Across the internet, you’ll find websites offering MP3 Software, either for free or for a reasonable price. Of course, we know that if your portable media player is of the high-end class, you have to pay for everything you download: from movies to albums, and even for applications. There are websites offering free downloads of almost the same software, but you have to be wary of viruses that may crawl from the internet to your hardware.

When you find the website that you can trust, try and check out what they can offer you. Usually, they have hundreds, if not thousands, of software and apps made, tweaked, or customized by other users and professionals. They keep them all in categories to make the website more organized and to keep potential downloaders from getting confused and moving on to the next best organized MP3 software website.

Here are the most common categories, along with their definitions and possible contents, you can find in most online downloading sites:

MP3 Screensavers. Want a great slideshow to accompany your funky music? You can download screensavers that will fit your preferences. In fact, you can even make your own screensaver: a photo compiler can arrange your photos into a beautiful slideshow—with your favorite music.

MP3 Encoders and Decoders. It is a big hassle when you realize that the file you downloaded is not compatible with your player. Turn your .wav and .wma files into playable .mp3 using these available software!

CD and DVD Burners. When space is no longer enough in you PMP, then it is time to burn some in CDs or DVDs. Using your OS’s burning software may prove to be rocket science, so people who find the same dilemma have created user-friendly software to assist you.

MP3 Recorders and Streaming. Be it be a real-time interview or a streaming online, you can find downloadable software in this category. It may also be a convenient tool for you when you need to record sound clip using your laptop. The output file is automatically saved in .mp3, so there’s no more additional conversion process involved.

MP3 Mixers, Splitters, and Normalizers. These are three different categories but the aim is the same: to edit your current .mp3 file. You can mix multiple songs in to one continuous loop, or maybe create the mix CD you promised your friend. You can split the voice and the music, creating a minus-one. With the use of the normalizer, you can “normalize” the volume settings of all the files, so you can’t be hassled by constantly having to adjust the volume on your player.

MP3 Programming. In this category, you’ll find the tools that you need to create your own software program. Using these tools, you can tweak existing software to fit your specifications—with the permission of the initial creator, of course; lest you want to face IPR issues.

Whatever you download, just make sure that it is compatible with your operating system and hardware. Downloading a software that has conflicting issues with your hardware might be a total waste of time.

Over the course of the 21st century, technology has been in abundance. From brick-sized cellular phones to thumb-sized data recording devices, everything we had before we were even born are getting smaller. What’s great is that even though they are several sizes smaller from their technological predecessors, they have more features and extras, making their use an all the more better experience.

One of the technologies sporting this characteristic is the MP3 Player. It came from a line of music players, each bigger than the first one. If you’re going to backtrack on the music players ever to have been invented, we have the CD player, the cassette player, the mini-cassette, and then to the not-so-handy ones, which are actually just bigger versions of these music players.

Even the MP3 players that we know now are slightly different from the ones we have three to four years ago. The major difference: memory space and unit price. Before, you only get a maximum of 512kb for a very expensive price. An MP3 Player 2GB is the lowest common storage capacity for mp3 players today, and you only pay for even half the price for the 512kb from three years ago. Some players even go beyond 32GB, even surpassing the least common storage capacity for laptops. The more sophisticated the brand name of your MP3 Player is, the more dollars you pay.

Apart from storage capacity, brand names take on the challenge of attracting more buyers by enhancing their physical designs. Some come in colorful cases, others in stylish cuts; some even take on the visage of famous cartoon personalities, like Hello Kitty and Pikachu, to name a few. Brand owners always make sure that their designs have an edge from the other brands, and showcasing a storage capacity of MP3 Player 2GB or more is not enough.

Some brands and units are customizable, the goals of which is to make the MP3 player fit the personality of its owner. There are changeable skins and stick-on crystals, even packages where you can change the color of your player for everyday of the week. Not only that, they also invest in incorporating more user-friendly software and features in their units.

