Archos 500637 Gmini 400 20 GB Digital Audio/Video Jukebox

Rating:
Summary: Everything but the kitchen sink
Review: I have been looking for a replacement for my Ipod for a few months since it broke down. I was interested in the other PVP's for their video capability but was reluctant to buy them because of their huge sizes.

I bought the Archos one night after reading about it in an article and reading the other reviews here. I am glad that I did. It is only 20 gig but cost only a fraction more than a Ipod with the same size harddrive.

The Gmini 400 plays mp3 well and sounds great. The screen, although small is one of the clearest screen I've seen. Photos is clear and videos is smooth and colorfull. It is so amazing that I could read the subtitles in most movies' and animes' as long as the font is not really small.

The games so far is not really worth mentioning. It could play games but they are of the games for phones variety.

One thing that needs to be mentioned is that the software to convert videos does not sync the sound with the video properly. Sound always came a second ahead of video. Exp..you hear someone talk before you see the mouth move. This problem was solved by downloading the newest pocketDivx which have a setting already set for the Gmini 400. The program is free and has more functions than the one that came with the Gmini. The link is http://divx.ppccool.com/

Within the week that I recieved my player, I have shown it to a few of my coworkers and 3 of them decided that they wanted to buy one on the spot. One of them already owns a Ipod that he loves.

If you only need to play music, the ipod is better and easier to use but if you want a swiss army knife of portable entertainment that works well and is about the size of an Ipod then this is the perfect solution.

Rating:
Summary: Cool Product -Horrible Customer Support
Review: Anyone considering purchasing this or any Archos product should be aware that based on my experience (4 Archos jukeboxes) their quality control is spotty at best. This used to be bearable because they used to have a fairly liberal warranty policy and would repair or exchange defective products no questions asked. That has changed. Now you have to go through an elaborate process of providing documentation of purchase, mailing the unit back at your own expense, insured, and waiting in silence while they decide what to do. In my case the little joystick that is the key control of the AV320 fell off. When I returned the unit to them for repair (they would not simply send me the part) they decided to keep the 80 gb hard drive I had installed in my AV320. Because they claim installing the drive voided the warranty they now say that they will not return MY drive to me unless I pay them $125 for the repair. Won't take back the replacement they sent me, won't send me a replacement part, won't give me my property back. Worst customer service I've ever seen. I think it would be a serious mistake to buy anything from them.


Rating:
Summary: I'm in love with this thing
Review: First, sorry about my english...

I was thinking about buying an ipod, so I did my home work, searching internet, reading material about it. I started to see that some simple things couldn't be done with the ipod and could with the Archos Gmini. Here is a few points observed:
1-The Archos Gmini doesn't need drivers!Just plug andd be happy!
2-Archos Gmini plays video (divx and mpeg). Some divx I even hadnt to convert to Archos format.
3-Archos Gmini is a hard drive! You can do everything like a normal drive. Just plug to your computer!
4-The Gmini color display is even better than I tought! Beauty!
5-You can put all your pictures from your compactflash directly into the gmini.
6-Ipod has a cool look but Archos gmini isn't so behind..You can say to your friends that have an ipod that you think before you buy something.

My botton line is:
Who buys an ipod didnt think about it, just bought because is an Apple bealtiful thing.
Archos gmini 400 is the smartest choice because can do more with less. Archos gmini 400 has a heart!



Rating:
Summary: The best, most portable PVP, even w/ a Mac
Review: I have the Gmini 400 and it is fantastic. I am extremely happy with this PVP. It has great screen, great sound, great size. The interface is easy enough, in no time you will be very adept with it. Of course, the only issue will be getting video/movies on the machine. You have to encode the movies before you can play them on the machine. Archos apparently puts great software on the Gmini to do this for you, only thing is you have to have a PC, so if you have a PC, you should use that, it is supposed to work great. I, however, have a Mac and was having a heck of time getting the movies to play right on the Gmini. The audio and video would be out of sync. I tried ffmpegX. It's shareware which is nice and it is extremely fast at encoding movies. However, not for the beginner and I never got the audio to sync right. After spending several hours, I finally plunked down the money and got Divx Pro from drdivx.com. Cost something like $19.99, with MP3 audio its like $6 more. You need the MP3 audio for Divx movies. Divx Pro is used through Quicktime, however you do need Quicktime Pro (lots of documentation on the website). You open the movie in Quicktime then export it and you then get the option Divx and you hit the options button for Divx Pro to come up. You can choose different options. I just use the portable video option, this gives you perfect video for the Gmini, video is fine and syncs perfectly with the video. Hopes with helps any Mac/Gmini peeps out there.

Rating:
Summary: The iPod's Worst Nightmare
Review: I looked at the 4th generation iPod and the iPod mini and the new iPod shuffle. Then I studied the ARCHOS Gmini400 and its bigger brothers. My choice was clear after THOROUGH research.... and I mean THOROUGH! I read almost every review on the net. Check out CNET in English. If you can read French, try www.jbmm.net and take a deeper look at JJ's Gmini400 fan site: www.gmini400.com

The Pros:
-USB 2.0 (backward compatible with USB 1.0) and Mass storage device recognition under Windows, no need for iTunes, drivers or anyone's propietary software for this. Just plug and play to ANY windows computer and voila!

