I've long been an IPOD fan - I've bought every generation of IPOD's except for the mini and shuffle (just not enough room on those).

I use my IPOD 45% for music, 45% for traveling backup storage, and 10% for carrying some movies around to watch when I get stuck in an airport or hotel.

I didn't think it got any better than the 60 gigs in my IPOD photo - a ton of storage and it meets one of my main requirements for travel - it charges via USB!

match this up with my Iphono Bluetooth headphones and its a great combo that can't be beat.

Or can it?

Enter stage left, the Archos 700 DVR.


Now
Archos
advertises this device as a portable digital video recorder and while I've not used it for that, I can tell you its a great entertainment device.

Currently on mine (I have the 100 gig model), I have:
- all 350+ of the CD's in my collection
- 50 or so movies (yes I own them in DVD format)
- a couple of TV shows downloaded from our Replay
- a complete backup of my data (22 gigs or so!)
and I've still got extra room left over.

Lay 3 IPOD's side by side and you get the idea for the size of the Archos.

Sounds big?

Well, it doesn't slide into my pocket like the IPOD does, but it feels just fine in my backpack.

Other things I love about the device:
- built in speakers - loud enough to be allow the kids to hear the movie over freeway noise
- very long life battery - yesterday, I copied all 22 gigs of my data from one laptop to the Archos, I listened to some music at the cabin, my daughter watched a movie on the ride home from the cabin, and then when I hooked the Archos up to my server to move the backup over for DVD-R recording before I went to bed, and when I woke up this morning, it still had enough juice to play more music at the office.
- the 7" screen is a great size and format (wide screen)
- did I mention that I had some 3,000 of my favorite family photo's in the device? and that it plays a slideshow while the music runs in the background? the IPOD Photo can only pretend to do this with this ease.
- ease of USB hookup - it has a standard mini USB connector and doesn't require "special" software to move files over
- ease of movie conversion (if not slow), you can use Windows Media Player 10 to convert and move files or "sync" the device
- the battery is removable and replaceable
- all of the software you need for the device is on the device itself – DUH! What a great idea, no CDROM needed, of course it took a 20 minute read through the manual to “discover” that.
- they include every conceivable cable you could need - SONY take note!
- I've hooked the Archos up to hotel TV's and let the kids have their choice of family favorites!
- you can purchase a USB charger (a must for travel) - the AC adapted it comes with is reasonably small and has a swivel on the prongs to keep them from ruining your laptops screen as they become neighbors on your next trip

Things that I have scratched my head about:
- the user interface is pretty, but remembering which button does what is sporadically erratic - case and point, there is no volume dial, but you can get to the volume by stopping what is playing, drilling down three menu levels and then exiting back out to play again, or you can use the remote (which is almost as big as the Archos itself)
- turns out my 2 year old daughter, Isabella, figured out that you can adjust the volume from one of the numerous buttons on the device – there is a 4 way arrow pad with 2 attached caddy corner buttons – and 2 of the 6 make the volume go up and down (two more advice the movie forward and backwards) – I will let you guess which button goes where.
- while its nice they included a remote control, the beastie is about the same size as the device – why not include a Bose-like credit card sized remote that tucks in to a pocket somewhere?
- it has the funniest idea of “help” – it’s a graphic screen that tells you to go to the website

Other thoughts:
- By the time I pack my IPOD and headphones, I am 2/3 of the way to have my Archos with me.
- Unlike my first Archos device (I had an Archos MP3 Player that looked like something Nasa would bolt together before I had an IPOD), this one feels good - the edges are smooth, the buttons comfortable, the GUI pretty, it all works well and while its not quite IPOD friendly it does work well.
- Before you make the leap to buy this, I would recommend testing out software packages that allow you to legally copy your DVD's to your laptop or desktop and then convert to this machine - while CD ripping to MP3's is common, DVD's are much more complex and its a long process (I had a leg up - I've copied all of my DVD's previously for our home media sever)

All in all, at $899 for 100 gigs, this is a great device, and one day I hope to check out the

Our office swears by the Sony Tr1A (and 3A) laptops as one of the best built most ergonomic laptops we have ever used.

The combination of size, weight and features couldn't be better.

Until the 370p.

Its the TR1A, in a not as mac-cutish white box and sans the never used camera, with a faster processor, more memory, larger harddrive, a built in always on internet connection (in addition to wi-fi and bluetooth) as well as a dual layer DVD-burner all in about a 3lb pkg.

I've used mine for over a month now and love it - the battery seems to go between 4 to 6 hours depending on what I am working on, and the Cingular internet connection via their high(er) speed network is faster than what I had in my add on Tmobile cards.

More info from Sony's website here - Sony's website 370p

The machine is one of the fastest subnotebooks I have used - having the DVD burner has simpliedflied backups, but like most dvd-dual layer devices I've used - the machine pretty much needs to ne uninterrupted while making the back as the new dual layers seem not to cache as well as the original dvd burners do.

Backing up 9gigs at a time, well its worth it!

I ordered from Sony's website and paid to get the 1gig in ram in midnight blue. BE WARNED: if you order the one with the Cingular service, you have to subscribe for $79 a month to their service and you have to sign up to even see how it works.

For me, it was worth it not to have a card with a squeemish antenae hanging off like my Sony U71 or Sony TR1A do, and the speed is fast(er) not fast enough to to a STDB tutorial live in front of 100 people, but fast enough to show a client how well Google Earth Pro works in downloading images of their site.