Archos 404 User Manual

ENGLISH

404

ENGLISH USER MANUAL

Version 3

Please visit www.archos.com/manuals

to download the latest version for this manual.

Dear Customer,
thank you for choosing this Archos product. We hope that you

will enjoy using it and that it will give you entire satisfaction
for many years to come.

Please do register your product on our website
(www.archos.com/register) to ensure that you get access to
our help line and to be informed of free software updates for
your product.

Wishing you the best Multimedia experience,

The Archos Team

All the information contained in this manual was correct at the time
of publication. However, as our engineers are always updating and
improving our products, your device’s software may have a slightly

different appearance or modied functionality than presented in this

manual.

Important Safety InStructIonS

Read these instructions.

1)

Keep these instructions.

2)

Heed all warnings.

3)

Follow all instructions.

4)

Do not use this apparatus near water.

5)

Clean only with dry cloth.

6)

Do not block any ventilation openings. Install in accordance

7)

with the manufacturer’s instructions.
Do not install near any heat sources such as radiators, heat

8)
registers, stoves, or other apparatus (including ampliers)

that produce heat.
Do not defeat the safety purpose of the polarized or

9)

grounding-type plug. A polarized plug has two blades with
one wider than the other. A grounding type plug has two
blades and a third grounding prong. The wide blade or the
third prong are provided for your safety. If the provided

plug does not t into your outlet, consult an electrician for

replacement of the obsolete outlet.
Protect the power cord from being walked on or pinched

10)

particularly at plugs, convenience receptacles, and the point
where they exit from the apparatus.

Only use attachments/accessories specied by the manufacturer.

11)

Use only with the cart, stand, tripod, bracket, or table

12)
specied by the manufacturer, or sold with the apparatus.

When a cart is used, use caution when moving the cart/
apparatus combination to avoid injury from tip-over.

Unplug this apparatus during lightning storms or when

13)

unused for long periods of time.

Refer all servicing to qualied service personnel. Servicing

14)

is required when the apparatus has been damaged in any
way, such as power-supply cord or plug is damaged, liquid
has been spilled or objects have fallen into the apparatus,
the apparatus has been exposed to rain or moisture, does
not operate normally, or has been dropped.

2

Table Of COnTenTs

InTrOduCTIOn .................................................................. 5

ARCHOS DEVICE DESCRIPTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

INTERFACE LANGUAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

BATTERY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

PRODUCT CARE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

1. PlayIng VIdeO .........................................................11

1.1 BROWSING THROUGH YOUR VIDEOS . . . . . . . . . . 11

1.2 VIDEO PLAYBACK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

1.3 VIDEO SETTINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

1.4 PUTTING VIDEOS ONTO YOUR ARCHOS DEVICE .. . . . .. . . 16

1.5 RECORDING VIDEO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

2. PlayIng MusIC .......................................................18

2.1 THE ARCLIBRARY AND THE MUSIC BROWSER . . . . . . .18

2.2 PLAYING MUSIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

2.3 MUSIC SETTINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

2.4 SOUND SETTINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

2.5 PLAYLISTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

2.6 PUTTING MUSIC ONTO YOUR ARCHOS DEVICE . . . . . . . . . .29

2.7 RECORDING AUDIO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

3. usIng The audIOCOrder ....................................31

3.1 AUDIOCORDER SETTINGS SCREEN . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

3.2 BUILT-IN MICROPHONE RECORDING PROCEDURE 32

3.3 LINE-LEVEL RECORDINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

4. VIewIng PhOTOs ................................................. 34

4.1 THE PHOTO WALL AND THE PHOTOLIBRARY . . . . . . 34

4.2 VIEWING PHOTOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE...

3

4.3 PHOTO SETTINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

4.4 PLAYING A SLIDESHOW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

4.5 VIEWING PHOTOS WHILE LISTENING TO MUSIC . . 40

4.6

TRANSFERRING PHOTOS TO YOUR ARCHOS DEVICE

. 41

5. usIng The brOwser ....................................... 42

5.1 NAVIGATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

5.2 USING THE VIRTUAL KEYBOARD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

5.3 USING THE PDF READER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

6. COMPuTer COnneCTIOn ................................. 49

6.1 ‘WINDOWS MEDIA DEVICE’ OR ‘PC HARD DRIVE’ . . . . . .49

6.2 CONNECTION STEPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

6.3 DISCONNECTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

7. seTuP sCreen ..................................................... 54

7.1 LANGUAGE SETTINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

7.2 DISPLAY SETTINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

7.3 APPEARANCE SETTINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

7.4 CLOCK SETTINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

7.5 POWER SETTINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

7.6 TV CONTROL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

7.7 SYSTEM SETTINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

7.8 UPDATING THE FIRMWARE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

8. OPTIOnal funCTIOnalITIes ........................ 64

8.1

DVR STATION & DVR TRAVEL ADAPTER PRESENTATION

8.2 RECORDING VIDEO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

8.3 SETTING THE SCHEDULER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

8.4 RECORDING AUDIO (EXTERNAL SOURCE) . . . . . . . 76

8.5 USB HOST CONNECTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

. 64

TeChnICal sPeCIfICaTIOns .................................. 79

TeChnICal suPPOrT InfOrMaTIOn .................

82

4

InTrOduCTIOn

arChOs deVICe desCrIPTIOn

BUTTONS

On the Left Side of the Device:

Press and hold to switch on/off.

TV
lCd

Press once to switch the display of the image
between TV and built-in LCD screen.
Press and hold to lock the buttons of your ARCHOS
device.

Main Navigation Buttons:

Navigation pad

up/down accelerator buttons

Escape / Back / Stop

OK

Enter / Go / Play/Pause

Tab between available screens

Menu

Display the available menu items

5

CONNECTORS

Underneath the Device: the Docking Connectors

Connect your ARCHOS device to your computer.

•
Charge the battery of your ARCHOS via USB.

•
Connect a compatible external device to your ARCHOS with

•
the optional Docking Adapter.

Record external video via the optional DVR Station.

•

On the Left Side: AV Out Jack

Audio: plug in the supplied headphones.

Video: plug in an Archos AV cable to connect to

your TV, hi-, etc.

BUILT-IN MICROPHONE AND LOUDSPEAKER

The built-in microphone is situated underneath the
device.
See:

Using the AudioCorder

.

The built-in loudspeaker is on the top, above the
buttons.

6

LED INDICATORS

hdd

Hard Disk Drive activity indicator

hdd the light ickers when the hard

drive is active (playing/transferring

les).

Chg

Battery charge indicator

- light on: the battery is charging.

- ashing: the battery is fully charged.

ON/OFF indicator

Video display indicator

TV

lCd

the light is on when the image is displayed on

an external display.

hdd
Chg

INTERFACE DESCRIPTION

Status Bar

In the top right corner of the

•
screen, the status bar indicates
the volume, the battery level,
the current time, the playback
status of your device, etc.

7

Tabs

In the top left corner of the screen,

•
the tabs area shows other available
applications and screens (settings, home
screen, etc.). They vary, depending on
where you are in the interface.

Press to switch between these different

•
screens.

Menu

In the lower right corner of the screen, the

•
menu area shows the menu icons.

Press Menu to display the available menu

•
items.

This is a contextual menu: the available

•
options will vary, depending on where you
are in the interface.

Home Screen

The Resume Icon

Sometimes the Resume icon is highlighted in the Home

•
Screen when you turn on the ARCHOS. This means that

you can resume the last-played music or video le, if it

was interrupted before the end.
If the Resume icon is grayed out, it means that no music

•

or video le playback can be resumed.

This is the main screen

•
of your ARCHOS device,
showing its main functions.

Select an icon with the

•
navigation pad and press OK
to use the particular function.

8

InTerfaCe language

CHANGING THE LANGUAGE

The interface of your ARCHOS device is available in

•
English, French and German.

More languages are available from www.archos.com.

•
See

Updating the Firmware

installing these language packs.

To change the system’s language:

From the Home Screen, press to access the Setup

1.
screen.

Highlight the language icon and press OK.

2.
Select a different language using the / buttons

3.
(your settings are saved instantly).

Press to exit.

4.

for instructions on

OTHER CHARACTER SETS

File names, folder names and music tags can be displayed

•
in various character sets, such as Japanese, Korean,

Simplied Chinese, etc.

You can enable these character sets in the Language

•
settings screen (see

Language Settings

for further

instructions).

baTTery

BATTERY CHARGE

Before using your ARCHOS device for the rst time, charge the

battery for two hours.

9

The battery of your ARCHOS device charges via your
computer’s USB port:

plug the Archos USB Cable into your ARCHOS device

1.
(which is off),

plug the Archos USB Cable into your computer (which is

2.
turned on),

the ARCHOS device will turn on and start charging.

3.

