Archos's PMA430: PDA + PMC Competitor

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000403026397/' target='_blank'>http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000403026397/</a><br /><br /></div><i>"We spent some precious moments yesterday afternoon with the Archos crew, mainly because we were dying to get a look at their new Pocket Media Assistant PMA430. For the specialists in the house, this used to be called the AV500 and was first unveiled (a bit prematurely, we might add) back at the CeBIT tech trade show in Germany this past March. Anyway, the reason everyone’s jazzed up about the PMA430 is that it’s a Linux-based portable audio and video player with a 30GB hard drive and an LCD touch screen that also doubles as a PDA...Because it runs on Linux you can install new applications for the PMA430, and there are plans to introduce an SDK next month. Of course we also snapped a mess of pics."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/parekh-20040110-ArchosPMA430.jpg" /><br /><br />There's been a lot of buzz about this device ever since it was rumored about 6 months ago, especially since it's one of the first "PDA + hard drive portable media center" solutions. I'm going to hold off making an evaluation until I read some more reviews or get my hands on one, especially since I have no idea how good <a href="http://www.trolltech.com/products/qtopia/">Qtopia</a> (which is what I presume they're using) is as a PDA solution... but the potential is certainly exciting. One part of me says "this is way too complex and bulky to be a useful PDA", while the other suggests "all I need is a unit like this, with WiFi and Bluetooth". :dilemma: Where does your sentiments lie?

[R K]

I'm going to hold off making an evaluation until I read some more reviews or get my hands on one, especially since I have no idea how good Qtopia (http://www.trolltech.com/products/qtopia/) (which is what I presume they're using) is as a PDA solution...

After using Qtopia on the Zaurus, I can say that it's not a bad solution as a PDA OS. I think the main issue is software availability which might be tackled if Archos can get their PMA430 to take off in popularity.

After the death of the Zaurus in the US, I'm glad that the Linux PDA lives on.

[tourdewolf]

Although it does't look all that pocketable, with usb host, wifi, incredible battery life and the flexibility of linux it has great potential to become a laptop replacement for the road warrior and a great multimedia device for the more stationary.
I agree the main shortcoming is lack of available software but that goes with any up and comming platform. I remember when there were hardly any usable PPC apps.

Big negative is going to be price, I havent' seen actual pricing but if this is the top of Archos' line then it will most likely be priced above the other models ~700.

[rdrose61]

I am wating for a device like this that is PPC2003SE with Mobile MCE. An HP 4700 type device with MCE and a 20GB or greater with CFII would be the ultimate conversion device for me.

I could transfer photos, video, and music as well as use as PPC. It would serve as a data bank for digital photos and videos while on the road.

[jickbahtech]

Looks like it would suck for gaming.

[Vincent M Ferrari]

I find it hard to get excited about Linux-based handhelds after the Sharp Zaurus line. From the reviews I saw of it, you have to be a CNE to install programs on it. Now, I understand that a lot of that criticism is from people looking at it from the "average user" point of view, but still.

I guess if it worked well, was easy to install apps for, and had wide application support, then so be it; throw in some kind of wireless and I'll check it out. I was, however, very impressed with the Gmini 400 which I also saw at the show. That was really tiny, had a great screen, and could record directly from TV. Frankly, I need that a whole lot more than I need yet another PDA. :-)

[jlp]

The price is $800 (minus 1¢ :wink:) without taxes, or €800 !! including VAT in Europe.

The much higher price in Europe ($-€ parity is around 1.3) comes from the fact the warranty is longer in Europe (12 vs only 3 month!!! 8O in the US) and the taxes are included in Europe.

That's an aweful lot, for a PDA, albeit fitted with a 30 GB HDD.

Big problems I think are:
small 3.5" screen
only QVGA (the device is large enough for a 4" VGA screen!!)
no screen rotation !!
lack of support for WMV and OGG
lack of BT for full wireless usage to pair it with phones, earphones, keyboards, GPS, etc.
for BT connectivity you need a mini USB adaptor cable and a BT dongle 8O thus making a mess out of such a setting
there is a rollable USB keyboard option, but it connects with a cable, possibly needs an adapter cable as well
no CF port (the prototype presented at CeBIT 2004 had a CF port like the AV4xx actually has), they ditched it in favor of integrated Wi-fi, doing so they had to exclude BT support as well (not enough mboard space); if it still had the CF port one could choose to have both BT and Wifi (alternatively) or unload their digicam pix directly. It does support USB 1.1 host but that still requires a cable to remember to bring, an adapter cable to remember to bring (and both to avoid to loose) plus to deal with (broken fragile connectors anyone?) and you need 3 hands 8O to handle this, 2 to manage the PMA (hold it and stylus to operate the device) and a 3rd hand (!) to hold your digicam, memory card reader, etc.
large
heavy (50% more than an Hx4700 or an e800/830)
no one really knows how much RAM/ROM this thing has

Only advantages are:
large HDD (30 GB)
directly connects to TV to record and display its screen (video, PIM, email, web, etc.), tho I suppose you only get 320x240 rez on the TV 8O

I've pretty much decided to go for a 4" PPC + 5GB Microdrive.

