Gmini Xs 202 20GB Music Player
- Package Includes - Gmini XS 202, USB 2.0 cable, AC power charger adaptor, headphones, quickstart guide
- Play MP3, WMA, WAV and protected WMA (PlaysForSure downloaded) music files
- Synchronize songs with Windows Media Player 9 or 10
- Store up to 10,000 songs
- Download and play files
Product Description
A hard-drive-based extremely small 20 GB portable audio player with PlaysForSure player. Smaller than most 5 GB audio players out there today, this compact music player measures at only 2.9 x 2.3 x 0.75 inch, 76 x 59 x 19.5 mm and weighs only 120 grams or 4.2 ounces. Yet, it offers a huge capacity able to hold up 10,000 songs! The Gmini XS 202 also features a large 2 inch gray-scale LCD screen with a metallic cover. The Gmini XS 202 audio players with its small-size, large-capacity device that allows you to: Easily find, transfer and manage all you music files Quickly organize songs with the ARCHOS ARCLibrary and view by artist, album, genre, title and year (ID3 compatible) Rename, move, copy, delete files or make playlists on the move without a computer Easily navigate menus using the large and intuitive 2 inch gray scale LCD screen Friendly Graphical User Interface with icons High-speed USB 2.0 interface to download and store data files for both a PC and Mac, compatible USB 1.1 at a lower speed Capacity - 20GB Hard Disk Stereo analog Earphone, Line Out jack Battery life - Up to 17 hours Internal Power Source - Rechargeable Li-Ion Batteries External Power Souce - AC charger adapter Dimensions - Approx. 7.6 x 5.9 x 1.9 cm / 2.9 x 2.3 x 0.7 inch Weight - 120 grams (4.2 ounces) Minimum System Requirements - Windows 98SE (driver available on ARCHOS web site), ME, 2000, XP with Windows Media Player 9 or 10, Mac OS v.10.2.4 or higher
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Gmini Xs 202 20GB Music Player
- Electronics: 0 pages
- Publisher: Archos
- Label: Archos
- Studio: Archos
- Average Customer Review:
 based on 6 reviews
- Sales Rank in Electronics: #48431
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Avg. Customer Review:
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Best 20GB player for pc and mac ever! excellent features and no software required 2005-12-31
Comment: i'm writing this review after 20 days of intensive use of my XS202 and mi opinion is that this player is the best one at state-of-art.
First to say is that xs202 is really small, much more than other 20GB player and it has a 2inches display, very comfortable to read and intuitive. xs202 has just two button and a central joystick that allow to access all functions. it works with embedded rechargeble battery that has extraordinary lasting.
xs202 is really a plug-and-play player, it comes with a USB 2.0 (1.1 compatible) and NO SOFTWARE IS NEEDED to transfer music!!!when connect to pc or mac, it is immediately seen as an external hard disk, you just have to copy or drag all your music folders (with any folder-tree you wish) in to the player. then is the player itself that organizes all the music according to TAG. the ARClibrary, a software running on the XS202 itself, allows to automatically sort and recall music by autor, album, genre, year. it is also possible to create hundreds of playlists directly in the player even while listening to music.while listening a song is also possible to browse hard disk or change system setting as well as equalizer setting (5 preset plus a custom 5 band equalization). on the screen all information are shown: autor, album, song, total time, played time, remaining time, next song to be played, play mode, rate bit and time.play mode are folder (all song inside the folder are played), scan, shuffle and queue (while listeing to a song, you choose the next one to be played)
if you prefer, it also possible anyway to use Windows media player 9 and 10 or iTunes to transfer music from pc/mac to xs202, but i really think that is very very goog to be free from any software for transfering file from pc/mac to player and vicecersa.
sound quality is very good and you can have good listeing while you are in train or in bus or in noise spaces.you can also use xs202 connected to aux of any stereo.
xs 202 can play back mp3,wma,wav and protected wma (play for sure).
it is possible to upgrade the xs202 software downloading new version directly from archos website and putting it in the player.
xs202 comes with everything you need to use it (except a case) and so no additional buy are required.
if you search for a versatile mp3 player that works immediately when connected to pc or mac this is the right one! and if you have some more money i suggest to buy the archos music/video portable player.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: awesome player! 2005-12-30
Comment: I've been wanting one of these, and Santa finally brought it! I just took it on some long road trips, and am extremely satisfied with it. Some details:
-- At first I thought the xs 202 lacked a hardware volume control, as the unit comes with earbuds that have an in-line volume control, and I could not find one (of course, I wasn't reading the manual, had to see if I could figure it out on my own, which I did.) However, I later discovered that like all good modern players, the joystick does double duty -- when the song is playing, up-down motion controls the volume. Sweet!
