The ARCHOS Key is a handy USB key with numerous features for daily usage. Listen to and record your FM radio programs enjoy your music anywhere transmit your music directly to your car radio using the FM transmitter or store personal data files. You can also use the built-in micro SD card reader to extend the capacity at your convenience.

• 4 GB capacity for storage of up to 1000 songs (expandable via micro SD)


• 12 hours of playback on a single charge


• Backlit LCD display with 96 x 40 pixel resolution


• Supports MP3 WMA and WAV audio files


• One-year limited warranty

More detail ...

a great player for me

this review was updated on 12/27/2009.



my archos 3 vision absolutely meets or exceeds my personal requirements for an mp3 player!



times are tough so when my mp3 player was stolen in july 2008 i honestly tried to use my aging windows mobile phone with windows media player as a replacement player for over a year. however that solution had several limitations and frustrations. there were workarounds but i grew tired of them.



the stolen player was an archos g-mini which i had owned for several years and i really appreciated it's features so that is the main reason i shopped for a new archos player first. the archos 3 vision player has all of those same features with heaping helping of style storage and added features.



pros:

- it has style

- priced under $100

- plenty of storage space

- fits comfortably in all pockets

- good quality video on beautiful screen

- random play by folder artist album and genre

- better than average playback quality with a good equalizer

- total access to music at all times (without proprietary software)



neutral:

- battery life

- no firmware updates yet



cons:

- screen scratches quickly and easily

- the on screen control dial is almost useless for browsing tracks



the screen is beautiful and will also scratch quickly. my device had a 0.25" scratch within 24 hours of use but i could only see it when the device was off. luckily i have lots of screen protectors so cutting one to fit was easy. i could not see the scratch unless the screen was off. with the protector on the screen looks much less beautiful.



the on-screen dial is certainly not the easiest navigation interface i have ever considered. if you prefer to use random play or pregenerated playlists the on-screen dial will likely never be a concern for you. however if you require the ability to browse through every song on your device so you can carefully consider which track is worthy of your listening time at this very moment this device is not for you.



a couple bugs that i expect to be remedied with firmware updates...

- the button hold function sometimes requires a redundant switch on and off in order to switch off properly.

- the device will not remember my personal background picture; i select a picture but when i turn the device on again a different default background is displayed and my personal background picture is still available quickly by cycling through the default selections.



when i posted this review i had owned the player for 2 months and the video features were basically useless to me. i thought i would occasionally use video playback during long train rides or plane trips but music is really all i need... i knew i had paid a price for the feature so i felt committed to actually using the video playback and realized 1 very good use when i thought ahead to load it with a few downloaded holiday shows that i knew both of my youngest kids would enjoy. i also purchased a cheap speaker carrying case and the result is that watching shows on daddy's player was a hit during stressful holiday road trips and it is not something they will expect for everyday driving.



however i still could live without video playback and i have recenly had a chance to play with the archos 2 vision player which a friend purchased as a gift to himself. it has a screen that is barely big enough for showing id3 tags but if you do not need and will not use video playback i highly recommend that player because it has the same basic player features for about 40% less price. that player also has a simpler control scheme for browsing tracks.More detail ...