Good, Cheap Mp4/Video players?
- Thread starter drmchsraj
- Start date
radvas
Well-known member
On the cheap... pick up a used archos 604 on craigslist or ebay. Probably get one for $100 or less. They have decent battery life and a great screen.
A 5th gen ipod will do the mp4 (not sure about the PDF though). but the screen is small, and the major downside is that battery life blows for video playback; usually =< 1 hour.
A first gen ipod touch would be better than the archos (IMO), but still more money I think.
I'm sure there are other good choices, those are just the ones I've owned & used a bunch.
A 5th gen ipod will do the mp4 (not sure about the PDF though). but the screen is small, and the major downside is that battery life blows for video playback; usually =< 1 hour.
A first gen ipod touch would be better than the archos (IMO), but still more money I think.
I'm sure there are other good choices, those are just the ones I've owned & used a bunch.
Asphaultnaut
Own the Mess You've Made!
I have the older version of this:
http://www.sandisk.com/Products/Ite...anDisk_Sansa_Fuze_MP3_Player_8GB__Silver.aspx
plays everything. and with something like this free utility (been using it for awhile now):
http://www.any-video-converter.com/products/for_video_free/
it'll play just about anything you download to it. My older Sansa has a 2GB limit, which mean when I put in a 4GB card it only sees 2GB. The Fuze supports up to 32 GB. And that's just the SD card. It comes with memory inside it too.
Plus there's no Apple Tax or iTunes proprietary lock-in
http://www.sandisk.com/Products/Ite...anDisk_Sansa_Fuze_MP3_Player_8GB__Silver.aspx
plays everything. and with something like this free utility (been using it for awhile now):
http://www.any-video-converter.com/products/for_video_free/
it'll play just about anything you download to it. My older Sansa has a 2GB limit, which mean when I put in a 4GB card it only sees 2GB. The Fuze supports up to 32 GB. And that's just the SD card. It comes with memory inside it too.
Plus there's no Apple Tax or iTunes proprietary lock-in
Coastal Coyote
~bound~
I was recently gifted the Archos 5 for father's day (which this year coincided with my birthday). It is not inexpensive, though it is an amazingly versatile little gadget.
drmchsraj
Well-known member
hmm, the archos's pdf reading ability would set it apart imo. any complaints function wise?
So far, Archos-wise i've singled out these:
1) NEW - $52+10 (s&h) - with: wall charge adapter - (BATTERY INCL??) (time: 6days)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260445717349&ssPageName=ADME:X:AAQ:US:1123
2) USED - $50+10 - DVR Station+ Extra batt (6days)
http://cgi.ebay.com/Archos-604-Audi...c0.m14&_trkparms=65:16|66:2|39:1|293:1|294:50
3) New - $60+12 - (5.5d) http://cgi.ebay.com/Archos-604-WiFi...c0.m14&_trkparms=65:16|66:2|39:1|293:1|294:50
4) Used - $62+10 - extra: DVR Station dock + new batt (time: 3.5d)
http://cgi.ebay.com/Archos-604-WIFI...c0.m14&_trkparms=65:16|66:2|39:1|293:1|294:50
Which one do you think represents the best possible package? What should I ask for/make sure to double-check before bidding? thank you!
So far, Archos-wise i've singled out these:
1) NEW - $52+10 (s&h) - with: wall charge adapter - (BATTERY INCL??) (time: 6days)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260445717349&ssPageName=ADME:X:AAQ:US:1123
2) USED - $50+10 - DVR Station+ Extra batt (6days)
http://cgi.ebay.com/Archos-604-Audi...c0.m14&_trkparms=65:16|66:2|39:1|293:1|294:50
3) New - $60+12 - (5.5d) http://cgi.ebay.com/Archos-604-WiFi...c0.m14&_trkparms=65:16|66:2|39:1|293:1|294:50
4) Used - $62+10 - extra: DVR Station dock + new batt (time: 3.5d)
http://cgi.ebay.com/Archos-604-WIFI...c0.m14&_trkparms=65:16|66:2|39:1|293:1|294:50
Which one do you think represents the best possible package? What should I ask for/make sure to double-check before bidding? thank you!
radvas
Well-known member
I've never used the archos to view PDFs. I can try that out later to let you know how well (or not) that it works.
