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Is the JBMM a jack of all trades, master of none? Is it a diamond in
the rough? Or is it a revolutionary new device? Honestly, in my opinion,
it is a little of all three. Below is my rankings for the JBMM on a 1-10
scale in several catigories.
Scale Legend:
- <4 means if I had another device that did this, I would never use
the JBMM for it.
- 4 means I would only use the JBMM in a pinch.
- 5-6 means I would use the JBMM in certain circumstances.
- 7 means I would rarely use another device.
- 8 I would use another device only in very special circumstances
- 9 means I would exclusively use the JBMM.
- 10 means the JBMM does everything I want - important or trivial
| Use |
Score |
Pros |
Cons |
| MP3 Player |
8
|
HD based browsing
Full MP3 support (all bit rates, CBR and VBR)
Reasonable playlist management
Analog-out quality Excellent
Digital-out quality Perfect
|
No ID3 based browsing
Some playback and display glitches
Playlisting could be better
|
| MP3 Recorder |
8
|
Pretty high quality
Digital, analog, and internal Mic. |
160kbps VBR - max quality |
| Portable HD |
9
|
20gb.
Almost internal-HD-fast with USB2. |
Can't upgrade the HD (without voiding the
warranty)
You can't move/copy files w/o a PC, but then again, true portable
HDs don't work w/o a PC at all. |
| Video Player - on LCD |
4
|
Small LCD is crisp and looks good. |
LCD too small. |
| Video Player - on TV |
7
|
Easiest way to watch a Computer video on
anyone's TV yet. (if you can figure out VirtualDub - or some other
conversion software) |
Lack of higher res (though the current res is quite adequate).
Lack of wireless remote.
Poor FF/RW.
HD too small.
|
| Photo Album |
7
|
Great for on the road - no need for more
than a 64-meg flash card.
Even easier for getting pictures to your computer than using the Camera's
direct link. |
Can't alter the data on the flash in any
way.
Has problems with MicroDrives. |
| Dictation |
6
|
The internal Mic is pretty sensitive (not high quality, but picks
up voice at good distances). Can store weeks of dictation on low
quality settings.
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Turn it on and leave it on - works great. Want to dictate a quick
note? Painful
|
| Archos Customer Support |
2
|
They eventually replaced my JBMM..
(2 in this case: if there was another company that put out
a JBMM, I'd go to them in a heart beat.)
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But is was like pulling teeth - only for days!
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I just read a review of the JBMM in Forbes by Stephan Manes who starts
it out with, "Now and then a product turns out to be both uniquely
interesting - and uniquely clueless." The article goes downhill from
there with lines such as "The thing looks a bit like an overgrown
iPod - but uglier", "The minuscule 1.5-inch color LCD screen
is an ideal size - if you're an insect", and my favorite, "the
unit's baffling user interface and slow response will not have you singing
a happy tune."
This guy is obviously Cranky as his email suggests "steve@cranky.com",
but most of his complaints are valid.
Steve thinks the long list of inadequacies of the JBMM "relegate
it to the Closet of Silly Technology". And he hasn't even seen the
Camera module yet...
I'd like to sum up the problems in two categories: hardware (not fixable)
and software - entirely fixable.
Hardware: (covering all the major problems)
- 1.5" screen - I can live with it, but I have yet to seriously
watch video on it.
- Miserable battery replacement
- Low-Res MPEG4 playback - not enough CPU horses to do better than CIF
res (352x288)
- No built in USB2 or firewire - USB 1.1 is miserably slow
- Drain your batteries all the way - lose all your settings and your
Clock Time/Date
- Quality of construction (paint peeling off back, a hair on my LCD
screen, etc) doesn't inspire confidence
Software: (too many to list - summery)
- Miserable file management - can't move or copy files w/o a computer
- Photo Zoom and Rotation inadequate to useless: rotation distorts aspect
ratio, only one level of zoom. Default zoom level may or may not fill
your screen.
- Lack of ID3-based browsing support. Not a big deal to me - I'm organized,
my mp3 collection is already in a directory tree - my preference, its
much more flexible. However, many people think this is a unforgivable
sin in today's MP3 player market. I've written a utility called ID3Browse
that helps solve this problem. (See the link on my JBMM
homepage)
- Audio recording - a lovely feature - offers only a max of 160k VBR
quality.
- The UI sucks. The Yellow and White text looks WORSE than a B&W
LCD screen. Calling the UI "Baffling" is too strong. It is
functional and has a few nice things - but it has a lot of room for
improvement. (See my Ode To a Better JBMM
UI)
- Pixel Shimmer - the pixels are always shimmering on the LCD (this
is a HW problem, but I've shown it can be fixed in software)
All right, that's me being cranky. I love the JBMM and what it
can do. I use the internal MIC, I use the MP3 playback, I use the CompactFlash
downloading, I even use video playback - but only when connected to a
TV. I also love using it as a 20gb USB2 harddrive. However, I can't help
but wonder at this point when some other company will come a long and
make a competing product that will devastate the JBMM.
All of the software problems of the JBMM can be fixed with firmware upgrades.
Don't forget that they need some new PC software too to make video conversion
a one-click operation. If they fixed the majority of their software problems,
the JBMM would be a respectable product. For my purposes, I can live with
the JBMM's hardware short comings (save for the camera module - more on
that later).
This kind of product is wonderful, but I don't think Archos (unless they
seriously overhaul their firmware) will be the ones to bust the
market wide open. Some other company will come out with a same-sized
box with a 40gb hd, built in USB2 or firewire, 2-3" screen, can play
and record DVD quality video, and has a 2mpix camera that cannot be
compared with a web-cam and can record video at DVD quality. Oh, and they
will surely have a UI that is infinitely better than the JBMM's.
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