Manufacturer	Archos
Website	Archos AV 400 pocket video rec
Price	£299
Rating	Select ratingPoorOkayGoodGreatAwesome Your rating: None

Well, having played around with earlier versions of Archos multi media boxes, generally as a hard drive and store of mini movies, I was eager to get my mitts on this year's must-have xmas gift
I was passing a tax-free shop at the airport and there was an offer I couldn't refuse £299 (that's a lot off RRP!!) with a 90 day free trial and return if not satisfied!!

And what can I say but….wow. forget iPod's – this is the future. (well for me!)

simple interface - i learnt it in minutes!

Mp3 capability means I can record my old vinyl and cds direct to the on board hard drive before crunching them onto my main frame puter to burn cds!! Wikkid.

I use the slideshow photo archive for simple presentations – cool!

Attach it to the tv and record direct – makes sampling clips much easier than normal. Only slight let down is it records with up to 512x384 @ 30 f/s, in AVI format. So not brill but enough to down res to 320x240 for normal veejaying in MDT, etc etc

Beautiful screen with clear LCD (always impresses clients), small and lightweight to fit into pockets for listening to tunes on the go.

Battery life seems pretty good too. Slight let down I guess is the lack of an integral camera like older models, but hey – I have plenty of cameras with enough quality not to need another crappy extra.

And the cradle – well bit heavy on the spaghetti (long long leads with a/v in/out and s-vid) but nothing a bit of cable management in the studio could not fix. you will have to lug the cradle around in my bag as it is needed for plumbing into a projector.

They do a 40GB and 80GB version which is way good, so theoretically that's a LOT of vj clips to cart around if needed.
Only thing I have not tested is the USB2.0 link to the laptop and how quick access to these vj clips will affect my vj show.(i shall report back)

added extras include flash card utility (cool), remote control to sych with your tv (mmm- not convinced), integral mini-mic
(poor quality - but why would one use it to record good sounds without a proper mic?)

all in all a pretty useful bit of kit that allows simple transfer between HD and laptop etc etc and great for use on the go. (keeps kit size down)

Great little toy for you tech heads – perhaps even a gizmo classic in years to come!

Full specs –
http://www.archos.com/products/prw_500664_specs.html

mondo
03 november 2004