A lightning bolt symbol will ash over the battery icon in the

•

task bar while the battery is charging: .
The CHG indicator LED is on while the battery is charging;

•

it will blink when the battery is fully charged.

PrOduCT Care

CARING FOR YOUR ARCHOS DEVICE

Your ARCHOS device is an electronic product that needs to be
treated with care:

Do not subject it to unnecessary shock or vibration.

•
Do not subject it to heat, keep it ventilated (especially when

•
connected to a computer).

•

Keep it away from water and excessively humid areas.

Keep it away from high electromagnetic elds.

•

•

Keep any connected wires neatly arranged: the device could
fall if a cable is accidentally pulled by a child.

Do not open it up. There are no user-serviceable parts

•
inside. Opening will void your warranty.

HARDWARE RESET

In the event that your ARCHOS device freezes operation
(due to electrostatic phenomena, for example), you can reset it
by pressing the button for 15 seconds.

10

1. PlayIng VIdeO

In the Home Screen, highlight the Video icon and
press OK to enter the video mode.

1.1 brOwsIng ThrOugh yOur VIdeOs

There are two types of views for you to browse through your

•
videos:

the Video List

­the Video Browser

-

You can switch between the two views by pressing at any

•
time while browsing in video mode.

When browsing in video mode, only video les are shown.

•

THE VIDEO LIST

the Video List (default

•
view) only shows the

video les in the Video

folder of the ARCHOS’s
hard drive (it does not
show videos located in
subfolders).

To view videos from a

•
different folder, press
to switch to the Video
Browser view, navigate
to another folder, and
press again to go
back to the Video List.

11

THE VIDEO BROWSER

the Video Browser

•
allows you to navigate
to other folders within
the Video folder. It is
based on the Archos
File Browser.

See:

Both views display a motion thumbnail of the highlighted

•

Using the Browser

.

video as well as various information about the video le.

If you have saved a video frame as a thumbnail (see: Video

•

Playback Menu Items), the thumbnail will no longer play the

highlighted video le, but show that image instead.

VIDEO LIST & BROWSER MENU ITEMS

Info

displays a message box with all the available

-

information about the highlighted video le.

Press to close the info screen.

-

Delete

allows you to delete the highlighted video le. A

-

conrmation screen will pop up.

Rename

allows you to change the name of the highlighted video

-

le using the virtual keyboard.

see:

-

Using the Virtual Keyboard

.

12

Resume video

will resume playing the highlighted video from the

­bookmark.

Clear bookmark

will remove the bookmark from the highlighted video le.

-

Resume video and Clear bookmark only appear in the menu
when a bookmarked video le is highlighted (icon: ).

Reset thumbnails

will delete all user-dened thumbnails and restore

­motion thumbnails.

Sound

will display the sound settings screen (see:

-

Settings

). Press to return to the video mode.

1.2 VIdeO PlaybaCK

Highlight a video le, press OK to play it.

VIDEO PLAYBACK SCREEN

current play mode

current display format

volume level

Sound

video progression bar

the menu overlay disappears after a few seconds

13

VIDEO PLAYBACK BUTTON CONTROLS

During video playback, the buttons of your ARCHOS device will
act as follows:

accelerated fast forward

fast rewind

accelerated fast rewind

stop

VIDEO PLAYBACK MENU ITEMS

Info

displays a message box with all the available

-

information about the current video le.

Press to close the info screen.

-

Format

increase volume
fast forward

decrease volume

pause/play

display the menu

-

-

-

-

-

Speed

-

allows to change the way the image is displayed.
Auto: adjusts the video size to best adapt to the built-in

screen or TV.
Full Screen: displays the entire picture on the screen.

Maximized: enlarges the picture to ll the screen.

Original: displays the picture in its original format.

will play the current video in slow motion or high speed

14

Set bookmark

sets a bookmark at the current spot in the video.

-

Only one bookmark per le is allowed.

-

You can bookmark up to 16 les.

­Video les with a bookmark appear with the icon.

-

Save frame as...

Thumbnail: saves the current image as a new thumbnail

-

for this le (overwrites the previously set thumbnail, if any).
Wallpaper: the current image will be dened as your

­device’s background image.

Sound

will display the sound settings screen (see:

-

Settings

). Press to exit this screen.

Sound

Settings

will display the video settings screen (see next chapter).

-

1.3 VIdeO seTTIngs

You can access the Video Settings screen via the
menu item while playing a video le. Use / to highlight a
different parameter, then use / to select a different setting.

Settings

15

PlayMode

•
Single plays only one video le and stops

-

(a status bar icon shows the current mode)

-

Folder

Repeat & Shufe

•
Normal plays the video selection once and stops

-

-

Repeat
Shufe plays videos in a random order

-

LCD Brightness

•
adjusts the level of brightness of the built-in screen

-

plays all video les in the current folder

(a status bar icon shows the current mode)

(no icon)

plays the video selection repeatedly

1.4 PuTTIng VIdeOs OnTO yOur arChOs deVICe

There are two main methods to transfer your own videos onto
the ARCHOS:

Synchronize your videos with Windows Media® Player 10 (or

•

higher)

®

This method requires your ARCHOS’s USB connection
to operate in ‘Windows Media Device’ mode (see:

System Settings

higher) will copy the videos you have selected directly
in the

Video

). Windows Media® Player 10 (or

folder of the ARCHOS.

Copy and Paste your video les from your computer into

•

the

Video

folder of your ARCHOS (see:

Computer Connection

for details on how to connect your ARCHOS device to your
computer).

16

CREATING COMPATIBLE VIDEO FILES WITH YOUR COMPUTER

If some of your videos don’t play on your ARCHOS device,
you may need to transcode them to a compatible format.

The easiest way to do this is by using Windows Media®

•

Player 10 (or higher) to transfer videos to your ARCHOS in
‘Windows Media Device’ mode. Windows Media® Player 10
(or higher) will automatically convert most formats to the WMV
format that your device can play.

If you don’t want to use Windows Media® Player 10 (or

•

higher), a search on the Internet should allow you to nd

suitable utility programs to do this job.

1.5 reCOrdIng VIdeO

Your ARCHOS device can record video, via its VideoCorder

•

function.
You will need the optional

•

to record video.

•

See:

Optional Functionalities

DVR Station

or

DVR Travel Adapter

to learn more about this feature.

17

2. PlayIng MusIC

In the Home Screen, highlight the Music icon and
press OK to enter the music mode.

2.1 The arClIbrary and The MusIC brOwser

There are two types of views for you to browse through your

•

songs:

the ARCLibrary

­the Music Browser

-

When browsing through your music, only music les are

•
shown.

THE ARCLIBRARY

the ArcLibrary (default

•
view) shows your music
sorted in categories
(Artist, Album, Title,
Genre, etc.) if your

music les contain

these tags.
When new music is

•
added to the Music
folder of the ARCHOS,
the ARCLibrary will
need to be updated. By default, this is done automatically,
but you can choose to do it manually via the ‘Update
ARCLibrary’ option in the ARCLibrary (also see:

Settings

).

System

18

If some of your music les do not contain tags, they will be

•

classied as ‘(Unknown)’ in the ARCLibrary.

THE MUSIC BROWSER

the music browser

•
allows you to navigate
the Music folder of your
device’s hard drive. It
is based on the Archos
File Browser.

To use it, highlight

•
‘Browse Hard Drive’ in
the initial ArcLibrary
view and press OK.

See:

ARCLIBRARY* AND MUSIC BROWSER MENU ITEMS

Using the Browser

.

Info

displays a message box with all the available

-

information about the highlighted music le.

Press to close the info screen.

-

Delete

allows you to delete the highlighted music le.

-

A conrmation screen will pop up.

Rename

allows you to change the name of the highlighted music

-

le using the virtual keyboard.

see:

-

Using the Virtual Keyboard

.

Resume song

will resume playing the highlighted music le from the

­bookmark.

19

Clear bookmark

will remove the bookmark from the highlighted music le.

-

Resume song and Clear bookmark only appear in the menu
when a track with a bookmark is highlighted (icon: ).

Show playlist

opens a playlist edition window on the right

­(see:

Playlists

).

Sound

will display the sound settings screen (see:

-

Settings

* in the ArcLibrary, only the

). Press to return to the music mode.

Show playlist

items are available.

2.2 PlayIng MusIC

Highlight an audio le, press OK to play it.

MUSIC PLAYBACK SCREEN

current play mode

previous track

song title

artist name

album title

track number

next track

volume level

remaining time

elapsed time

progression bar

and

Sound

Sound

menu

20

MUSIC PLAYBACK BUTTON CONTROLS

During music playback, the buttons of your ARCHOS device
will act as follows:

accelerated fast forward

press once: back to the

beginning of the song, or

previous song (in the rst

10 seconds of a track)

hold: fast rewind

accelerated fast rewind

stop

tabs back to the browser or

ARCLibrary window that

you launched the song from

MUSIC STATUS ICONS

Status bar icons tell you if your ARCHOS is:

playing paused stopped

MUSIC PLAYBACK MENU ITEMS

increase volume
press once: next song

hold: fast forward
decrease volume

pause/play

display the menu

Info

Home

displays a message box with all the available

-

information about the current music le.

