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Library Navigation (5.58)
Navigating any menu on the Archos 5 is slightly awkward. For the most part it works like an iPod Touch, letting you flick-scroll through menus. It's not as responsive as the Touch's screen, however, and sometimes didn't respond to our touch commands or jumped instead of smoothly scrolling. Of course, this is a minor annoyance and exactly the kind of behavior that could be fixed by launch or in a post-launch patch.
UPDATE: This issue has been fixed somewhat; browsing around is a bit less jumpy than it was initially, although it is still a bit less responsive than we would've liked. We ran our library navigation test again, and were able to complete it in 6.58 seconds, as opposed to the previous time of 8.43 seconds. This time is a bit slower than what we were able to achieve with the iPod Touch, but otherwise the Archos 5's library was easy to navigate through.
This is the top level of the music library.
This is the top level of the video library. Leave an item highlighted for a few
seconds and its thumbnail will animate into a full clip from the video.
Sorting Options (5.50)
You can sort your music by all the standard criteria: artist, album, genre, song title, and year. You can also opt to check out your music by the folder structure you've created on the device. We're fans of media players retaining our DIY sorting methods, so maintaining the folder structure is a big plus.
While you can assign ratings to your songs, you can't sort by ratings.
It might not be the prettiest library interface, but it works.Searching Options (5.50)
The Archos 5 has a full QWERTY search feature in addition to its menu flicking abilities. You can search by album, artist, or song. This feature almost makes up for the lack of sorting options, since it cuts out any navigation between you and exactly what you're looking for. You'd just better know how to spell your favorite artist's name.
Playlists (4.27)
The Archos 5 allows you to construct playlists on the device. Although it's easy to use, it's not entirely intuitive. When you opt to create a playlist, the screen splits into two halves, with the right half as your playlist-in-progress and the left side is whichever menu you're in. You add songs by double-tapping on them. To add an album or folder, you'll have to use the menu option "Insert in Playlist," then select "All files."
We timed how long it took to create our standard test playlist, and found the process was a bit longer than we were expecting. It took us a full 79 seconds to get our sample playlist saved on the device, and it only consists of two albums and three other songs. While this is fine in a pinch, we would recommend sorting out your playlists on Windows Media Player or another program, then dragging and dropping the file onto the device.
One thing to keep in mind when creating playlists: the menu in the top right will alter its contents based on where your cursor is (song window or playlist window).
Equalizer & Filters (8.75)
There are five presets in addition to the default, flat equalizer setting: rock, techno, jazz, classic, and live. The custom equalizer is made up of five different, unlabeled bands with a range of +6dB to -6dB. While the list of presets is a bit short, the custom equalizer is a really nice addition.
There is also a balance setting, with six stops on either side of the neutral position. We're not sure why you'd want to use this feature, but we're nevertheless grateful for its addition.
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