Archos Helmet Camcorder (500876)

THE GOOD...

The camera does what it says. It will change your Archos X04 into a camcorder. You won't need to buy a hard drive camcorder.

It's easy to hook up and comes with the portable DVR adapter. As an added bonus, the portable DVR plus Archos' proprietary A/V cable (they design the wiring so that it only matches their products)will eliminate the need to buy the larger DVR station. You can use this to record TV too. However, this cable is NOT included, but for $20, it's still cheaper than the full sized DVR.

If you have the Archos DC plug, it will charge the Archos faster than USB.

The camera does a good job as it autofocuses (quickly, I might add) and adjusts for white balance and lighting conditions (also quickly). While it's claim of filming in next to no light is exaggerated (I was in a dark room and it only produced snowy patterns over a dark screen), it will film better than some cameras that demand bright light. It will compensate in a poorly lit room.

Playback on standard def TV looks good (well... that is the resolution it is actually designed for).

THE BAD...

Some will complain about the resolution. It is certainly not high def (and was not intended to be). The video does not look it's best on the Archos screen itself (or computer screens), but looks good on standard def TV through the A/V output(that is the resolution it was designed for). A critique could be that if the Archos can produce great video on its screen, why produce a camera that produces video not up to the same standard... Who knows? Cost? Size? I wonder if they will come out with a high def version...

It doesn't provide the A/V cables or the DC plug (which the portable DVR can use). They must be purchased separately.

You can't tell how much time/space you have left on the disk so that you can stop recording before the disk is full.

The color of filmed objects is not always faithfully reproduced. (I recorded a red book which looked pink on the Archos screen).

The so called "wired remote" is not very intuitive.

There are some software quirks that shut of the screen, freeze up the Archos, etc. if you press a button not supported during a recording session. You have to reset the player.

No zoom functions or other dedicated cam corder features (though it doesn't claim to have them).

The listed features talk about a codec available and slow motion capture... I still don't know how to access these features.

THE UGLY...

The carry pouch is an ugly bag with a string. I had read that the Archos player itself used to ship with that dreaded soft pouch (which offered it no protection). I guess that since they designed a hard side case for the player, it appears that they are using the surplus soft pouches for this peripheral.

The helmet strap, while functional (and included as part of the package) is pretty ugly. I guess it will look better on an actual helmet (it is a helmet cam after all, but who the heck wears a helmet that often).

CONCLUSION...

It's pretty cool and does what it is supposed to do. I doubt I'll use it during my action/adventures because, I fugure, that the Archos will probably break (the Archos site shows it being used during base jumping... can it withstand that?). I like it and recommend it.

I got the Archos 404 with the helmet camera. The 404 is a nice unit. All metal with easy to use buttons and menus and a very nice large screen. As a media player this is one of the best out there and awesome for the money. The helmet camera was small and the headband comfortable. I shook the 404 and even tapped it on a table to try and get it to skip. It did not. Taking a few videos around my house resulted in decent video. But when I took it outside the shortcomings became apparent. In bright sunlight colors while moving were surrounded by rainbows. The compression also made it impossible to make out much detail. It basically looks like a uTube video. But after fiddling with the settings I decided to take it out on the trails with my mountain bike. The 404 fit very nicely in my pack and I never even noticed it. After fiddling with the camera I managed to get it to tuck it beneath the edge my helmet. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to keep my sunglasses or edge of my helmet out of the frame. The head band also doesn't have an angle adjustment and as a result I feel like it was a little low. I also didn't like how the recording light on the inline remote didn't stay on. It would only flash when you turned it on. In bright sunlight it was difficult to see if it flashed or not. And taking the 404 out of my pack to see if it was recording defeated the purpose of the remote. The video quality was a little better on the shady trails but still unacceptable. And the audio wasn't synced with the video (about two seconds off). I had such high hopes for this set up. It seemed perfect for mountain biking. Simple, compact, inexpensive, and easy to use. Especially since the video I've recorded with my tiny Canon SD400 still camera comes out very good (its difficult to ride when holding the camera with one hand though). I returned the 404 for a full refund. I was going to keep it but I already have a 40gb Creative player and the Archos didn't shut off and resume with my car.

Bottom line. This camera is not worth $20.

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First off I will give a slight proviso on the five star review. When I bought this I didn't expect HD quality video or even as good as a standard mini cam, therefore the video quality is above my personal expectations. So, it does what it says on the tin it's a helmet cam which gives much better quality video results than all of the other "action" type devices that are within reach of mortal mans' pockets. The actual standard of build is bloody excellent with a high quality feel to the alloy camera housing. The helmet/head strap works very well with loads of adjustment and really securely holds the camera. It works amazingly well in low light and it seems to cope well with reasonably fast movement. Now it is fair to say that you live and die with the Archos multimedia player which is not going to take much punishment before it's busted. Fortunately the camera cord is long enough to be able to stow the Archos player somewhere safe. I used mine on a motorbike I taped the camera to the body and stashed the Archos recorder under the seat out of the way. Worked fine. There is a start and stop on the camera cable and a mike as well. Operation seems to be okay although I'm never quite sure I've got it set up right each time which ends up with me having lots of video of itself whilst I check it's working. It will certainly video for over an hour on a full charge so you tend to get bored before it runs out. One small irritation is that there is a bug in the system. If you shut down the camera function, leave it connected and then restart the Archos the battery appears dead and it shuts down. I've always had to unplug the camera before starting up to avoid this error which even happens on a fully charged unit. If it does show up then you have to turn off the Archos and unplug the camera before restarting. It all goes back to normal then.

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I think that Archos is so on target with this product. My only wish is for a little bit more distance for the camera as a 30 ft. range for detail is quite limiting.

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Excellent equipment ,very durable camera,I use it as a SUV CAM and BODY CAM in very harsh conditions ,brilliant picture quailty very robust .