Echostar buys into Archos.

[Richard King]

http://gigaom.com/2005/05/10/echostar-buys-into-archos/

This has made a lot of news in the French business media, but I can barely find it mentioned here. Half the stories that I find on the Net look Greek, er, French, to me.

[Mark Lamutt]

I have to say that the AV700 (the big one that they showed off on the tech forum last week) is one of the coolest "pure" toys that I've gotton to see in a long time. "He who has the most toys, wins!" This definitely will fall into that category.

[Scott Greczkowski]

I want an AV700. :) The only problem I have is the pricetag which is $699 which is as much as the 942 is itself!

Not sure why its so expensive, my kids have a Video Now player which plays special CD's and looks good and only cost $30.

Ahh the price for technology.

I do have a Personal Dish Player coming to me but it is the small on with no speaker. Hope to get it soon.

BTW it should be noted that Dish made this investment last year, this is not a recent devolopment. I do find this entire area exciting though.

[Mark Lamutt]

I think that part of it is that 7" color LCD screens aren't cheap. Plus, it has the very small 40GB hard drive in it, which also isn't cheap.

[David_Levin]

Still seems pricey considering that a laptop can be purchased for that amount (with way more screen size).

But, if you don't already have a hard drive mp3 player, this is a mice multi-function box.

My cool little Archos Gmini even has a Compact Flash slot for offloading digital pictures to the hard drive.

Archos boxes generally install on the PC as a mass storage device. All files are accessible.

How are they dealing with security on downloaded E* content?

[wcswett]

I have to say that the AV700 (the big one that they showed off on the tech forum last week) is one of the coolest "pure" toys that I've gotton to see in a long time. "He who has the most toys, wins!" This definitely will fall into that category.

I have the older AV380 model with the 4 inch screen and 80 gig HD and find it very convenient as long as you make sure the video you put in it is compatible with its limited processing power. Unfortunately mine went back to Archos this week for warranty battery replacement. They seem to have a lot of problems with rechargeable battery life, so if you get one of their products be sure to keep your receipt! Wouldn't hurt to check it out thoroughly before the 1 year warranty runs out as their direct warranty support is very good, they answer the phones quickly and provide immediate RMA's via email. My AV380 cost $650 a year ago, so $700 for an AV700 sounds really good, even if it only has half the HD space.

--- WCS

[David_Levin]

They really should start making all battey packs user replacable (as should any device working off a rechargable battery).

[Richard King]

BTW it should be noted that Dish made this investment last year, this is not a recent devolopment. I do find this entire area exciting though.I noticed the date when I was surfing, but I don't recall an announcement from Echostar at the time, although they probably did make the announcement. Then again, they may have simply announced it in French... or Greek. :lol:

[Nick]

I have to say that the AV700 (the big one that they showed off on the tech forum last week) is one of the coolest "pure" toys that I've gotton to see in a long time. "He who has the most toys, wins!" This definitely will fall into that category.Actually, it's "He who dies with the most toys, wins".

In order to win, you have to die first. We email you whether you won or not.

[Jacob S]

I'd see myself buying a laptop with that kind of money before that gadget with a screen half the size and less functionality.

[Mark Lamutt]

Hence, why I called it a "pure toy"... It's not nearly as functional as a laptop, but it has a very definite "cool" factor.

[Jacob S]

The main thing is the portability factor which is more portable than a laptop.