Press to close the info screen.

-

allows you to go back to the Home Screen while playing

­music, in order to browse your hard drive, play a photo

slideshow, etc.

21

Set bookmark

sets a bookmark at the current spot in the audio le.

-

Only one bookmark per le is allowed.

-

You can bookmark up to 16 les.

­Music les with a bookmark appear with the icon.

-

Sound

will display the sound settings screen (see:

-

Settings

). Press to exit this screen.

Sound

Settings

will display the music settings screen (see next chapter).

-

2.3 MusIC seTTIngs

You can access the Music Settings screen via the
menu item while playing a song. Use / to highlight a
different parameter, then use / to select a different setting.

Settings

PlayMode

•
Single plays only one music le and stops.

-

-

Folder

(a status bar icon shows the current mode)

plays all music les in the current folder

or album.

-

All

plays all music les in the ARCHOS

device.

-

Queue

allows you to select a track to be played
after the current one is over.

22

while a track is playing, press to switch

­to the browser window, select a track and
press OK: this is your queued track, and the
status bar icon becomes .

you can only queue one track at a time.

­if you do not select a song to queue before

­the end of the current track, the ARCHOS will
play the next track in the folder or album.

-

Scan plays the rst few seconds of each track.

you can dene the length to play in

-

duration

if you want to play the whole song, press OK

-

.

while its intro is playing; the music player will
then revert to the

Repeat & Shufe

•
Normal plays the track selection once and stops.

­Repeat plays the track selection repeatedly.

­Shufe plays random tracks from the selection.

-

Intro duration

•

(no icon)

(a status bar icon shows the current mode)

shufe is not available when

­set to

denes for how long each track will be

-

All

.

played in the

Folder

Scan

play mode.

PlayMode

play mode.

2.4 sOund seTTIngs

Intro

is

This screen allows you to adjust the sound settings of your
ARCHOS device to your personal taste. Use / to highlight a
different parameter, then use / to select a different setting.

23

Volume

•
adjusts the output volume.

-

Built-in loudspeaker

•

-

ON the loudspeaker is always on.

-

OFF the loudspeaker is always off.

-

Automatic the built-in loudspeaker automatically turns

off when you plug in headphones or an AV
Cable.

Bass Boost Frequency

•
adjusts the lower frequency that will be boosted.

-

Bass Boost Level

•
adjusts the bass boosting level.

-

Preset

•

allows you to quickly select a sound prole.

-

Set equalizer

•

allows you to use a custom sound prole. Highlight and

-

press OK to enter the equalizer screen.

Balance

•
allows you to balance the sound between the left and right

­speakers.

Reset

•

highlight and press OK to reset sound parameters to the

­default values.

24

EQUALIZER SCREEN

Your ARCHOS device features a 5-band equalizer.

Use / to highlight a different frequency range (Bass, Mid.

•
bass, Mid. range, Mid. treble or Treble).

Use / to change the gain level for these frequencies.

•

It is advised that you change these settings while listening to
music, in order to be able to appreciate the sound changes.

2.5 PlaylIsTs

A playlist is a list of audio tracks that the music

•
player will automatically play one after the other.

On your ARCHOS device, you can play, create and edit

•
as many playlists as you want.

In the Archos Browser, playlists are the les with the

•

icon.

When playing a playlist, the icon will appear in

•
the status bar.

25

Note: when you delete a playlist, you are only deleting the list
and not the music itself.

PLAYING A PLAYLIST

Highlight the

•
Select a playlist using / , press

•

Playlist

line of the ArcLibrary, press OK.

OK. A panel showing the contents
of the playlist will open on the right.

Press OK to start playing from the

•

rst track (to start playing from

another track, you can also select
a song using / before you press
OK).

You may want to play the tracks in a different order: press

•
Menu and select the

Shufe

menu item to randomly shufe

the order of the songs in the current playlist.

CREATING A PLAYLIST

Select the

•

Show playlist

menu item while you are in the
Music browser. A playlist panel will open on the right: you
can now start adding songs to the current playlist.

In the left pane, locate the songs you would like to add to

•

your playlist. Highlight a song and press or OK to add it
to the playlist (the song’s icon in the left panel will change
to , indicating that it is part of the current playlist).

Repeat this operation with all the tracks you want.

•
You can also add the content of an entire folder, artist,

•
album, etc. if you highlight it and press or OK.

Another way to add songs to a playlist is by using the

playlist

or

Insert in playlist

menu items:

Add to

26

Add to playlist

will add the highlighted track, folder, artist or album at

­the end of the playlist.

Insert in playlist

will insert the highlighted track, folder, artist or album

­before the selected item in the playlist.

To jump back and forth between the left and right panels,

•

press .
A playlist can have a maximum of 5,000 songs.

•

See the next section to learn how to save your playlists.

•

PLAYLIST PANEL MENU ITEMS

These menu items appear when the focus is on the right panel:
Remove track

deletes the highlighted track from the playlist.

-

Move track

allows you to change the position of the highlighted

­track within the playlist, using / .

When you have dened a new position for the track,

­press OK to validate.

Save

saves the current playlist to the

-

Save As

Same as

­personalized name to the playlist.

See:

-

Using the Virtual Keyboard

Save

Playlists

folder.

, but it also allows you to give a

.

27

Clear

clears and closes the current playlist.

-

Shufe

randomly shufes the order of the songs in the current

-

playlist.

Sound

will display the sound settings screen (See:

-

settings

Press to exit this screen.

-

EDITING A PLAYLIST

).

Sound

To edit an existing playlist:

Highlight the playlist and use the

•

You can now add, shufe, move or remove tracks within the

•

Show playlist

menu item.

playlist, using the appropriate menu items.
An asterisk (*) appears after the playlist’s name in the

•

right panel to indicate that modications were made to the

playlist and that it is unsaved.
After you have made the changes you want, save the playlist

•
with the

Save

menu item, or with the

Save As

menu item if

you wish to give it a different name.

ADDING SONGS TO A PLAYLIST WHILE LISTENING TO MUSIC

While playing a song, choose the

•

A new window will open with two panels, the music les on

•

Playlist

menu item.

the left and the playlist on the right.
Press to focus on the left panel and select the song or

•
folder of songs to add, then press OK to add them to the
playlist.

Press to return to the playback screen.

•

28

Please note: this can only be done if you have entered the
Music folder via the Music icon on the Home Screen and not
via the Browser icon.

Attention: if you save the playlist while playing a song, the
song playback will be stopped.

2.6 PuTTIng MusIC OnTO yOur arChOs deVICe

There are two main methods to transfer your own music onto
the ARCHOS:

Synchronize your music with Windows Media® Player 10 (or higher)

•

This method requires your ARCHOS’s USB connection to

®

operate in ‘Windows Media Device’ mode (see:

Settings

). Windows Media® Player 10 (or higher) will

copy the music les you have selected directly in the

Music

folder of the ARCHOS.

System

Copy and Paste your music les from your computer

•

into the

Connection

Music

folder of your ARCHOS (see

Computer

for details on how to connect your ARCHOS

device to your computer).

You can easily create audio content with your computer
by using Windows Media® Player 10 (or higher) to convert
your own CDs to MP3 or WMA format. Check the laws and
regulations in your country or jurisdiction to know if private
copy of your CDs for your own use is authorized.

29

2.7 reCOrdIng audIO

Your ARCHOS device can record audio, via its

•
AudioCorder function.

You can make microphone recordings directly with

•
your ARCHOS (see the next section for details).

You will need the optional

•

Adapter

to record audio from an analog source (see

Optional Functionalities

feature).

DVR Station

or

DVR Travel

to learn more about this

30

3. usIng The audIOCOrder

You can record audio either from the built-in
microphone or from an external line-level analog
source if you use the optional

Travel Adapter

In the Home Screen, highlight the AudioCorder icon and press
OK to display the pre-recording screen.

All audio recordings made by your ARCHOS device are saved

•

in the Music/Recordings folder. If you wish to keep them in
a different location, you can use the Move function of the
Archos le browser after recording (see: Using the Browser).

The icon ashes in the status bar while recording.

•

Audio les recorded by your ARCHOS device will be tagged

•

as follows: Artist = (Archos: Audio Recordings), Album =
(Unknown).

.

DVR Station

or

DVR

3.1 audIOCOrder seTTIngs sCreen

This screen allows you to adjust audio input settings for your
recordings. Use / to highlight a different parameter, then
use / to select a different setting.

Set Title

•

31

allows you to give a personalized title to the recording

­(See:

Format

•
you can choose between PCM (uncompressed) and

­ADPCM (compressed) WAV format.