Who would have thought that your MP3 player could also double as a camera? In some units, you can even access the internet through WiFi, watch the latest episode of Gossip Girl, and listen not only to pre-saved MP3 music, but also to FM radio stations. Some of the cheapest players, even the MP3 player 2GB capacity is filled with several perks; these units usually have an expandable memory. Push in a 4GB Memory Card and you’re good to go.

Purchasing your own music player may sound easy… but once you’re inside the store, you must prepare to be overwhelmed with all the choices that are made available to you. Choose the unit that you can maximize in terms of use, and keep in mind that more features doesn’t mean that it’s better.

Considered the most advanced Portable Media Player, or PMP, the Archos MP3 Player is a multimedia package in itself. Charged with various features that can match and even overcome other PMPs, the Archos line has continued to release until the 5th Archos Generation. In 2007, the Archos Generation Five was introduced to the public with the release of the Archos 105.

The Archos Generation 5

The Archos 105 is the very first Archos Gen5 PMP released. It has a 1.8-inch screen using organic light-emitting diode. It is also flash-based, and is compatible with .WMV files. This hasn’t been phased out; it is available in 2GB storage capacity.

The first Archos PMP to have a hard drive version is the Archos 405. Like the previous PMP, it is also flash-based, has expandable memory, and has a higher-end screen display.

With the popularization of WiFi comes the 605 WiFi. It was launched in September of year 2007, and has higher storage capacities as compared to the previous release. Likewise, there had been changes in the physical layout of the media player: thinner unit, smaller buttons, non-removable batteries, the kickstand changed in orientation. It uses a higher version of Flash and the internet platform Opera. With the introduction of Internet, it has become easier for Archos MP3 player users to download and even rent media via private content portals.

More than two months after the 605 was released, the Archos 705 came into the scene. It sported a higher compatibility to more software and hardware, and the operating system was restructured. The screen display is better, too: it uses Truecolor instead of the usual 18-bit color.

Later on, the Archos 605 and 705 GPS were released, this time with all the perks and beauty of the 605, but with an added enhancement of a Global Positioning System that gives real-time traffic news and updates. It supports areas in Europe North America and China. It is made available to the public in 4GB and 30 GB hard drive capacity.

Optional Accessories

There are optional accessories that you can purchase with your Archos MP3 Player to optimize your user experience. For DVD quality resolution videos, the DVR Station is a good investment. It connects using composite, S-video, RGB or YPbPr video inputs. What’s more fun is that youcan actually view online TV schedules and schedule them for a download. You can surf the web using the QWERTY remote control.

Internet accessibility via Opera does not come in every unit; you have to download and unpack it yourself since this is also an optional plug-in. More support was added to internet browsing, using upgraded versions of Flash. From Flash 7, units are given access to upgrades to Flash 9; therefore, Archos units are able to capture the latest Flash-based applications without having to worry about compatibility issues.

The Archos MP3 Players are the best portable media players to date. With this single, handy device, you can do a wide array of things, from listening to music, to watching videos, to downloading software. It’s truly a versatile PMP.

When talking about PMPs (Personal Media Players), you can’t leave the best Archos MP4 player out of the conversation. The Archos 43 vision is a remarkable work of art that’s designed to give you an enhanced video experience while enjoying the option of listening to MP4 and MP3 music, viewing images, files, and a host of other excellent features.

Design

The Archos 43 Vision gets its name because it sports a large 4.3″ touch screen. The screen is absolutely beautiful, with crystal-clear pixels that render vividly and bright. The tradeoff with having a large screen is generally a decrease in battery life, but this Archos MP4 player clocks in at about 6 hours of battery life during continuous video use. For a PMP, that’s actually really good. Your battery life will be much greater when only using it for music, as the display turns off when it’s not needed. You can expect to get about 18 hours of battery life when using it exclusively for audio playback.

The screen features touch technology, and it’s quite intuitive to use. it’s very easy to navigate through the animated menu system, even when your music library is huge. This Archos MP4 player is simple and fashionable while maintaining a futuristic elegance.

