By Justin Wizard, Reviewed Nov. 2005

Archos AV700 100 GB Personal Video & MP3 Jukebox Player / Recorder w/ Digital Video Recorder. 100 gigs of hard drive storage space - the biggest ever!

Store up to 400 hours of video, 250 movies, 55,000 songs or 1,000,000 photos

The all-in-one MPEG-4 & MPEG-3 multimedia solution that fits in the palm of your hand. Enjoy your entire collection of videos, photos, music and data wherever you go.

The ARCHOS VIDEO AV700 is the first handheld personal entertainment center. It combines a modular MPEG-4 video player and recorder*, MP3 music player and recorder, digital camera and camcorder, digital photo wallet, and data storage in a compact device that fits in the palm of your hand.

This product is actually in a class of its own! It does everything it claims to do, and does it well!

When seeing product reviews this manufacturer is almost always left out of the list while being the most innovative of the bunch - it does the most, has the biggest hard drive and the biggest viewing screen.

You can seemingly keep adding songs and pictures without running out of room. You can create separate different full color photo slide shows to amuse your family and friends on one small portable device.

Also as with previous models, the jukebox looks like a hard-disk when connected to the PC which means transferring files back and forth is as easy as drag-and-drop (as opposed to using proprietary programs). The USB 2.0 connection is extremely fast and definitely a plus.

This model finally adds support for non-amplified mics. The audio input jack doubles as line-in and mic-in. Live recording is now very clean with no hard-disk noise, even when using the internal mic. I recently recorded a live concert with fantastic results. This model adds official support for playing WMA files.

You now have a full blown DAT recorder in your pocket! Go out in natural and record the sounds or go to a music fest and bring home your favorite sounds. This update also allows you to do some basic audio and video editing on the unit itself. Way to go Archos!!

You can backup data from your hard drive - it has 100 gigs of space available.

VIDEO: Video looks very good indeed on the large 7" LCD screen. May not exactly be DVD-quality as they claim, but its darn close! The included DVR module allows you to record MP4 video on the fly or you can convert videos to MP4 on your PC and transfer them to the unit. You can also use an optional camera accessory (AVCam 300) to capture live MP4 video to the hard-disk, in effect converting the jukebox to a VHS-quality camcorder.

PHOTOS: Pictures look great! You can show your friends individual slide shows of your favorite topics. The unit supports both JPEG (non-progressive) and BMP. You can use the optional memory card readers to upload directly into the jukebox bypassing your PC, or you can download pictures from your PC. Or use the optional camera accessory (AVCam 300) to take live photos to the hard-disk at a 3.3 Megapixel resolution.

Their manual and setup instructions are insufficient and frustrating. A good step by step rewrite by a user would be wonderful and most welcome. Also for the hefty price tag, Archos should have included the optional wired remote that adds FM Radio support.

I would like to see a manufacturer of video goggles matched with this device plus a set of wireless headphones would be super.

VERDICT: Overall, the ease of use, the features, as well as the quality is miles ahead of any other competing product as well as older Archos models. Despite the minor drawbacks, Archos has done an outstanding job. 

Specs
100 gigs of hard drive storage space - the biggest ever!
Store up to 400 hours of video, 250 movies, 55,000 songs or 1,000,000 photos

Display:
7" LCD 480x234 pixels, 262 000 colors and TV output

Video playback:
MPEG-4 SP with B-Frames (compatible with DivX® 4.0 and 5.03) with stereo sound. Near DVD quality up to 720x480 @ 30 f/s (NTSC), 720x576 @ 25 f/s (PAL), AVI file format (including WMV9 SP protected files) up to 352x288 @ 30 f/s and 800 Kbits

Music recording:
From an analog source in stereo sound for WAV (PCM & ADPCM) format.

Music playback:
Stereo MP3 decoding @ 30-320 kb/s CBR & VBR, WMA (including protected WMA files), WAV (PCM & ADPCM)

Speakers:
2 built-in stereo speakers

Interfaces:
USB 2.0 high-speed device, compatible USB 1.1, PC & Mac.
USB Host port compatible Mass Storage Device.

Battery life:
Up to 30 hours for music.
Up to 4 hours for video on built-in LCD.
Removable battery (additional battery optional)

Package includes:
AV 700, TV Docking Pod, remote control (with batteries), audio/video cables (SCART in/out for European version), USB 2.0 cable, USB host adapter, AC adapter & charger, stereo headphones, protective case, user guide.