-FAST copying of music, pictures, videos, etc...

-Superb Video quality

-Excellent picture quality (CF card feature fantastic)

-EXCELLENT SOUND

-SHUFFLE feature

-fits in your pocket

-Universal power adaptor for UK, EUROPE, US/Latin America / China and all adapters INSIDE the box!!! YES!!!! loved this one because I do travel. A friend introduced me to this gadget after he traveled the Gobi desert with it ;)

The Cons:

-You cannot encode video directly from the source like you can with the ARCHOS AV400. You have to convert videos to MP4 formator gmini readable format so you can view them on this PVP.
Get DivX installed on your computer: http://www.divx.com
This will install the DivX codecs!
You will also need PocketDivX for this: http://divx.ppccool.com
Make sure to make a donation to these folks via the paypal link! They deserve it. Download their latest version!

-There was no screen protector inside the box. I had to go out and find one, then cut it and perfect fit it to the Gmini.

-There is no portable case for the gmini inside the box. I bought an iPod silicone case, then beautified it with "the knife". I am no surgeon, but the job looks good and now my Gmini is fully protected, not to mention... fully charged and siliconized!!!

Suggestions:
-Learn how to encode your movies on your computer and then copy them onto your Gmini400.

-Get yourself some decent and comfortable headphones. I personally use some newly designed earbuds by SONY that feel like heaven and sound like it.

-When connecting your Gmini400 to your computer, attach also the power connector because battery power is consumed at a high rate when connected to the USB port of your computer.

Conclusion:Advantages FAR OUTWEIGH the minor disadvantages!!!

GET YOURSELF a Gmini400 !!!!!!!!!! IT ROCKS!!!

And forget iPod!!! iPod won't let you play stuff you download from non-iTunes Download Stores, BIG WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Love my Gmini
Review: I recently got my Gmini 400 as a present and absolutely love it. I have copied over all my music from my PC in .wma format with no worries, I have put some video on and have copied over all my digital pictures. All of this was super simple to do - just plug the Gmini into my computer and copy away.

So far music quality is great, the videos are fantastic. Photo playback could be a little quicker and better, but hey, that's not why I got the device. It's nice to have the photos there as a backup and so that I can show family and friends when I want to.

I have seen where some people say the interface is difficult to use. I don't really agree. I know there are things there I don't know about yet, but hey most anyone can work it out.

Of course there are some extra things I would like - better playlist functions, like I get in Windows Media Player, and perhaps better syncing of devices - maybe these are even there and I haven't found them yet.

Overall I love it. Great device and I would highly recommend.

Rating:
Summary: Owned Ipod and now Gmini 400
Review: I returned my 20gb 4g ipod because i saw this model. Other than ease of use and build quality, the archos is better in every other better category. Does an ipod display pictures? play movies, record, and play games? I don't think so. At about the samae price, only 20something more expensive, the archos is a great value. It is a little hard to figure out at first, probably because I was used to the really easy to use ipod, but I got the hang of it really quickly. This thing is awesome, i don't know why it's not getting mmore attention. GET IT NOW.

Rating:
Summary: Great Buy
Review: I've owned the gmini for 3 weeks and I couldn't be happier about the purchase. When I was considering buying it some of my main concerns were about its size (the machine itself and its screen), and the battery life.
When I finally saw the gmini I was surprised since I expected something bulkier and bigger, so its size is - to my belief - ideal. The screen looks bigger than I imagined and you can see everything in a movie with great detail, It really amazed me how you can get such a great resolution out of something so small. I though everything in the movies would look really small but that's not the case. So if the screen is one of your concerns it really shouldn't be.
As for battery life, I really haven't had any issues with it, last time I tried it, it gave me 9.5 hours of music give or take, where as to video I really haven't tried it for more than 3.5 hours, but it will at least give you that on a consistent basis. It still had battery when I replugged it, so I'm sure it can give you more time.
As for its user interface and handling it, the basic things (playing movies/music, forwarding, volume) are really easy and intuitive to use, but some stuff (queing songs, playlists, repeat modes) you do have to check the manual for. On the other hand, putting files on it is a piece of cake, just plug the usb and open the drive from my computer, inside of it is a bunch of folders titled music, videos, photos, data.. so all you have to do is drag the material you want in your gmini to its corresponding folder; piece of cake.
While getting a dvd to divx or xvid format is time consuming and sometimes complicated ( NO software for doing this is included), if you do manage to get your hands on a divx or xvid movie the software included in the gmini will "edit" it so it can be played in your gmini with the click of a button (by edit I mean make it have the right size and frames per second - maximum of 640-480 size and a 30 fps, if you don't know what this is don't worry just open your divx file in the software and click start and it will do everything for you, if the movie you have already clears the requirements its obvious you don't need to use this software).
Overall considering your getting a portable device, the video feature is exellent for the gmini's size, you can really watch a movie no problem at all, and your also getting an exellent mp3 player, plus the extra features, it really is a great buy, I do hope this was helpful to you.

