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One of the great benefits of a lot of the new technologies coming out these days is the fact that so many devices are so versatile when it comes to what they do.  Consider for a moment what the well connected traveler would have needed twenty years ago in order to communicate with the outside world during a trip and stay entertained in a variety of mediums.  For music, they would have needed a portable cassette player like a walk man.  For photographs, they probably would have had some kind of an old fashioned thirty five millimeter film camera.  For video, they would have needed one of those huge camcorders that recorded on VHS.  While a mobile phone of some sort probably would have been useful, such technology didn't really exist at that time, and the same thing would have been true for the Internet.  In any case, that translates into a lot of luggage.
Now we have technology that allows people to have all of those needs taken care of by a few compact devices.  Plus as devices become more multi-functional, fewer and fewer devices are required.
One example of such a device that handles a wide variety of technological needs is the Archos 604 WiFi.  This device is basically a portable video device that's had a lot of features added on top the basics for such a device.  Like other portable video devices the Archos 604 WiFi has a color LCD screen and a high capacity hard drive combined into a compact casing.  The screen is 4.3 inches wide with a 16:9 aspect ratio and the hard drive stores up to thirty gigabytes of data.  It can play video, play audio, and display digital photos.
All of the above is pretty standard for a portable video, but the Archos 604 WiFi goes well beyond the features of other portable video devices.  For example, in addition to playing video, it can also record video.  This alone opens up a lot of possibilities for this device.  For example, with the proper docking stations, the Archos 604 WiFi becomes a full fledged digital video recorder that can replace a home TV set top model.  Plus, with the fact that it can record in MPEG-4 video compression format, the Archos 604 WiFi can record over one hundred hours of video.  That video can then be played back on the device itself or back over the TV set.  Thus the Archos 604 WiFi can serve as a truly functional digital video recorder.
Archos also supplies a number of optional accessories that can expand the uses of the Archos 604 WiFi even further.  One great accessory is a special helmet camera that can be connected to Archos 604 WiFi.  Together, the two can be used as a full action camcorder that's great for recording everything from family vacations to extreme action sports.  The resulting video can then be played on the unit's screen, a normal TV, or be uploaded onto the Internet to share with others.
Add all of these video features to wireless web browsing and optional accessories that can turn the Archos 604 WiFi into a car stereo system, and you have a seriously versatile piece of electronics.