Record directly from TV
After installing the TV docking pod in a one-time set-up operation, record directly television programs, movies and home videos directly from your TV, VCR, DVD player2, cable box or satellite receiver (PAL & NTSC) ... and watch on the go! With the integrated scheduler you can program your recording schedule for the week or even the month and watch your recordings

Play Video
Play back your favorite program on the the 7" widescreen or on any external screen with a near DVD quality. Play DivX®3, Windows Media®, protected Windows Media®5 and MPEG-4 video files3. The AV 700 offers many functionalities such as slow motion, adjustable screen size, video editing or enven a video bookmarking function.

Photo wallet
The AV 700 acts as a great digital photo companion accessory. Transfer up to one million photos1 directly from your digital camera, from another mass storage device using the built-in USB host connection, or from a computer using the high-speed USB 2.0 interface. Organize photos and watch them in slideshows on the AV 700 screen or any external display.

Connectivity
The AV 700 has a USB Host Port enabling you to copy, share, connect and transfer files directly from other powered mass storage devices. Additionally, the AV 700 is recognized as a mass storage drive on your PC or Mac giving you the possibility to store any computer file using the high-speed USB 2.0 interface (backward USB 1.1 compatible at a lower speed).

Music Player
The AV 700 features a newly-designed music player. Easily organize songs with the enhanced ARCLibrary and customize your view by artist, album, type of music, title, year, and play lists without having to use a computer. The AV 700 also offers an audio recording application to record (encoding in real time) in WAV (PCM or ADPCM), from almost all analog stereo sources. You can also use the stereo microphone if you want to record notes to yourself for easy access later.

PC autosync
With the AV 700 you may purchase, download, subscribe to or rent protected video and music content from the Microsoft PlaysForSure™ websites. Using the high-speed USB 2.0 interface, the AV 700 will easily auto-synchronize this content with Windows Media® Player 10 each time you connect it to your PC, or convert your Windows Media® Player 10 library content to one of the many compatible formats (MP3, WMA, WAV, protected WMA, MPEG-4,WMV and protected Windows Media Video5).

Download and play games
The AV 700 features the popular Mophun™ gaming engine for purchasing and downloading games from the ARCHOS Website6. You can also connect the optional mini game pad for even more gaming pleasure.

USB 1.1 transfers data up to 12 Mbps
USB 2.0 transfers data up to 480 Mbps
USB 2.0 device are backwardly compatible with existing USB technology. This means that you can use your Jukebox on a USB 1.1 equipped computer but will only be able to transfer data at USB 1.1 speed. If you have a computer with USB 2.0 you will be able to transfer data at USB 2.0 speed.

Questions
Q: What types of music file formats does the Jukebox AV700 support?
A: The AV700 supports MP3, WAV, protected and unprotected WMA(DRM).

Q: What software can I use to encode MP3s?
A: There are several very good MP3 encoders available; an excellent list is maintained here:
http://www.afterdawn.com/software/audio_software/audio_encoders/

Q: How do I record or playback from my portable CD player or Hi-Fi System with the Jukebox AV700?
A: To record from an analog source; Use the AV cable provided with your Jukebox. Connect the red/white RCA jack to the Analog output of your recording source. Be sure to set the Source within the Audiocorder settings menu of the Jukebox AV700 to Analog Lin-In.

Q: How can I create a Playlist directly in the Jukebox AV700?
A: To create a playlist directly in the Jukebox AV700, press the RIGHT button while you are in the Music Browser mode. A second window will open on the right side to display the Playlist contents. You can now start adding songs to the current Playlist. In the left window, search for the songs you would like to add to your Playlist. Once the song is highlighted, click on the Add function button to add it to playlist. The song will be added to the Playlist and a small mark next to the music icon will be made to indicate that it is in the Playlist. Continue searching and adding songs in this manner until you are satisfied.

Note: you can also click the Add or Insert buttton when highlighting a folder. All the contents of the folder and its subfolders will be added or inserted into the current playlist.

You can jump back and forth between the browser and the Playlist by clicking on the LEFT and RIGHT buttons.
Note: a playlist can have a maximum of 5000 songs.

Q: Can I download pictures from my digital camera directly to the AV700 with a USB cable?
A: Yes.You have on the AV700 a USB Host plug which will connect to your Digital Camera or any other Mass Storage Class device.

Price $799. Check on Amazon, Nextag or Ebay for the lowest price.