Archos 705 Wi-fi

If there’s anything I’ve questioned doing (speaking in context to my blog articles, of course) recently, it would be possibly giving the Archos 605 Wi-fi less credit than it deserves. I concluded with the statement that it made a great personal media player, but its design simply wasn’t good enough – or “acceptable”, as the chief-reviewer over at APH Networks would say of my photos (I’m working on improving). Perhaps Archos themselves already had seen such a statement coming, and so created the Archos 705 Wi-fi – basically the Archos 605 Wi-fi, with a few more perks. In comparison to the iPod Touch, I think it’s got three advantages.

Source: http://www.pmptoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/official-archos-705.jpg

Aesthetics

Where the Archos 605 Wi-fi failed (epically, arguably) the Archos 705 picks up. Featuring a sweet, practically button-less design, the Archos 705 Wi-fi is a bit bulkier dimension-wise, but it’s still button-less. In case you were wondering, it’s button-less. Comparable to, oh, say…the iPod Touch. To true gadget-lovers, this is an important feature, as superficial as it sounds – aesthetics and industrial design mean everything when it comes to a good piece of gadgetry.

Storage

I can hardly put more emphasis on my point here – who cares about drive speed (enthusiasts, please skip the next few sentences as I know you will most certainly disagree) in personal media players? I won’t lie to you – the differences are certainly noticeable even for regular consumers like myself, but does an 80GB-outfitted Archos 705 Wi-fi sound better, or would it be a measly 32GB iPod Touch? Earth to consumer – the Archos 705 Wi-fi costs less, too (at Future Shop, anyway). The only difference being that the Archos 705 Wi-fi might be a bit slower when it comes to loading songs or videos, but we’re talking in seconds here, nothing near the minute range. If you want value, go for the Archos 705 Wi-fi.

Source: http://www.pmptoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/archos_705_review.jpg

Screen

Practically everyone’s been gushing about the iPod Touch’s screen – so what, the Archos 605 Wi-fi’s got a bigger screen – and that’s only around two-thirds the size of the Archos 705 Wi-fi’s screen. Sitting at a whopping 7″, it dominates the front end of the Archos 705 Wi-fi and ensures an excellent movie-watching experience – much better than killing your eyes on a cell phone or an iPod screen (not that it still isn’t harmful to the eye – just somewhat less).

The Archos 705 Wi-fi does stack up pretty well against the iPod Touch, and thanks to its competitively-beautiful design, it can even compete with the iPod Touch in the aesthetics category. Whether you’re a movie-goer, just want to get something different, or are not a big fan of Apple, the Archos 705 Wi-fi is an excellent alternative (not to mention it’s got all the standards, such as wi-fi, a friendly GUI, downloadable flash widgets, etc, etc).

Other iPod Touch Alternatives:

1. Olympus M:Robe 500i
2. Archos 605 Wi-fi
3. Cowon Q5W
4. Archos 705
5. Samsung P2

Runner Ups:

• Cowon iAudio X7
• iRiver Clix 2
• Microsoft Zune