Portable media players with touchscreens have been captivating users ever since Apple's introduction this summer of the iPhone. No need to wonder why: Imagine all your music, videos, and photos stored in a device slim enough for your pocket and available for playback at, literally, the touch of a finger. And if that wasn't enough, you also could use it to browse the Internet wirelessly.

Now, on the iPhone's heels, Archos has introduced four Wi-Fi touchscreen media players under the 605 WiFi series that jettison the phone but in other ways are more capable than the iPhone or the phone-free iPod Touch.

The 605 WiFi's differ mainly in storage capacity: a 30-Gigabyte model ($299.99, reviewed here) and those offering 80GB ($329.99); 160GB ($399.99); and 4GB ($229.99). The first three contain hard drives; the latter flash memory and an SD card slot. Archos also provided the DVR Station Gen 5 dock ($99.99) that makes it possible to record TV programs on the 605 and connect the player to an external display.

Setup
Included in the box with the 30-GB 605 WiFi player is a protective vinyl pouch, earphones, a USB cable, and two styli (which I quickly misplaced thanks to the lack of any storage slot on the device.)The player is able to read PDF files, and the manual stored on the 605 is more complete than the multi-language Quick Start Guide in the box. Since being able to charge the 605's embedded lithium-ion polymer battery from an outlet requires either the Gen 5 dock or another accessory, I plugged the 605 into a USB port on my PC. (The 605 is compatible with Windows Vista, XP, ME, 2000 or higher; Mac OS X; and Linux.) According to the Quick Start Guide, "The battery is fully charged when the green light blinks." A few hours later, it did.

Sitting on my sofa with the now wireless 605 on my knee, I examined the eight icons that dominated the bright display: video, music, photos, files, recorder, widgets (such as a calendar), Internet, and content portal. Out of the box the 605 plays photos (JPEG, BMP, and PNG) and some video (MPEG-4 and WMV) and audio (MP3, WMA, and WAV) formats, but optional software plug-ins include Cinema (MPEG-2 video, AC3 audio), Video Podcast (H.264, AAC audio), Real Video, and Internet radio. They're $20 each downloaded from Archos.com. Most important, if you plan to access the Internet via the 605's Wi-Fi capability, you'll need to purchase a plug-in for Web browsing ($29.99), which includes the Opera Web browser and Adobe Flash Player. (The browser plug-in isn't required to access the content portal.) Got all that?

I tapped the globe icon for the Internet, and the device quickly found my Wi-Fi network. I had the world on my knee.

Performance
Though the Archos and Apple's new devices have in common a touchscreen interface, there's a key difference. Unlike the iPhone and iPod Touch, the screen on the 605 WiFi does not support multi-touch operation: you can't initate actions from different parts of the screen simultaneously. This means in essence, that all tasks must be performed sequentially in the traditional manner. So, for example, on the iPhone you can pinch two fingers together, touch them to the center of a photo, spread them apart on the screen, and watch the image expand out. On the Archos, you can tap a finger (or the stylus) on an icon or a menu item to launch an application or file, or drag your finger across the screen to pull the next picture into view during a slide show. But to enlarge a photo, you must first tap the screen to bring up the tool icons and then the magnifier icon. That launches a scroll bar which you drag until the image reaches the size you want. Then, you can place your finger on the image and pull it around so the desired portion fits on screen. Similarly, to enlarge a Web page, you must first access zoom controls. While this one-touch-at-a-time interface seemed cool once-upon-a-time, in this Brave New World According to Apple, it's just cumbersome.

On the upside, I liked the set of six hard buttons to the right of the screen that the 605 offers as an alternative to tapping the screen to navigate and make selections: beyond a volume rocker on the iPhone's edge and the single hard button below its screen used for returning to the Home menu, Apple makes you stick to the screen interface almost exclusively. Multiple buttons can make it a little easier for new users to get lost, but once learned it makes for some efficiencies.

The Short Form

Price: 605 WiFi: $300 plus software plug-ins; DVR Station Gen 5: $100 / archos.com / 866-489-4718

Snapshot

A talented touch-screen player that delivers the content whether copied from a computer, downloaded wirelessly from the Internet, or reccorded directly from a video source.

