Product Reviews

T he AV320 really is a gadget of staggeringly cool proportions. In our August 2003 issue we criticised its little brother, the Archos Jukebox Multimedia AV120, for having far too small a screen. The AV320 neatly addresses this problem, providing a tidy 4in screen: plenty big enough to allow you to watching films or view photos in comfort.

The only downside is that the screen's plastic covering seems prone to scratches and reflections.

The Archos's allure is further enhanced by the fact that it not only plays music and video - it can record them, too! And with a 20GB hard disk built in, you're unlikely to run out

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of space soon. You can record MP3s up to an ample 160Kbit/s, either through the mini-jack input or the built-in microphone. Sound quality is excellent.

Bundled with the AV320 is the DVR100 recording module. This small box plugs into the bottom of the device, and provides a phono input for composite video, plus an S-video connection that you can use to capture footage in the DivX format used by the device. The video captured in this way is plenty good enough for watching on the Archos's 4in screen but won't look good exported to a larger screen. If you do want to watch it through your TV, though, the remote control gives you full control from the comfort of your sofa.

There is, however, one major problem. For the AV320 to play videos, they must be saved in DivX format, a version of the popular MPEG-4 video standard. There are, to our knowledge, no commercial films legally available in DivX format. You can use software on the Web to convert DVDs into DivX form, but it's illegal.

The AV320 is highly desirable - but the difficulty of obtaining movies in DivX format casts a shadow over its usefulness. It's also expensive. For a little more than £500 you can buy a cheap laptop with a DVD drive!