Archos Inc. announced on Wednesday the debut of its AV420 and AV480 Pocket Video Recorders, 4.9- by 3.1-inch devices that are one inch thick and feature the ability to store and display movies and pictures, record video, transfer images from a digital camera, play music and double as an external hard drive. They can connect to your TV through an included cradle and record video directly from the set, accept digital photos through a built-in Compact Flash card reader and hook up to your Mac through a USB 2.0 port for file downloads and uploads. They come in 20GB and 80GB capacities and feature 3.5- or 3.8-inch color LCD screens, respectively.
Both devices are compatible with Windows Media Player, MPEG-4, MP3, WMA and WAV formats and feature built-in speakers as well as a headphone jack. An optional four-in-one adapter allows them to accept SD, MMC, SmartMedia, Memory Stick or Memory Stick Pro media, while the optional FM Radio & Remote Control accessory allows the AV400 series to turn in FM radio stations and record songs in MP3 format. Archos expects the AV420 (20GB) and AV480 (80GB) to be available the first week of July for US$549.95 and $799.95, respectively.