Source

•

Using the Virtual Keyboard

).

choose between

­the optional

Sampling

•
choose the sample rate for your recording (a higher rate

-

gives higher sound quality but a larger le).

microphone

DVR Station

or

analog line-in

or

DVR Travel Adapter

(only with

).

3.2 buIlT-In MICrOPhOne reCOrdIng
PrOCedure

Highlight the

1.
menu item and press
OK to enter the

AudioCorder

screen.
Select

2.
the source. Press
to go back to the pre­recording screen.

Microphone

Settings

settings

as

Adjust the recording

3.
level using /
( / only adjust the
headphones’ volume, not the recording volume).

Press OK or choose the

4.
recording.

You can pause and resume your recording by pressing OK.

5.
Press to stop recording.

6.

Start recording

menu item to start

32

You can also start recording to a new le directly by choosing
the Save le and start a new recording menu item while you

are recording.

3.3 lIne-leVel reCOrdIngs

Your ARCHOS device can also record from external line-level
audio sources, with the optional

Adapter

. See

Recording Audio

DVR Station

for details.

or

DVR Travel

33

4. VIewIng PhOTOs

In the Home Screen, highlight the Photo icon and
press OK to enter the photo viewer.

4.1 The PhOTO wall and The PhOTOlIbrary

There are three types of views for you to browse through

•
your photos:

the Photo Wall

­the PhotoLibrary

­the Photo Browser

-

When browsing through your photos, only picture les are

•
shown.

You can switch between the three views by pressing at any
time while browsing through your photos.

THE PHOTO WALL

the Photo Wall (default

•
view) shows thumbnails
of your photos. It only

shows the picture les

in the current folder
of the ARCHOS’s hard
drive (it does not show
pictures located in
subfolders).

34

To view pictures from a different folder, press to switch to

•
the PhotoLibrary or Photo Browser view, navigate to another
folder, and press again to go back to the Photo Wall.

THE PHOTOLIBRARY

the PhotoLibrary

•
displays your photos
sorted by date, name,
etc. (if your picture

les contain these EXIF

data).

THE PHOTO BROWSER

the Photo Browser

•
allows you to navigate
the Photo folder of your
device’s hard drive. It
is based on the Archos
File Browser.

To use it, highlight

•
‘Browse Hard Drive’ in
the PhotoLibrary view
and press OK.

See:

Using the Browser

.

35

PHOTO WALL, PHOTOLIBRARY
AND PHOTO BROWSER MENU ITEMS

Info

displays a message box with all the available

­information about the highlighted picture.

Press to close the info screen.

-

Delete

allows you to delete the highlighted picture le.

-

A conrmation screen will pop up.

Rename

allows you to change the name of the highlighted picture

-

le using the virtual keyboard.

See:

-

Using the Virtual Keyboard

Set as wallpaper

denes the current picture as your ARCHOS device’s

­background image.

Slideshow

starts a slideshow from the highlighted image

-

Sound

will display the sound settings screen (see:

-

Settings

You may want to access these settings if you are

-

). Press to exit this screen.

listening to music while browsing through your photos.

.

(only appears in photo wall view)

Sound

36

4.2 VIewIng PhOTOs

Highlight a picture le, press OK to view it.
The menu overlay will disappear automatically after a few

seconds.

PHOTO VIEWER BUTTON CONTROLS

When viewing photos, the buttons of your ARCHOS device will
act as follows:

zoom in

previous photo

zoom out

close photo viewer

rotate left
next photo

rotate right

start/pause a slideshow

display the menu

When zooming, / / / are used to scroll. You must unzoom
to recover their original functions.

37

PHOTO VIEWER MENU ITEMS

Info

displays a message box with all the available

­information about the current picture.

Press to close the info screen.

-

Zoom in

magnies the current picture.

-

Zoom out

unmagnies the current picture.

-

Rotate left

rotates the picture 90° counterclockwise.

-

Rotate right

rotates the picture 90° clockwise.

-

Set as wallpaper

denes the current picture as your ARCHOS device’s

­background image.

Start slideshow

starts a slideshow from the current image.

-

Settings

will display the photo settings screen (see next chapter).

-

Sound

will display the sound settings screen (see:

-

Settings

You may want to access these settings if you are

-

). Press to exit this screen.

listening to music while viewing photos.

Sound

38

4.3 PhOTO seTTIngs

You can access the Photo Settings screen via the

Settings

Menu item while viewing pictures. Use / to highlight a
different parameter, then use / to select a different setting.

Picture Pause

•

denes the time that each picture will be displayed during

­a slideshow.

Transition

•

denes the transition effect to be used between two

­pictures. There are several cool effects that you can
choose from.

39

4.4 PlayIng a slIdeshOw

To view a slideshow, highlight a picture le in the Photo

•
Wall, PhotoLibrary or Photo Browser and choose the

Slideshow

You can also start a slideshow while viewing photos: choose

•
the

Start slideshow

While a slideshow is playing, you can pause it at any time

•
by pressing OK.

You can dene the time that each picture is displayed and

•
the transition effects in the Photo Settings (see:

Settings

menu item.

menu item or simply press OK.

Photo

).

4.5 VIewIng PhOTOs whIle lIsTenIng TO
MusIC

You can view photos and play slideshows while listening to
music:

Choose the

•
In the Home Screen, highlight the Photo icon and press OK.

•
Browse through your photos or start a slideshow as normal

•
(see:

You can go back to the Music playback screen at any time

•
using .

Playing a Slideshow

Home

menu item while playing a song.

).

If you go back to the Music playback screen while playing
a slideshow, your slideshow will be paused. When you come
back to it, simply press OK to resume the slideshow.

40

4.6 TransferrIng PhOTOs TO yOur
arChOs deVICe

There are several methods for you to transfer your own photos
to the

•

•

Pictures

Connect your ARCHOS device to your computer and copy
the pictures from your computer’s hard drive to the ARCHOS
(see:
Media® Player 10 or higher (in
only).

Connect a digital camera, USB card reader or external
hard drive to your ARCHOS device via the

Computer Connection

Adapter

folder of the ARCHOS:

or

DVR Station

(see:

), or sync them using Windows

Windows Media Device

mode

Archos Docking

USB Host Connection

).

(Also

see: Copying and moving les and folders).

41

5. usIng The brOwser

The Archos File Browser gives you the possibility to

navigate the le system of your ARCHOS device’s

hard drive.

In the Home Screen, highlight the Browser icon and press OK
to enter the File Browser.

You will see two panels:

the one on the left is the panel that you usually use to

•
navigate through your device’s hard drive,

the panel on the right is the one you will use when you want

•

to copy or move les and folders (see:

les and folders

).

Copying and moving

About your ARCHOS device’s hard drive
ARCHOS recommends that you keep the original folders: Music,

Pictures, Video, Playlists. The icons on the Home Screen lead
directly to some of these folders (Video, Music, Photo...) and
they may no longer work correctly if the folders are deleted or
renamed.

42

5.1 naVIgaTIOn

BROWSER BUTTON CONTROLS

Use / to select a le or folder, then press OK or to enter it.

•
To go back up one level in the folder hierarchy, press .

•
Press at any time to leave the Browser and go back to the

•
Home Screen.

Press if you need to jump between the left and right panels.

•

BROWSER MENU ITEMS

Info

displays a message box with all the available

-

information about the highlighted le.

Press to close the info screen.

-

Create folder

creates a folder in the current location.

­You will have to enter the folder’s name with the virtual

­keyboard (see:

Delete

allows you to delete the highlighted le or folder (and all

-

its contents). A conrmation screen will pop up.

Rename

allows you to change the name of the highlighted le or

-

folder using the virtual keyboard. See:

Keyboard

Copy

allows you to copy the highlighted le or folder to the

-

location dened in the other browser panel.

Using the Virtual Keyboard

).

Using the Virtual

.

43

Copy all les

allows you to copy all the les in the current folder to

-

the location dened in the other browser panel.

Move

allows you to move the highlighted le or folder to the

-

location dened in the other browser panel.

Sound

will display the sound settings screen (see:

-

Settings

You may want to access these settings if you are

-

). Press to exit this screen.

Sound

listening to music while browsing through your les.

Note that some of the above menu items may not appear if

they are not available for the highlighted le or folder.

COPYING AND MOVING FILES AND FOLDERS

In the left panel, highlight the le or folder that you want to

•
copy or move.

Press to focus on the right panel.

•
Navigate to the location where you wish to copy or move the

•

le or folder that you highlighted in the left panel.

Press to go back to the left panel.

•
Choose the

•

Copy, Copy all les

or

Move

menu item,

depending on the action that you want to carry out.

44

5.2 usIng The VIrTual KeybOard

The virtual keyboard is an interface that allows you to type in

text, for instance to rename a le or folder, or when you want

to give a title to a playlist that you have just created.

