| PRODUCT DETAILS | | Archos Gmini 220 20 GB MP3 Jukebox / Recorder / Photo Wallet-Viewer with Compact Flash Reader |  | |
Archos Gmini 220 20 GB MP3 Jukebox / Recorder / Photo Wallet-Viewer with Compact Flash Reader
The ARCHOS Gmini 220 is a handheld MP3, WMA and WAV audio player. This unique, compact device is the first MP3 player you can personalize by downloading plug-ins directly from the ARCHOS web site (at additional charge). Optional Plug-Ins & Add-Ons - CompactFlash Reader for copying images or data MadWaves Interactive Music Composer Compose MP3 music and sing to rap, hip-hop & techno FM Remote Control Tuner Has CompactFlash card reader-writer port PC & Mac compatible Includes USB cable, AC-DC adapter / charger, software on CD Size - 4.45 x 3.07 x 1.02
Manufacturer: Archos
Price: $299.95
 Archos Gmini 220 20 GB MP3 Jukebox / Recorder / Photo Wallet-Viewer with Compact Flash Reader
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| User Reviews |  | Hard disk that wants to b a MP3 player
rating: 4
I bought it as a MP3 player, but also was looking for portable hard disk.
I use it for three years so far.
Pros:
1. Cheep for provided capasity.
2. Very good battery life.
3. Excellent sound.
4. CF reader.
Cons:
1. Can not be charged from USB.
2. Terrible buttons. Hard/irresponsible :-(
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Constant challenges - technical and ethical
rating: 1
I wanted to like this device. The form factor, long battery life, and ability to load music without special software are great. Unfortunately, my primary reason for purchasing the Gmini 220 was to use it as a backup for the photos I took on my digital camera.
Let me start with the good things. I got the device home (not from Amazon), pulled it out of the box, charged it up and plugged it in to my computer. It showed up instantly and I was able to copy MP3s and playlists directly to the Gmini without even having to read the manual. The music sounded great and it usually plays for more than 5 hours on a charge.
The navigation is a little clunky and there's a noticeable delay when transitioning from one track to the next, but once you've organized your music into playlists and queued them up, all you have to do is sit back and listen because the Gmini will play for hours...
Having dispensed with the basics, I read through the manual and moved on to the primary purpose for which I had purchased the Gmini; backing up photos from my digital camera. Copying files from a flash card couldn't be simpler. When you plug in the card, the Gmini automatically offers you options to copy or move files from the inserted card. It couldn't be easier. Unfortunately, upon returning to my computer, I discovered that about 1 in 7 of the images copied to the Gmini were corrupted.
I tried copying instead of moving the files. The files on the Gmini were corrupt, while the ones on the CF card were not. I was never able to contact technical support via phone, but after my third email, I received a response. The support rep pleaded with me not to return the unit and explained that they were working on the problem and would have a new firmware to address the issue soon. The rep went on to assure me that if I was not satisfied, Archos would accept a return of the unit for a refund.
About 30 days later, a new firmware was released. As far as I could tell, it did nothing to fix the problem. Another firmware was released 5 days later. Still no fix. By this time, I could no longer return the Gmini to the store where I had purchased it, but I continued posting whatever I could determine about the problem to the support forums. At this point, the corruption occurred at exactly the same location (30 bytes after the header) in every mangled file.
After two months of essentially one-sided conversation with the support folks, I requested a refund. There was no response to my request. I posted my request in the customer service forum and was told that Archos did not refund directly to consumers and that my only recourse would be to return the unit to the store where I had purchased it.
Buyer beware.
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Battery life is killer
rating: 4
I got my Gmini 220 in summer of 2005, when iPods were doing the circuit and they had yet to come out with the ability to see color photos. I was ecstatic about it and did not mind the fact that it was not color. The bulky-ness of it is not that attractive but could be worse. The fact that MusicMatch Jukebox sucks means nothing to me because I don't and haven't been able to sync with it, instead I use it as other users do and pretend its a hard drive.
The biggest downfall has to be the battery which for me last only about 4 or 5 hours. The fact that I can't replace it just makes me sad and there's hardly any point to hooking it up to my car because out of 3 possible bars of battery, it will quickly go to 1 bar and very soon just stop playing.
But really above all, its small, you can show pictures to your friends, you can have people ask you if its a Zune, and no one knows really what it is so they won't steal it.
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CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCKS
rating: 1
The screen on the gmini stopped working after 8 months (within the 1 year warranty). It took 2 weeks to contact Archos to recieve an RMA number to mail it for repair. It then took 7 weeks to have it repaired and returned.
