My cwap 704 & QVC UK not restocking the 704 wi fi

Bainsyboy · Post by **Bainsyboy** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 6:30 pm

Ok there I was feet up chilling about to watch for the first time casino royale, anyway it loads up and we are up and running 1hr 41 mins into it and yep you guessed it it stops and returns me to the video menu, so i open the file again and fast forward it to the bit where Mr Bond, James Bond is sat with the bird eating din dins going on about her necklace, same thing happens file closes and returns to menu, anyway the unit had not recorded the whole film so thank you Archos for messing up a really good film, luckily I had recorded the film from the DVD that I purchased so I watched the rest to day.

Firmware 1.7.22
Type AVI, size 2046m

Video (mpeg4) resolution 640x368
Bitrate 2437kb/s, 25fps
Audio (adpcm) 386kb/s 4800kz stereo

So I phone Archos, " is there going to be a new firmware update for the 704 as you seem to be concentrating on the 604 or 605 unit and there are loads of people looking at forums with problems for the 704" so I explain the problems that I and others are having, apparently there is a new firmware due within the next couple of months

I'll believe it when I see it. Apparently I have a faulty unit

so I need to reformat the hard disk at least twice, that would be three times i would have reformated it

imagine going and buying a new car and being told that for the car to run correctly you will need to change the engine 3 times

So apprently new firmware due in the next couple of months, Yeah Yeah.

So I phone QVC UK explain my problem, I have only got a 6 month return gurantee with them which runs out 8th October, so now im stuck as I have a spare battery that will be a waste of money. I ask the nice sounding lady at qvc if she could give a figure of returns for the 704 wi-fi, she speaks to her supervisor and cannot give me that info, OK can i exchange the 704 for another 704 wi-fi and pray that I will be one of the lucky ones and not have a dodgy unit, unfortunately we do not have the 704 in stock and will not be featuring the 704 wi-fi again on QVC ( now that has got to be saying something )

So my question is, will the 704 battery fit another archos unit ( my exchange if I decide to do it ) and does anyone think we will actually see this firmware upgrade in our life time.

Also If anyone has the Archos managering directors email or telephone
number could you PM it to me ( long shot I know, but its worth seeing if anyone does have it )

Regarding emailing Archos i am still waiting a reply from about a month ago, two or three emails sent

If anyone from Archos reads this I thought your company was the market leader for these kind of products but at the moment I will never be buying another Archos product again as I feel let down and cheated out of ┬ú300+

CBers · Post by **CBers** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 7:46 pm

QVC have the 704 TV.

Can you not get a refund ??

Missionsparta · Post by **Missionsparta** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 9:06 pm

A COUPLE OF MONTHS?????? F' THEM!!! THE 705 WILL BE OUT BEFORE THAT.

This company just flat out blows donkey balls.

Harriet · Post by **Harriet** » Sat Sep 08, 2007 12:26 am

Q1: So my question is, will the 704 battery fit another archos unit

I have only got a 6 month return gurantee with them which runs out 8th October

A1: Your spare battery which I assume that you use for your 704 WiFi, will indeed transfer and fit the 704 Tv unit. Can't really speak of other units but as they are all of a differing size, that much I do know.... it has to be assumed that your spare battery will only do for the 704 units.

As to your 2nd query. Qvc will honour the 6 month gauratee in full, incl p+p charges to the full amount that you paid when you bought the WiFi unit. They do not do 'swaps'. So get it back before the 8th October. In fact if you ring them, as it's a faulty unit, they will also arrange re-collection from your doorstep thus saving you return p+p as well (I think

)

Having just returned a Dvd Recorder of some 4months old that suddenly developed a fault on one of the Audio intakes, they promptly gave me a full refund. They offer a brilliant service but the Company are a little on the expensive side. However you get peace of mind for 6 months for that extra cash, so I guess it could be considered as worth it.

Regards. Harriet

Bainsyboy · Post by **Bainsyboy** » Sat Sep 08, 2007 6:49 pm

CBers yes i have been offered a full refund ( but I may have sussed out the problem )

Harriet thanks for the info, I would love to know what the returns to QVC for the 704 wi-fi are, they may still be stocking the 704 tv but there not even going to feature the wi fi version again so that tells me it has been flawed and returns must be high, how archos can just sit there and do nowt beggers belief QVC are a big company, although the lady i spoke to said that they would still feature other Archos products " Yes Because there not faulty " was my reply

Right i mentioned above to cbers that I may have sussed out the problem.