VIRTUAL KEYBOARD BUTTON CONTROLS

place cursor at

end of le name

place cursor at

beginning of le name

close keyboard

without saving

jump from

the character keys

to the keyboard

functions on the right

navigate the virtual
keyboard

enters the highlighted
character

display the menu to
validate the current
name

45

KEYBOARD FUNCTION KEYS:

On the right of the keyboard, there are ve function keys:

Shift: switch between upper-case and lower-case
characters.

Backspace: delete character before cursor.

Clear current name.

Move cursor one character to the left.

Move cursor one character to the right.

Once you are satised with the new name for the le, folder

or playlist, you can save it by using the

Validate current name

menu item.

5.3 usIng The Pdf reader

Your ARCHOS device features a PDF reader with hyperlink

•
support.

In the Browser, PDF les are displayed with this icon: .

•

To open a PDF document, highlight the PDF document in the
File Browser and Press OK.

46

PDF READER BUTTON CONTROLS

next page

navigate within
current page

previous page

1st press:

t to width (if zoomed)

2nd press:

exit PDF reader

display the available
menu

FOLLOWING HYPERLINKS

Some PDF documents have hyperlinks (for instance, a table

•
of contents, links to an external website, etc.).

Links are surrounded by a blue outline, a highlighted link

•
(active link) is surrounded by a red outline.

To follow a link, highlight the link (red outline) using /

•
and press OK.

If you want to go back to the previous page (where you

•
‘clicked’ the link), select the

Link back

menu item.

Note that hyperlinks referring to an external document or to a
URL may not work.

47

PDF READER MENU ITEMS

Previous page

goes to the previous page in the document.

-

Next Page

goes to the next page in the document.

-

Go to page...

allows you to select a specic page.

­Use left/right to select a page number.

­Press OK to go to this page.

-

Zoom in

magnies the document.

-

Zoom out

unmagnies the document.

-

Link back

will take you back to the page that you came from.

­Only appears when you have previously followed a link.

-

48

6. COMPuTer COnneCTIOn

6.1 ‘wIndOws MedIa deVICe’ Or ‘PC hard drIVe’

There are two connection modes for your ARCHOS device to
connect to your computer. When your ARCHOS device is turned
on and you connect it to a computer, a screen will pop up on
the ARCHOS asking you to choose the connection mode to be
used for this connection (see Connection Steps).

The ARCHOS can be connected as a ‘Windows Media Device’
if you have Windows Media® Player 10 (WMP10) or higher
installed on your computer. Otherwise, it can connect as a ‘PC
Hard Drive’.

You can change your preferred USB connection mode in the
System settings screen (see:
that your preferred connection mode will be highlighted
by default when you connect your device to a computer. To
access the System Settings screen, press from the Home
Screen, then select the

System

System Settings

icon.

). This means

6.2 COnneCTIOn sTePs

Turn on your ARCHOS device.

1.
Plug the supplied Archos USB Cable into the ARCHOS device.

2.
Plug the Archos USB Cable into your running computer.

3.
Your ARCHOS device will ask you to choose the USB

4.
connection mode: using the / buttons, select the one that
you want to use and press OK*.

49

computer

turned on

1

USB port

3

2

Refer to the paragraphs below for details on your particular

operating system.

* If you select ‘Charge only’, your device will just charge its
batteries via the USB cable. You can use it as normal. At any
time, you will be able to enable the USB connection by selecting
the Enable USB menu item in the Home Screen.

WINDOWS® XP & WMP10 OR HIGHER
(WINDOWS MEDIA DEVICE MODE)

Follow the previous steps to connect the ARCHOS device,

•
and select ‘Windows Media Device’ as the connection mode.

The ARCHOS device will appear in ‘My Computer’.

•

You can now put your own les onto the ARCHOS:

•

synchronize your music, videos or photos to the ARCHOS

­using Windows Media® Player 10 (or higher).

copy your media les directly via Windows® Explorer into

­the

Media

of les must go into the

, then

Music, Video

Data

or

Pictures

folder.

folder. Other types

If your computer asks for a driver or an installation CD when
you connect your device, then you must use the PC Hard Drive
mode.

50

WINDOWS® ME, 2000 AND XP (PC HARD DRIVE MODE ONLY)

Follow the previous steps to

•
connect the ARCHOS device,
and select ‘PC Hard Drive’ as
the connection mode.

The ARCHOS will be

•
recognized as a mass storage
device (Hard Drive) and will
appear in ‘My Computer’.

You can now use the ARCHOS

•
like any other external hard
drive.

MAC® OS X (PC HARD DRIVE MODE ONLY)

Your OS X version must have
Mass Storage device support.

Follow the previous steps to

•
connect the ARCHOS device, and
select ‘PC Hard Drive’ as the
connection mode.

The ARCHOS will be

•
automatically recognized as
a mass storage device (Hard
Drive) and mounted on the
desktop.

You can now use the ARCHOS

•
like any other external hard
drive.

51

6.3 dIsCOnneCTIOn

WINDOWS® XP & WMP10 OR HIGHER
(WINDOWS MEDIA DEVICE MODE)

Verify that no data are being transferred between your

•
ARCHOS device and your computer (the HDD indicator

on your ARCHOS device is not ickering).

You can unplug the USB cable from your ARCHOS and/

•
or computer.

WINDOWS® ME, 2000 AND XP (PC HARD DRIVE MODE ONLY)

DO NOT SIMPLY PULL OUT THE CABLE AT ANY TIME!
You must remove/unmount the ARCHOS from the computer

before disconnecting the USB cable to avoid loss of data or
freezing.

Once all your transfers are nished, click on the ‘safely

•
remove’ icon in the system tray, next to the clock.

Windows® 2000 / ME Windows® XP

Click on the ‘safely remove’ message.

•

52

A message will pop up, telling you that it is now safe to

•
disconnect the device*. You can now safely unplug the USB
cable from your ARCHOS device and/or computer.

* If you get a message saying that the device cannot be removed,
close any computer program that may still be using data on
your device, such as media players or Windows® Explorer.

MAC® OS X (PC HARD DRIVE MODE ONLY)

DO NOT SIMPLY PULL OUT THE CABLE AT ANY TIME!

You must remove/unmount the
ARCHOS from the computer before
disconnecting the USB cable to
avoid loss of data or freezing.

On your desktop, drag the ARCHOS

•
device’s icon towards the trashcan,
which will turn into a big eject
symbol.

Drop the icon onto this eject

•
symbol: the ARCHOS hard drive will
disappear from the desktop.

You can now safely unplug the USB

•
cable from your ARCHOS device
and/or computer.

53

7. seTuP sCreen

In the Home Screen, press to enter the Setup Screen

•
(press again if you want to go back to the Home Screen).

Select one of the settings icons (Language, Display,

•
Appearance, etc.) and press OK to enter the corresponding
settings screen.

Once you are in a settings screen:

•

use / to highlight a different parameter.

­use / to select a different setting.

­When you have nished adjusting your settings, press to

­go back to the main Setup Screen.

7.1 language seTTIngs

54

Language

•
Choose between English, French or German.

­Visit www.archos.com to check the availability of other

­languages that you can download and install.

Far East Font

•
lets you use other character sets.

­See:

-

Other Character Sets

.

7.2 dIsPlay seTTIngs

TV SETTINGS

TV Standard

•
Choose between the NTSC (USA) and PAL (Europe) systems

­(select the one that is compatible with your country’s
television system).

TV Format

•
4:3 or 16:9 - the ratio at which images are displayed on

­your television set.

Video Output

•
Choose between Internal LCD and External TV (to do this,

­you can also press the TV/LCD button on the device).

55

External Display

•
Choose between Composite / S-Video / Component / RGB.

­This setting determines what type of display your ARCHOS
device is sending video signal to.

LCD SETTINGS

LCD Brightness

•
adjusts the level of brightness of the built-in screen.

-

LCD Stability

•
you can adjust the stability of the built-in screen, if you

-

nd that it ickers.

7.3 aPPearanCe seTTIngs

Wallpaper

•
enables or disables the use of an image background.

-

Picture name

•
allows you to select a picture to use as a background image.

­You can choose between all default backgrounds and

­images that you have previously set as wallpapers.

You can also set a picture as wallpaper from the photo and

­video modes.

In order for your wallpapers to be displayed correctly

­when displaying on a TV, their resolution should ideally be
768x576 pixels.

56

Background color

•

denes the background color if you have disabled use of a

­wallpaper.

Theme

•

denes the theme color for your icons.

-

Font color

•

Denes the font color.

-

Previous settings

•

Highlight and press OK to discard any changes you may

­have made since entering this screen.

7.4 ClOCK seTTIngs

Time Format

•

-

choose between 12h or 24h mode.

Year, Month, Day, Hour, Minute

•
sets the current date & time

-

Set

•
Highlight and press OK to set the time and date. If you

­forget to do this, your clock settings will not be saved.