Rating:
Summary: Won't be needing a new mp3 player for a long time...
Review: In addition to all the reviews already written, I'd like to concur with everyone who thought this was the ultimate iPod-killer. The Gmini 400 is the same size as Apple's 40 GB iPod, but loaded with tons more extra features, as already told. I'd recommend this to anyone seeking an mp3 player within the iPod's budget range.

A few people have mentioned that a big downside is that it comes with no carrying case; I have recently purchased a case specially designed for the Archos Gmini 400 from Infusion Threads for $20, and since it was made for the Gmini, it works like a charm. It is slightly more expensive than most generic cases, but it'd clear cover lets you access the buttons and see the screen and all the ports are accessible without ever having to take it out.
(...)
I am very satisfied with my purchase! If you're deciding whether to choose this over an iPod, i'd say choose this any day!

Rating:
Summary: The Gmini 400, a very impressive device
Review: This player is very impressive, you cannot really tell from the pictures but it is quite a show stopper. Here are a few reasons why I chose this above the iPod:

- same size and weight as the iPod
- plays videos on the LCD as well as TV
- acts a a photo wallet, with built-in support for getting images off of CF (and other cards through a compatibility add-on) cards
- good music quality
- "native" support in the OS, no driver needed to mount player on PCs on modern OSs like OS X and Win XP
- good battery life for a device this size
- supports games through Mophun engine (same engine used for most recent cell phones including NGage)

Here are some further details. Hopefully this helps you pare down the feature list to the things you really need.

Photo Wallet:

I travel frequently to India and other locations--most times I do not want to take a laptop with me but still carry my high mega-pixel camera. So the Gmini is exactly the right thing for me as I'd rather only carry one small pocket size device.

Video:

The device cannot record video so it should not be classified as a PVR (like the iRiver or Archos AV400). The Gmini, however, can be loaded with divx encoded files for playback on the LCD or a TV. This is handy for traveling or for just ferrying a movie from your computer to your bedroom TV or over to a friend's house.

Music:

The device supports the two formats I use most: mp3 and WMA. I do not really use OGG or APE so do not mind that these are not included. The sound quality is very good, though the equalizer is not really feature rich - only has bass and treble controls with an optional bass boost. I would have liked to see at least some presets. That being said, you won't really miss the equalizer unless you are using low quality earbuds. I use a pair of Sennheiser headphones (the HD 212 and HD 590) when at home and Sony Fonotopia ones at work. Your mileage may vary with the supplied headphones...

The Gmini also supports recording to WAV (compressed or not) through the built-in mic or an optional line in attachment. The built-in mic is sufficient for quick recordings but if you plan on doing a lot of bootlegging, get the line in attachment as it will produce better recordings (i.e. will allow you to avoid any device noises as well as move the mic to a higher location at a concert without letting go of your device).

Look and feel:

The device is really small--almost too small at times! The make is fairly good, the only plastic parts are the middle enclosure. The front and back silver as well as the buttons are all aluminum. While its not steel like the iPod, the aluminium actually makes the Gmini lighter and easier to carry around in a coat pocket. The buttons are very firm and responsive--great for sorting through music and navigating the device but not great for playing games (I prefer the gameboy feel personally and would rather have them be a little bit softer in feel).

Accessories:

The Gmini comes with headphones (earbuds), a line out for your TV, a universal adapter with attachments to use in Europe and other parts of the world. There is also an optional SD, MMC card attachment you can buy as well as the FM / Recorder attachment mentioned previously.

Here are some drawbacks to the device:

- would have preferred recording straight to mp3 as an option
- would be nice to have a carrying case included. I like my Gmini a lot and would not want it to get all scratched up :)
- FM and line-in recording attachment is a little pricey right now IMHO
- The mophun games on archos's site are a little expensive (for me anyways) at ~6.00 a game. It would be nice to have a variety pack of old classics like pacman, asteriods for cheap
- limited video codec support out of the box--you will likely have to reencode some of your videos to play properly on the device (archos provides some tools as well)
- no direct video recording to turn this into a full PVR (though if that made the device bigger, I'd support the decision to eliminate the feature)
- internal non-replacable battery (though I personally know which li-ion battery the Gmini uses and could replace it myself)

Overall the device is exceeding my expectations. While I'm wary of Archos as it is a non-local company and support has been a black mark for them, I also have owned enough devices to know that there is no perfect company (e.g. iPod battery issues, Rio quality issues, iRiver support issues). Archos has survived long enough now to make a mark for itself so here's hoping.

Also, there is a budding community for this device at www.gmini400.com, feel free to go there to get more advice or check out (sometimes unofficial) tricks, customizations and FAQs.