Everything USB is pleased to announce our in-depth review on Archos 3 8GB Touch-screen MP3 Player review.

2009 marks the unofficial eleventh anniversary of the flash memory based portable media player (PMP). In that time, we've seen capacities balloon 1000-fold from 32MB up to 32GB and beyond, with 100+GB promising to be commonplace in the not-too-distant future. The bottom-end of the market now boasts up to 3" diagonal screens, with full touch control and video display as well as music playback. Packing all of this into the sub-$100 category is the Archos 3 Vision positioned as a step above the postage stamp screen media players but also steering well clear of iPod touch territory.

http://www.everythingusb.com/archos-3-17897.html

Verdict:
Falling into the seemingly ever-dwindling "not an iPod" category of flash media players, the Archos 3 dons new duds, puts on a brave face, and arrives to the party late but decently dressed. Nice to look at but less pleasant to live with, its much-touted tactile screen with "virtual wheel selector" is a disappointment backed up with a crude user interface.

The Good:
+ Shiny, sleek design
+ Attractive price for a touch-screen PMP
+ Good video playback, including video output
+ Large, high contrast widescreen LCD
+ Good audio quality
+ Recording feature

The Bad:
- Touchscreen not responsive enough, not multi-touch
- Low-resolution LCD
- No thumbnail view for photos
- Archaic/unrefined user interface
- Cheap bundled headphones
- No built-in speaker

We hope you and your readers will find this review helpful and informative.


Regards.

Ian Chiu
Managing Editor, Everything USB
http://www.everythingusb.com/