Plus

•Large, touchscreen interface •Hard buttons offer alternative to onscreen controls •Bright, high-resolution video screen •Wirelessly downloads movies, TV shows, and music without a computer •Compatible with most YouTube content

Minus

•Not a multi-touch screen •Optional "plug-in" software means player isn't fully functional out of the box •No stylus holder

Key Features

•30GB hard drive (other capacities available) •4.3-in (800 x 480 pixel) 16:9 touchscreen •Wi-Fi (802.11g) ready •Built-in speaker •Inputs/Outputs USB, earphone, connector to optional DVR station •4.8 x 3.2 x .75 in; 6.7 oz

The 605's 4.3-inch screen is nearly an inch larger than Apple's and, unlike the iPhone, iPod Touch, and Apple TV, the 605 can play YouTube's entire library in its native Flash format. So, I was able to use the 605 to find and play my own obscure YouTube contribution, which was impossible with the iPhone since the video hadn't been converted to the required MPEG-4 format. I was also able to stream Internet radio stations, a function not supported on the Apple products.

The 605 supports a variety of music and video formats including songs, movies, and TV shows containing Microsoft's Digital Rights Management protection. That includes paid content from such services as Napster and CinemaNow. It does not support DRM-protected content from Apple's iTunes Store. Archos recommends that you install Windows Media Player 11 or higher on your computer for synching video content.

I downloaded a commercial-free episode of The Dick Van Dyck Show ($1.99) directly into the 605 wirelessly from CinemaNow, one of Archos's content partners. I chose to play the program with side bars on the Archos's widescreen display, and the blacks and whites really popped on the crystal-clear screen.

The best investment you can make for the 605 is the DVR Station Gen 5. The dock not only charges the player but it lets you make unattended recordings from a cable or satellite receiver. The DVR Station is equipped withinputs for composite, and S-Video, and stereo audio, for routing signals from you source for recording or playback. It also has outputs to feed your TV with composite and S-Video and component video and analog stereo or SPDIF digital audio. It comes with a remote, an infrared emitter to control the source component, and two USB inputs — one for a PC connection and the other for a USB host or storage device. Even if the 605 is detached from the DVR Station, you can download a program guide for your local cable system via Wi-Fi or connected to your computer. If you're a DishNetwork subscriber with a 622 or 722 receiver, you should soon be able to download a plug-in enabling you to transfer programs from the satellite receiver's hard drive into the 605 using a high-speed USB connection. Another coming plug-in: the ability to stream live from a Sling Media Slingbox, which would make it possible to watch and control your cable or satellite DVR, for example, from any location with Wi-Fi and broadband.

I set up the 605 to record The Daily Show and The Colbert Report nightly at 11 pm from my cable box. Then, as I went out the door each morning to head to work, I undocked the 605 and watched the programs on the subway. The picture quality was excellent: 640 x 480 resolution at 30 frames per second with impressive color and stereo sound, though with less volume than I would have hoped for. (The audio recording level wasn't adjustable, and my cable box volume was as high as it could go. My workaround on the noisy subway was substituting my own over-the-ear headphones for the earbuds.) Though during my commutes I was faced with the chore of periodically tapping the screen to bring up the scroll bar in order to pull the elapsed program bar past commercials, I felt smug knowing I'd saved a $1.99 per show versus downloading the same episodes from iTunes.

Bottom Line
Archos has been making portable media players longer than Apple has been inundating the world with iPods. Having reviewed several of the company's earlier efforts, I've been impressed with their range of capabilities yet put off by their general lack of novice usability. Adding a touchscreen, even if not a multi-touchscreen, helps with the interface problem, though consigning some of the system software to optional plug-ins just sets up roadblocks to immediate out-of-box gratification.

Ultimately, the Archos 605 WiFi 30-gigger may not be as slim or as dazzling as Apple's touch-screen models, and probably comes with a little less status. But it does store a lot more content, is compatible with many more formats (with plug-ins), and, when combined with the DVR Station, pays off in added versatility and savings.

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