Today at both the press conferences in Europe and New York, the Archos team has announced the 2007 media players and recorders.
One of the greatest features is the Wi-Fi enabled portable that includes a direct access to the online Content Portal and another is the Flash supported Web browser, wich offers pay-per-download CinemaNow movies.You can choose a movie by just using the touchscreen and the buy it and download to your hard drive.And you don’t need your PC for this job.The Opera browser feature costs $30 on the Wi-Fi devices and it includes a Flash plug-in.If you want to watch high-definition videos you need to pay for some optional plug-ins that can support 24-frame, 720p video and it also offers customized widgets.The Archos portables will be available in the first half of September.There will be four models, depending on their capacity and prices.The Archos 105 is a 2GB flash model, that has a basic audio, photo, and video playback.It has a 1.8-inch OLED screen and you can get it for just $90.The Archos 405 has besides the 2GB of built-in flash memory, a SD expansion slot and a larger 3.5-inch LCD screen.Also it supports more file formats, and another option that’s available is that you can download(paid) even more plug-ins.
Archos 605 Wi-Fi offers a PSP-sized 800×480-pixel, and a 4.3-inch LCD screen. Another feature on the 605 it that you can stream video files from networked PCs and besides that it offers direct access to the CinemaNow online video store and Web surfing and Flash-based video on Opera browser if you want to upgrade the device. The gadget will have three configurations: the first is a 4GB flash with an SD expansion slot for the price of $200, a 30GB hard-disk model for $300, and a 160GB hard-disk model for $400.
And finally the Archos 705 Wi-Fi wich is the deluxe version of the Archos portable.It has the same features as the 605, except the bigger 7-inch screen. You can get it in 80GB and 160GB hard-disk models.
These versions seem to be more affordable than last year’s versions (the Archos 104, Archos 404, Archos 604 Wi-Fi, and the Archos 704 Wi-Fi). But don’t be happy yet, if you want to enable some features of the 405, 605, and 705, you have to purchase the optional accessories and the software plug-ins. For example, with the DVR Station ($100) you can record TV shows.Another example is the Web browser($30),  and the six separate A/V codecs.All of these features cost $20 per option (MPEG-2/Dolby compatibility to the ripped DVDs; H.264/AAC compatibility;the widgets plug-in; HD video support; Real Video support; and Internet radio playback). This is a total $150 extra dollars if you want to have the full Archos experience.And let’s not forget, this is without the DVR add-on.