Archos 5 - does it still count?

**DracoDan** · 09-30-2009, 01:51 PM

After giving up and ripping out my last carPC attempt (hardware was great, software was abysmal), I had just about given up on the whole idea.

Then came the Archos 5! With a bit of tweaking, I see no reason this can't be used as a nearly full featured carPC, even without a head unit! It has built in FM radio, GPS, a ton of storage, supports virtually all digital formats, and has a standard headphone jack you could run to a multi-channel amp. You can also either get the G version, or tether it to your cell phone for internet access from anywhere! Best of all, when you get out of your car, you could easily take the whole thing with you and use it as it was originally designed for.

You lose the option of an optical disk player, but as long as you plan ahead that will never be an issue.

**upspace** · 10-01-2009, 03:25 AM

I go exactly along this route after two car pc installs (laptop and little valley). Just too much hardware - dc regulator, wiring, tons of usb devices, slow boot times (not instant), no fm, mobile tehtering - and software has not really evolved over years (integration, large touchscreen user interface)

I ordered my 500 gig Archos a week a go and should receive it next week. I will update you here about my experience.

**strikeback03** · 10-09-2009, 07:23 AM

I have owned a 120GB A5 for about a year. I'm pretty sure the FM remote cannot be used at the same time as the GPS dock, though I do not own either. Also, the GPS in general is known to be flaky and doesn't work in some countries. If all you want is to play music and movies off the HDD then IMO it works fine (and after I pulled my HU and was installing my carputer I did run it into my car system) but if you also want it to do stuff outside the basic functions I wouldn't expect it to be much more trouble-free than a carputer.