57

If you use the optional DVR station to schedule video recordings
on your TV system, make sure that the time and date are set
correctly!

7.5 POwer seTTIngs

These settings will help you save battery power, thus allowing a
longer battery autonomy.

You can adjust settings for both battery operation and
DC-Power operation (when the ARCHOS is connected to a
powered DVR Station or to a wall outlet via the Archos Docking
Adapter)

BATTERY OPERATION / DC-POWER OPERATION

Power Off

•
the amount of time of user inactivity (no buttons pressed)

­before the system shuts down.

The system will not shut down during a slideshow or

­audio/video playback.

58

Backlight Off

•
the amount of time of user inactivity (no buttons pressed)

­before the LCD display turns off.

The display will not turn off while a video or slideshow is

­playing.

Hard Drive

•
the amount of time before the hard drive stops spinning

-

after the time of the last le access. With a longer time,

the disk turns more often and response times are quicker

when accessing les, but power consumption is higher.

Caution: this setting should only be changed by

­experienced users.

Your ARCHOS device will consume more power as these

•

parameters are set to higher values (the backlight and hard
drive in particular consume much power).
When in battery mode, it is advised to set these parameters to

•

lower values in order to save power.
Your device will be hotter when the backlight and hard drive

•

are on for long periods of time.

7.6 TV COnTrOl

See:

The Infrared Emitter

.

59

7.7 sysTeM seTTIngs

This settings screen will allow you to congure several key

features of your ARCHOS device, such as the ARCLibrary, your

preferred USB port mode, rmware updates, etc.
It will also give you information about the current rmware

version, the storage space that is currently used/available, etc.

ARCLibrary

•

denes whether and how the ARCLibrary will be used.

-

-

Off you can only browse through your music via

the Music folder of the hard drive.

-

On you can browse through your music via its tag

characteristics (artist, album, genre, etc.) but
the ARCLibrary must be updated manually.

-

Auto. the ARCLibrary is automatically updated

when the USB cable is disconnected from
your device.

Update ARCLibrary

•

Highlight and press OK to manually update the ARCLibrary.

­This button is grayed out when the ARCLibrary setting is

­set to

Off

.

60

Preferred USB

lets you choose your preferred USB connection mode,

­which will be highlighted by default each time you connect
your ARCHOS device to a computer. The connection mode
determines how your device interacts with your computer:

Windows Media Device: the ARCHOS will use the Media

­Transfer Protocol (MTP) whenever it is connected to
a PC with Windows® XP (SP1 or higher) and Windows
Media® Player 10 (or higher) installed. You will be

able to synchronize your media library automatically
every time you connect your ARCHOS device to your
computer.

PC Hard Drive: the ARCHOS will act as an external

­hard drive (mass storage device) when connected to
a computer. Use this mode for all non-Windows® XP
operating systems.

Firmware version

•

displays the current version of the rmware and Digital

­Rights Management system.

Update Firmware

•

Highlight and press OK to update the rmware.

­See

-

Updating the Firmware

to learn what to do before

pressing this button.

Product key

•
Each ARCHOS device has a unique number.

-

Hard Drive

•
displays the amount of free and used space on the hard

­drive.

Note: reported number of megabytes is binary-based
counting (1Kb=1024 bytes). Thus each reported Mb
represents approximately 1.05 megabytes (decimal).
Formatting also takes up space.

61

7.8 uPdaTIng The fIrMware

The rmware is the operating system (OS) of your ARCHOS

•
device.

It is periodically updated to bring new features,

•

improvements and bug xes.

Firmware Updates are available for free from

•

www.archos.com/rmware.

TO CHECK WHETHER YOU HAVE THE LATEST FIRMWARE VERSION:

From the Home Screen, press to go to the Setup screen.

1.

Highlight System and press OK.

2.

The rmware version number is

3.
displayed on this screen.

Compare it with the latest rmware version on

4.

www.archos.com/rmware.

TO INSTALL THE LATEST FIRMWARE:

1. Download the AOS File (Archos Operating System)

On the downloads page for your

•
product on www.archos.com,
click on the link to download the

rmware update (Archos rmware
les have the .AOS extension).

Your Internet browser may warn

•

you that the contents of this le

may harm your computer. Archos

rmware les are safe: click on

Save

and choose a save location
that you will remember (your
desktop or

My Documents

).

62

2. Copy the AOS File to your ARCHOS Device

Connect your ARCHOS as explained in this manual

•
(

Computer Connection

Cut the AOS le from your computer

•

(right-click on the le >
Paste the AOS le in your ARCHOS device:

•

).

Cut

).

if you are in

-

Settings

and paste the AOS le (right-click >

Data

folder.

if you are in PC

-

Windows Media Device

mode (see:

), double-click on your device in

Paste

Hard Drive

mode (see:

System Settings

System

My Computer

) inside the

simply drag and drop the AOS le onto the icon of your

ARCHOS device in

If there is already an AOS le, Windows® will ask you if you

•

want to overwrite the existing le: click on

Disconnect the ARCHOS from your computer

•
(see:

Computer Connection

My Computer

).

.

Yes

.

3. Activate the Update

Go to the System Settings screen of

•
your ARCHOS device.

Highlight

•
Your ARCHOS device will ask you to plug in the USB cable.

•

Update Firmware

and press OK.

Plug it into your computer, then into the ARCHOS.
Press a button to continue.

),

The new rmware will be installed on your device.

•

63

8. OPTIOnal
funCTIOnalITIes

8.1 dVr sTaTIOn & dVr TraVel adaPTer
PresenTaTIOn

You can record from an external video source if you use the

•
optional

The ARCHOS DVR Station stays connected to your home

•
entertainment system and allows you to quickly connect
your ARCHOS to watch its contents on your TV, record from
your satellite or cable box, etc.

The ARCHOS DVR Travel Adapter allows you to record from

•
an external video source (such as the ARCHOS Digital Mini­Cam) when you are on the move.

You can purchase these optional accessories from

•
www.archos.com.

DVR Station

or

DVR Travel Adapter

.

8.2 reCOrdIng VIdeO

In the Home Screen,
highlight the
VideoCorder icon and
press OK to display
the pre-recording
screen.

64

All video recordings made by your ARCHOS device are saved
in the Video/Recordings folder. If you wish to keep them in a
different location, you can use the Move function of the Archos
le browser after recording (see: Using the Browser).

RECORDING PROCEDURE

In the pre-recording screen, adjust the recording sound

1.
volume with left/right (remember that / only adjust the
headphones volume).

Select the Settings menu item. Adjust the video recording

2.
settings as you like (see next section). Press to exit the
VideoCorder Settings screen.

Press OK to start recording.

3.

4.

Press to stop recording.

-

You can pause and restart your recording by pressing OK.

PRE-RECORDING SCREEN MENU ITEMS

Hide text overlay

-

will hide all overlaid graphics (status bar, menu items,
etc.) to only show the video image.

Open scheduler

-

will take you directly to the scheduler screen.

Start recording

-

will start recording right away. You can also press OK in
the pre-recording screen to start recording.

65

Settings

will open the videocorder settings screen (see next

­section).

Once you have nished adjusting your settings, press

­to go back to the pre-recording screen.

VIDEOCORDER SETTINGS

This screen allows you to
adjust the video recording
parameters to your personal
taste.

You can access the
VideoCorder Settings screen
via the

Settings

menu item in

the pre-recording screen.
Use / to highlight a

different parameter, then
use / to select a different
setting.

Scheduling Parameters

Auto Stop Rec

•
Options: ON/OFF.

­If set to ON, the ARCHOS device will stop recording after

­the duration set in the Duration parameter.

If set to OFF, the recording will continue until you press

-

or until the entire hard drive lls up.

Duration

•
The duration of time your recording will last if Auto Stop

­Rec is set to ON.

66

Pre-record

•
This is a safety margin added to the beginning of a

­scheduled recording which was set via the My Yahoo!®
TV scheduler of your personal Yahoo!® calendar. It affects
ONLY these recordings. This is just in case the clocks
between your ARCHOS device and the broadcast station
are different or if the broadcast station starts earlier than
expected.

Post-record

•
This is a safety margin added to the end of a scheduled

­recording which was set via the My Yahoo!® TV scheduler
of your personal calendar. It affects ONLY these
recordings. This is just in case the clocks between your
ARCHOS device and the broadcast station are different or
if the broadcast station runs overtime.

Video Parameters

Rename

•

allows you to dene the lename before the recording

­begins, using the virtual keyboard. See:

Keyboard

Source

•
Options: Auto/Composite/S-Video/Black&White.

­You can choose which video input you want the ARCHOS

-

.

Using the Virtual

device to use. Normally, with a good video signal, you can
set it to Auto and your ARCHOS will scan the DVR station
inputs to see which one is receiving video.