So there I was watching The Guardian and just as Kevin Costner is handing in his resignation which again is at the 1hr 41 minutes stage of the film yep you guessed it

the film stops and I get directed to the video menu FFS I think to myself ( can anyone tell me how this film ends as I recorded it from a rented version ) so another film ruined by my archos 704 wi fi ( thanks Archos )
So i open up all the films that I know to be say 2hrs in length, On the Info on the files it will give the correct amount of time so say the guardian is 1hrs 55 minutes the info will say 1hrs 55 mins but when i actually open up the file to watch the bar will say 1 hr 41 minutes and say 33 seconds, likewise for the football that I recorded onto it the dvd is 3hrs long the info on tehy archos says 3hrs long but when i open up the file to watch you guessed it

1 hr 41 minutes, so i have a look at another film that i rented and recorded and have not watched yet and the info says 2hrs 15 minutes so I now know that when i open it up to watch the time bar will just say 1 hr 41 minutes, so i open it up and yep 1hr 41 minutes so 3 films now buckled by the archos, a product advertised as being able to record straight from dvd, cable ect with the optional docking station

Thinking about all my films that have been buckled by this wonderous box that is the 704 wi-fi I now realise that all the buckled films where recorded in april before the firmware update in July, so at the moment i am re recording Casion Royale ( that reminds me it will finish in a minute ) this film is 2hrs 18 minutes long so I will see how I get on with it.
I have reduced the quality of the recording ( and I'm guessing here ) from 2500 ( highest ) to 2000.
I will let you know how I get on. I still feel cheated out of ┬ú300 odd pounds and although the tech guys at the call centre are very helpful the email guys are absolute ****e you might as well email a brick wall as you will get teh same response i.e. none

Right 5 18 here in uk so lets see what my archos has done.

Bobs your unckle unless his had a sex change then he would be your Aunty, the whole film is there.
Type AVI Size 2375M
Duration 2h18'37
Video (mpeg-4), Rsolution 640x272
Bitrate 2009kb/s, 25fps
Audio (adpcm) 386kb/s, 48000Hz Stereo

So I may have jumped the gun with my rant above BUT thats what owning the 704 wi-fi is like ( if your thinking of getting one ) you cannot put your trust in it to do as it is sold to do.
And before any one else mentions jumping the gun I recoreded ( tried to

) a old vhs tape yesterday, only a golf one

that runs for about an hour and guess what 17 minutes the unit recorded it for, started to get the ole trusty blocks and distorted sound and the that was it, so i checked the vhs tape running it from 15 minutes to 20 minutes and the tape is perfect ( i have only watched it once before ) so gord knows what this little or big box of tricks will throw at me next

I do know that If Archos walk away from this unit I will never purchase another Archos product again, so far I have the av420 and bought my Mrs the XS ? im not sure if right model little silver 20gb mp3 player and the 704 wi fi so at a guess ┬ú250 for the Av420 ┬ú125 for the wifes mp3 player and ┬ú350 ( i think on the 704 wi fi ) so in total ┬ú725 on Archos products in the last 3 years so im not just here to slate archos as I have been well impressed upto now, Over those 3 years I can say that for some reason though there email support is really crap now days so that needs to be addressed.
Please bear in mind im in UK so if you are say in USA you may get a better service, but reading on here i doubt it

CBers · Post by **CBers** » Sat Sep 08, 2007 9:11 pm

Bainsboy - how are you recording films lice Casino Royale, straight from the DVD Player into your 704 via the DVR, or are you ripping them and copying over ??

I think I'm using 2500 bit-rate when I copy from my Sky+ box via the DVR and seems OK - recorded Stormbreaker (1h 40m) the other night that way and all was OK - have edited it on the 704 so know the start/end are there.

Bainsyboy · Post by **Bainsyboy** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 7:38 pm

Cbers im recording them straight over from the dvd player because by the time I get my old trusty laptop up and running it works out quicker

not having a dig at you but more at Archos the unit is sold as being able to record straight off the telly dvd ect via the docking station if it was advertised as rip ( via optional software, another $20 to Archos please

) then converted ( via I dare say another optional buy from Archos ) then transfered over to the unit then I would never have bought it.

The worrying thing though is if the sexy sounding lady at QVC is right, they are not going to restock the 704 wi-fi again, also I have never seen the 704 wi-fi or the tv version in any high street retailers, It is, I admit a sexy looking unit so why isnt it being restocked on QVC or sold on the high street, something is not right.

If I did not have the spare battery then I would send it back without any hesitation, although im just gonna google the 705, saying that though if i went for that i dare say that i would still have the same problems.

Anyway im recording casino royale again

as i had the wrong screen setting ( i cut off all there heads

) so will see how it goes

CBers · Post by **CBers** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 7:50 pm

The only reason I record from my Sky+ box, is that a) it will record 1 (or 2) programme(s)/film(s) whilst I watch something else, and b) I can't fidn the correct code for the DVR IR EMITTER to change the channels so cannot schedule the recordings !!

Some people say that b)is possible, but I've never been able to manage it.

Bainsyboy · Post by **Bainsyboy** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 9:20 pm

CBers wrote:The only reason I record from my Sky+ box, is that a) it will record 1 (or 2) programme(s)/film(s) whilst I watch something else, and b) I can't fidn the correct code for the DVR IR EMITTER to change the channels so cannot schedule the recordings !!

Some people say that b)is possible, but I've never been able to manage it.

Perhaps you should email Archos tech department and just start praying for a reply

CBers · Post by **CBers** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 9:33 pm

I emailed them and they said I should contact the manafacturer, and ask for the UNIVERSAL REMOTE CONTROL codes.