The screen is a 4.3″ color TFT LCD which displays at 480 x 272 pixels. Its dimensions measure 4.41″ x 2.87″ x 0.39″, and it weighs 9.88 ounces.

Video

Where this Archos MP4 Player really shines is in its video playback ability. The Archos 43 Vision gives you a very pleasurable experience while watching movies or TV shows; picture quality is stunning. One real bonus is the fact that this Archos MP4 player supports multiple various video file types, which means you won’t have to worry about your files being compatible with the Archos 43 Vision. Also, video quality is often lost when converting video file types, so you can be sure that your video will be displayed in its original, full quality.

Transfering files between your PC and the Archos 43 Vision is as easy as it gets with the included drag-and-drop software interface.

Audio

While the most emphasis has been put on the Archos 43 Vision’s ability to playback quality video, let’s not forget that it’s also the premier Archos MP4 player. With a capacity of 8GB, you can store anywhere between 3,000 and 4,000 songs on the device—enough to last for a week! Archos has really outdone itself on the “nice to have” features list as well, including the ability to view the album art of any song you add to it, as well as the lyrics so you can follow along (or sing along, if you like!) to your songs. I have found this feature to be extremely useful and convenient, especially when I can’t understand some of the lyrics in a song. The Archos 43 Vision helps me solve that problem immediately.

This Archos MP4 player also comes with a micro-SD card which allows you to increase the capacity of the unit to almost unlimited levels. And the built-in equalizer is customizable which means you can tailor any song any way you like. Personally, I like more bass when I’m in the car.

But what I think is REALLY cool is the fact that the Archos 43 Vision has built-in speakers, a feature that I haven’t seen in any other Archos MP4 player, let alone any MP4 player currently on the market. The speakers are small but they sound great for their size.

Other Features

In addition to the host of features I’ve already discussed, this Archos MP4 player boasts the ability to store and display image files in a JPEG, GIF, or BMP format. Once again, the images look beautiful on the screen. Built-in software also allows you to view images in a slideshow format and queue up music to be played in the slideshow background.

Another feature which I absolutely love is the built-in voice recorder, which lets you record voice memos or just about anything else you want. Be it class lectures or business meetings, this feature always seems to come in handy when I need it most.

Conclusion

The 43 Vision is an Archos MP4 player that I highly recommend. Not only is it absolutely gorgeous from the outside, but its software, user-friendliness, sound quality, and video quality are simply unparalleled. Pair those qualities with the fact that it’s much more than just a music player—it’s a multimedia player—and you’ll see why I have rated the Archos 43 Vision as the best Archos MP4 player on the market.

The Archos 3cam Vision is one of Archos’ new masterpieces. The following is my review of it; I’ll explain what makes it so awesome, so you can make an educated, informed purchasing decision on your next MP3/MP4 player.

There are so many cool things about the Archos 3cam Vision that I’m going to divide this review into sections to help you keep track of it all. First, Let’s talk about the design and interface of the Archos 3cam Vision.

Design and Interface

As the name implies, this MP3/MP4 player has a 3″ beautiful color TFT screen at 400×200 pixels. The colors are vibrant and vivid, and the display is crisp and clear. The touch interface is very intuitive, especially if you’re already accustomed to using an iPhone or iPod Touch. It measures 3.82″ x 2.05″ x 0.35″ so it’s easily small enough to fit in your pocket comfortably. It weighs in at 2.26 ounces so it’s comfortable to bring with you anywhere, too.

Video Camera

Video looks fantastic on the Archos 3cam Vision’s 3″ crystal-clear screen. But you’re not just limited to video playback; you can actually record video and take still pictures as well, which is super-cool in my book. It really makes the Archos 3cam Vision a winner in the “must-have-tech” gadget category. The camera works well indoors and outdoors and saving the video and image files to your Mac or PC is dead-simple; you just plug in your Archos 3cam Vision via an included USB 2.0 High-speed cable and work within an intuitive drag and drop software interface. You can also transfer files from your PC or Mac to your Archos 3cam Vision using the same interface, and then playback video at any time, which looks gorgeous, doesn’t skip, and runs at a smooth framerate. Viewing images looks excellent, too. The colors are vivid and the image is sharp.

