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Archos 704 WiFi
Conclusion
The Archos 704 WiFi is one of those products that you just want to like because its feature list promises so much. Unfortunately the "promises' fall short on so many occasions that its impossible to forgive them all, especially when the price tag is right around $500 for the 40GB version, and that's before the cost of the plug-ins if you need those as well. Additionally, it's just hard to think of scenarios where the purchase of an inexpensive laptop wouldn't be a better purchase than the 704 WiFi. While the 704 WiFi certainly is smaller than most $500 laptops, it definitely isn't what I'd call "ultra-portable' by any means, and really, that's the only thing it has going for it in comparison. It's a bit ironic, because the size of the screen is really what makes the 704 WiFi stand out from most of the competition, but it also makes it a less desirable device in most instances because it's just too big to lug around unless you're going to be sitting on a train, plane, bus, or something else for a few hours at a time so you can watch a movie. Overall, the 704 WiFi simply doesn't come through on enough of its features, isn't portable enough, and is priced so that it primarily competes against full-fledged laptop computers, all adding up to a product that just doesn't deliver enough value to make it a "must have.' Kurtis' Note: I'd just like to add that if you're a frequent traveler and the price tag isn't an issue for you, you'd likely be much more pleased with the Archos 704 WiFi than Mark was. When I played with the device a bit myself I couldn't help but think how nice it would be to use on a plane, with the alternatives being a DVD player or a laptop. If you're traveling, clearly the 704 WiFi is better than a DVD player because you don't have to have any DVDs with you, and of course you can also listen to your music collection. The 704 WiFi obviously can't do everything a laptop can, but it is quite a bit smaller and has an arguably longer battery life. Pros Large screen compared to most portable media players Attractive video playback (at ideal viewing angle) WiFi networking and web browsing Cons Not portable enough Crippled web browsing Costs more than some laptops
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