Archos Gmini XS200: Accessories

The XS200 comes in a tightly-sealed plastic package. There's nothing too interesting about the whole accessory set, unfortunately. Just your average-day stuff, such as some cheap earbuds (don't use those, please), USB-cable, a rather concise manual and some warranty papers. What we're missing out on: a (decent) pouch, earphones that'll do justice to the unit's output capabilities and perhaps something like a strap, for carrying the (very small) XS200 around. Other than that, the accessory set just simply follows the uncomplicated character of this DAP - it covers the most basic of needs.

Design

Well, there's no denying it: this DAP is incredibly small. It's also very lightweight - almost comparable with a micro-hdd player. It's basically a little square (well, rectangular, but whatever) box with only three buttons placed on top of it. We've seen something similar on GoDot's M7170, which was about 150 times bigger, heavier and less well-built than the XS200 - so don't worry: navigating through the thing's contents is pretty straightforward. Anyway, the brushed dark-grey, metal-like material keeping the Archos together feels pretty solid.

There's a chrome strip, seemingly dividing the player into different parts (especially because of the tiny screws found on that same strip). The backside is boring - just plain grey with a small logo on it, and the front doesn't tickle our imagination too much either. The three small lights for indicating power, hdd activity and battery charging/external power perk things up a bit. Then there's the screen, taking up most of the whole unit. It's hardly any smaller than you'll find on most larger 1.8-inch HDD units. The nipple-like joystick towers a bit above the XS200's front plate, but that's hardly annoying. All in all, the Gmini looks kind of dull but it's so pocket-friendly that seriously interested people will have a hard time declining it.

article index
page 1 - current : untitled page
page 2 : untitled page
page 3 : untitled page
page 4 : untitled page
page 5 : untitled page
page 6 : untitled page