The Archos 604 is the 'slim 'n' sleek' model from the new multimedia player range, combining audio and video playback with a host of optional extras. It's just 17mm thick, and a glance at the sleek silver and brushed steel casing and 4.3-inch screen leaves you with no doubt as to why Archos is touting it as its style option.

This is a stunning looking device, backed up by an excellent LCD that boasts a crisp, vibrant display for your movies and photos. Obviously a device of this nature is mainly intended for video playback, but Archos has left no stone unturned in its quest for the ultimate multimedia companion.

The MP3 player, for example, is one of the best we've seen (and heard). Aside from the fact that the large screen makes navigating and managing your music a breeze, the controls and menu structure are excellently conceived, with the Archos Arclibrary tool automatically sorting new music into ID3 tag categories for easy browsing.

There are full playlist and audio controls for managing playback, customizable equalizer settings and a ratings option for ranking individual tracks. You can leave your music playing while you browse around any of the other features of the player, and sound quality for both audio and video playback is excellent.

Moving on, the photo viewer really shows off the dynamic vibrancy of the widescreen LCD. It's a joy to browse around your images either manually or by setting up a slideshow using a range of built-in transitions. Any of your images can be set up as wallpaper if you don't like the default images provided, and there are further options to configure fonts or theme colours to give you complete control over the style of the interface.

In addition to these features you'll find a built-in PDF reader and sound recorder, but it's the video support we're most interested in. Pleasingly, the player's consistency doesn't slip here by any means. Videos, like all other content, can be copied from your hard drive directly into the corresponding folder on the player, and there's a range of supported formats that include MPEG-4 ASP (AVI to you and me), WMV (including protected WMV) and the possibility to read H.264, MPEG-2, and VOB files with optional software plug-ins from the Archos website.

Before you ask, encoded AVI formats such as DivX are supported, and we saw flawless playback of nearly all of the files we tested. Even browsing through your video collection is a joy: the video file itself plays back in a small thumbnail as you move between each one and you can see file information under each clip to help you work out what quality settings look best on the player.

Display quality for videos is inevitably excellent, although by this point we'd be surprised if it wasn't. It's easy to scroll back and forth during playback, you can change aspect ratios, playback speed, sound and equalizer settings, set bookmarks and even snap stills to use as thumbnails or wallpaper, but this is only the start of the 604's video capabilities.

Archos's new multimedia range includes a number of optional accessories, but we're not just talking about the typical carry case, dedicated speakers, in-car charger type accessories: these are far more innovative. The Archos DV-station, for example, is arguably an essential addition. This player-mount box wires up between your TV and video source (Sky/Freeview box, VCR etc.) initially allowing pass-through connectivity that allows all of your equipment to behave as normal until you plug in the player.

When you do, it opens the VideoCorder feature from the 604's main menu. Among other things this allows you to play back video from the player on your TV, which means that watching AVI or other encoded movies on the big screen is no longer a royal pain. Perhaps the most useful of the 604's features, though, is the ability to act as a DVR (digital video recorder), by recording direct from the signal source to the player's internal hard drive.

You can even set up the player to record a specific channel at a specific time using the built-in recording scheduler. Once the video has been saved you can either play it back through the 604 or play it back on your TV, so you're effectively getting a portable video recorder into the bargain. You're even supplied with a remote so you can sit back and relax while controlling every aspect of the player from a distance.

In addition to the DVR Station, other accessories of note include a Docking Adapter for connecting mass storage devices (digital cameras, MP3 players, etc.) to instantly transfer contents across. You can also buy a Travel Adapter that allows you to record and capture video from a DVD player, VCR, camcorder or other source. This is effectively a 'lite' version of the DVR station but is a great way of getting video content onto the 604 without the use of a PC.

There are so many good things to say about the Archos 604 and it's rare that we stumble across a product of this unbridled quality. You'll find the battery lasts about 15 hours if you stick to audio playback or around four if you're watching video, but pleasingly it does come with a removable battery; handy on long journeys if you have a replacement or for when the original is on its last legs.

On the down side you're not provided with a lot of connectivity unless you buy some of the extras: a simple USB charger and rather bland carrying 'sack' is about your lot out of the box. There is a built-in speaker, but it's obviously only for emergencies, as sound is tinny and monosyllabic so headphones are a must - but these are supplied.

The negatives are far too minor to detract from the excellent quality of an outstanding device such as this. Although the retail price is just over £250 you can get it for less if you shop around online. If you don't consider the 30GB hard drive on the 604 large enough, you'll find the Archos 504 available in 80 and 160GB versions, or alternatively you could save some cash and go for the 404 with a smaller (3.5-inch) screen. All of them have similar functionality and the same DVR capabilities with the correct accessories, but we'd pick the 604 for the nice balance of value, style and adaptability.

The Archos 604 is every multimedia user's dream, both if used as a portable player or as a DVR with the optional extras. It's the closest we've seen to a flawless product for some time and it's even very reasonably priced. There's nothing more to say other than go out and buy one, and do it now.