decent AV500 case?

[Funkstar]

El Gordo, if you are reading this, did you ever get a decent case for your AV500?

I finally got my 100gig model (and already found i could upgrade it to at least 120gig, perhaps 160 if it will recognise 48bit addressing ) and am looking for a case. The one that comes with it is pants!

this seems to be the only one out there: http://www.pjbox.co.uk/ARCHOSAV500-ACCESSORIES.htm

Would love it if Vaja Cases did one, but they don't have any Archos models, which is a shame, their cases are excellent.

[El Gordo]

Hiya mate

My brothers got that exact same case (from ebay) and it's not much of an improvment over the supplied one.

The leather it's made from is thicker and tougher than the original and the open top style makes the archos more useable, connections wise. But the sides are elasticated and offer no protection at all, that combined with the missing leather on the top make the archos feel more exposed. I think it would have been better if they had just had cut out sections on a full flap rather than the filofax type buckle they've gone with.

That said it's got a belt clip on the back that makes the whole unit look like a nice retro style walkman from the 80's And 2 nifty little stand legs on the clip side to give the perfect tabletop viewing angle.

I've not found anything better at all but I'm still hoping there's something out there, maybe for the Gmini 500 which is exactly the same shape as the AV500?

Intresting that you can upgrade your 100. Have you got some links about this at all?

[El Gordo]

I forgot to add that amazon are doing the official AV500 audio/visual travel cable for a cracking £14.01.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000BM8FL8

[Funkstar]

thats gordo. I ordered the case anyway, the original for me is pretty much useless as you can't have it closed and use the connections.

Haven't seen any links or articles on upgrading the HD, but when you pop the battery off (which is larger than the other models) you are greeted with a Toshiba MK1031GAS (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...ductID=165195). I think it would be a pain to take out, as it appears to be screwed in from the underside. That means taking the whole thing appart first. I'll keep my eyes open, see if anyone else has done this.

Don't think i'll bothere with the Amazon offer, i personally doubt i'll use it to record or output to a TV much, it's just MP3 and video i was after

[El Gordo]

I've just had a quick look at mine and it's a 80G Seagate Momentus 4200.2

See what you've gone and done now? Now I've got the upgrade bug for my archos too. Grrrrrr

So we know they like Seagates but the 160G Momentus is a 5400 speed drive. I wonder if it's possible to slow down a 5400 to a 4200 to keep the heat down? I know that Samsung have a slow down setting on their 3.5" drives that make them almost completely silent, but do Seagate have something like it?

[Funkstar]

no idea. the thing about the 160gig drives is that to get the full capacity the device needs to support 48bit addressing as 32bit only gets you 138gig.

might be interesting to plug the drive into a pc and take a look at it with Partition Magic or Archos Disk director etc. see if there is anything else on there other than the files you can see when connected by USB

EDIT: Recieved the case this morning. not the greatest, but a damn sight better then the stock one. Think i'll get the nylon traval case too, that way i can take my Thecus Yes Nano ( http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=370169 ) and battery pack. Actually tempted to get some tough thin alloy of some description and trying to make a custom case. Removing the rear cover from the bettery should be possible and i have a few ideas of how i'd go about making a decent sleave for it

i'll post some pics tonight if i get around to doing some "exploring" inside it

[El Gordo]

Originally Posted by Funkstar

Removing the rear cover from the bettery should be possible

Hammer, chisel......... blowtorch lol

[Funkstar]

i abandoned my idea. There are four small torx head screws on the battery cover, but they just hold the plastic ends on, the actual battery is glued in place so you can't take it out.

After some use this week though, the case is a keeper. not great, but it'll do for just now.

[matthewjbetts]

Hi,

I've been searching for AV500 cases too... BoxWave make some good looking cases:

http://www.boxwave.com/products/categories/cases.htm

, but not for the AV500 unfortunately. I emailed them to ask about this and they were very friendly and pointed me to their product request form:

http://dyn.boxwave.com/community/req...uest_model.cfm

If enough of us request an AV500 case, hopefully they'll make one.

Best wishes,

Matthew

[Funkstar]

The one i linked to in the first post is actually pretty good. The belt clip us useless to me, and it isn't easy to remove, but the rest of it is actually pretty good.

[El Gordo]

Still like the man says, it's worth a shot. I put in for the Active & Armor case options.