Archos 704 WiFi review

Archos is a company that's made a name for itself in the budget media player market, but it's a company with big ideas.

Not content with an existing range of video players (we reviewed the 604 in issue 190, page 38, and the 404 in issue 192, page 40), the 704 WiFi has ambitions by the bucketload.

The screen is huge, measuring 7 inches diagonally, and it's a touchscreen as well. There's no integral stylus, however, and unfortunately the touchscreen really benefits from one; try to navigate using your finger and you'll struggle. But the screen is good quality, and whether you're watching video or using the built-in photo viewer, you'll never have to struggle to see what's happening.

You can store plenty of media on the 704 as well. The 80GB hard disk is a very decent capacity for this size of device, so you won't have to shuffle your content around too often. The Archos is also compatible with a large range of audio and video file formats. Battery life is equally impressive at five-and-a-half hours for video playback.

The 704 also has a USB in port, which means you don't necessarily even need a PC for getting content onto it - it's compatible with any device that shows up in Windows as a mass storage device, and that includes a decent range of digital cameras, so it's great for backing up your snaps if you run out of memory card space on the go.

Hardware is built in to connect to any 802.11g wireless network, and there's a web browser, a slightly adapted version of Opera. Navigating is simple, but text entry is difficult and writing emails is impractical, although it's nice to have the option. The 704 runs an operating system based on Linux, but unfortunately it's not possible to install any third-party applications.

The 704 WiFi is never going to be a good replacement for a laptop, which you might have wondered about at this price level. The operating system is too restrictive, and typing on the touchscreen is too hard.

But there's plenty of storage space on the hard disk, and with excellent battery life this is an ideal companion on medium-haul flights or long train journeys. It may be a rather expensive alternative to a good book, but it's flexible enough for us to be able to recommend it to die-hard fans of gadgets.