Hi, QVC have the Archos 605 160GB with the docking station, all cables, remote control, spare battery and extra plug ins including web browser for £300. Has anybody seen a better price? And is this bit of kit as good as it seems?

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/09...iew_archos_605

http://forum.archosfans.com/viewforum.php?f=25


Hi I have ordered this today, it hasn't been out long but initial reviews look promising. The price is unbeatable, especially when you consider the extras it comes with. If you look at the price on the Archos website it comes to much more than that (I worked it out to be about 475 quid in fact).

I think that QVC is probably the only place in the UK right now where this is actually in stock too!

I have ordered many things from them and their customer service is second to none, best thing is if you don't like it you can return it within 30days for a full no quibble refund.

Add to that the fact that you can pay in 3 interest free instalments by credit/debit card and I would just say to you to go for it.

Sorry to bleat on like a QVC fangirl..but actually I am!

Thanks for your response Joleen. I think QVC are the only ones to have the 160GB model.
Still thinking... I know i want it, but can't really afford it, though the interest free £100 a month is tempting...

Hopefully its not as buggy as my 704 that I purchased from QVC, im just about to send it back as not fit for purpose.

WI-FI works Ok on mine but other 704 users have bugs.

Any film over 1 hour 40 ish minutes does not always play or record properly due to these units using AVI to record, this means that any films over the time mentioned above because of the limitations of AVI has to make two files, so the unit will either freeze when trying to make the second file in recording or if successful in making the second file whilst recording, when you play the film the unit shuts the film down and returns you to the video folder, there is a work around for this if the second file has been recorded, which is open up the film and then with the stylus goto the end of the film let it play for a sec then goto start of the film and then watch it. If you want a bench mark video to try, record Casino Royale that will If you have a buggy unit like mine crash at roughly 1 hour 39 minutes to 1 hour 41 minutes, it will crash when Bond has won the card game and is just about to go to dinner

Hopefully the 605 will be faultless for you but after reading a Archos forum with the 605 being mentioned I reckon you will have the same bugs, you will have 6 months from recieving it to send it back to QVC uk for full refund which due to lack of support from Archos is what I have the pleasure of doing soon. Do not send the unit back to Archos as quite a few have done this with the 704 only for it to come back with the same problem.

The problem mentioned above is for recording films tv programmes via the docking station.

Quick tip, If you do plan on recording something longer than 1hour 40 minutes clear the cache settings then switch the unit off and restart this solution sometime works.

Regarding the above dont start to worry as you may have a unit that gives you no problems at all ( but they are few and far between )
My advice is the first thing to do is, if you want the unit for recording via the docking station via tv dvd is too record a film programme of about 2hrs long then play it back if it stops at about 1 hour 40 minutes then try again this time opening the film and going to the end of it and then back to the start ( good technology isnt it ) and then play the film again from roughly where it crashed.

If you experience problems with it look for a web site for ARCHOS FANS ( theres a hint there ARCHOS FANS )

When the 704 works its a dream I dare say the same can be said for the 605, hpefully yours will work fine

Thanks for the tips Bainsyboy, I will check it out when it arrives..

Also Harry the QVC offer was only limited to Saturday...they do things known as Todays Special Value and the price is only for 24hrs. It has now gone up to £360 and not in stock till early October. The offer to pay in instalments has also expired...boo!

It is still a decent enough price for the bundle, but perhaps not as tempting now as it once was...

Although I don't doubt for a second that it's happening, that doesn't make sense on two counts:

1. AVI is not a format, it's container. An AVI file can be DivX, Xvid, OGM, MKV ... etc etc. AVI is just a label. Therefore the underlying problem is with the codec they are using within the AVI container.

2. AVI (as a container) does not have a 100 minute limit. I have AVI containers using both DivX and Xvid which are longer than that and they work fine on my computer, DVD player and PMP (which isn't an Archos).

The problem is the Archos firmware.

When I bought my PMP, one of the things that put me off Archos was their reputation for ongoing firmware support and updates .... or lack of it.

check out the archos site that i hinted about above, and goto 704 section as the above fault that i mentioned by be rectified. As im not really tech minded i wouldnt know about avi being format or otherwise, it is limited on the 704 & im guessing 605 to 2gb's apparently according to some on archos forum avi should be about 4gb, anyway any hints tips ect try visiting that site i mentioned.
Regarding firmware update for the 704 they have done only 1, the 605 fais better.
i have been messing most of the day with mine & fault mentioned above might now be rectified, i would post how but im using pda to post.

Is it not that the HDD is formatted in FAT32 which means a file over 4GB isn't supported.

