Archos Gmini402 20 GB Camcorder and Multimedia Player Review

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(More customer reviews)I got this unit to use mainly as a camcorder. I've been looking for one that has a good size hard drive and this one meets that criteria with 20gb. The unit is very small and lightweight. The color is nice and attractive. But it seems that that design is driven by being snazzy rather than functional. While the LCD is located in the center of the unit, the lens on the other side is placed off to the left. It's hard to keep from blocking the lens while recording. I hope this problem will go away once I get used to holding it with my right hand only. The lens is covered by a cheap built-in piece of plastic which I think will suffer a lot of scratches over time. The buttons could have been bigger. There's no place to hook up a strap. I'd like to use one when I'm recording because with its size it's very likely to fall out of your hands.
The video quality is acceptable. Under the VGA setting, the pictures are sharper, but appear to be kind of grainy. It seems especially important to concentrate on holding the camera steady while shooting. Otherwise, the video looks a bit jumpy. Some of the buttons are not particularly intuitive. For example, there is no obvious "pause" button.
The drawstring pouch included in the package is thin with no padding, and doesn't provide protection for the camcorder. I got one from somewhere else and use the pouch for the cables.
The manual is not thorough. Some of the options and even some of the hardware aren't mentioned or explained. There's one adapter that plugs in the top of the unit with line-in on the one side and AV out on the other. It doesn't have any problem plugging into the TV to play the content, but doesn't record TV; I can only guess it's for recording audio. There's hardly any mention of this either. Also I still don't know what kind of rechargeable battery is used in this unit. It wasn't said anywhere in the manual. It just says the battery is designed to last for the life of the camcorder (whatever that means).
As a multi-media player it doesn't have a built-in speaker, which is a major omission.
If your computer has Windows XP, you can plug it in using the provided USB cable. Copying the the clips to the computer is basically drag-and-drop. I don't know with other computers, but with mine, if the file is lager than 500mb it doesn't let you transfer it to the computer; it says the file is too big. When I change the setting in the camcorder for it to be recognized as a removable hard drive, the transfer works fine. Maybe I need to update the firmware. On the Archos website, there's a couple of new updates, but I can't access them because I have to update to version 1.2 before I can use them. Version 1.2 was nowhere to be found. I haven't tried calling tech support yet. They do have the 800 number listed on the website.
Overall, I'd say the Archos 402 camcorder has a lot of room for improvement, but is nevertheless worthwhile in that you can record and store a large amount of video in very small package.


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Take your favorite music and video with you wherever you roam with the Archos Gmini 402 Pocket Camcorder and Multimedia Player, and capture personal videos and photos with the integrated video camcorder. It features an internal 20 GB hard drive--which stores up to 80 hours of video, 200,000 still photos, and up to 10,000 songs--2.2-inch TFT LCD screen, and a built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery that provides up to 10 hours of battery life when listening to music, 4 hours when watching video, or 2 hours when recording video. Ultra-slim and sleekly designed, the Gmini 402 measures just 0.7 inches thick and 4.1 inches wide and it weighs just 6.65 ounces. It's compatible with a wide variety of digital audio, image, and video files, including protected Windows Media content downloaded from multiple PlaysForSure online music services and stores.
Record your personal videos in MPEG 4 format directly to your Gmini 402 Camcorder. Five different modes of resolution are available to suit your needs. In low mode, you may capture up to 50 hours of your personal videos and 13 hours of your personal videos and 13 hours in high resolution (VGA). The Gmini 402 Camcorder also features a digital zoom 2x. With DSC function, your Gmini 402 Camcorder can be used as a still camera, allowing you to take photos with maximum resolution of 1.2 mega pixels.
The Gmini 402 offers audio compatibility with MP3, WMA, protected WMA, and WAV files and still image compatibility with JPEG and BMP files. For video files, the Gmini 402 can play MPEG-4 SP files with B-Frames (compatible with DivX and XviD 4.0 or higher) and stereo sound. You'll get near DVD quality, with up to 720 x 480 pixels at 30 fps (frames per second) in the NTSC format (U.S. video standard), or 720 x 576 pixels at 25 fps in the PAL format. In addition to watching video from the player's LCD, you can also connect the Gmini 402 to a TV with standard RCA A/V output. It also has a standard mini headphone jack. Record from any standard audio source with high-quality stereo sound via the stereo analog line-in connection or record voice or live music with the built-in microphone. Files will be saved on the Gmini 402 in WAV format.
The Gmini 402 Camcorder has a USB Host Port that lets you to copy, share, connect and transfer files directly from other powered mass storage devices such as digital cameras, card readers, USB keys, and powered portable hard drives. Play back directly any compatible contents on the external hard drive connected to your Gmini 402 Camcorder (no data transfer needed). The Gmini 402 Camcorder also features a high-speed USB 2.0 interface to connect your device to your PC or Mac and easily transfer contents.
Transfer photos directly from your digital camera or from another mass storage device using the built-in USB host connection, or from a computer using the high-speed USB 2.0 interface. Store up to up to 200,000 photos. Organize photos in easy thumbnail or slideshow views, and view them on the Gmini 402 Camcorder screen or any external display.
The 2.2-inch TFT LCD screen has a 220 x 176-pixel resolution with 262,000 colors. It connects to Windows-based PCs and Macs via super-fast USB 2.0 (which is also backwards compatible with USB 1.1)
What's in the Box Gmini 402 Camcorder and Multimedia Player, earphones, USB cable, USB Host adaptor, AC power charger, Quick Start Guide (full user guide in Gmini 402 Hard Drive), protective pouch