Format

•

-

Options: Auto/4:3/5:3/16:9/2.35.
This is the aspect ratio of the screen that the ARCHOS

­device will record. You can set this manually, but in most
cases you can just leave it on Auto.

67

Resolution

•
Options: Optimal/VGA.

­Use this to set the resolution of the recorded image.

­You can leave this on Optimal.

Optimal will give the smoothest image quality, with a

-

smaller le size.

Bitrate

•

-

Options: 500 kb/s, 1000 kb/s, 1500 kb/s, 2000 kb/s, 2500
kb/s.

Use this to set the encoding quality.

­The higher the encoding rate, the higher the image quality

­but also more hard drive space will be used.

Sampling

•

-

Options: 32kHz, 48kHz.
The sound sampling rate. The higher value gives a higher

­quality sound but will take up more space on the hard
drive.

Brightness

•
adjusts the recorded image brightness.

-

Contrast

•
adjusts the recorded image contrast.

-

Saturation

•
Use this to de-emphasize or saturate the colors in the

­recorded image.

Hue

•
changes the color spectrum in the recorded image.

-

Reset

•
changes the above settings to the default settings.

-

68

COPY PROTECTION

The ARCHOS’s recording system is designed to respect the

•

Macrovision copyright protection system.
If the source of your video is copy-protected, the device will

•

record in protected mode.
You will see a ‘P’ icon on the recording screen (not during

•

playback), indicating that the le will be a protected le.
Protected les can only be played back on the ARCHOS

•

device that created them, and not on a computer.

The playback of protected les is also limited to the built-in

•

LCD screen and cannot be displayed on an external television.

8.3 seTTIng The sCheduler

MAIN STEPS

From the Home screen, highlight the Scheduler icon

1.

and press OK.

Select the line you want to edit using / , then

2.
press to start editing.

Set each line to the desired date, time (and channel if you

3.
are using the infrared emitter to control a VCR, cable box
or satellite receiver).

Select the Edit program title menu item to dene a title for

4.
your scheduled recording, (see

Select the ‘validate selected program’ menu item to

5.

Using the Virtual Keyboard

save the changes for this program, then select the save
all programs menu item to save all your scheduled
recordings.

Do not turn off the ARCHOS device! Make sure the

6.
ARCHOS is in stand-by mode at the scheduled time for
the recording (connected to the DVR station or to the DVR
Travel Adapter and a wall outlet).

).

69

NOTES ABOUT THE SCHEDULER

The scheduler automatically reorganizes the recording

•
events chronologically,

In order for a scheduled recording to start, you must leave

•
the ARCHOS device on the main menu screen or leave it
in stand-by mode. If you are listening to music, watching
a video or looking at photos with the device, it will not
interrupt you to make the scheduled recording.

If you use the IR emitter to change channels on a VCR,

•
satellite or cable box (see The Infrared Emitter), note that
this external device must be left ON, and not in sleep mode.

When the Archos user interface is set to English, the date

•
format is set to Month/Day.

If the end time is earlier than the start time, it is assumed

•
that you start recording on the start date, and the recording
ends on the following day at the end time.

Once scheduled recording has been made, or the date of a

•
recording has been passed, without the recording having
been made (the ARCHOS was not connected to the DVR
Station or was not in standby mode), the schedule entry will
be erased from the scheduler.

Long recordings (2 hours and more) can create les that are

•

larger than 2Gb each. The ARCHOS will create multiple les

in order to make long recordings. Thus a long scheduled

recording may produce video les called VID0000, VID0001,

VID0002 etc. This is only the case of recordings that are

over 2Gb in size. This 2Gb le size constraint is due to the

Windows® FAT32 AVI le type specication.
When you set the scheduler, the ARCHOS device will create a

•

text le in the System folder (DVRTimer.txt), you should not
erase this le.

70

AUTOMATED YAHOO!® TV RECORDING SCHEDULER

If you have a My Yahoo!® account and use the calendar feature
to schedule TV programs, you can use your ARCHOS device to
read the TV programs scheduled into your personal calendar
and transfer these to its own Scheduler.

If you do not have an account, you can create one and learn
how to use the My Yahoo!® TV and calendar functions at the
Yahoo!® Website (www.yahoo.com).

Please note: Using the scheduler is particularly useful when
you have the optional DVR Station and you have set up the
Infrared emitter to control your tuner device.

You must do the following:

Connect your ARCHOS device to your computer.

1.
Go to your personal Yahoo!® calendar which has your TV

2.
programs scheduled.

Choose the Week view – starting with the current day as the

3.
beginning of the week.

Click on Printable View to show a cleaner printable version.

4.

From your browser menu click on File > Save As… to save

5.

the le.

Do not change the File Name, but do change the Save as

6.

Type to ‘Web page, HTML only’. Now save the le to the

‘System’ folder on your ARCHOS device.
When you disconnect your ARCHOS from your computer,

7.
the ARCHOS device will automatically update its scheduler
with the newly saved TV programs from your My Yahoo!®
calendar. If the ARCHOS encounters a television station
name that it does not know the channel number for (was
never set), it will indicate so, and direct you to go to the
scheduler to manually assign a channel to the station name.

71

Notes:

If the TV programs from your personal calendar do not seem

•
to be correctly copied to the ARCHOS scheduler, go to www.

archos.com/rmware to make sure that you have the latest
rmware version (see Updating the Firmware).

If you change your Yahoo!® personal calendar by deleting

•
some TV programs and adding new ones, only the new
programs will be added to the ARCHOS scheduler when

you save the html le to the ARCHOS device. If you want

to delete scheduled items, you must do this in the ARCHOS
scheduler itself.

Missed recordings (because you did not have the ARCHOS

•
connected to the DVR Station at the record time) will be
deleted from the scheduler.

If a personal calendar recording event does not nd the

•
station name in your list of channels, it will put the event
into the scheduler and mark it with a ?, indicating that you
must assign a channel number to the name. Move the cursor
to the line containing the ? and select the “Set Channel”
menu item. You can now scroll through the channel
numbers and assign a number to the station name for that
event. You only have to do this once. Your ARCHOS device
will keep the station name and its channel number.

THE INFRARED EMITTER

The DVR Station has a high-powered infrared LED at the

•
front. It allows your ARCHOS device to communicate with
your tuner (VCR, cable or satellite box), so that it can turn it
on and off, and change channels on it.

This is a one time step to set your ARCHOS device to send

•
the correct infrared codes to control your tuner. If you do not
plan on making scheduled recordings, then you do not need
to set the infrared emitter code.

72

Before beginning this procedure

•
of setting the emitter code, your
device must be connected to
the DVR Station, which must be
powered with the charger/adapter.

The infrared control works through

•

the reection of the infrared signal

within a room. In order to improve the
reception of this infrared signal on
your tuner (VCR, cable or satellite box), you could rearrange the
position of the DVR Station and/or the tuner such that there are

more reective surfaces (furniture, a wall, etc. - see diagram).

Good communication between the DVR Station and your tuner
also depends on the sensitivity of your tuner’s IR receiver.

Setting the IR Emitter Code:

•

From the Home Screen, press to access the Setup Screen,
then highlight TV Control and press OK.

73

Part 1: Choose your Device and Brand

Select the type of device that you want to control with the

1.
IR Emitter.

Select the brand of your device.

2.
Highlight the Tune IR Emitter button, press OK.

3.

The TV Channels button allows you to give names to each
channel. For example, if channel 6 is CNN where you live, then
you can give channel 6 that name in this screen. Or, if you
use the My Yahoo!® personal calendar to set your recording
scheduler, the ARCHOS device will allow you to assign a
channel number to a station name given from your scheduled
TV programs.

Part 2: Finding the Right Emitter Codes

•

This screen allows you to correctly set the codes and
parameters to allow the Infrared emitter to correctly control
your tuner (VCR, cable box, or satellite receiver).

Tune device code (one code available): Some

1.
manufacturers use only one code for all of their products.
The code does not change from one model to another or
from one year to another. In this case, there will only be
one single code available. You can now test the channel
select.

Tune device code (multiple codes available): Some makers

2.
of video equipment don’t use the same set of control
codes for all of their products. They have various code
sets for various models and various years. You will have

to try each of the codes to nd out which code works with

your device. In the example screen, you see the code V009.
If this code does not work when doing the Test: channel
select, advance it to the next code and then test to see if
that next code works.

74

Test channel select: When you press the Test channel

3.
select button (highlight test channel select and press OK),
the ARCHOS device will send a signal through the DVR
Station’s infrared emitter and change the channel on your
tuner (VCR, cable box, or satellite receiver). If the Number
of digits parameter is set to three, it will try to select
channel 123. If that parameter is set to 2, it will send
the code for channel 12. If your tuner does not change
channels when you click on this test button, try the next
code for your device (step 2 above).

