What should I buy Archos, PDA, PSP - Any other suggestions?

daveg

I was planning on buying an archos Jukebox for a round the world
trip which I'll be taking next year. The plan was to fill it with
video's and music so I'll have something to watch on the plane
and in hotels etc during the trip. However I'm concerned about
the screen issues I've read on the web and I'm wondering is there
another product out there that would suit my needs.

I'm particularly interested in PDA's as well. I have very little knowledge
of PDA's so perhaps someone could shed some light. I understand I can
surf the web etc using wifi which is available in most airports, some hotels
etc. I also understand you can listen to music/watch DivX's on a PDA.
However I think the limited capacity of memory on the PDA will be a big issue.

I may also consider a PSP however, again, memory maybe an issue. Is it possible to burn DivX's onto the cd media the PSP accepts?

So what I'm looking for is a versatile product that will play DivX's. Obviously something that is very portable. Masses on memory is very important (I was thinking of the 80GB Archos Jukebox).

Any suggestions?

butts

Dave, its not possible to burn to Sony UMDs and large capacity duo memory cards are expensive so I don't think the PSP is your best option. As for which portable media player would suit you best I'm not sure as there are alot of them out there at the moment but the Archos ones get talked about alot.

Brett Riverboat

DaveG - You might might be interested in the Archos PMA400 - see http://www.archos.com/products/prw_500595_specs.html - I currently have an Archos AV320 and am thinking of upgrading to the above if i can get to the states before Christmas. It appears to do a little bit of all you require.

RE*AC*TOR

AFAIK archos are the only ones going for huge capacities like 80/100gb

the creative and iriver ones are 20gb.

however, bare in mind that the screen size will be relatively small so you can reduce the resolution (time permitting) and save a load of space.

there are lots of programs out there that do this for pdas (would also work for archos).

PDAs are largely crap. mostly a novelty - web browsing on them isn't great - text entry is difficult.

if you have the money - dare i say - get a really small laptop.

Tom Dunne

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

PDAs are largely crap. mostly a novelty - web browsing on them isn't great - text entry is difficult.

Wash your mouth out, young man.

If you get the right pen for the PDA, input can be quite easy. I use a Cross pen that has a plastic nib - perfect for writing on the screen.

Anyway, daveg, you have to weigh up the pro's and cons of a PDA vs. a dedicated device.

The PDA is multi-function, surf, e-mail, phone numbers, all that as you said. Memory is an issue, but bear in mind a 1Gb SD card from these guys is only €90. You could fit three films, or around 350 songs onto a card of this size. They are around the size of a postage stamp, so they wouldn't add a lot to your luggage. I have watched many films on my PDA and it is not too hard on the eyes.

In reality, this is what you need *drool*. Pity it won't be released for a while.

RE*AC*TOR

Well my one and only experience of a pda - was a Windows Pocket PC from Acer. So I can't speak for Palm-based machines. My problem wasn't the pen - its was using the text recognition was slow. So slow in fact that using the onscreen keyboard was usually better.

Also for what the OP is looking for - PDAs just don't offer enough storage.

daveg

Thanks a million for the advice guy's. Tbh I think both a PDA and PSP are out as the only way I can watch films is to use an SD card and that would only allow me up to 2GB.

Brett Riverboat I'm very interested in the PMA400. The combination of jukebox and WIFI sounds just what I'm looking for.

I'm thinking of buying from J&R in new york so I may buy the 4 year warentee in case the screen goes pop.

If anyone has any other comments please post.