Music

The Archos 3cam Vision is like musical nirvana; the sound quality is clear and crisp. One really cool feature is the lyrics function, which displays the lyrics of your songs across the screen as they play. It’s awesome for finally figuring out some tough-to-understand lyrics so you can sing along with your songs loud and proud. I have also found it very useful for learning lyrics to songs which I am working on learning to play on my guitar.

FM Radio Receiver/Transmitter

One of the coolest features of the Archos 3cam Vision is its ability to not only tune into FM radio signals, but also to broadcast signals on any frequency. So if you get tired of listening to your own songs, it’s easy to switch over to the radio and enjoy some new tunes. The transmitter is an extra-handy feature on road trips when you want to stream music from your library wirelessly through your car radio speakers. All you need to do is select the song (or playlist) you want to broadcast, set the broadcast frequency, and then tune your car radio to that frequency. You’ll instantly have wireless playback capabilities through your car speakers which is totally cool and convenient.

Audio Recorder

The Archos 3cam Vision comes equipped with an audio recorder that’s perfect for recording voice memos, live music at concerts, audio from a movie theater, a class lecture, a business meeting, and many other events. It can even record the radio broadcast from its own FM tuner which is truly unique and downright awesome.

Battery life & Storage Capacity

The Archos 3cam Vision has 8GB of storage space which should be good enough for 2,000-4,000 songs, several videos, or tens of thousands of images. Oh, it also has the ability to store and display text (.txt) files too, which opens up a whole new world of possibilities. You can bring a book or other important documents on-the-go by simply converting them to text files and loading them on the Archos 3cam Vision. Battery life ranges from about 14 hours during continuous music playback to 4 hours during continuous video playback.

The Archos 3cam Vision comes packed with even more features like an adjustable equalizer, calculator, calendar, and much more. But I think you get the idea, right? It’s awesome and it’s totally jam-packed with features. I highly recommend the Archos 3cam Vision and I’m sure you’ll be absolutely delighted with your decision to buy one if you choose to do so.

The Archos 3 Vision is a unique MP3/MP4 player loaded with quality features in Archos’ overall impressive lineup. With this MP3/MP4 player, Archos was aiming for a mid-price range competitor to the iPod which boasts functionality that the iPod doesn’t have. Here’s my review of the Archos 3 Vision.

To describe the Archos 3 Vision in a few words: Performance, Style, Quality. This MP3/MP4 player is particularly impressive because of its elegant, sophisticated, yet simplistic appeal. So, where to start? How about the music playback?

The music is crystal clear and has an excellent range of low and high tones. This is definitely the meat of the device (considering most people will get the most use out of its music playback features), so it’s important that Archos do this part right. Well, I’ll tell you what; they did it perfectly. The sound equalizer is better than most MP3/MP4 players on the market so you can customize the sound the way you like it. The music sounds great, and navigating through the software menu system is easy and intuitive. You can select random playback which shuffles your library and keeps you guessing as to what song will come next. The touch screen is nice and responsive and the overall visual appeal of the device is quite attractive.

But the Archos 3 Vision has way more features than just music playback (which, by the way, handles music in multiple file formats: MP3, WMA, OGG, FLAC, and WAV). It’s called the Archos 3 because of its gorgeous 3″ touch screen which displays vivid colors and sharp images and video. Don’t adjust your monitor; you read that right. The Archos 3 Vision plays video. So why is this such a big deal? Well, it basically turns your MP3/MP4 player into a portable DVD player as well. What makes this feature really cool is that there’s no file conversion necessary; just drag-and-drop your video files onto the device from your PC using the included Archos Media Management software and bam, you’re all set.

With 14 hours of battery life on continuous music playback and 4 hours on continuous video playback, you’ll have plenty of time to watch a couple movies or fall asleep to peaceful melodies which are still playing even when you awaken.

