Archos 5 with DVR Station

The Archos 5 is the latest in an award-winning series of portable media players that many use as the yardstick against which competing devices are measured. This time around Archos has ditched the optional tactile controls alongside the display in favour of touchscreen-only operation.

This allows for a large 4.8in 800x480 LCD and, in fact, the only controls around the exterior are an on-and-off switch and volume. There’s a kick-stand for propping it up, but no stylus. This isn’t too much of a problem when navigating menus, as the interface is intuitive and makes it easy to browse the various features.

When it comes to keyboard-specific functions such as browsing the internet, this becomes more of a problem and we can’t quite understand why there isn’t something provided to offer a bit more precision.

Archos 5 has an excellent-quality display. This carries through to movie and photo viewing, where colours are superbly accurate with sharp lines and effective contrast. Audio is also improved over previous versions and is on a par with the more impressive MP3 players currently doing the rounds.

We were impressed by the degree of control available when viewing media, which includes aspect ratio, slideshow creation, playlist creation, thumbnail views for all media and more.

There are a few notable changes from the way Archos has presented the device to consumers over previous versions. Unfortunately, the plug-in system still persists, but it has been refined so that many key features are now included by default.

Format support is better out of the box, though you’ll still need a plug-in for MPEG-2/VOB formats with AC3 sound and for H.264 video. Web browsing is available as standard, along with internet radio and web TV channels.

As well as plug-ins, the ccArchos 5 can be upgraded with a range of accessories, such as a helmet camera, Freeview tuner, GPS dock and FM receiver. We couldn’t get hold of all these, but did manage to test the most useful - the DVR station.

This is a pass-through device that sits between a TV and receiver box, enabling its functionality as a personal video recorder (PVR). There have been a number of improvements here, such as the ability to download a full programme schedule relevant to your existing setup and an HDMI port for high-definition output.

Unfortunately, the device isn’t capable of playing HD content yet, though there is an HD plug-in in the works.

We were disappointed not to see an HDMI in and out, since you will lose signal quality by passing content through Scart to the DVR station. However, connecting the device to a TV using component or HDMI results in better picture quality. At this point, it’s possible to record programmes directly to the internal drive and even set up schedules using the programme guide, with options for adjusting recording quality.

In addition to setting up Archos 5 as a PVR, you’ll also be able to make better use of its wireless facilities by browsing the web via your TV or, more importantly, streaming media from a computer. Unfortunately, it requires use of WMP11’s UPnP media sharing, which can hog your computer, but we were impressed by the quality and responsiveness of playback.

Archos 5 is capable of most functions you would expect from a portable media player. Despite the excellent audio and video performance, and unrivalled potential, its price over previous versions means you’ll have to get quite a bit of use from the features to consider it a worthwhile investment.

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