| | |  | Office Electronics Accessories | Home » » » » Archos 500533 FM Radio & Remote Control For Gmini series | | | | | | | Description: | | Recording off the radio directly into MP3 could not be simpler by using the FM Radio & Remote Control. Connect it to your Gmini series to play your favorite MP3 songs or listen to the FM radio in stereo, quickly find your selected station with the tuner and press 'REC' to start recording off the radio directly into your device.Too late! You pressed 'REC' after the song started. Not a problem with the retro-record buffer. This allows you to record the 30 seconds previous to pressing 'REC'. And when you are done recording you can even edit any unwanted beginnings out of your recording.Now you want to record a memo: switch off the radio, press 'REC' to start recording using the built-in microphone. Capture thousands of hours of voice recording: meetings or ideas that come to mind while on the go. Everything will be stored onto the Gmini hard disk.Finally the Remote Control function allows you to operate your device easily through fast forward, rewind, play/pause/skip and volume control.Take this tiny add-on with your Gmini series wherever you go. Use its built-in clip to secure it to your clothing.The FM frequency range is US 87.9 - 107.9 MHz, Europe 87.5 - 108 MHz, Japan 76-91 MHz. | | | Features: | |
• FM recorder and remote control records from the radio to MP3 format
• Retro-record buffer records first 30 seconds of song (for people slow to press Record)
• Edits unwanted material from beginning or end of track
• Records thousands of hours of memos using built-in microphone
• Compatible with Gmini series 100 and 200 portable audio players; includes built-in clothing clip
| | | Product Details: | | | Product Width:
| 2.7 inches | | Product Height:
| 0.5 inches | | Product Weight:
| 0.35 pounds | | Package Length:
| 9.13 inches | | Package Width:
| 6.3 inches | | Package Height:
| 1.97 inches | | Package Weight:
| 0.4 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 7 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
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 Badly designed and unreliableJul 19, 2007
I got one of these when I got my Gmini 220. It has various problems:
- Instability and lockups: The connector easily slips out from the Gmini, which causes a loud sound in the headphones and sometimes causes the remote to lock up. Even if the connector doesn't slip out, the remote is unstable and it locks up in various ways, sometimes every few minutes and sometimes once per hour. This requires unplugging it and plugging it back in. Sometimes it doesn't lock up but the display goes unreadably dim. Sometimes the red record light comes on for no reason.
- Noise: The backlight causes a loud buzzing sound in the headphones, and text scrolling causes a softer sound. Hard drive spinups on the Gmini also cause noise (this doesn't happen without the remote). A partial workaround is to turn down the volume on headphones and turn up the volume on the Gmini.
- The FM reception is quite poor. Even when trying to listen to local radio stations I often have to carefully arrange the cable to get a decent signal.
You can start FM recording from the remote. This is great for saving a part of a song I like so I can identify it online later. The quality isn't so good that I'd want to keep the recordings however.
You can also use the remote for voice recording. There is a microphone right on the remote. This avoids the LCD noise that you'd get from the Gmini 220 microphone, but of course you can hear how you're handling the remote. I would hold it by the cable right by the remote to avoid adding such noise.
I mostly used the remote in winter. The Gmini 220 would be in my breast pocket under layers of clothing, and I'd only need to access it to turn it on (because the remote can't) and to briefly unplug the remote if it locks up. I suppose I saved some wear and tear on the Gmini, but had I known how unreliable and unstable the remote was I wouldn't have bought it.
 Not the greatest.Feb 19, 2007
The remote is good if you're not planning any major stuff. What happens to me is that, like the other reviewers, there is a bit of static and an annoying sound that comes along with it. The connection is not always that great but it is long and can, in conjunction with the headphones, work really well if you want to record from the radio. On mine, it freezes after a while and the unit has to be turned off and then on again. Which can be a pain. But the mic feature works brilliantly so can't complain in that area.
1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Good product, But Mine was also defectiveApr 18, 2005
Good add on, radio could have been built into Gmini as standard feature though. When i recieved my radio, it was also faulty, loose connection, static in right earphone, and loud clicking noise when cable was moved. Archos would not exchange it as I bought it off amazon's website (waiting to see if amazon will exchange it)!
Had read reviews of Archos's bad build quality, but bought it any way, No problems with Gmini 400 so far (after 2 weeks!), but radio was broken when i took it out of the box and Archos refused to exchange it!
Buyer beware!!
3 of 7 found the following review helpful:
I feel betrayed...Apr 04, 2005
About the remote control I can't complain... it looks great, the bad thing it that i couldn't use it! because it isn't compatible with my Archos Gmini XS 200 MP3 player!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can't believe it! Amazon said that it IS COMPATIBLE, BUT DON'T TRUST THEM!
4 of 5 found the following review helpful:
Just a noteFeb 11, 2005
This item is not compatible with the GMini XS200, Archos' site mentions this in their product listing but Amazon seems to have missed it.
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