It’s got plenty of storage space too, with 8GB of memory. That’s enough for 3000-4000 songs, or a few videos, or tens of thousands of images (or a combination of all three).

One of the coolest features is the ability to record voice memos. I always find this feature handy, because I rarely am near a notepad when a brilliant idea strikes. But what’s even cooler is the fact that the Archos 3 Vision can actually record an FM radio signal, which brings me to the next cool feature; it has an FM tuner.

Have you ever felt like you were tired of the music in your library and were ready for listening to something else? I sure have. That’s why I really like this feature. Sometimes, listening to the radio is exactly what I need. Very few MP3/MP4 players on the market have an FM tuner, but this is an awesome feature.

But now, the cherry on top. Not only does the Archos 3 Vision have an FM tuner, it also has an FM broadcaster. This is a seriously cool feature. You can queue up any music from your library and actually broadcast a short-range radio signal with the Archos 3 Vision. You can select what frequency in which to broadcast and then tune your radio to that frequency, and presto, welcome to the world of being a DJ! This feature comes in really handy in the car for wireless playback through your car speakers. If you’re going on a road trip, you can broadcast the audio from a movie through your car speakers and listen to the movie; it’s like a book on tape with much more action!

If you’re still undecided, let me help you: Go ahead and buy the Archos 3 Vision. You won’t be disappointed. I hope this review has helped you!

The Archos 2 Vision is a stylish, gorgeous-looking MP3 player from Archos that features a 2″ color screen (hence its name). Sporting a huge lineup of features and a surprisingly low price, this is a gadget that will certainly get heads turning. The following is my review of my the Archos 2 Vision MP3 player.

It certainly seems that the technology world is bent on making everything smaller. Doesn’t it seem that way to you? Be that as it may, Archos has really pulled off a significant contrast of size vs. functionality with the Archos 2 Vision.

About the same size as a credit card, it’s designed to fit neatly into your pocket while mobile, while maintaining noticeable attractiveness in its futuristic yet simplistic design. Weighing in at 1.34 ounces and measuring only 9mm in depth, the Archos 2 Vision is a sleek little device.

But its size isn’t any indicator of its power and functionality. It packs a whopping 16GB of storage capacity which will hold between 6,000 and 8,000 songs. But even though this is primarily an MP3 player, the feature list only begins with its ability to play music. By the way, a wide range of music filetypes are supported so you won’t have to worry about its ability to play your favorites; it supports MP3, APE, WMA, WAV and FLAC.

Its 2 inch color screen looks wonderful displaying your song library. The onboard software is intuitive and works perfectly for finding whatever songs you want. You have the option of sorting music by song name, artist, or album title.

But the color screen isn’t just for displaying song titles and artist names; you can actually store and view images and videos on the Archos 2 Vision. Cool, huh? Couple this with its small size designed for maximum portability, and you’ve got yourself an excellent, elegant little multimedia player.

One of the innovative ways in which you’ll navigate through the device interface is via the tactile slide bar. This takes a bit of getting used-to, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll find it’s like second nature. One trick to using it is to make sure that you slide your finger across the entire bar.

The Archos 2 Vision features an FM radio player which is one of my favorite features, personally. The sound quality is excellent and has a clear, static-free signal. The onboard audio recorder allows you to record voice memos and can even record the FM signal. This is useful if you’d like to replay a certain song you’ve been dying to hear on the radio.

Video quality is superb and doesn’t skip unlike many other MP3 players. It runs at a good framerate and appears very high quality. It comes with an onboard software converter which will take your videos and make them compatible with the Archos 2 Vision’s small screen.

The Archos 2 Vision also comes with a built-in micro SD card slot which allows you to add even more music, images, and videos. It makes the storage capacity of the unit basically limitless, which other popular MP3 players such as the iPod certainly can’t claim.

You can expect about 10 hours of battery life with continuous music playback, and about 4 hours of continuous video playback (enough to get through 2 movies!).

The Archos 2 Vision is small, but as you can see, it’s absolutely loaded with features. If you’re looking for elegance, style, and functionality in your MP3 player, I highly recommend the Archos 2 Vision.