I've been looking for this for ages (dabs, ebuyer, specialist shops, etc) I didn't think it would be so cheap on a shopping channel...

x-p-d simple answer is yes.
when the 704 wi-fi works it is awesume, i dare say the 605 will be awesume as well, im just giving a heads up if ppl get theres and suffer with problems. Regarding the recording problems via the dvr im still playing with mine but may have rectified the problem, according to archos tech though my unit is faulty ( like countless others units )
like i said when its working correctly its a dream but trouble is getting it to work, hopefully the 605 is rectified but going by posts on archos forum this doesnt seem to be the case, and i shouldnt be beta testing it 5 months down the line.
You will love the 605 but check out archos fans web site for tips and hopefully with mine fixes, basically record any film over 2 hrs at 1500 kb/s with sampling rate 32khz, its explained on site i mentioned.

Are any of the new models backwards-compatible with the 504 docking station?

I'd like to upgrade to a 704 Wifi, but i really dont want to have to buy all the extras on top just to get what i had before on my 504.

I'm still pondering whether to just get a PSP and have the wifi link with my PC and PS3 for remote play...

X-P-D im certain the answer is yes because i was looking at official archos site and they now sell an adaptor ( got mine with unit from qvc ) so check there. I would also check the screen on the 704 as its not to everyones taste due to the touchscreen, I think it is a good picture and due to the size beats my archos av420 for films and srt watching, check first though if you can as i know some complain its not as bright as the other smaller screened units

Yeah an adapter sounds fine - plus i know about the touch-screen, and if its anything like the Nintendo DS, i'll be fine with that, dont like fiddly buttons on most things anyway!

And yeah, i do like the screen on my 504, you say the screen is a little darker on the 704 Wifi, i guess that is to compromise on power consumption because of the bigger screen?

I'm still yet to decide if its worth it or not, and a wait until after Christmas might help the price a little, so..

Thanks for the info!

Thanks Joleen, guess i'll wait a little and see what comes up, as mentioned above I might get a PSP and 'enhance' it to do everything i want...

Has anyone got theirs yet ? Can you play real audio /video and windows media video etc ?

Received mine this morning, haven't had a chance to do much with it yet as it takes a while to charge. :yawn:

If you follow the link at the top of this thread there is a great forum which should hopefully answer any of your questions.

I have had mine about a week and a half now now, (bought as the TSV from QVC) and I am very pleased with it.

I have been using CloneDVDMobile to move DVD's on to it with out problems. You need to keep the image in the 720x404 size with Mp4 video and Mp3 audio encoding and an avi extension.

It also plays Flash Movies and Utube output, I don't think I have any WMV format files to try.

It also picks up and works with my Tversity media server over our local network and does a very passable job of surfing the web, it's a bit slow on gmail in the advanced interface, but it does work.

Screen quality is excellent and the DVR station works well and the remote control allows reasonable use of the web on the TV.

There have been two firmware updates since I got it and both went on with out a hitch.

I have had a couple of "random" reboots with the unit, but nothing more.

On the negative side the Case is tacky and the custom USB cable annoying, it also wants add on's to play standard IPod files or MP2 video, but I knew that before I bought it.

Does anyone know how often QVC does the special offers? Will this be on the lower price in the near future?

Hi elpaw

Post #5 on here should answer your question

Very, VERY occasionally QVC do repeat a Todays Special Value price due to popular demand, but I wouldn't get your hopes up.

QVC often get UK stock of the latest Archos models before anyone else, and sell them at a great price, but unfortunately you have to just be lucky enough to watching on the right day, as they don't promote their special offers in advance.

What I do with QVC is to keep an eye on the Midnight show, if it's Electronics or Cameras (eg Small office, Home Office or Digital Imaging), I pop over to the web site in the morning to check what the TSV is, just in case it's a gadget I don't want to miss.

Found out something else very handy for me, about the 605, it can view Canon RAW images.

This is now £327.

So did you go for it? Just curious because someone mentioned on another forum that they ordered it yesterday and got it for the original Todays Special Value price of £300...something to do with a computer mix up apparently

Might be worth a shot, eh?

Anyone know if the plug ins are still included in this deal (now at £327) ? There doesn't seem to be any mention of it on the QVC website.

Hi the only plug in included is the Web Browser, I think the OP just got a bit mixed up. Still a great bundle price though...

Thanks, the web browser would be the one I was looking for anyway 5% cashback from Quidco and 4% cashback from my credit card equals a price of £300 for this now, quite pleased, can't wait for it to arrive next week