Archos 7

The Archos 7 is the big brother of the Archos 5. It has all of the same features, but the screen has increased from five inches to seven inches.

Handling

A part from the device itself, you will find the following items in the box: headphones, USB cable, DVR Station adapter, power adapter/charger…. Yes, indeed, good news: this one comes with a charger! Second surprise, the display has anti-glare screen protection which is just as well as it is as made to be used outdoors. Strange that Archos would not choose minimize display reflection on the Archos 5 too.

The 7 has 2 speakers, but audio quality is better via the headphones. The back panel has a chrome casing on which fingerprints tend to linger. The stand to hold the device upright is in the middle, which is convenient. The hard drive however vibrates and that may be slightly annoying to some.

The Archos 7 is not a real “pocket” device, at over 600 grams, this is a heavy one.

What you get with a bigger screen.

Video playback is indeed better and the viewing comfort improved. There have been complaints regarding the anti-reflective display, as it it feels like a thin veil on top of the screen. True, the images may not be as sharp and vivid as on the Archos 5, but sill it is better not to be bothered by reflections. A PMP/MID is not meant to be watched at home, like a TV.

With a 800 pixel-wide resolution and a 7” screen, you can browse the Web in full width. No need to zoom in and out, Web pages are fully displayed. Though the device supports Flash, it is not a full version, making it impossible to use web sites such as Deezer.
And forget about using the device as a stand-in computer, you do no want to write a report using the virtual keyboard !

In terms of software, the Archos policy is to sell plug-ins and add-ons through their website. According to the company, this is because the licence fee is expensive and one should be able to purchase only what one needs. Still, by default the player won’t play mpeg-2 and mpeg-4 files, so don’t even think about films from DVD and HD movies. Shame, when you have such a display.

Two versions of the Archos 7 are available, one with a 160 GB and one with 320 GB.