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The Linux-based Archos 604 (OSnews)
OSnews reviews the Archos 604 Personal Multimedia Player, a Linux-based video and audio storage and playback device. "Where Archos shines compared to any similar product out there today is video codec support. This is the first PMP that I have reviewed that was able to playback any DivX/XDiV file, and without a hitch. The Archos people also sent us the h.264 and mpeg/mpeg2 plugins for the purpose of this review (sold separately as addons, $20 each), and with these plugins Archos played back all such files we threw at it. Archos also played back normal mpeg-4 files, like the ones cellphones usually record. WMV9/ASF worked too, although it was not able to fast forward on these kinds files (or set "bookmarks"). The only files we tried but the device was not able to playback was WMV8, 3GP and the old kind of .mov files that Apple used to encode with Quicktime back in 2002. The point is though, as long as the resolution of the file is up to 720x576, the Archos 604 is able to playback without dropping frames 95% of the user-oriented formats out there, and that's quite an accomplishment."
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The Linux-based Archos 604 (OSnews) Posted Nov 19, 2007 16:38 UTC (Mon) by debacle (subscriber, #7114) [Link] I thought about buying one, but this device - correct me, if I'm wrong - does not even support OGG Vorbis. I will wait, until this bug is fixed.
The Linux-based Archos 604 (OSnews) Posted Nov 19, 2007 19:55 UTC (Mon) by Guhvanoh (subscriber, #4449) [Link] I was recently at the Hi-Fi show at Hammersmith, London where the 605 was demoed to me. It has much better features eg. 800x480 vs 480x272 for the 604. Basically what Archos have done is improve the hardware of the devices while removing those features the masses would not know about or use. If you need extra codecs, plugins etc, those can be bought cheaply. While this does seem a good model, ogg and flac, which are what I care about are not supported. I do not think they will be supported until people start mailing Archos asking for them. I had to pass due to the absence of ogg & flac support. I made sure the guy doing the demo knew this.
The Linux-based Archos 604 (OSnews) Posted Nov 19, 2007 20:30 UTC (Mon) by leoc (subscriber, #39773) [Link] I take it then, that the device is not easily hackable so that one could write plugins for these formats?
The Linux-based Archos 604 (OSnews) Posted Nov 19, 2007 21:08 UTC (Mon) by endecotp (guest, #36428) [Link] As far as I'm aware, it has not been hacked. Furthermore, Archos' business model is to sell the hardware at a relatively low price and then to make more income from selling additional plugins. I think it's therefore reasonable to assume that the obstacles to installing your own code will be non-trivial.
The Linux-based Archos 604 (OSnews) Posted Nov 19, 2007 21:29 UTC (Mon) by proski (subscriber, #104) [Link] If they had an externally accessible bug tracker, I would call it a bug too. But generally, it's the same old story. Engineers like Linux, marketers don't. The marketers decide what's accessible to the users, the engineers decide what's inside.
The Linux-based Archos 604 (OSnews) Posted Nov 19, 2007 23:01 UTC (Mon) by ncm (subscriber, #165) [Link] Nothing supports OGG Vorbis. It doesn't exist. Some players do support Ogg Vorbis.
The Linux-based Archos 604 (OSnews) Posted Nov 19, 2007 23:49 UTC (Mon) by withaar (guest, #4201) [Link] I have been eyeing the Cowon iAudio 7, which does support ogg and has a great battery life. I don't care for video, but they have a video oriented device as well.
The Linux-based Archos 604 (OSnews) Posted Nov 20, 2007 10:52 UTC (Tue) by debacle (subscriber, #7114) [Link] I don't care about video (nor battery time), but about storage. The iAudio 7 has only 8/16 gigs flash. But the iAudio X5/X5L has 20/30/40/60 gigs HD and you can run Rockbox on it. However, I can only find the 20 gig variant in the shops. Maybe one can replace the HD?
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