Video AV340 with Dvr 100 MODULEMPEG4 Video & MP3 Play/rec 40GB here
Video AV340 with Dvr 100 MODULEMPEG4 Video & MP3 Play/rec 40GB hereFirst let me say that I had delivery of my Archos AV340 one week PRIOR to the Amazon estimated arrival date! Way to go Amazon. Excellent price, too.The AV340 is to the older Archos models as a kitchen knife is to a Swiss Army Knife. Sitting on mine right now are several hundred jazz recordings, hundreds of family photos, some family videos, the extended dvd versions of both Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, the complete stage works of Samuel Beckett (3 dvds)…well, get the picture? And yes, the video recorder does over-ride any copy protection, both vhs and DVD. The user interface is quite simple, though as with previous Archos models it does take several clicks to get to specific items much like a PC. But this is essentially a PC, so manuevering through screens seems quite natural. Loading tons of recordings onto the hd is painless, simply drag and drop. The hd shows up in XP just like any other drive. I also purchased the camera attachment which is, again, quite simple to use. It snaps onto the side of the base unit and shows up immediately on the interface screen. The still and video quality is quite good with the proper lighting. Commercial videos copied to the hd look perfect on the small screen. Blowing up to a large screen is not the way to go. When viewed on my Toshiba 50+ inch screen the picture quality greatly diminished. Still photos looked okay, but you wouldn’t want to watch a film that way. But why do this anyway? The unit itself is a bit bulkier than the previous versions of the already bulky Jukebox series. This baby will not fit in your shirt pocket. I was rather disappointed that Archos did not include a carrying case, though curiously the camera attachment did come with a case for the whole shebang. I use the case from my Jukebox, which works quite well with the AV340. Be sure to purchase a PDA screen protector. The unit itself is very solid but offers no protection for the screen. A case and protector are a must.Archos reverts back to their previous ways by attaching the interface connector cover with a piece of string. Come on guys, for this price couldn’t you spare a metal clip? Last, a previous review states that the batteries are not replaceable. According to Archos they are not. However, there is an online company that sells replacements and instructions on how to do this. I have not purchased one, but it looks quite simple, and would certainly extend movie viewing time.So what you get here is an MP3, WAV, and WMA player and recorder, a vcr (with a built in timer), a great clear screen, an excellent user interface, and a 40GB hd for about $100-$150 more than an iPOD. Throw in about another $175 (got mine for $150)and you add a video camera and a 3.3 pixel digital still camera. Oh, and it will work on any tv in the world and over-rides dvd region codes. Just like my Swiss Army Knife, the Archos AV340 is big and bulky, but I wouldn’t be without it.
