November 1st, 2009
Holiday Gift Guide 2009: Digital Media Players
For this Digital Media Player Holiday Guide we will be taking a look at the best devices that offer a complete music playing and video watching experience. There are still some devices that specialize in one or the other, but the capability has improved in most of them so that both types of media content can be enjoyed. Last year we looked at both MP3 players and portable digital video players in two Guides, but are merging them this year since most perform both functions well. Some of these devices can be used for web browsing, 3rd party application usage, and gaming, but we will focus on the music and video support while mentioning some of these more advanced capabilities.
You will see some of the same brand names in this Holiday Guide, but you will also see that updated models continue to improve on the media experience and for the most part you can’t go wrong with these players. You will see that the Guide is arranged in order from highest price device to lowest price device since price is a major factor when you look at one of these media players to purchase.
Archos 5 Internet Tablet
The Archos 5 Internet Tablet is powered by the Google Android operating system and is focused on the media experience with Internet browsing also being a prominent feature. Archos has been know at excelling in portable video playing capability and the Archos 5 continues that tradition. You can view HD video content and photos on the 4.8 inch 800×480 pixel resolution display. The Archos 5 Internet Tablet supports the following video formats; MPEG-4 HD (up to 720p), MPEG-48, H.264, WMV, MKV, and M-JPEG. Supported audio formats include MP3, WMA, AAC+, Ogg Vorbis, and Flac. There are some optional plug-ins available to further enhance support on the Archos 5.
In addition to the various hard drive capacities, the Archos 5 has a microSD card slot with support up to 32GB, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, FM receiver with RDS, and FM transmitter. There are a couple additional accessories to extend the functionality of the device to your TV as well.
With the Google Android operating system you will find that many third party apps seen on Google Android smartphones also work on the Archos 5 Tablet.
Price: $499.99 MSRP for 500GB unit, $399.99 for 160GB, and $379.99 for 32GB Flash drive
[Check out review pages for the 500GB and 32GB models]
Matthew Miller is an avid mobile device enthusiast who works during the day as a professional naval architect in Seattle. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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