The DVR station is a nice add-on. It comes with a remote and allows you to hook the archos up to a TV. They were too expensive new. I picked mine up on closeout at Walmart I think for about $20. In fact, I think that's one thing that didn't favor the archos; accessories were cool, but all had proprietary connectors/cables, and all were expensive. Also, a major annoyance was that it supported a few extra codecs, but you had to pay for them. Not really a big deal IMO, you can use an app like handbrake to transcode videos from other formats if you want. downscaled transcodes go quick. I'm pretty sure it supports mp4 out of the box, but I can't remember which codecs were built in and which were addons.
I didn't have the wifi version. I've heard it really depletes batteries quickly, but I think you can turn wifi off.
The archos UI is decent, but not super intuitive. It does have a kick ass video preview mode where each vid shows title & metadata, plus a thumbnail sized 3-5 second video loop. It's very cool. I haven't seen this in other portables, but it may be that others do it. On the whole, I liked it, and it was my carry around vid/mp3 player. I'd even say it is quite durable, though uncharacteristically, I took pretty good care of my archos. I still have it, but since getting an iphone, it doesn't see much action. I thought about selling it, but for the low prices they are fetching, I figured to just keep it a as backup.
IMO, the iphone/itouch is superior in most ways, but you aren't going to get a touch for 60 bucks.
The one thing I didn't like about the archos was that it was designed to sync with Windows Media player. I never used WMP to sync. There were a variety of reasons, but mostly because wmp didn't support podcasts. I'm not sure if it does now. I'm not a big fan of WMP anyhow, and I found trying to sync with it a PITA.
EDIT: forgot to say, one really cool feature of the archos 604 is the kickstand. Nice if you have a surface to set it on. :thumbup
Double edit... just checked the PDF browsing. It works about like you'd expect. PDFs render just find. Zooming is a little cumbersome (not like the pinch-spread on the itouch), but since the screen is bigger, I could read it ok. I didn't actually feel the need to zoom in.
The DVR station is a nice add-on. It comes with a remote and allows you to hook the archos up to a TV. They were too expensive new. I picked mine up on closeout at Walmart I think for about $20. In fact, I think that's one thing that didn't favor the archos; accessories were cool, but all had proprietary connectors/cables, and all were expensive. Also, a major annoyance was that it supported a few extra codecs, but you had to pay for them. Not really a big deal IMO, you can use an app like handbrake to transcode videos from other formats if you want. downscaled transcodes go quick. I'm pretty sure it supports mp4 out of the box, but I can't remember which codecs were built in and which were addons.
I didn't have the wifi version. I've heard it really depletes batteries quickly, but I think you can turn wifi off.
The archos UI is decent, but not super intuitive. It does have a kick ass video preview mode where each vid shows title & metadata, plus a thumbnail sized 3-5 second video loop. It's very cool. I haven't seen this in other portables, but it may be that others do it. On the whole, I liked it, and it was my carry around vid/mp3 player. I'd even say it is quite durable, though uncharacteristically, I took pretty good care of my archos. I still have it, but since getting an iphone, it doesn't see much action. I thought about selling it, but for the low prices they are fetching, I figured to just keep it a as backup.
IMO, the iphone/itouch is superior in most ways, but you aren't going to get a touch for 60 bucks.
The one thing I didn't like about the archos was that it was designed to sync with Windows Media player. I never used WMP to sync. There were a variety of reasons, but mostly because wmp didn't support podcasts. I'm not sure if it does now. I'm not a big fan of WMP anyhow, and I found trying to sync with it a PITA.
EDIT: forgot to say, one really cool feature of the archos 604 is the kickstand. Nice if you have a surface to set it on. :thumbup
Double edit... just checked the PDF browsing. It works about like you'd expect. PDFs render just find. Zooming is a little cumbersome (not like the pinch-spread on the itouch), but since the screen is bigger, I could read it ok. I didn't actually feel the need to zoom in.
Last edited:
Thee See 5
Yamahahaha
if you have an iphone try the "good reader" app its alot better than doing it the email way. also reads large 50+ mb files.