Digital Trends

Archos 705 WiFi 160GB

May 5th, 2008 | by Mike Kobrin

Design and Features

Sitting next to our MacBook Pro, the matte gray aluminum 705 WiFi looks like it could have been designed at the same shop. This beast measures 7.05 x 4.96 x .75 inches and weighs a pocket-unfriendly 1.4 pounds, but it does slip easily into a backpack or briefcase. Eschewing physical buttons, the 705 has a 7-inch touchscreen (800x400 pixels) with a pair of speakers and an infrared sensor below it and nothing else on the front.

There are only two buttons (power and LCD output) on the left side, as well as a power jack and a 1/8th-inch headphone port that doubles as a TV output. A battery release catch lives on the right side, and a series of connectors (dock, USB, USB Host) line up for duty along the bottom. The removable battery is located on the back, along with a kickstand for propping the device up on a tray table or desk.

Under the hood is a 160GB hard drive (an 80GB version is also available), a reasonably responsive processor and an 802.11g WiFi transceiver – sorry, there’s no GPS, no FM tuner, and no Bluetooth in sight. Included in the package as well comes a soft case, 2 styli, a wireless keyboard/remote, earbud headphones, a USB cable, USB Host adapter and a power adapter. You also get a saddle for the optional DVR docking station ($99.99), which is required for AV recording. Spare batteries are additionally available for $29.99 USD. Note that the $69 travel adapter, which also enables recording on other models, is not compatible with the 705.

Image Courtesy of Archos

Setup and Operation

Startup time isn't too bad at about 35 seconds, and when you power the device off subsequently, it goes into a suspend mode, which boots in a much faster 5 seconds. The first thing we noticed is that the touchscreen isn't calibrated right out of the box and couldn't seem to figure out where we were pressing it. After running the calibration utility from the display settings menu though, the screen’s performance became much more accurate. 

We used our finger (or fingernail) for most functions, though we generally had to press pretty hard on the soft LCD, and we got much better results when we used the stylus. Unfortunately, despite the inclusion of an extra, we can pretty much guarantee you'll lose both styli quickly since there's no storage slot on the device. (You can stick it in a sleeve on the side of the case, but ours frequently dropped on the floor and rolled away.)

The main screen’s user interface is driven by large, animated icons and text, making navigation a breeze. Each icon launches a mini-app for things like music, video, photos, the Archos Content Portal and a built-in file browser. The individual applications are easy to use, and you can get an impressive amount of information on any file by selecting one and hitting the Info button in the contextual menu found in the lower right-hand corner of the screen.