The Archos 15 vision is Archos’ first touch-screen interface MP3/MP4 player. Archos has combined size, elegance, and functionality with this edition to its line of quality MP3/MP4 players. This article offers a review of the Archos 15 vision so you can make an educated, informed purchasing decision.

Allow me to start by describing the Archos 15 vision with 1 word: Awesome. Archos’ first touch-screen MP3/MP4 player works as beautifully as it looks. It’s glossy, compact, and lightweight. Amazingly, it’s only about 1/4″ thick and weighs less than an ounce. It’s been designed to fit in any pocket you have, nomatter how small.

Equipped with a 1.5″ TFT color screen, it’s easy to see all your music files, view images, and even playback video. Yes, this little thing has video playback.

But what’s even cooler is the touch interface which has been perfectly adapted for this tiny device. The entire front control panel is perfectly flat so you won’t get any sand, crumbs, or other debris stuck between buttons, which is one of my biggest gripes with most electronic gadgets these days.

Archos 15 Vision

So let’s get the obvious part out of the way; The Archos 15 vision plays music. In addition to MP3 and WMA formats, it also has the ability to playback WAV files as well as FLAC and APE filetypes.

But you’re interested in the other features, right? Ok, here we go. The Archos 15 vision has an FM radio tuner so you can listen to music even if you don’t have any songs in your library! Personally, I really like this feature because sometimes I just get tired of my music library. It’s always refreshing to be able to switch to the FM tuner and hear some new songs on the radio. It’s also useful at work if I feel like listening to a talk show or the news.

The Archos 15 vision only only has a radio tuner and the ability to playback video, it also stores and displays image files. Since images are usually quite small in file size, you can store literally thousands of photos and use the Archos 15 like a little portable photo gallery.

One of my favorite features is the voice memo capability. I love to be able to capture great ideas the moment I have them; I often just forget them if I don’t write them down, but I never seem to be near a pen and paper. So the Archos 15 gets the job done and just seems to be the gadget that keeps on giving. I try to bring it with me wherever I go so I can capture my moments of brilliance.

Sporting a 1.5″ color TFT screen, it’s easy to navigate through your files and the intuitive menu system. It also stores and displays .txt files so you can easily bring documents with you on-the-go and review them. If you want, you can copy/paste an entire book into a .txt file and read it right on your Archos 15 vision! There are tons of ways you can use this feature and I’m sure I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface.

Battery life is about 10 hours of continuous music playback which is more than you’ll ever need, and of course the battery is rechargeable so you won’t need to buy extra batteries for it. It comes with 4GB of onboard strorage capacity which is enough to store between 1,500 and 2,000 songs or thousands of images and text files. The Archos 15 vision connects to your computer via a USB 2.0 High Speed cable and comes with software that makes it extremely easy to manage your music library on the Archos 15 via a drag-and-drop software design.

I think you’ll love the Archos 15 Vision. I highly recommend it; the price is fantastic for all the features you get. And if you’re like me, you value elegant design for your electronic gadgets. Rest assured; the Archos 15 is sure to quench your thirst for elegance moreso than any other MP3/MP4 player on the market.

The Archos 14 vision is extremely unique; I’ve really never seen anything like it. Archos apparently wanted to design an MP3 player that looks like a jewel. Well, it did just that. In this article I’ll review the Archos 14 vision.

The Archos 14 vision is a mini MP3/MP4 player that combines functionality, versatility, and fashion. Staying true to Archos’ design tradition, it’s extremely small, weighing less than 1 ounce. It’s less than 2 inches tall and wide, and less than half an inch thick. But don’t let its small size fool you; it’s packed with features that really add to the value of this MP3 player, somehow without seeming to affect the price. The end result is an MP3/MP4 player that works as well as a media player as it does a conversation starter.

