Detailed Archos Gmini400 MP3 Player Description & Review

Archos: Gmini400 £229.98inc. VAT  &  Delivery

This player has been superceded by the Archos Gmini 500 and is no longer available. The Gmini 400 is the super slim Music and Video jukebox successor to the earlier Archos Gmini models. Archos made our best seller model of 2001 and 2002 with the bulletproof Recorder 20 and the ill-fated FM20 respectively. This is the best jukebox of 2004 - bar none.

Gmini 400 is a Music Player and Recorder, personal video player (PVP) and games Jukebox

Archos have a checkered history. They were the first to sell the HD jukeboxes that make up the majority of this site. Since then a series of technological triumphs and strategic own goals have followed (not least of which was the now closed, infamous "European Customer Support" that was far too Teutonic for its own good).

You see this jukebox. It looks like one of the triumphs. A huge one at that.

Anyone who says they only want to use a Jukebox to listen to music has probably never experienced anything else. If you have never had a jukebox before, or only ever had an MP3 Player that couldn't do anything else other than play MP3s then this little wonder should be a real eye-opener.

Its capabilities, at a glance, are:

• Play and Record Music
• Store and Watch Videos
• Play games
• All in full colour.

New controls:

As has become standard for the most recent models of Jukebox on the market, lifting your digits off the player while you navigate around your jukebox menus has been designed away. The iPod was the first player to offer this kind of feature with the scroller/ roller, but the old and current iPod controls are much larger. This one is the same kind of size and shape and functions in the same way as the D-Pad on a games console, such as the PSII and its the best method of navigation so far. Better even than the Zen touch.

It may well be that the D-Pad style navigation button is intrinsically better, or, its arguable that the real reason why this seems a better design is directly connected to a well-spent-youth playing video games. It took 0 seconds to get used too.

Gmini 420 New features

The similarity between the Gmini 400 and a Gear/Boy style handheld games console is not just uncanny, it represents some good thinking by Archos because you can actually play games on these jukeboxes. It comes loaded with a game called Iceblox and a few demo games. Extra games have to be purchased. The majority of the games follow a simple 'platform' style. They are relatively inexpensive as they cost a few quid each and they can be instantly downloaded from the internet.

You can even connect the unit to a TV set and play the games on a full size screen.

Ultra small, ultra light and ultra slim is how the Gmini 400 is described, but how does it compare to the iPod?

The size and weight of this device are remarkable. It's the same size as the 4th Generation iPod (give or take a millimetre) and it weighs the same (give or take a gram - in fact this jukebox weighs less than the 40GB iPod by about 10 grams). That's right, the 20GB Gmini400 weighs the same as the 20GB, newest, 4th generation iPod, and the Gmini400 has built in colour Game play, Colour Photo Display, as well as Record Audio and play Video features. Since Apple managed to get a head start in the Smaller, Lighter, Slimmer stakes that all jukeboxes now aspire too by leaving out features like record, never mind video, it makes you wonder how the hell Archos have managed to make this model so small and so light and so full of stuff. In fact with the smallest/ lightest title now in dispute, its difficult to see what an iPod has to offer over this jukebox.

Gmini 400 Standard Features

Plays the following types of compressed music: MP3, WMA (including copy protected WMAs), and also WAV. The 20GB HD will allow you to make and store about 300+ hours worth of music. Unlike plenty of other manufacturers, Archos do tell the truth about the amount of music / other files you can store on the Gmini 400.

Record music - Downloading music is not the only way to get music onto your Gmini400. As several Archos models have been capable of doing for several years now, you can record stereo music using the Gmini 400 from several sources. Unlike earlier models the Gmini400 can only record to WAV, not direct to MP3s. The hardware to record directly to MP3 was hefty. Too hefty, so they took it out, but if you want record in stereo, the feature is still there.

You can record live from Amps/ HiFis etc. Any audio source with a line-out and all you have to do is connect the Gmini 400 using the included connector cables/ adapters. A particular favourite for youths seems to be recording themselves practising to be rockstars. Its worth noting that while the Gmini400 is well capable of recording, they are, like all jukeboxes, sensitive to the strong magnetic fields that speakers and amps generate, so don't leave your Jukebox on top of one.

The internal microphone also enables you to record voice: e.g. your own voice, if you so desire.

As with all Archos Jukebox models the unit is recognised as an additional external hard drive, so copying or transferring data files is as simple as drag and drop. There is no need to install additional software. Its all plug and play.

Record Video

Again, a change from earlier Personal Video Recorder (PVR) models from Archos: as a Personal Video Player (PVP) the Gmini 400 cannot record video directly. Videos and movies have to be downloaded, either from the Internet, or from a computer.

User interface

The Gmini400 has the same pleasing interface as the AV400s: AVOS. Since AVOS is basically the same for models of AV400 and Gmini400 it is discussed and reviewed here.

Not mentioned on the AVOS page (although technically they should be) are things like Clock, Timer and the wonderful resume function that allows you to pickup where you left off. E.g. if you have to stop watching a video half way through and you want to restart from the same place later.

Photos

Archos jukebox models have been capable of transferring, storing and displaying photos for ages, so it comes as no surprise that this jukebox can too. The photo capabilities of the AV400 and Gmini400 are the same so we put all that info on one page here. Go ahead, take a look.

Play video

These types of video file can be played: XviD or DivX AVIs (MPEG4) at up to 640 x 400 and at 30 FPS. If you don't understand what that means we can tell you its pretty good. Near DVD quality. You can watch your movies on the built-in screen, or (much better for both your own personal enjoyment, and showing off) you can play your videos back through any normal TV using the included connector cables.

Confusions:

Archos refer to their Gmini 400 as "featuring the industry's first colour LCD...." This does not mean that the Gmini 400 is the first device to use a colour LCD. It is not even the first Archos Jukebox to feature a colour LCD! Unfortunately this is unnecessary spin. Its kind-of true, but ultimately misleading. Colour screens have been on some Archos Jukeboxes for more than 3 years.

Battery News

As with all jukeboxes there are advantages and disadvantages to each design. The one stunning disadvantage to the Gmini 400 is that the battery is in this model is built-in. After all the problems in the past that Archos had with the FM20's built-in battery (although in fairness Archos were very good about replacing them quickly and without too much fuss), and all the problems Apple had with the iPod's built-in battery (see the bottom of that page), you have to wonder why anyone would choose to lock the battery in. Having said that it's only fair to report that we know of no actual fault with the batteries, so this is only a potential problem.

The internal battery will keep the Gmini 400 playing music for about 10 hours plus and keep the video playing for about 5 hours plus.

Games; Record Music; Play Music, Video & Movies ... it's like some kind of crazy futuristic portable living room. And, you're never going to get tired of hearing this: It's as small as, and light as the iPod.

You see this jukebox? It's beautiful, it's practical, it's fun; it's small, light and slim. Sold.