Archos Gmini XS 200 Reviews

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Good Points: The compatibility with Windows Media Player has been very handy and makes the device mind-bogglingly easy to use compared to its rivals. The large amount of memory is extremely good for those concerned with music quality, especially classical buffs. The navigation system is straightforward and the option to change sound styles between jazz, classical, rock etc is valuable. Despite starting hiccups (see below) it has proven a tough customer which has survived two falls.

Bad Points: Like so many other buyers I had a problem with a hard disk fault soon after purchase which meant that it had to be returned to the manufacturer twice within the warranty period. However, the final repair seems to have resolved the problem and the repair process was rapid. Other than that I have had absolutely no problems with it at all except perhaps that the central button is a bit trigger-happy. If you choose the automatic update setting on Windows Media Player, tracks not on a given computer to which it is connected will be erased--but this seems to be a problem with WMP not the device as such! Once I switched off automatic update I had no further problems.

General comments: I bought this as a replacement for a Sanyo which had highly user-unfriendly software, to the point that it was actually impossible to make it play or to upload more than a fraction of my collection--some of which predated certain security functions installed on newer CDs. Apart from the starting problems with malfunction it has behaved impeccably. Because of the ease of use I would still stick to something along these lines rather than iPod if I have to replace it; but it's been going strong since 2005 now with no trouble at all and I still have only filled half the disk.

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I bought an iPod for my wife three months before I first bought this player in Jan 2006. I bought the Archos because the iTunes programme was rubbish and I preferred to be able to drag and drop music to my MP3 player.
2 months later the hard drive died. I got a replacement from the internet seller I bought it from (hitech2go). Just over a year later the replacement has died (warranty is useless).
My wife still has her iPod and it is going strong.
I supported Archos as a competitor to iPod bu ...

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Archos' warranty is worthless. I have had the Archos Gmini XS 200 MP3 player for three months before it started having power problems. I sent the unit back to Archos under warranty. They wrote back saying the unit had been dropped and the hard disk had to be repaired. Not covered under warranty - cost £130. I'll put the money towards a Creative. Incidentally, the unit had not been dropped.

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This Archos Gmini XS 200 is the 1st mp3 player I purchased and I spent a lot of time researching them. The research paid off because this player is great.

I am more than happy with my Archos, it does everything i need. The sound quality is good and the volume is loud. The menu is easy to use once you are used to the joystick.

It holds plenty of files and the organisation is simple. The best thing is that it syncs directly with media player and that i can also transfer other file types ...

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When I first purchased the Archos Gmini XS 200 almost 12 months ago, it seemed ideal. Over this time I have become accustomed to the menu layout but recently have become very frustrated. The hard drive has decided to not work from time to time, tracks are shown incorrectly.

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The menu system on the Archos Gmini XS 200 MP3 player is a bit cumbersome (too many layers to get through to update the library and switch to random play).

The sound quality with WMAs 192kbs is remarkable, but see error in bad points!

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What a fantastic little player the Archos Gmini XS 200 MP3 Player is. I was fed up of needing special software to download music to my player (I had an old creative labs player). What I wanted was a machine that I could transfer files with windows, whether they be music or not, in the same way. That's just how it works! You plug in, and the XS200 appears as a removable disk, drag and drop files and folders, and your done.

The player can build its own database of any music you download fro ...

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I bought the Archos Gmini XS 200 a couple of weeks ago and (after upgrading my usb host) have been copying over my cds and mp3 files non-stop.

The compatibility with iTunes, windows media player etc, leaves a lot to be desired, but after a little bit of messing around I managed to figure out the best and quickest way of transferring files over (drag and drop through windows).

The headphones are a bit shoddy but I can live with them until I've managed to save enough pennies to upgrade to so ...

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I purchased this Archos Gmini XS 200 to be the main store for my CD library, and as such it does this in a fashion. I am VERY disappointed that it has no drivers for ITunes (PC), Win Media Player 7 or even MusicMatch Jukebox. This makes synchronising a pain, with Windows "drag and drop" the only method of administering files. I feel that I could have just bought a FlashDrive or other external HDD - it spoils the whole product, and whilst Archos promised me in January that they were "working on i ...

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I bought the Archos Gmini XS 200 just after Christmas as my previous one kept crashing. I was looking for something very affordable small and reliable with a large amount of memory space on the hard-drive. I was going to purchase the iPod Mini but they were too popular. I've never heard of the manufacturer before but I can say they are a very creative and intelligent putting the customers needs first. The large screen takes up most of the space of the MP3 player which allows for easy understandi ...

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Although I've only had the Archos Gmini XS 200 for just over 1 week, I've been using it constantly, working out every single feature of it and thinking over the good and bad points of this. I had been wanting to purchase a large hard-drive MP3 player for a while, after owning one of the first ever ones (32meg and very expensive), and a CD based one. I decided over this one for three main reasons: The price, the size, and the reviews. Firstly onto the size.

This thing really is small, a lot sm ...

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Although having only bought this today, I am quite fond of it.
When I was going to the store to purchase a 4th gen iPod (Had two more, I have several mp3 players) I saw this, and noticing the price was better decided upon buying it (Note: The price difference may not be so obvious outside of Canada)

Based on first glance, this is a rather attractive mp3 player.
It's capacity is 20gig, yet it looks more like a 512mb player (going by physical dimensions). The size of this gadget is remarkable ...

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I have been wanting to get hold of an MP3 player for some time but I was always concerned with the lack of memory that these devices provided.

It all started after the popularity of MP3's fired the imagination of the public.

Diamond Multimedia released the controversial RIO and all hell was let loose as the music industry tried to contain the inevitable slide towards a more free music society. As with IBM and the PC, Apple released the sexy iPod and the scene was set for something of a ...