-- The ability to create and save multiple playlists on the fly is really why I wanted this player, and I wasn't disappointed. Works great! I get so tired of players that insist you create the playlists on a computer. The player will assign default names like "playlist0001" on the fly, and you can rename them later if you want. I believe there's also a way to rename them before saving them.
-- after a power-down and resume, the song that was playing picks up right where it left off. I don't care, but I know that's important to you audio-book buffs.
-- Battery life appears excellent. I took it on a nine-hour car drive and still had battery life left at the end. Used it almost the entire time. Nine hours may not sound like much, but I tend to "skip" to the next song quite frequently, which uses up battery life a lot more. If I left the darn thing alone, I bet it would play for 24 hours!
-- USB 2.0 speed for file transfers was awesome. Showed up like a WinXP hard drive with no problems. Awesome device for moving around PC data files, pictures, as a backup, etc.
-- The unit is indeed REALLY small and light-weight. It's really the size of a post-it note, and weighs practically nothing -- I'm sure if I attached it to my waistband I could go jogging with it no problem. Haven't tried that yet.
-- The charger is also very small and lightweight, and the prongs fold down like a good travel charger. Way to go, Archos!
-- While playing, the display really has a LOT of information on it: Title, Album, Artist, encoding type/bitrate/frequency, index within playlist (x of y), time elapsed AND time remaining AND total time (for the song, not the playlist) PLUS a playtime progress indicator -- and if that's not enough, they threw in the name of the upcoming song as well, just because they could, which is super nice because then you know if you want to skip forward. Of course, there's also the usual shuffle/repeat/volume/battery indicators, plus some other indicators that I have no idea what they are. WOW!
-- Sound quality is acceptably fine. I'm enough of an audiophile to think that XM Radio quality sucks, but this player sounds pretty much like every other MP3 player I've heard (I counted, and this is about the eighth device I own that can play MP3s now. Sheesh.) Make sure you have high enough bitrates, yada yada yada.
-- When in random mode, I did not have a problem skipping back to a previous song that had already played. I've seen some players that won't let you do that. It's nice if you feel like repeating a song, but didn't manage to hit the skipback button before the next song started.
Can't say there were any problems, really, the unit was awesome.
However, I do have a few "wishlist" items for Archos:
-- Unit came with no case, belt clip, armband, nothing. Just the unit, the charger and the earbuds. No problem, except Archos sells no accessories such as these on their website. Get a clue, Archos! A case is pretty essential for doing anything other than sticking it into your pocket (into which it will easily fit, of course.) However, you can get some great aftermarket belt clips at theclip.com, but then you'd have to stick the clip's button-nub on the back, permanently, which would limit its lay-down-on-the-table-ability.
-- would have been nice if the unit charged off a powered USB port. Doesn't look that way, too bad.
-- The smooth chrome silver joystick operates easily enough, but I couldn't help thinking it would work better with a coating of sticky rubber on it. Of course, then the rubber would degrade and need replacing, whereas the chrome nub is forever. It works fine.
-- Don't forget you need to SAVE your playlists that you created, otherwise they will be GONE after the unit is rebooted! Would have been nice if they'd've save the default playlist somehow, without having to explicitly save it. But saving it takes no trouble; however --
-- Saving large playlists does take some TIME if not effort. When I tried to save of playlist of some 3500 songs (I added "all artists" to the playlist), saving the playlist to disk required several minutes. I can't fathom why. However, reading/loading up the huge playlist, for playback, took less than a minute, which is acceptable. It would be nice if saving playlists was as quick as reading them.
