The Archos 704 WiFi multimedia player features smooth video playback on a bright, reasonably sharp screen. The PVP offers a good viewing angle, and A/V recordings are very high quality. The touch screen is responsive to fingers or a stylus, and the player’s WiFi features add lots of versatility. The removable battery is a nice touch as are the included AC adapter and wireless remote.The Archos 704 WiFi multimedia player looks amazing on paper, but the Web browsing isn’t quite smooth enough. Still, as a video player it succeeds: the large screen size makes it ideal for planes, trains, and automobiles, though it’s too big to be an everyday music player.
Connecting the Archos 704 with a computer is a snap. It syncs with any Windows-, Linux-, or Mac-based computer without any software installation; and we found transfer speeds fairly zippy via Windows Media Player and drag and drop. You can transfer photos directly from cameras using yet another optional dock, or grab files from USB devices via the USB host port on the bottom next to the standard USB 2.0 port. The 704 doesn’t charge via USB, so plug in the charger if you’re transferring a lot of content.
The wireless features (802.11g) are potentially useful, but Web browsing can be frustrating, since page load times for sites like CNN and CNET are on the slow side and there’s a significant lag when you click on links or buttons. One nice touch is that the virtual keyboard automatically pops up when you click in a text field. Unfortunately, Opera isn’t compatible with all sites, and the version on the 704 doesn’t support Java or Flash graphics–that means no Yahoo Mail Beta, though Gmail works fine. You can also download files such as PDFs and view them, but the PDF viewer was very slow at loading files.
Review By Techtree
The ARCHOS 704-WiFi joins the company’s 604-WiFi in offering complete PMP features - video, music and photo playback - with full Internet access for surfing the Web and sending email. The new 704-WiFi features an 80GB hard drive with the capacity to store 100 hours of video, or about 70 DVD-quality movies, as well as two high-quality speakers for enhanced audio even without headphones. It also supports video downloads from the new online stores of leading retailers, giving consumers the flexibility to enjoy their entertainment wherever they want, in their own place, on their own time.
Review By Reviews.cnet
The brushed-aluminum 704 is controlled almost exclusively via the ample (7-inch) touch screen, which responds to your fingers or the included stylus. However, there are two small buttons on the left edge, Power and TV/LCD output, as well as a switch on the right for removing the battery The player has a pair of small but reasonably powerful integrated speakers on the front and a kickstand on the back. Archos also includes a full-featured wireless infrared remote, a soft carrying case, an extra stylus, and an AC charger. Notably missing is a slot or clip on the device to store the stylus.
Review By Pcmag
The 704 supports a variety of formats: For video playback, it supports MPEG-4 and WMV; for audio, it plays MP3, WMA, Protected WMA, and WAV files. In addition, optional software plug-ins are available at archos.com for more codec flexibility. There you’ll find upgrades that will provide for MPEG-2 video and unprotected AAC audio file support. The player also reads JPEG, BMP, and PNG pictures, as well as PDF files (although the manual states the 704 “may not implement all PDF features,
Review By Laptopmag
With the introduction of its Generation 4 lineup of portable media players, Archos has once again demonstrated why it is the reigning king of PMPs. The latest addition to the family is the 704 Wi-Fi, which may be the ultimate PMP for multimedia mavens, even though it comes at a rather hefty price. It boasts a huge seven-inch screen, a DVR dock for recording TV shows, and can surf the Web wirelessly at a decent clip (View Archos 704 Photo Gallery).
Review By Laptopmag
On the other hand, like the Archos 604 Wi-Fi, this player suffers from sluggish performance. There was a pretty noticeable one- to two-second delay between an input and an action, which may grate the nerves of impatient Web surfers. In addition, flash-based sites such as YouTube are off-limit, but the 704 Wi-Fi does support Divx. If you’re looking to do simple browsing or check your Web mail, however, the 704 Wi-Fi’s online capabilities should suit you well.
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