Great travel companion

The need:
I travel extensively for work and I was either carting a portable DVD player and dvds or stressing my work laptop and carrying the same DVDs. The drawback to the portable DVD player and the laptop is battery life. Both claim to have 5 hour battery times but in reality they barely get past two hours. I needed a solution to occupy my down time while in a terminal or on a plane. The solution had to be compact, have good battery life and be flexible enough to satisfy my boredom at any moment. Enter the Archos 605.

The Good:
The Archos 605 device is an extremely portable device that can occupy me for hours. It not only contains the video flexibility I need but it eliminates the need to haul DVDs. With 30 GB of memory, I can convert or save many hours of video or movies. Thew system has extreme flexibility to record off of a video dock connected to my cable box or convert DVDs via a fair use program to be saved on my 605. I have 20 movies stored for travel and 1000+ songs. There is plenty of room for more movies or music. The battery has given about 5 hours+ on video playback so far so I can get in at least two movies before a recharge. The unit is portable (4.8" wide by 3.2" tall and .6" thick". The 4.3" diagonal screen does not provide big screen experience but the picture is adequate for personal viewing on a plane or in a terminal. The screen coupled with a nice set of sound isolating headphones will tune out all outside distractions. I'm still waiting for an acceptable version of the video glasses to couple with this device. The music component does not have the same fidelity as my ipod but will suffice when your eyes are tired. I still carry the ipod too because it fits in my pocket and sounds better.

The WiFi component is outstanding coupled in this all in one device. It is not the same as WiFi on a laptop (laptop is faster but more cumbersome to pull out & set up). Generally the WiFi is slower but acceptable when you need to look something up quickly (i.e. sports scores, news, general knowledge). The touch screen is nice because it allows the user to avoid the somewhat cumbersome mini pop up keyboard. The unit comes with a stylus that helps but nowhere to put it unless you buy the leather case (a good investment). The little kickstand is also a nice feature that allows the unit to stand by itself on the airline tray or a desk.

There is also a plethora of add ons to customize the device for your needs. The ARCHOS content portal provides a valuable link to Archos friendly downloadable content for your device. I also have the video dock (highly recommended) that will charge the unit as it records your favorite programming.

The Bad:
The bad, if you can call it that, can be summed up succinctly. The WiFi does not have the same range at fringe areas as a laptop and is not as flexible as Internet Explorer. You will have no issues in a strong signal area, but at the edges of WiFi range you may not be able to connect. The add-ons are all a la carte and they aren't cheap. I would have liked to have had the browser included as the device is a WiFi device. My last gripe about the device is the time to charge the battery. Even with the travel charger, it takes a few hours to achieve a full charge. Don't bother with the included USB charger as it will take a full night to charge.