I have all that the PMA lacks, except the 2 points above, and 5GB is a lot of CDs, DVDs and TV recordings (I need to be at home to record my TV, so I might as well do it on my PC)

[jlp]

I was, however, very impressed with the Gmini 400 which I also saw at the show. That was really tiny, had a great screen, and could record directly from TV. Frankly, I need that a whole lot more than I need yet another PDA. :-)

NO you can't record directly from TV with the Gmini 400 as it only has TV out (it's written on the port and the site doesn't mention direct TV (or any video source) recording).

You must be confusing with the AV400 that does direct TV (VCR, DVD player, etc.) recording however, but NOT the Gmini 400.

[Vincent M Ferrari]

Ahh, you are correct. Oh well. Back to the drawing board.

[jonathanchoo]

Only advantages are:
large HDD (30 GB)
directly connects to TV to record and display its screen (video, PIM, email, web, etc.), tho I suppose you only get 320x240 rez on the TV 8O

It can record from source at 512x384/30fps and playback videos encoded at 704x480/30fps or 720x576/25fps onto a TV. That is DVD resolution.

Regarding screen rotation, Windows Mobile 2003 SE screen rotation isn't that great either. I never use it on my JAM.

While QVGA is dissapointing, it does have a 18-bit display.

PocketPC doesn't come with default Ogg support. This came from third party developers. On WMV, no comment since I don't use this particular format. :wink:

[jlp]

removed duplicates due to server problem.

[Menneisyys]

Regarding screen rotation, Windows Mobile 2003 SE screen rotation isn't that great either. I never use it on my JAM.


The Jam, with the small screen, is not a perfect example of a current PDA :)

(Personally, I use screen rotation on my Pocket Loox 720 a lot.)

[Menneisyys]

I wish it had a VGA screen... Without VGA, I stick with my USB host-enabled Pocket Loox 720 and my battery-operated 60G 2.5" hard disk.

[jeffmd]

jlp, awww man, thats bogus. I actually got excited because it looked good, and combined both a pda and pmc. But portable media centers use higher resolutions then qvga. Imo thats the killer.. I wouldnt have minded if the screen was still 3.5, but remaining 320x240 is unexcusable.. and being $700 is just plain retarded.

[jlp]

It's $800 (plus tax) NOT $700 !!

[jlp]

Only advantages are:
large HDD (30 GB)
directly connects to TV to record and display its screen (video, PIM, email, web, etc.), tho I suppose you only get 320x240 rez on the TV 8O

It can record from source at 512x384/30fps and playback videos encoded at 704x480/30fps or 720x576/25fps onto a TV. That is DVD resolution.

Yes, you're right for video; I was thinking about the PMA displaying PIM email, internet, etc. at most probably only 320 x 240.

Regarding screen rotation, Windows Mobile 2003 SE screen rotation isn't that great either. I never use it on my JAM.

Now if you really want to compare a 2.8" screen vs a 4" one that's very risky, you get over 3 times the surface and 4 times the rez on a 4" VGA one.

[quote]While QVGA is dissapointing, it does have a 18-bit display.

That's absolutely irrelevant to the human eye, especially on a QVGA screen that will never display more than 76k colors simultaneously, the number of pixels (out of 262K of the full color palette)!! whereas a 16 bit VGA screen can display 65K colors simultaneously!! So that small difference is not even perceptible by the human eye.

PocketPC doesn't come with default Ogg support. This came from third party developers.

So?? What's better: third party support or no support at all??

On WMV, no comment since I don't use this particular format. :wink:

Most DVD to PDA solutions gets you WMV outputs; plus it's supposed to be better than other output formats.

[Typhoon]

Although it does't look all that pocketable, with usb host, wifi, incredible battery life and the flexibility of linux it has great potential to become a laptop replacement for the road warrior and a great multimedia device for the more stationary.
I agree the main shortcoming is lack of available software but that goes with any up and comming platform. I remember when there were hardly any usable PPC apps.

Big negative is going to be price, I havent' seen actual pricing but if this is the top of Archos' line then it will most likely be priced above the other models ~700.

I know you were not saying this but W/out any keyboard it will never become a laptop

[altden2002]

This is ARCHOS we are talking about here. I owned one of the first devices - Multimedia Jukebox and it sucked big time:

1) Video playback was jittery, especially at the end of file.
2) Audio would get out of sync with video. There were forums dedicated to subject of how to bend over backwards and re-encode your media such that it does not loose audio sync on Archos. Do you want to re-encode your video just for this device?
3) One of the firmware upgrades degraded video quality and it remained low in every subsequent firmware release. Not that it was great to begin with.
4) Battery replacement was not avaialable, no matter how much you want to pay, so once it went dead, you were stuck with a brick.
5) Charging circuit did not have overcharge protection so battery died real quick. See above about brick.
6) Picture playback only played back some pictures and not the others. Plus it only scaled by factor of 2 so i could never get mine to fill the whole screen.

There is no way i am buying another Archos.
And for $800 with 3 month warranty? Ha!

[jlp]

And for $800 with 3 month warranty? Ha!

That's what I was told on a French site (Pdafrance.com) where one of the Archos engineers hangs out (Archos is a French company; located in the Paris suburbs I think).