Archos designed the Archos 14 vision to be wearable from just about anywhere on your body; you can clip it to your shirt, pocket, or even wear it around your neck. Its attractive front-face glimmers in the sun and looks a lot like a gemstone at first glance. When you awaken it by pressing a button and its beautiful 1.44″ color TFT screen lights up, you’ll instantly have the attention of everyone as they marvel at this wonderful little device.

From the front, only the glimmering screen is visible. Hidden along the sides are easy-access buttons which provide intuitive and functional controls for the device. One of my favorite features included in the Archos 14 vision is the ability to listen to FM radio stations. Sometimes I get tired of my music library and just want to listen some good ‘ole radio. This is a feature that even the iPod doesn’t have, and it truly adds a ton of value to this device.

Another great feature is the ability to record voice memos; which can be useful in a ton of situations. For example, imagine you’re jogging on a nice, sunny day and you suddenly have a brilliant “Ah-ha!” moment. You obviously don’t have anything handy with which to write down your idea, but you can simply record your idea on the Archos 14 vision with the press of a button.

Continuing with the long lineup of awesome features, the Archos 14 vision is more than just an MP3/Mp4 player; it’s a multimedia player. It can display images in .jpg or .bmp format, playback music in a wide variety of formats (MP3, WMA, WAV, FLAC, APE), display images, and – here’s the kicker – it even has video playback. It comes with an onboard converter that will convert your video files to be compatible with its small screen. So to sum up, here’s what it can do:

• Play MP3/MP4 music files
• Listen to FM radio stations
• Watch Video
• View Images/photos
• Record voice memos

If that’s not enough to convince you how cool this gadget is, then get this: It has 4GB of storage (enough for 1,500 to 2,000 songs) and a whopping 11 hours of battery life for music (2.5 hours for video playback – enough for at least one full movie!).

I hope you’ve found this review helpful. The Archos 14 vision is really a quite remarkable MP3 Player. I don’t know how Archos managed to pack so many features into such a small space, but they really achieved something fantastic with the Archos 14 vision. I fully recommend it – and I’m sure you’ll love it too.

Archos 14 Vision

Archos 1 vision is the first in Archos’ lineup of color-screen MP3/MP4 players. Staying true to Archos’ dedication to sleek, attractive design, Archos 1 vision is small; you can hide it with a credit card. It’s light, too; no heavier than a pack of breath mints. What follows is a review of the Archos 1 vision so you can make an educated, informed purchasing decision.

The Archos 1 vision is more than just an attractive design with a visual interface; it’s packed with features. It has a built-in audio recorder so you can record voice memos for later. I absolutely LOVE this feature because I have a lot of ideas but never seem to have anything with which to write them down! Students might also find this feature useful for recording class lectures (or staying home “sick” and letting your classmate record it!). Business professionals can use it to record meetings for review later. Or if you meet a pretty lady while going for a jog and realize you’ve forgotten your phone, you can simply record her phone number. There are so many uses for this feature, it really adds a lot of value to the Archos 1 vision.

It’s also able to not only playback music files in multiple formats (MP3, WMA, FLAC, APE, WAV), and allows you to store and view photos and image files; an extraordinary feature for such a compact device. Images are able to be displayed as long as they are saved in .jpeg or .bmp format, which covers the vast majority of images you’ll be dealing with.

Aside from its multimedia playback capabilities, it really packs a ton of storage space in such a small area. With 4GB of capacity, you can store between 1,500 and 2,000 songs. 4 GB is enough for tens of thousands of images. And it’ll keep you going with 21 hours of continuous battery life, which is really remarkable for such a small MP3 player.

The high-quality, detailed 1.5″ color TFT screen displays a menu system which is simple and intuitive. Your music library can be sorted by artist, album, or song title so you can easily find whatever song you’re looking for, or queue up a complete album if you’re in the mood.

You connect the Archos 1 vision to your PC with a simple USB 2.0 connector. It has a drag-and-drop interface which is really as easy as it gets. Archos has really done a great job on making the system intuitive.

In conclusion, I highly recommend the Archos 1 vision. It’s the perfect combination of sound quality, size, price, and features for an MP3 player.