Personal Media Players (PMPs) are a product niche that continues to struggle to find an audience because of their compromises between portability, versatility, capacity and screen size. The Archos 704 WiFi is the first device that may become the standard that others must emulate.Sleek and elegant yet purposeful with its brushed stainless steel cladding, flush but exposed screws, perforated speaker grills and deeply embossed lettering, it would look at home in the space shuttle flight deck. Archos’ decision to eschew most controls in favor of the gorgeous seven inch, 800 x 480 pixel touch screen enhances the machined feel of the device. Power up and fifteen seconds later you are playing videos, music and viewing photos stored in its 80GB hard drive. If this was all it did, it would be just a me-too PMP, however, this device has been anointed with WiFi so you can browse the web, wirelessly play media from your networked computers and even serve as a media server. Getting digital content into the 704 is straightforward: Connected to your computer via USB, it will show up as an external drive. On a PC, Windows Media Player can take care of sync’ing your content to it, including music, pictures and videos. The 704 will not play music or video protected by Apple’s Fairplay DRM, so no iTunes purchased songs will play; on the other hand, it fully supports Microsoft’s PlaysForSure services like Napster. You can also connect USB devices to the 704 like hard drives, memory keys, digital cameras, etc to access any media contained therein, or move content back and forth.
You can of course connect it to a TV, and a slim but full featured remote control comes in the box. Inexplicably though, they do not include the cable you need to make the connection which is unique to Archos and not widely available. For full on integration to your home theatre, you can purchase the DVR Station ($99), which turns the 704 into a Tivo substitute with a full range of connectivity options.In my test period, the 704 quickly became a favorite. While you can reproduce all its features with a laptop, the size and quick startup make it ideal for trips or even for personal viewing at home. I watched a couple of movies, including the emotionally powerful Babel, and had a surprisingly engaging experience thanks in no small part to the full DVD resolution of the relatively small screen. Though a bit heavy to hold in your hand for extended periods of time, there is a built-in kickstand so you can prop it on a table for extended viewing. Oddly there is no slot for the stylus other than in the included padded carrying case.Excepting some odd quirks, the user interface was solid and sometimes inspired: when playing music, touching the screen anywhere pauses, when playing videos, touching the left side of the screen brings up the volume slider whereas touching the bottom of the screen brings up the transport control; nice. The Opera browser can be sluggish to respond and on occasion failed to render websites properly due to its fanatical adherence to standards. Flash is also not supported, which cuts you off from a growing portion of the websphere. Working off battery, I could watch a couple of movies before having to hunt around for somewhere to plug in.Though the 704 is not for everyone, Archos has perhaps achieved a device compelling enough in execution that technolust will overcome practical concerns. When you consider that an 80GB iPod is $349 with an unwatchable 2.5 inch screen and a much smaller list of features, $549 for the 704 seems downright reasonable.