it seems like the latest thing for everyone to have is an mp3 jukebox. Mainly due to the popularity of the iPod, MP3 jukeboxes are popping up everywhere. I have been wanting one for a long time, when i first saw the archos jukebox. I believe that it was the first hard drive based mp3 player available.(although i am probably wrong about that). anyway, i noticed that dell and gateway both started making them now as well. the iPod seems to be the most popular for some reason, but it is too expensive for my taste. the reviews i have been reading pointed me ot the iRiver HP120 as the leader in jukeboxes it has just about everything you could want, including optical inputs and outputs...but it is $400.

the iPod is stylish, but lacks the features of some of the other high end players.

i looked at the Creative Nomad Zen Xtra, it was $300 for the 30gb model and looked very promising, but it required the use of musicmatch to transfer your music to it. the Dell DJ is the same way.

The new Rio Karma has a dock with it that includes an ethernet port, which would be great, but it is also $400 for the 20gb model.

so on my way home one day, i stopped at the mall and went into radioshack, looking for some crimp-on RCA connectors for a project i was working on. and i saw the Archos Jukebox FM Recorder (20gb) on the shelf behind the counter. it was on clearance, the last one in stock...for $199. I thought about it for a while, but passed it up. that was the week before Christmas. I decided to stop back last night to see if it was still there, and it was. I looked it over some more and after thinking it over, i decided to buy it. I havent had much of a chance to use it yet, but overall i am impressed so far. it may not be the smallest or best looking jukebox, but it really has want i wanted in a jukebox.

-20gb hard drive (several sites have reported that it is in fact a standard laptop drive and can be upgraded to a larger drive)

-FM tuner

-MP3 recording capabilities. can record/encode mp3s from either the line in jack, or from the fm tuner.

-USB 1.1 and 2.0 compatible

-8 line, backlit LCD screen

-several audio adjustments: bass, treble, loudness, balance, and bass boost

- and probably the best feature, it can be used as a standard usb hard drive for transfering files. THere is no software or drivers required for this device, just plug in teh usb cable and it shows up has a hard drive. you can just drag and drop your mp3s and other files onto it, then eject it and unplug it.

I have my MP3s sorted by artist then by album. so i copyied all of the mp3 folders over to it. and when i turn it on, it shows me all the directories, listed by artist name. i can then enter one of those directories and it shows me all of the album names, inside the album directory is all of the mp3s for that album. the menu system is easy to navigate and works quite well.


I also heard that there is a 3rd party, open source firmware update for these units called Rockbox. it is supposed to have many more features and settings, plus claims to extend battery life. i may try it eventually.

it claims to be able to play for up to 12 hours on a full charge, but i cant confirm that at this point.

overall, i am very pleased with it andi am glad i got this rather than some of the other options. sure it is a little bigger than some...but it feels very sturdy and well built...and the fact that it requires no drivers or software is a big plus. it uses a standard mini usb cable to connect to the pc. my current pc only has usb 1.1, so it took a rather long time to copy my mp3s over. 9.4gb took about 150 minutes. I intend to purchase a usb 2.0 card, but for the most part, i am done with the really large transfers, so teh 1.1 would be sufficient.

i will post a real pic of mine later, but right now here is a pic i found online. mine is just like this, only mine has the fm tuner.




so, do which jukebox do you guys/girls have?