Swiss knife multi-functionality Portability & light weight Good sound quality Good battery life

Minor bugs in firmware Bookmarking cumbersome Dorky USB power adapter Tiny control buttons Average User Interface Overpriced accessories

The Archos Gmini 220 has worked as advertised, is small enough to fit in your shirt pocket and is an eye catching device. Great sound with adequate volume for your headphones. Multifunctional ability to play MP3s, record from any source or with a built in mic, read from CF cards, view B&W images and act as a USB hard drive is a great feature set that makes the 'walkman' concept a dinosaur. The player seems durable enough. I haven't dropped it or anything, but it plays without failure or problems, reponds quickly and plays for 8-10 hours easily on each charge. I contacted Archos regarding a small bug, and they responded in a few days. Was not able to replicate the problem reliably, so no solution found, but they were certainly there contrary to complaints I've read. The USB power adapter is clunky, as is the user interface. The monochrome LCD has heavy photo dithering that renders photo viewing pretty ineffective. My biggest complaint is the bookmark feature requires several keypresses to activate and restart. It should just work with on or off when set. The user interface can't compare to the IPod, but it more than makes up for that with size, functionality and lower cost. The rebate process was quick and easy. I wish someone would come up with a quick attach holster that you could leave connected in your car to power and inuts. I also wish the USB connection whould have been able to recharge the battery without the dorky adapter like other units do on USB power, but no dice. If this player had addressed these issues, a clearer screen and had more IPOD like efficiency and in its user interface, it would be the ideal MP3 player and blow away the IPOD. Maybe the next iteration... In the end, price, multifunctionality, reliability and good sound make this one of the best alternatives to the overpriced IPOD. I am happy with mine and recommend it highly.

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Apple I-Pod

A good usb hard drive

Product support and company's treatment of consumers.

I received this mp3 player as a gift from my wife Christmas of 2004. I debated between this player and the ipod. Eventually, I told her to buy the gmini 220 and she purchased one new off ebay. I regret that decision every day. From day one the unit has never operated properly in regards to its primary function, playing mp3s. I will relate my experiences with this player and the horrible company behind it below: When my wife gave me the player, I greedily opened it and set about loading it with mp3s. This unit is extremely easy to load as both Mac and Windows machines (I own both) recognize it as an external hard drive. Just drag and drop. I loaded it with 4 gigs of mp3s, made sure it was charged, and set off listening to songs. The player played for approximately 5 minutes and then crashed, shutting itself off. I thought this was strange, but I restarted it and it did the same thing repeatedly. By now I realized that the player needed "fixing." I downloaded the latest firmware from Archos and loaded it on the player. Still the same problem. I reformated the hard drive (following the advice of the Archos website). Still the same problem. I realized that the error must lie in the internals of the player. Now begins the terrible odyssey. I emailed customer support because the website did not list a service number. A week passed and I got no reply. I emailed again after looking up the customer relations head, Terry Perrin, on the Better Business Bureau website and threatening to file a complaint. I got a reply this time giving me the customer support number. I called. I was informed that the player needs repair. They informed me that because it was purchased new on ebay they would not honor their warranty for an admittedly faulty player. They furthermore wanted $65 to fix a problem that they cannot identify. They also promised to email me information on how to send in the player for repair. I never received the email. I emailed them again letting them know that I would let all consumers know about their customer relations department and the quality of their product. I am now following through on my promise. The gmini now sits beside my computer as I'm writing this as a useless mp3 player but a good 20 gig external usb hard drive. So, what do you need to know: 1. The product has known problems. 2. The company will not honor their warranty if you buy on ebay. 3. The technical support number is long distance and you must make threats to receive answers to your emails. 4. This company does not support its products and does not care that consumers make an investment of several hundred dollars in their products. 5. Buy the ipod.

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