Test ON/OFF: When you click on the Test On/Off button, the

4.
ARCHOS device will send a signal to the infrared emitter
and turn your device on or off. Press this test button again
and your device should change from on to off or off to on.
If pressing this button does not turn your device on or off,
try the next code for your device (step 2 above). If none of
the codes work, check that the DVR Station is positioned
in a way that allows the IR signal to reach your tuner
device’s receiver. Note: In some rare cases the ON/OFF
functionality may not work.

Tune channel select: These four parameters usually do not

5.
need to be set. Keep the default values to start with.

•

Key: -/--

Set this to On if normally, you have to press this same key

­on your device’s remote control in order to select a channel.

Number of digits

•
Set the number of digits that your device can recognize

­for a channel. Example: Set to 3 if you need to choose a
channel greater than channel 99.

•

Key: Enter

Set this to On if normally, you have to press the OK button

­on your device’s remote control after you enter the channel
number. Example: If you normally press 1, 3, OK for
channel 13, then you would need to set this parameter to On.

75

Key Delay

•
Change the delay between the emission of each digit of a

­channel. You may need to adjust this if the ARCHOS device
seems to send only half the digits of a channel or more
digits of a channel. Example: Adjust the key delay and
retest channel select if it sends channel 2 instead of 12 or
sends 112 instead of 12.

8.4 reCOrdIng audIO (exTernal sOurCe)

Connect the AV cable to an audio source (hi-, turntable,

boombox, etc.) and then the other end to the IN connector of
the DVR Station or DVR Travel Adapter.

In the Home Screen, highlight the AudioCorder icon
and press OK to display the pre-recording screen.

Highlight the Settings menu item and press OK to enter

1.
the AudioCorder settings screen (See

Screen

Select ‘Analog Line-In’ as the source. Press to go back to

2.

).

AudioCorder Settings

the pre-recording screen.
Adjust the recording level using the left/right buttons.

3.
( / only adjust the headphones’ volume, not the recording
volume)

Press OK or choose the Start recording menu item to start

4.
recording.

You can pause and resume your recording at any time by

5.
pressing OK.

Press to stop recording.

6.

You can also start recording to a new le directly by choosing
the Save le and start a new recording menu item while you

are recording.

76

Be careful that the source audio is supplying a line-level and

not an amplied signal (turning down the volume of the player

will work if you are using the headphone out signal of your

audio device). A signal that is amplied too much will result in

a terribly distorted recording.

8.5 usb hOsT COnneCTIOn

With the optional Docking Adapter or DVR Station, you can

•
connect compatible USB devices to the ARCHOS, in order to

transfer les or pictures.

These devices can be Mass Storage Class (MSC) devices,

•
such as digital cameras, card readers or external hard
drives, or digital cameras using the Picture Transfer Protocol
(PTP).

TO CONNECT A USB DEVICE TO YOUR ARCHOS DEVICE:

Clip the Docking Adapter into the ARCHOS’s docking

•
connector or place the ARCHOS on the DVR Station.

Connect a standard USB cable to the DVR Station or Docking

•
Adapter and to the external USB device.

Turn on the external USB device if needed (check the

•
documentation of your external USB device).

A double browser window will appear on the ARCHOS: the

•
external USB device will appear in the left panel, and your
ARCHOS device’s hard drive in the right panel.

Follow the instructions in the ‘copying and moving les’

•

section to copy your pictures or les to the ARCHOS.

77

TO DISCONNECT:

Make sure that no transfer is being made (the hdd light

should not be ickering) and simply pull out the USB cable on

either end.

Note 1: you may not always be able to copy les to your

external USB device from your ARCHOS.
Note 2: you cannot connect your ARCHOS to a computer and

connect an external device to your ARCHOS at the same time.

78

TeChnICal
sPeCIfICaTIOns

CAPACITY:

30 GB

•
Movies

DISPLAY:

3.5’’ TFT (320x240 pixels), over 16 millions colors.

•

(1)

Hard Drive store up to 130 hours of videos

(7)

, 300,000 photos

(7)

or 15,000 songs

(7)

.

(7)

, 85

VIDEO PLAYBACK*

MPEG-4 ASP (IPB) and stereo sound up to 720x480 @ 30 f/s

•

(2)

(NTSC), 720x576 @ 25 f/s (PAL).

AVI le container with MP4 le format.

•

Microsoft WMV9 Main Prole @ Medium Level

•
Protected WM DRM.

•

(4)

•

Optional H.264

•

Optional MPEG2

AUDIO PLAYBACK*

Stereo MP3 decoding @ 30-320 KB/s CBR & VBR, WMA,

•

.

(5)

.

(3)

.

Protected WMA, WAV (PCM/ADPCM).
Protected WM DRM.

•

PHOTO VIEWER**

JPEG, BMP, PNG.

•

PDF VIEWER

Reads PDF documents. May not implement all PDF features.

•

VIDEO RECORDING

Via optional DVR Station: Record in MPEG-4 SP with ADPCM

•
stereo sound, resolution VGA (640x480) @ 30 and 25 f/s, in
AVI format.

79

AUDIO RECORDING:

Via an optional accessory: stereo line-in, WAV (IMA ADPCM

•
or PCM) format.

Voice recording through the built-in Microphone.

•

INTERFACES :

USB 2.0 High-Speed Device (compatible USB 1.1): Mass

•
Storage class (MSC) and Media Transport Protocol (MTP).

•

USB 2.0 Host : Mass Storage class (MSC) and Picture
Transfer Protocol (PTP) (with optional adapter).

CONNECTIONS:

3.5 mm stereo headphone mini-jack and TV output

•
(AV cable sold separately).

Archos docking connectors to connect optional adapters

•
and station.

POWER SOURCE:

Internal: Lithium-Ion Polymer battery.

•
External: charges via computer USB port.

•
Optional Power charger/adapter available.

•

SCALABILITY:

Download rmware updates from www.archos.com.

•

PHYSICAL DIMENSIONS 404

Approx. 102 x 78 x 15 mm : 4.0” x 3.1” x 0.6”.

•

•

Weight: 192g – 6.8 oz.

PACKAGES INCLUDES

ARCHOS device, USB cable, headphones, protective case,

•
Quick Start Guide.

COMPUTER SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

PC: Windows® ME, 2000, XP, Media Center;

•
Macintosh®: OS X or higher with USB Mass Storage Class support;

•

80

* Certain bitrates, resolutions, and/or le variations may not be compatible.

** Certain resolutions and le sizes may not be compatible.

(1)

1GB= 1 billion bytes; actual formatted capacity is less.

(2)

MPEG-4 ASP@L5 AVI (up to DVD resolution) (MPEG-4: ISO standard by Moving

Picture Experts Group ; AVI: audio/video le container by Microsoft) without GMC

and quarter pixel.

(3)

Microsoft WMV MP@ML up to DVD resolution.

(4)

Subject to availability. See www.archos.com. H.264 up to DVD resolution. AAC

sound.

(5)

Subject to availability. See www.archos.com. MPEG-2 MP@ML up to 10 Mbps

(up to DVD resolution). AC3 stereo sound.

(7)

On average; based on 3.5 mins/song & 64 kbits/s WMA (for better quality 128
Kbit/s or more recommended), on 500 kbits/s MPEG-4 audio/video encoding and
1h30/movie (for near DVD Quality 1500 Kbits/s encoding or more recommended),
on JPEG, VGA.

LCD PIXEL POLICY

The LCD screen on your ARCHOS unit has been manufactured
to rigorous standards to provide a high quality viewing
experience. Nevertheless, your LCD screen may have slight
imperfections. This is not particular to the ARCHOS screen,
but to all devices which have LCD screens regardless of
the original manufacturer of the LCD. Each product vendor
guarantees that his screen will contain no more than a certain
number of defective pixels. Each screen pixel contains three
dot elements (Red, Blue, and Green). One or all of the dots in
a given pixel may be stuck on or stuck off. A single dot stuck
off is the least noticeable. All three dots of a pixel stuck on
is the most noticeable. ARCHOS guarantees that this device’s
screen will have no more than 2 defective pixels (regardless
if these pixels have one or more defective dots). This means
that during the period of guarantee for your country or
jurisdiction, if the screen on your product has three or more
defective pixels, ARCHOS will repair or replace your product at
its cost. Thus, two or less defective pixels is not grounds for
replacement or repair of the product.

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TeChnICal suPPOrT
InfOrMaTIOn

Need Help? You can nd the information you need:

on our Website: see the frequently asked questions section

•
on www.archos.com/faq

by asking our technical support team: visit

•
www.archos.com/support for e-mail support.

U.S. & Canada: Call 877-300-8879 (toll free).

•

All brands and product names are registered trademarks and the property of their
respective owners.

Windows Media® and Windows® are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

Specications are subject to change without notice. Errors or omissions excepted.

Images and illustrations may not always match contents.
All the information contained in this guide was correct at the time of publication.
COPYRIGHT ARCHOS © 2006. All rights reserved.

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