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Micca Slim Portable Digital Media Player with HDMI and 2.5-Inch HDD Bay - Plays MPEG1/2/4, DivX, Xvid, RMVB, AVI, MOV, MP3, MP4 Review

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(More customer reviews)I got my Micca Slim about a week ago and felt really compelled to write a review for this awesome gadget. HDD media players have been around a while but they have not been all that popular, most people bump into them while looking for an external HDD enclosure. Recently, HDD media players have gotten pretty powerful and newer models like the Micca is even equipped with an HDMI output.
The Micca's build quality is decent. The center frame is made from translucent purple plastic, and the top/bottom plates are made from black anodized brushed aluminum, which should be much better in terms of cooling than all-plastic enclosures. The main board spans the entire internal dimension of the player, and the HDD sits right against the main board. The whole assembly is held together with only 2 screws, but everything feels solid and flex/rattle free. Even with a 500GB HDD installed, the player is very light and feels like it's half empty. All of the player's connectors are on one end and the IR remote sensor is on the other end - a very logical layout that helps keep everything tidy and neat.
In my opinion, the HDMI is the "killer app" feature for HDD players because even though there are PMPs like Archos and various iPods with AV-out, they only have a composite video output, rendering whatever high quality video you may have essentially pointless. Having a built-in LCD sounds nice on paper but no one realizes just how silly a 4" or smaller screen is until they try to watch something longer than 10 minutes on one. I used to have an Archos 605, which has one of the biggest and nicest LCDs ever built into a PMP, but most of the time I was wishing that I could output the video onto a larger display like a TV or computer monitor while retaining the quality. The HDMI connection on the Micca allows this while also providing the added convenience of carrying both audio and video on one cable.
Also, due to the poor codec compatibility of the Archos 605 I owned, which is a common affliction of PMPs, I constantly had to recode videos just so they would play, which meant keeping two copies of the same video. In all it was just not an elegant solution.
My experience with the Micca Slim has been just the opposite. It handles just about all of my videos coded for playback on my notebook without issues. Other than a few H.264 videos, I didn't have to recode the videos for them to playback on the Micca Slim. And the playback quality was at least as good as from my notebook computer. So now I only have to keep one copy of videos on the Micca Slim, which can then be played back any which way I want. My coworkers gave me a blank stare when I showed them the Micca Slim, one remarked "this doesn't have a screen." But their faces lit up when I connected it to my 20" work monitor and they saw the quality of the playback. "Try that with your iPod Touch."
In the end, it's not just that the Micca does all these things, but that it does them so easily and unobtrusively. I need a portable hard disk drive anyway, and I need a large one to hold all of my media files. So a portable HDD that also plays back all of the media files stored on it is just such a natural function to have.


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The Micca Slim digital media player provides convenient and portable playback of videos, music, and photos on any TV or HDTV! It has a 720P HDMI output for sending sharp and clear video and audio in pure digital format to HDTVs, as well as composite AV output for use with analog TVs. Small and sleek, the Micca Slim is a perfect entertainment source for vacations and business trips. Its aluminum exterior is tough enough to withstand the rigors of portable use. With the optional car power adapter (search Amazon.com), the Micca Slim can be used to play movies on in-car video system and keep everyone entertained on trips short and long. The Micca Slim is also popular as a simple digital signage device with its HDMI and Analog-AV interfaces and fault tolerant features such as auto power-on and resume, and multi-file continuous loop. Feature Highlight: - 720P high definition HDMI pure digital video and audio output - Internal 2.5" SATA HDD drive bay for up to 500GB of storage (not requried for use) - Play media files from external USB drives or SD/SDHC flash cards - Functions as portable USB hard drive with internal HDD installed - Compatible with all TVs and HDTVs, including CRT/LCD/Plasma/Projection - Download the latest User's Manual from Micca Store for more info Video Formats: - Files: AVI, MP4, MOV, VOB, MPG, DAT, RMVB - Codecs: MPEG1/2/4, DivX/Xvid, RealVideo 8/9/10 - Max Reslution: 720x576 - Subtitle: SRT for DivX/Xvid/AVI H.264/MKV and WMV not supported, please see the Micca Slim Video Recode Tutorial Audio Formats: - Codecs: MP3, WMA, AAC, AC3, PCM, DMPCM, OGG - Bit Rate: 32Kbps ~ 384Kbps - ID3 Tag display for MP3 and WMA Image Formats: JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG What's Included: - Micca Slim Player - IR Remote Control - AV Out Cable - 110-240V AC Adapter

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