Needless to say when I contacted Sky they didn't have a clue what I was after !!

Then they suggested that I should speak to ARCHOS !!

Bainsyboy · Post by **Bainsyboy** » Tue Sep 11, 2007 3:44 am

CBers wrote:I emailed them and they said I should contact the manafacturer, and ask for the UNIVERSAL REMOTE CONTROL codes.

Needless to say when I contacted Sky they didn't have a clue what I was after !!

Then they suggested that I should speak to ARCHOS !!

How did we get on to your remote IR

Have reformatted the unit and the factory reset option 3 time on each so lets see how i get on. By the way you lose the lot the help option and screen savers im back to basic blue

Cbers seeming as you are so near how much you going to offer me for my spare geniune archos battery if i send the unit back, If you reply a fiver you know where you can shove it

CBers · Post by **CBers** » Tue Sep 11, 2007 9:12 am

Bainsyboy wrote:Have reformatted the unit and the factory reset option 3 time on each so lets see how i get on. By the way you lose the lot the help option and screen savers im back to basic blue

All of the files are downloadable from ftp://support.archos.com/ if you really need them

Bainsyboy wrote:Cbers seeming as you are so near how much you going to offer me for my spare geniune archos battery if i send the unit back, If you reply a fiver you know where you can shove it

Sick Squid

Bainsyboy · Post by **Bainsyboy** » Tue Sep 11, 2007 11:59 pm

Six squid No chance.

Open up archos on my laptop and deleted the second file of casino royale, how was i supposed to know it was part of the film it had that unknown file icon on it

i have now fixed ( well archos have ) the 1 hr 41 minutes problem though, it now happens at 1 hr 39 minutes

How can I join these files together and would they then play with no problem, 1 hr 39 isny very good though recording from the dvr dock as most films are 1 hr 50 or 2 hrs + now days

CBers · Post by **CBers** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 10:16 am

Bainsyboy wrote:How can I join these files together and would they then play with no problem, 1 hr 39 isny very good though recording from the dvr dock as most films are 1 hr 50 or 2 hrs + now days

I take it they are AVI files ??

If so, download and run AVIJOINER - it's free for a week.

Watch the filesize though !!

Bainsyboy · Post by **Bainsyboy** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 11:55 pm

Cheers Cb, if i join them up though will it work ok on the 704, You can watch the 704 struggle to open the second file and like i have mentioned like a prat I deleted the second file as windows was saying the old file was not recognised, how comes the archos unit does that the first file 1 hr 39 minutes is or was ok and windows media player plays it

If I reduce the standard of recording would this rectify all my problems by making the file smaller so instead of archos splitting the film into two it will just make the one file

CBers · Post by **CBers** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 9:14 am

Bainsyboy wrote:Cheers Cb, if i join them up though will it work ok on the 704, You can watch the 704 struggle to open the second file and like i have mentioned like a prat I deleted the second file as windows was saying the old file was not recognised, how comes the archos unit does that the first file 1 hr 39 minutes is or was ok and windows media player plays it
If I reduce the standard of recording would this rectify all my problems by making the file smaller so instead of archos splitting the film into two it will just make the one file

Depending on size, which I think for an AVI is a 2 Gb limit, it should work OK.

I had to join my 2 AVIs together then use SUPER to convert it to an MPEG for it to play OK on my 704.

Pain in the butt I know, but it worked.

Did WMP play or not play the second file ?? Was it called something like .AV2 ??

Reducing the record quality would reduce the file size, but it's all personal preferences.

I recorded something off of my Sky+ box the other night and set the 704 to record for 1h 10m and when I checked it the next day, it had recorded for over 7 hours

Bainsyboy · Post by **Bainsyboy** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 7:52 pm

Guess what im currently recording CB, CASINO ROYALE

i'll let you know later what the second file gets called, last time it wouldnt play via windows (i love this unit )
i'll have a look at those speakers i mentioned in another thread as im back to work.

CBers · Post by **CBers** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 9:01 pm

Bainsyboy wrote:Guess what im currently recording CB, CASINO ROYALE i'll let you know later what the second file gets called, last time it wouldnt play via windows (i love this unit )
i'll have a look at those speakers i mentioned in another thread as im back to work.

It won't play on windows cos you don't have AV2 or AV3 etc. associated with a program.

If you rename it to AVI it will pay fine !!

Bainsyboy · Post by **Bainsyboy** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 9:08 pm

But then it defeats the object cb as I would have to watch the first file and then load the second file, if I join them up i cant see it being able to work on the 704 if i do that due to the 2gb limit, im going to reduce recording quality and record casino again and see how i get on

CBers · Post by **CBers** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 9:25 pm

According ti Mission you don't have to as it will play the video000.avi then play video000.av2, then av3 etc.

I have also done that and it does indeed work.

Mission also said that if you drag the bar past the time that the first file ends at, the 2nd file will play.

Weird I know, but it does work.

Read Missions posts here and here.