The 605 works well either on PC, Mac or Linux - it appears on your desktop and then all your have to do is drag & drop. You may also use Windows Media Player, but we only recommend this software for headache-a-holics... The 605 is the world champion in compatibility : mp3, wma & wav ; DivX and wmv. If you’re not afraid of wasting money you may also buy pug-ins which will allow you to play h264 and mpeg2 video ; as well as AAC & AC3 audio.

The iPod is more of a pain in the neck since Apple doesn’t even offer a hard-drive mode anymore, which implies you won’t be able to store various data on your iPod... Moreover, the use of iTunes is compulsory. Admittedly, that software is quite user-friendly, but it doesn’t run on Linux and it is anybody’s right not to use nor appreciate it. Basically, Apple’s idea is that everything your have on your iTunes, you’ll have it on your iPod. In terms of compatibility, no DivX, but h264 and mpeg4 are present, and for the audio, mp3, AAC (Audible format), wav and AIFF.

 Winner : Archos

 Score : Archos 2-2 Apple

 Next article : Round 5 - Audio Playback