A Comparison of 3 Personal Media Players

You might be asking what a Personal Media Player is.  It's basically an MP3 player, but also includes capabilities for playing back video files.  The market for this type of device exploded last year when Apple came out with new versions of their iPod and Nano players.  At the time there were other vendors supplying the market with video players, but Apple brought it to the mainstream.

I've had experience with 2 models of recent portable media players and will be getting a 3rd. The current information about the Archos 605 is based on publications.  But once I have the 605 in hand, I'll update my review to include my personal observations.

* Note: At the time of this writing, the 30GB Creative Zen Vision W is being phased out.  The 60GB model is still on sale at major retailers.

Creative Zen Vision W (30GB)

Pros:

• A good sized, clear, and bright screen.  At arms length, anything smaller would be too small.
• Really good video format support.  You will rarely have to convert video into a compatible format before playing on the device.
• Uses a standard mini-USB cable.  No proprietary charging/transfer cable needed!
• Built in FM radio tuner
• Built in speaker for when you want to show someone something without having to swap headphones

Cons:

• Lowest resolution display of the 3, but the display is clear and bright enough that you probably wont notice.
• Lowest battery life of the 3, but you can still watch 2 or 3 full length movies before you need a recharge.
• To get cover art for your MP3 files to show up on the device, you need to use Windows Media player to sync the files.
• Using either the Windows Media Player or the Zen Vision Media Explorer are both a little painful.  Why can't we just drag our files to the device?
• No support for H.264 video codec playback.

Apple iPod Touch (16GB)

Pros:

• User interface is pretty cool.  Cover flow is a nifty way to browse albums.  UI feedback is quick and fluid.  It feels really professionally put together and a solid product.
• A real full-blown web browser built in (Safari) which is quite good enough to browse most web sites.
• Very clear and bright display.
• Best audio battery life of the 3 units tested.
• WiFi connectivity to YouTube - you have the entire YouTube library of video content available on your iPod!
• Linked to the iTunes music store - the de-facto standard for purchasable on-line video for movies and TV.  Easy to purchase new content.
• WiFi connectivity to iTunes music store.

Cons:

• Requires iTunes installed and you need an iTunes account just to put files on or remove files from the device.  Why should I have to first import files into iTunes library, and then sync iTunes to the Touch? 
• Highest price of all 3 units reviewed.
• Not only is it the highest price, but it's the most limited space available.  Around +1/3rd  the price of the 30GB Archos, but has only slightly more than 1/2 the space?
• The file formats it supports feel somewhat obscure to me.  The vast majority of video files I see on the web for download are not of any of these formats.
• Supports H.264, but only a simple profile.  This means that a lot of the H.264 content you find on the web wont play on it!
• Lack of included conversion tools to convert your video files into formats supported by the device.  You'll have to resort to a 3rd party tool.
• Had quite a few problems with downloaded podcast files being corrupt when downloading through iTunes.  No problems downloading the same files through web browser and playing them.
• Proprietary cable - how do you feel about having to carry around a special cable if you want to sync on another machine (home & work?) With all of the touching going on, you'll smear that screen up pretty quickly, no matter how clean your hands are.

Archos 605 WiFi (30GB)

Pros:

• Lowest price unit of the 3 listed
• Highest resolution display of the 3 listed on a good sized screen.
• Highest video playback battery life of the 3 listed
• Unit is seen by your PC as a simple external hard drive.  Getting media onto the device is as simple as drag-and-drop within Windows explorer!
• Device can be used as a portable 30GB hard drive
• Good video format support with some additional formats available for a fee.  This helps reduce the unit price.  People who need those options can still get them if they need them.
• Touch screen makes for quicker navigation.
• Can be used with an optional docking station to directly record video onto the device, and has an Electronic Program Guide to schedule recordings.  (I wonder how it manages to change channels though, does the device have a TV tuner built in?)
• Built in speaker for when you want to show someone something without having to swap headphones

Cons:

• Requires a proprietary USB cable.  WHY do this?  You make it show up as a standard USB hard drive, but you require a specialized, expensive, USB cable??
• Buttons feel like they're in the way and a little fragile.  The edges of the buttons feel like they could get caught on clothing and get pulled off.
• User interface on the unit feels a little clunky.