QSG, legal and safety notice
Archos 704 80 GB WiFi Portable Digital Media Player Accessories
 Archos 500856 DVR Docking Station for Archos 404/504/604 Media Players
Archos Battery for 704 and 705 Portable Media Players (Black)
Archos DVR Travel Adapter
Archos DVR Station Gen 5 for 405, 605, and 705 Players
Archos Docking Adapter Kit for 404, 504, and 604 Series Players
Archos 605 Wi-Fi Portable Media Player (160 GB)
Archos 705 Wi-Fi Portable Media Player (160 GB)
Rapid Car / Auto Charger for the Archos 704 WiFi - Gomadic Brand w/ TipExchange Technology
Archos Car Power Adapter (Black)
Archos 704 80 GB WiFi Portable Digital Media Player Reviews
They reported a hard disk failure, requested $150+ for repair out of warranty, and then returned to me a unit that is still not functional. Be aware before buying this product that Archos has terrible technical support and customer service. They have not responded to repeated emails. While I originally really liked my Archos because of its big screen, it has proved to be a lemon, offering repeated problems in terms of battery life and the screen. Customer service has proved non responsive. I strongly suggest reconsideration of Archos for prospective buyers. After a catastrophic failure in June of this year I had to send it in with an RMA.
There are new products on the market now to allow much easier carrying of this giant (it fits neatly into my bag for work, but I have to select a large-pocketed garment when I do without the bag). MP3 and WMA format music are supported, plus AAC anc AC3. It has an incredibly large screen for a PMP. Recording from TV - and playing back video/music - could not be simpler if you take the docking-station accessory. Which is great imho - 800x480 - and exceptionally clear if you use PAL or NTSC formatted video. However, as it compresses video to Divx on-the-fly, it is the fastest and most direct method of making small and manageable, high-quality, digital.AVI files.
The neat pouch can sometimes be unwieldy, and a strap is a good idea - I have seen such a product, and it can now neatly hang over my shoulder, should I want it to. This is what makes it so compelling in keeping yourself current with your TV viewing - as I often leave it on overnight: it has its own infrared Satellite-Box channel changer, so you can record any programme, from any channel on your digibox, directly into the ARCHOS. This machine is a fantastic time-shifter DVR - I can take my essential TV viewing (or favourite Divx and Xvid videos) to work with me, watch programmes and movies on my 50 minute commute to work, and again at break times. I am so up to stream on my favourite TV programmes as a consequence of the Archos. The DVR portion of the 704 records direct to Divx 4.0 format. Ideally it would support viewing of the RAW image format, but if you shoot (as I do) with JPEG simultaneously selected, the JPEG's effectively act as thumbnails which the ARCHOS cannot generate from the RAW format. I also do a lot of photography, and it is great to use as backup - the Wifi is powerful enough to upload to your favourite website.
An equaliser exists to make optimum use of the sound. I have heard that video with a resolution smaller than the screen can look poor, which is only to be expected. Oh, and if you raid Project Gutenburg for all those free books, you can store them, and read them, in Adobe's PDF file format. Managing the files is a cinch - in the docking-station, just set to USB File Server, and use it as an external drive on the computer to which you have it attached; or, set it to synch with Windows Media Player - this process it will quite happily spend the night doing whilst you sleep. On a plane, and in a car, use of headphones with gel attachments allows you to push the sound deep into your ears, thus excluding any engine hum or annoying announcements. Its a small price to pay for what I can only call a stunning multimedia experience - for my use, the wifi is just enough - newspaper headlines, email, and uploading/downloading of media files. Firmware tweaks attempt to deal with one or two minor niggles - one being that it can randomly lose all sense of date and time, thus completely trashing your auto-recording setups (.)., and once in a while, it stops recording on its own, and then resumes again just as randomly.
The onboard speakers are a tad tinny, but effective. The file-sizes it produces are approximately twice the size of Xvid (so, I reprocess afterwards, to get more onto my 80Gb, but in general, no post-processing required). I am not overly bothered by not being able to MyTube, but apparently the 705 has taken care of that. The touch screen is quite accurate, requiring something more pointy and sharp than a finger - but quite often, if you have forgotten the supplied stylus, a finger-nail just does the trick.
The battery life is pretty good. I got the separate DVR dock and that works pretty well too, but haven't used it a ton yet.
This thing is freaking amazing. The screen is beautiful and every time I whip this thing out on an airplane and cycle through a choice of like 30 movies, they want to know where to get one.
The capabilities of this thing are real cool and the touch screen is fantastic. The internet needs a little work.
It is a little better than surfing the web on a Sony PSP, which isn't very fun. When using it to watch movies on your TV the movies do not look or sound super great, I guess they could have looked a little better, but even DVD quality movie files look kinda crappy and you have resize a couple times to see which one looks best.
In the end, though, I didn't get this to watch movies on my TV, I got it for a portable media powerhouse, and with 80 GB, it is certainly that.
Their prompt return of the device, unfixed, without contacting me still puzzles me. It a nice device, but I would NOT recommend it.
All this just to tell me to contact tech support through Archos website, again, just to have the same response from them, again. And don't say it must be the French; Archos are responsible for the very bad service, wherever it may be.
The construction and features are better than good and wifi is not very useful. If you want ot buy one and take the risk, pray it never brakes, otherwise your will loose your money and get alot of headache from their bad support.
But the horrable technical support kills this product. Or are they just lazy).
I didn't understand their justification (they're for factory defects and replacement and mine is a problem that needs fixing. The screen on my device went bad displaying shallow (256 bit) colors and when I contacts support they told me to ship it to France, because I'm in the middle-east, at my expense which I did ($120) just ot have it returned back without fixing it.
However, all the thumbnails showed up fine. The Opera Web Browser is sluggish and the touch screen doesn't always respond to either your finger or the stylus. The PDF instructions of this device that I downloaded onto to my regular laptop are not as clear cut as they should be. When you use your finger, the screen does that funny ripply effect.
That is definitely a defect in my particular device. I will not say "don't buy this device" because I am sure that many of you can figure out how to make the best use of all the features of the Archos 704 WiFi. I imagine that after some time you could actually damage the touch screen by using your finger. I wanted desperately to love this device (the ultra-cool big touch screen, the external speakers and the ample 80 GB hard drive) but after spending countless hours of trying to transfer music files with no success I am sending it back.
Also, after transferring my photo files onto this device, about a third of my images would show up greened-out with just a sliver of image showing. For those who are looking for ease of use, however, please give purchasing this machine a second thought.
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