Review: Archos 4GB pen drive / MP3 player

OK, so I go to the gym. You don't need to know this but now you do. You also don't need to know that the HTC Hero smartphone can survive at least 4 falls onto a 5.5 MPH treadmill.  My self esteem can survive no more that 4 forays into the nether regions of the gym seeking out batteries, SIM cards and the like. 

So what?

So I need a small, lightweight and reasonably idiot proof MP3 player I can take the gym so I don't have to listen to KISS-FM the whole time I am there.  I have no specific dislike for KISS-FM except for the fact that they only appear to own 6 records.  I digress.  I'm way to cheap to buy myself an iPod Shuffle or similar "branded" device.  So I got myself down to the local ASDA (now a happy member of the Wal*Mart family) as I'd seen a print ad for something that looked to be the answer:  The Archos 4GB Pen Drive MP3 Player.

Archos 4GB MP3 Pen Drive. Small and moderately well formed.

£22 isn't a whole lot of money for an MP3 player, so I have limited expectations here.  I find this is the best way to approach life in general really.  What you do get is a small, light 4GB device which is about the size of a bloated USB memory stick.  It has the standard USB jack which slides out almost James Bond like from the unit and a teeny but surprisingly legible LCD display which features a blue backlight. The interface to operate it is a bit fiddly but once you have the hang of it then you get used to it.  The instructions are brief and in a form of English derived from Korean (or maybe Klingon) so be prepared to fiddle and see what it does.

There is no software.  No iTunes, no special updater or folder management or such.  It just plugs in and works like a memory stick.  Drag stuff onto it.  Easy.  This I actually like more than some of the slick management and synchronising systems packaged with more expensive players, music phones, etc.  This also means that although the Archos doo-dad can't play video or show photos you can use the player as a handy bit of personal storage to haul various tat around with you from PC to PC.

Other features include an FM radio, a digital voice recorder (built in mic) an FM radio recorder and an FM transmitter so you can play your MP3s over a car stereo or whatever via a FM radio tuned to an appropriate frequency.  The radio works well, the transmitter works about as well as most of them do which is to say not that well.  I've not tried the recording features.

Sound quality is decent enough, even with the obviously cheap headphones it is supplied with.  One thing I'd note is that it doesn't go very loud so pick the treadmill furthest from the gym's loudspeaker...