Archos 3cam vision review
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Good playback options, good pricepoint and all round fit for purpose.:
Camera is lacking quality and will not play your iTunes files.The Archos 3cam vision players is a multimedia devices capable of recording clips whether you are indoor or outdoor, playing music,video files on the 3′ screen, sliding through your photos, FM audio,Audio recording.
I have come to know Archos very well and over the years from when mp3 players flooded the market; Archos has never failed to impress and adding the extras that always sets them apart from every other multimedia device manufacturers out there.
The Archos 3cam vision players is a multimedia devices capable of:
- recording clips whether you are indoor or outdoor
- it is capable of playing music
- playing back mp4 files on the 3′ screen
- sliding through your photos
- FM audio
- Audio recording
What’s in the box?
- Archos 3cam vision Player
- mini USB Cable for charging and file transfer)
- earphones
- user guide
Opening the box you will notice the 400×240 3-inch resistible touchscreen, and the only front-facing control is the touch-sensitive back button beneath the screen. On the outer ares you have the 3.5mm headphone jack, lock switch and mini USB charging port. With the Archos 3cam device been a low entry multimedia device it has the looks that will give off expensive vibes however you still can’t compare quality in design with the likes of iPod Nano.
Music player
The Archos 3cam will playback MP3, FLAC and WMA files which are the common audio files the average public would use. It has no restriction with what music you put on it, however if you have purchased music from iTunes, you will find it’s incompatible but fear not as there are other source of music out there. I was impressed also with the sound quality, although I plugged in my Beats headphones for better result; you may find the headphones that comes in the package is a little uncomfortable for prolonged use due to its hard plastic finishing. The 8GB memory will hold up to 4,000 music which is good enough for long commuting or flight.
When switched on ready for use, you can see :
- artists
- playlist
- all music
When compared to the iPod style of music player, you will get your cover art which is snazzy, but when using the touchscreen it would remind you of when touchscreens first started out with inaccurate precision or problematic touch sensitivity.
Another problem I noticed was the ID3 tags issue where it doesn’t matter what you change the file name to, when you play it, Archos 3cam will still identify the song as the meta tags on it.
Video playback and Camera
When compared to other multimedia devices, it plays AVI, along with WMVs, FLV-files with support for MPEGs (no need to convert to mp4)
The camera behind the device will shoot VGA 640×480 quality video and is nowhere near as good as that on the iPod Nano with footage that looks dull and makes the camera feature a last thought feature for the Archos device. The screen also gives reflections when watching clips which can be sometimes awkward. Nevertheless, the device is good for quick footage capture when out and about.
I also found the positioning of the camera a little awkward and left me wondering if it was a design error but it’s not and I struggle to find the reason for that as it can be tricky to get footage with your hands out of the way.
Verdict
The Archos 3cam Vision’s camera is a decent product at the price point but is no contender when it’s compared to its pairs. The camera feature could do with lots of improvements and better positioning. It would make a good gadget/present for your kids if you don’t want to spend a lot on the likes of the iPod nano.