All in all, an extremely fine player that you won't be disappointed in! I think if you look at the key features (for me, on-the-fly creating/saving of multiple playlists), I can't think of any other player that even competes.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good value for the price 2005-12-02
Comment: I have used the Gmini XS 202 for about 3 weeks now, almost daily for about 1 to 3 hours per day. This is my first MP3 player, although I have examined several being used by my student assistants. I wanted a no frills MP3 player for use primarily to listen to Pimsleur language CDs, no FM, no video, nothing extra. For this purpose, the Gmini has performed flawlessly. It has also worked perfectly as a removable hard drive on my Windows XP Professional desktop. It easily holds 58 CDs of Pimsleur and, which takes up about 7gb. The sound reproduction is excellent, and the earbuds work very well for language, better than my Sennheiser 590 headphones because you can better hear your pronunciation. The Sennheisers work better for music, but would of course be inappropriate for driving. There is a slight delay when accessing a file, which is to be expected on a hard drive based device, but the delay is tolerable. The earbuds do feel a bit uncomfortable after an hour or so. I suspect this may be true with any brand, however. The unit is very sturdy and the controls feel solid, not tinny like the Ipod. The Gmini worked perfectly upon arrival, despite the lousy packing by Amazon, and even worked perfectly after my son stepped on it. The Gmini has been criticized for its looks, which are not as "sexy" as the Ipod. I prefer the simplicity of the design. It is simple with no protrusions to catch on pockets, the metalized plastic has not scratched at all, and it easily fits in a pants pocket or shirt pocket. The battery life was exactly as advertised: 17 hours. The built in displays, although small, are informative. I purchased a Samsonite digital camera case to hold the player, which fits perfectly, can attach to a belt, or can be hung around your neck. For $204, I feel the Gmini XS 202 was an excellent value and would buy it again.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Gmini XS a worthy buy 2005-10-19
Comment: This item does what it says it does.
It is good physical size to storage size ratio and works well enough as I usually use it in the gym and had not encountered any skipping or auto shutdown as purported so I am satisfied on that part.
The sound quality is above average with the supplied headphones though I bruised the inside of my right ear.( unsure whether due to its the design or my excessive usage.)
THe navigation is user friendly and simple while the display is easy to the eyes and easily read. The playing time is quite close to 17 hrs while I am not sure of the charging time.
Though it lacks extra features i.e. alarm, games that may make it an all rounder, it has basic features like equalisr, presets, which is quite adequate.
I m sorry but I have not utilised the Playforsure feature as of yet so I could not vouch to its functionality or usefulness.
All in all, 4 stars is a good sign that it is for those who prefer basic music functionality without the extras.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Little Player With a Great Little Price! 2005-10-01
Comment: I bought this player about a week ago, and so far I'm very impressed. As the previous reviewer said, this thing is tiny. Okay, it's not iPod Nano tiny, but it's a great deal smaller than an iPod, and even a little smaller (in height, at least) than an iPod Mini. And you get 20GB of space in that size! You'll also spend less money than a comparably-equipped iPod.
Another thing you get is DRM'd WMA files, which its predecessor, the XS 200 lacked.
The joystick you use to maneuver around seems pretty solid. The controls are dead simple. There are only 3 buttons on the whole device, counting the joystick, so you're almost guaranteed to be acquainted with the controls within a few minutes of picking it up.
Unlike a few other players (including the Rio Karma) you can drag MP3 files to the XS 202 and the player will automatically index them when you disconnect. (This doesn't work with DRM'd content, because you need either RealPlayer (for Rhapsody) or Windows Meida Player ([...]) to transfer the licenses to the device.) One caveat: It's strongly recommended that you use an artist -> album -> track directory structure. If you don't, the ArcLibrary indexing might mislabel the MP3s you drag on to the device.
There are two areas where I think there is room for improvement (and why I didn't give the player 5 stars):
1) The joystick is tedious to maneuver around with for long lists. A scrollwheel might have been nice for this purpose. It's not painful to scroll through albums, and if you use the recommended file structure you can minimize the amount of scrolling you need to do to get to a particular track, but the joystick certainly isn't the zippiest mechanism in the world. It might be nice for Archos to let you further index your albums alphabetically so that you could, for example, scroll through only the A's.
2) While WAV support is nice, I would have liked to have seen FLAC support.
I can't imagine anyone who buys this to be unhappy with it. I highly recommend this player.
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Gmini Xs 202 20GB Music Player
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