Archos is the leader in the portable video playback market which will be soon entered by Apple with its new iPod Video. The Archos AV 700 has a sleek crystal clear 7-inch screen that is great for watching the 400 hours of video this player can store (100Mb). Putting the movies on to the player is as simple as dragging and dropping or if you prefer you can record them off your TV much like a Hard Drive video recorder (like Sky plus).

You will be hearing a lot about this feature as you will also be able to do this with the new iPod Video. Lets not forget that the AV700 is no one trick pony it can also store up to 20,000 songs or 400,000 photos. Due to the 7-inch screen, the Archos AV 700 is going to be slightly bulkier than many of the other portable video players on the market like the iPod Video and Creative Zen Vision which both have small 3.5in screens.

Out of the three players the AV 700 is far superior for playing video.
Full Specs of the Archos Av700.

Capacity: 40 GB Hard drive with capacity to store up to 160 hours of video, 100 movies, 20,000 songs or 400,000 photos

Display: 7″ LCD 480×234 pixels, 262 000 colours and TV output. Video recording: MPEG-47 SP and stereo sound, optimised resolution for TV up to 640×480 at 30 f/s, in AVI format.

Video playback: MPEG-47 SP with B-Frames with stereo sound. Near DVD quality up to 720×480 at 30 f/s (NTSC), 720×576 at 25 f/s (PAL), AVI file format (including WMV9 SP protected files) up to 352×288 at 30 f/s and 800 Kbits.

Music recording: From an analog source in stereo sound for WAV (PCM & ADPCM) format. Music playback: Stereo MP3 decoding at 30-320 kb/s CBR & VBR, WMA (including protected WMA files), WAV (PCM & ADPCM).

Photo viewer: JPEG (except progressives) or BMP. AV connections: TV Docking Pod with video pass through, AV in & out cables (SCART In & Out for European version) and IR emitter cable for tuner control of VCR, cable box or satellite receiver. Earphones / Audio & Video line out. Travel audio-video kit in option to record audio and video analog source on the move. Speakers: 2 built-in stereo speakers.

Interfaces: USB 2.0 high-speed device, compatible USB 1.1, PC & Mac. USB Host port compatible Mass Storage Device. Battery life: Up to 30 hours6 for music. Up to 4 hours6 for video on built-in LCD.

Power source: Internal: rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery. External: AC charger/adapter.

Dimensions: approx.: 10.7 x 20.9 x 1.9 cm – 4.2″ x 8.2″ x 0.8″. Weight: 590 g – 20.8 oz.

Minimum system requirements: For Digital Media Player is the best portable video player in the market. It feels very robust and it performs remarkably well. It is true that the AV700 is bigger than other Digital Media Players, but the size is justified by the impressive 7-inch screen. The Archos AV700 is a must have gadget for people on the move.

Phillip Green -
About the Author:

I have been writing offline for about 2years and only just recently got into online writing and blogging. It is fun to do it online because you can publish it straight away and it goes.

I love to read thriller and romantic books. Fiction is my favourite. I’m newly married with a baby girl.