Archos JukeBox Studio (6 GB) MP3 Player

Much like y'all, I browsed around Epinions.com, as well as cnet.com when I was in the market for an mp3 player. The long and short of it is that most of them are the same: tiny, extremely portable, with between 32-128 (occasionally 256) MB of storage space. My concern was this: yes, I'd like it to be small enough to wear it while I work out, but I'd also like to NOT have to sit at my computer every night, loading a different album or mix onto it. Rather, I'd like to be able to choose to listen to whatever album I wanted at whatever time I wanted. Also, what about vacations? You can't rightly go to Italy for 2 weeks with one album to listen to, can you?

Enter the alternatives: The Nomad CD-shaped 6gig mp3 player, or what I chose, the Archos Jukebox 6000, a smaller, hard drive based 6 gigabyte mp3 player. My goals: be able to comfortably wear it in my pocket while working out, and to be able to choose from a variety of albums or mixes on the fly. Did it deliver? Yes, and in small ways, no.

The first thing to understand about the Jukebox is that all it is is a 6gig hard drive. After an easy driver installation, you simply hook the included USB cable to the Jukebox, the other end to your open USB port on your computer, and presto!-It appears on your windows explorer (or on your desktop, for Mac users). Drag and drop files to and from it, just like a normal hard drive. It?s amazingly uncomplicated, which is really nice. In addition, the MusicMatch software included is really good. For the PC, that is. My experience with the software on the Mac was a bit different. In fact, my whole experience using the Jukebox on the Mac was inferior to the PC. One crucial thing about the software are ?playlists?: it?s basically a file that has an order of songs, be it totally mixed, or an album, in order. This playlist, when activated on your Jukebox, tells it what to play. Kind of important. Something for Mac users to know, that I didn?t: at this time, Archos does not support playlists for the Mac. This doesn?t mean that third party creators don?t have software to make them, but it would be much nicer to be able to make them with the included software.

Anyhow, back to the good side. While the included headphones aren?t terrible, they are terrible for working out. Another negative is that the Jukebox isn?t overpoweringly loud. Most of the time, this isn?t a big deal, but in a loud gym, it occasionally can be annoying. Anywhere else I don?t think this issue would even come into play, but in the gym it can be less than desirable. The sound quality itself (remember, we?re talking about mp3s here, not CDs) is rather good. Like all low end audio products, the louder you push it, the worse it sounds. I favor electronic ?trance? music when exercising, and at maximum volume, the kick drum can get a touch distorted. With all of this said, you should understand that I?m extremely sensitive to sound, so much of this probably bothers me more than it would bother you.

Battery life on the Jukebox doesn?t quite live up to the advertised 8 hours on a charge?I?m getting more like three or four. Most of the time, this isn?t a big deal, as I can just recharge it every night. It does concern me a little bit for travel purposes, since it doesn?t accept normal, non-rechargeable batteries, but I think taking along the included AC adapter will be ok.

Bottom line: In my heart of hearts, I think there?s probably better sounding mp3 players out there?..but if you care that much about the fidelity, then you wouldn?t be listening to mp3s in the first place, would you? With that said, I know now that I definitely could never have dealt with a small (under a gigabyte) storage mp3 player, even thought they?re more portable. The Archos is totally easy to work out with, when put in your front pocket. Currently, Archos is offering a $75 rebate, so the whole thing costs under $250. At that price, there?s absolutely no reason not to go for it.