Premium Members Claus Stuhlweissenburg Posted March 9, 2008 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 9, 2008 Read the numerous posts regarding the various models of the Archos. Wondering if everyone who has used one is happy with it? If not why? Is the 605 any better and if you were disenchanted with Archos in general is there a better alternative? Any input is appreciated. Claus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Lawrence Karman Posted March 9, 2008 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 9, 2008 Read the numerous posts regarding the various models of the Archos. Wondering if everyone who has used one is happy with it? If not why? Is the 605 any better and if you were disenchanted with Archos in general is there a better alternative? Any input is appreciated. Claus I have been using the Archos 400 and 500 series recorders for years now and am very happy with those units (the 400 is my fave). While the picture quality is not as good as with my prior video 8, min DV, micro DV units, the non-linear instant recall ability to review takes is worth the trade-off. I'm not sure the 605 has the cabled input/output/power connector the earlier units have. I believe it comes with a cradle mount which is not practical for our use. You are then stuck using the mini jack travel connector which sticks out quite far and doesn't provide power to the unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Charles Papert Posted March 9, 2008 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 9, 2008 Looking into this one at the moment: http://www.pimall.com/nais/pv700.html I used the previous model without the front panel display which was a deal-killer for me (although Colin Hudson has been successfully using that for some time) so this is interesting. Mostly I want to know how many steps there are between recording and playback, this is always the problem with the "media player" recorders. If anyone ends up getting one of these, tell us what you think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Alec Jarnagin SOC Posted March 10, 2008 Moderators Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 Charles, That looks very cool. Just called the company and spoke to a gentleman named Dan Ilse over there who gave me some more info. AV In/Out is accomplished by two mini-AV connectors. Power in is via a DC plug and he believes 5V plus is fine (they don't even have the units in yet as they are brand new, but he will email me a copy of the owner's manual when they come in about two weeks). He believes you can set a timer on the screensaver mode so the screen shuts off after a button has not been pushed, etc. (or while it is recording). It does have one button record and they believe the switch to playback is pretty fast (along the lines of hitting a button, then a menu pops up listing the various takes). All this needs to be confirmed, but it does sound promising. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Charles Papert Posted March 11, 2008 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 Thanks for calling them Alec, I have been meaning to for a bit but kept forgetting until they were closed. I believe there are some possibly interesting accesories including a wired remote that I think just includes the record button, which may be useful for relocating said capability further up the sled: under the handle on the center post, so you can hit it with your pinky...? on top of the monitor, maybe even with red record light mod...? and of course, the possibility of having it triggered by the Preston/Bartech/etc. We'll have to wait on the specs--their site lists 720x480 as being an 18 fps only mode, while 640x480 is possible at 30, but I saw another site (British I think) that listed 720x480 at 30 fps. I hope this is the case. I find that 640x480 cuts off the sides which is diabolical for Super35 (both film and large chip HD) and is thus a deal-killer. Well, we'll find out soon enough. One thing I know is that when the perfect recorder comes out, that will be the year that we all go to HD monitors and suddenly won't be wanting to record in SD any more. Oy vey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members David Allen Grove Posted March 11, 2008 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 I love my 400 series archos w/travel adaptor plug (small). I still haven't had a power/video cable made so I'm still running off the removable batteries. Some archos' have internal batteries so you have to be careful which one you get. two thumbs up. This PV700 looks really interesting though. Who is going to buy it and bring it to the next Steadicam Guild gathering? : - ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Alec Jarnagin SOC Posted March 11, 2008 Moderators Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 "but I saw another site (British I think) that listed 720x480 at 30 fps" Humm, being a PAL country, I wonder of they meant 25fps. Had not thought of the S35 issue. Damn, I want this to work out.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Jeff Muhlstock SOC Posted March 11, 2008 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 Read the numerous posts regarding the various models of the Archos. Wondering if everyone who has used one is happy with it? If not why? Is the 605 any better and if you were disenchanted with Archos in general is there a better alternative? Any input is appreciated. Claus Hey Claus, I have the 404, very small, very cheep, works great. My MKV has the right voltage so a power cable was easy. You need the travel adapter with this unit, but it still weighs nothing. The only negative, for me, is the controls/menus are a bit clumsy. It would be perfect if it had an interface with camera run... Give me a call, we'll talk. Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Joshua Harrison Posted March 11, 2008 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 Looking into this one at the moment: http://www.pimall.com/nais/pv700.html I used the previous model without the front panel display which was a deal-killer for me (although Colin Hudson has been successfully using that for some time) so this is interesting. Mostly I want to know how many steps there are between recording and playback, this is always the problem with the "media player" recorders. If anyone ends up getting one of these, tell us what you think. the advanced features from the website: ? DC 5V/12 Dual Power Output to External Camera ? Vibration Alert on Power On/Off & Low-Battery ? Cable & RF Wireless Remote Control ? Multiple Recording Mode ? Tamper-proof Frame Counter ? Higher Capacity Fuji 3.7V, 1800mA Lithium Battery ? Kedpad on board along with fast key for instant record ? Extend much more life-time via the feature to shut down the LCD power ? Self Powers a series of high grade CCD cameras For Covert Video Operations ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I hope you can defeat that vibration alert for low battery... I would hate to have in the middle of the shot my rig vibrating.. Josh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Alec Jarnagin SOC Posted March 11, 2008 Moderators Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 "I hope you can defeat that vibration alert for low battery... I would hate to have in the middle of the shot my rig vibrating.." Yeah, I noticed that too. Hope the only other option is not an audible beep! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Jess Haas SOC Posted March 12, 2008 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 12, 2008 I love my archos 404. The travel adapter is required but it is small so it is not a problem. Once you figure out the way the controls work recording and playback is very easy and doesn't require a lot of navigation. It takes 5v power in but so far I have just been using the built in battery which lasts a surprisingly long time. I found a small USB car power adapter for $5 at wallmart that I am going to use the electronics from to make a power cable. Some things I have read led me to believe that not regulating the current could charge the battery a bit too quickly so I am going to use the current limited adapter instead of just the voltage regulator chip. For $5 I think its worth not having to put that all together myself. The new generation 5 ones should also work fine with their travel adapter but I haven't gotten my hands on one so I couldn't tell you if it was better or worse than the generation 4. If you can still find them you should be able to find a 404 dirt cheap. Mine was $150 a while back. Of course the travel adapter was another $50. ~Jess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Lars Erik Posted March 12, 2008 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 12, 2008 Anyone tried Cowon Portable Media Player? http://www.cowonglobal.com/ LE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Charles Papert Posted March 12, 2008 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 12, 2008 I read about that a while back but I seem to remember that there was a "deal-killer" aspect to it--can't remember right now, and the 720p capability is impressive for future-proofing. Large though! For the PV700, I would personally be hard-wiring it to the sled for power so I wouldn't expect the "low battery" vibrate to activate before I would lose image to the screen. I don't like having extra batteries to worry about having to change on the rig other than the main ones (3 is enough!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members William Demeritt Posted March 28, 2008 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 Anyone tried Cowon Portable Media Player? http://www.cowonglobal.com/ LE The recording quality on this unit doesn't seem too fantastic: Video Recording File Format: ASF Resolution: Max 720x480, 3Mbps The design of the unit is quite elegant, and seems to have lots of options for input and output. However, recording in a fairly ignored Microsoft streaming format doesn't seem like a wise move, unless you strictly want playback (and don't have an interest in using this footage for your reel). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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