Archos AVCam 300 - PMP camera - optical zoom: 3 x Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I have an AV340 and this add-on product was one of the main reasons I purchased the Archos over the RCA Lyra A/V jukebox. Sure it takes ok pictures and videos in good light but...
- It is very slow to start up to take any type of picture. You need to boot the Archos, select camera or camcorder and wait for that function to boot - by then the moment may be gone...
- In the camera mode the annoying digital camera delay from when you press the shutter to when the picture is take is longer than on my 3.5 year old Canon Powershot S20. Shot to shot time is slow as it needs to write data to the drive, not to a solid state memory card like on a regular digital camera.
- In the camcorder mode, there doesn't appear to be a pause so each segment take is a separate file name. Again, if you stop and then want to start recording again right away, there is a major lag as the existing video file is closed before you can start recoring again.
- There is no tripod mount or shoe for a light
- There is no super low light mode
- The lens is directly exposed with no way to attach a filter or lens cap to protect it
- 3X optical zoom is adequate for a digital camera but pretty low compared to most camcorders
- The zoom is amazingly loud and will be recorded on your soundtrack unless you use the supplied external mic
- The combination is very large and cumbersome to hold
I thought this combined with the AV340 would be a great all-in-one device... I ended up buying a Kyocera SL300R Camera which boots in less than 1 second and can shoot 2.5 frames per second to the limits of the SD card (get 256MB) and does video to the limits of the card. Better, smaller, faster and not much more expensive.
All in all the Archos AV340 is a very cool device but the AVCam 300 attachment, while a great concept, leaves much to be desired.

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The AVCam 300 is an add-on module for any of the Archos AV300 series video player / recorders. If you want to take high resolution photos (3.3 megapixel) just add the AVCam 300 module and your AV320, AV340 or AV380 will become a digital still camera or a video camcorder. You can also create your own personal MPEG-4 videos in QVGA (VHS quality). Share your favorite photos and videos with your friends.

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