Archos Pocket Video Recorder AV420

Still, the easiest way to load content--video, music, photos, or text--into the Archos is straight from your PC. Connect the AV420 to your PC using the included USB cable, and the AV420 appears as an external drive called Jukebox.

The drive has eight preconfigured folders, including Data, Music, Photo, Playlists, and Video.

The Photo viewer can show JPEG and BMP image formats individually or as a slide show. (Note: In the case of JPEG images, the Archos cannot handle progressives--those high-intensity images that are generated on professional-grade digital cameras.) A built-in CompactFlash reader can store, view, and transfer photos. Archos's optional 4-in-1 CompactFlash adapter for other memory cards costs $40.

Strong enough to compete and beat many stand-alone audio players, the AV420's music player effortlessly handles MP3, WMA, and WAV files, and it displays track information and album art, when available. You can browse by artist, album, track title, genre, or year. You can also create and manage playlists right on the device or import playlists from Windows Media Player 9 and Musicmatch 8.1. You can even use the AudioCorder to record live and analog audio, or as a personal recorder for classroom lectures, interviews, or notes to yourself. Missing, however, is the ability to multitask: You can't listen to music while looking at pictures or during a slide show.

Video Matters

The device records and plays back video only in the highly compressed MPEG-4 format. Getting other video formats like AVI, VCR (for ATI PC TV tuners), and even some MPEG files off the Web and into the Archos isn't always easy (or possible) since they must be converted--or transcoded--before you can watch them.

The Archos installation CD comes with two programs--Virtual Dub and MP4SP Translator--to help you handle the transcoding. However, in some cases, you will need to install another program called a codec that allows you to playback these transcoded files on your PC and the Archos. The required codec software is free, but neither DivX nor XviD is included with the Archos. If you want them, you have to go out and get them.

Initially, I thought that not including those codecs was a big deal, but after testing the unit for several weeks, I rarely needed to take the conversion route. If you're using the Archos only to record content, you'll never need any of these transcoding tools. Still, if they are needed, and even when a three- or four-step file-transfer tango works, it is asking way too much from novice users.

One giant step away from this nonsense is the Archos's future compatibility: It is expected to become Windows Media Player 10-compliant sometime this month. When it does, you'll be able to download specially formatted content from CinemaNow and future providers directly to the device, without any required transcoding. This should dramatically increase the product's value and audience appeal.

Performance

How does the Archos perform? In a word, bravo. The 3.5-inch screen looks great. In fact, it feels like you're watching movies on something bigger than a 3.5-inch screen. There is some glare and reflection, however. I found that the darker the environment (or room) I was in, the better it looked. And you have to position the screen at an angle to get the best picture. As expected, color accuracy and overall image sharpness depended on the original source. The higher the resolution, the better the quality, though the flipside, of course, is that you can record and store more content at a lower resolution.

Watching BattleStar Galactica recorded straight off the TV looked much sharper than a recording of Lost taken off a VCR. Spider-Man 2 looked fantastic, though at times reds and blues blurred during fast-paced action scenes. More surprising was how terrific black-and-white films like Casablanca played. Of course, the Archos won't replace going to the movies or even watching them on your TV, but for a flight, it's fine, and it's better than draining your notebook's battery.

Considering how much the AV420 does, features like video recording, music playback, and transferring JPEGs are easy to access and generally well-documented. I tended to avoid the black-and-white printed manual and consulted the expanded color PDF version on the installation CD instead. (If you have a color printer, print out the PDF manual. It's well worth the ink.)

I was able to watch two movies and most of a Seinfeld episode--kissing 5 hours--before the battery winked out. This beats many notebooks. (Interestingly enough, Archos lists minimum battery life as 3.5 hours for video and 12 hours for audio.) A removable pop-and-swap battery pack makes spending $50 more a no-brainer.

The AV420's sound was remarkably clear, especially when you consider that the built-in single speaker is about the size of a nickel. Archos's included earbuds are nothing special, but the volume control wheel came in handy. If you're thinking about buying a replacement set of earbuds or a fancy headset, I would recommend that you get the volume control option. You could also spring for external speakers such as the $50 Creative TravelSound 200.

While the AV420 comes with a carrying case, it does not stand upright for hands-free viewing needed on an airplane tray table. (The company says that one is coming soon, but as of this writing, no price or date was set. In the meantime, when you're up in the sky, you'll either have to hold the device or lean it against something like a hardcover book. The TV Cradle, which acts as stand, is not suitable for travel. For one thing, it's connected to eight cables, so you'd have to disconnect it from all that before you leave (and you'd have to reconnect everything again after you get back). The cradle is also a bit bulky. So you'll need to spend an additional $20 for Archos's travel cable if you want to record content on the go or play stored content (except for that made from encrypted or copy-protected DVDs) on a larger TV. Otherwise, the travel charger is just fine.

The $500 AV420 handles a lot of things--and handles them well. It does the job of--and could replace--a digital video recorder, a VCR, an audio player, an external hard drive, a thumb drive, and a digital photo album. Plus, it eliminates the need to schlep DVDs and CDs around. It's simple to use and it fits in your pocket (literally). I think it's worth the price for frequent-fliers, mass-transit commuters, road warriors, picture-happy vacationers, gotta-have-it gadget early adopters, and certain professionals--such as actors, directors, salespeople, and photographers--who need to carry video and digital stills around to present them on an external display. Sure, the TV cradle setup and the transcoding hassles are downsides, but they are manageable.

Using PC World's Product Finder, you can find the AV420 for at least $50 less than the company's list price. That's not much more than many MP3 players. How much more compelling does the device have to be?