I was first told that I would have to pay for the new screen (not covered under warranty). I was referred to customer service to settle the problem. I was told to fax a copy of the receipt(tech support had the receipt with the unit). The customer support person was fired during this process (the voice mailbox was full). I finally spoke with someone in tech support who had some authority to finally repair it...I'm so afraid to EVER have to have the unit repaired again. Don't try the website...it took 2 weeks for someone to repond to me there. I won't buy another Archos product because of this experience.
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An MP3 player for guys ...
rating: 4
Well, I won't claim this is a perfect product, I have used
iPod 20GB, Creative Zen Extra 40gb, iRiver PMP-140(40GB),
iRiver H10 5GB/20GB. By far I consider archos is the
best among all.
I don't like iPod or Creative. Don't get me wrong, they are
find products, but I just hate the way they organize the
music purly by the information stored inside the MP3 files.
I like to organize my songs by directories and sub-directories,
and maybe sub-directories under sub-directories, just like a
hard drive. But in iPod and Creative I feel like all my albums
are spreaded all over the table, I have to scroll down several
pages to locate an album. Not to mention the information stored
inside the songs is not always accurate. In some languages,
the same word can have different codes. Like chinese has Big5
and GB, so the same singer published by TaiWan and Mainland
china will appear under two names! And the two names are not
always together!
I had huge problem with iRiver PMP-140. The damn thing automatically
switch between play and fast forward, it doesn't play 192 bit.
Finally I had to return it.
iRiver H10 5GB is a nice product, but a little too expensive
considering its small disk size, and it doesn't connect to PC
smoothly, some day it gets connected with no problem, some day
it doesn't, there are weird ways to solve the problem on internet,
just google it.
iRiver H10 20GB is OK, but transferring songs is super slow,
especially on a celeron processor, plus, the battery is not
interchangable, and you can't just plug it in any computer
and expect it to be connected -- you need to log in as an
administrator to install software, This is going to be a
problem for people like me who doesn't have administrator
privilege on a office PC.
OK, so how do I like this Archos 220? First, the compact flash
card reader is the best! I am a photo enthusiast. I take tons
of photos with my Nikon D70. With gmini 220, I literally take
with me a 20GB harddisk! I can transfer my photos to the Gmini
220 anytime I want. Got memory stick? no problem, buy the 4-in-1
compact flash card adaptor and you are good to go! Don't trust
the so called "USB-on-the-fly" thing, First you to carry a cable
or a card reader with you, second it doesn't work with all cameras,
Third, most "USB-on-the-fly" supports only USB1.1 host, the transfer
speed is terribly slow. I tried the one on that iRiver PMP-140, it
literally takes 15 seconds to transfer one picture file -- you will
probably run out of battery before you finish transferring files.
On my Gmini 220, One 3Mb photo takes less than 1 second. I spent a
vacation to Vegas and Grand Canyon a few weeks ago, where I took over
1GB photos, all photos were transferred to my gmini220 and carried
back safely, no problem at all!
I also like the way gmini connects to PC: no software required,
no installation, no need to log in as an administrator. When you
connect to a PC, it becomes a hard drive automatically. copying
files to 220 is just like copying files from one disk to another.
I did have connection problem on one of my older Dell PC, but it
connects perfectly on my all other newer PCs and laptops. According
to archos website, they suggest you to upgrade BIOS, I yet to try
that out.
It has dual organization methods of your music library. You can
browse your music files through directory structure, just like what
you would do on a PC hard drive, or, if you prefer, you can use ARC
library, which is similar to windows Media player, search your library
by singer, album etc.
The screen of gmini220 is bigger than other MP3 players, although it
is black/while, but I found it is very practical, I've never wanted
to view my photo or video in a tiny little screen, why do I need
a color screen?
But as I said, it is not perfect. here are something that I think
archos should improve:
1 The factory-installed battery really sucks, they should use higher
capacity battery and make it interchangable
2 There is ZERO customer serivce, they don't reply your email and their
phone line is always busy
3 No carrying case, my screen got scratched the 2nd day I got it.
4 It's a little bit ugly, not a main issue for guys like me, but
probably your girl friend won't like it.
5 If only it is 40GB ...
6 It does support Asia languages like Chinese, but you can disply
either GB or Big5, not both. That is annoying but not a disaster,
some Big5 characters still gets displayed correctly under GB system
(vice verse).
Overall I like the gmini 220 and would recommend it to any of my friends.
I did hear a lot of complaint about this unit on internet, but strangely,
I personally have no problem with mine at all, probably I am lucky? don't
know, will report later if I encounter problems.
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Archos Gmini 220 20 GB MP3 Jukebox / Recorder / Photo Wallet-Viewer with Compact Flash Reader
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