Digital Trends

Archos Gmini 400

November 14th, 2004 | by Nino Marchetti

Performance

With so much to offer in such a small package, it's important to focus on what you are most likely to use this device for. Therefore, we've broken the performance section into three main areas: audio, video and digital photo display.

First and foremost, a major thumbs up goes to Archos for making the Gmini400 USB 2.0 compatible. File transfers were blazingly fast, transferring 90MB of files over an average of 6MB per second. On the issue of power, Archos claimed playback time to be around 10 hours for music or 5 hours for video using the built-in LCD display. Tests showed these numbers to not quite be accurate, but still within the ballpark by about 15-20 minutes for each. Factors which were controllable, like automatic shutoff time for the built-in LCD, will influence these somewhat.

Audio playback of MP3 files encoded at 192kbps was excellent, though the included ear buds are only of average quality and sound and should be replaced. Highs and lows in the music were well within range, with no distortions whatsoever. During playback, the LCD presented plenty of information relative to what you were listening to. Setup options for things like shuffle and other play modes were easily accessible without interrupting playback. As we mentioned before, the menu navigation was a little tricky at first but once figured out became quickly manageable.

Video playback varied slightly depending upon where it was displayed. In both cases, the actual frame rate was great, but video shown on the television was slightly fuzzy. On the Gmini400's tiny LCD, it was extremely clear. This is not a knock on the Archos player however — it is more related to the interaction between the television and the video file format itself.  One thing to be noted in regards to the video/audio output on the Gmini400: it is possible to navigate every menu and screen on a large monitor when the included A/V cable is connected. This is a major plus for scrolling through large file lists and doing things like creating play lists, as well as for general navigation before viewing photos or the like.

It is important to remember you will need to switch the display back to the built-in LCD through the setup menu (or the dedicated function button) before disconnecting from your television — the Gmini400 does not have an auto-sensing feature for this and you'll end up with a dark screen, requiring you to power off to reset the device.

A slight letdown occurred in the digital photo viewing department. While this area of the Gmini400 is certainly rich in features already mentioned, the actual display was not in line with the excellence of audio and video playback. Photos of 640x480 resolution seemed slightly washed out when displayed on the full screen and didn't capture the true essence of what they were showing. This got slightly worse as photos of higher resolution were displayed.

Conclusion

The Archos Gmini400 definitely falls somewhere between being a high quality digital audio player, a solid portable video player and an okay digital photo display device. It is not very user friendly in the beginning, owing to a dizzying array of features and menu choices. If that can be mastered however, without tossing the Gmini400 out the window, you have a very solid portable entertainment device on your hands which will provide many hours of fun.

This type of device is best suited for those who want to take their entire media collection with them on the road for access at anytime.  Those considering the Gmini400 for just one function, like digital audio playback, would be more suited to getting a device specifically focused on that niche. Overall, the Gmini400 is a cool device which will draw attention when you pull it out of your pocket.