Poor Lauren… the terribly deprived child did quite well out of Santa, and today at last got the chance to try out a couple of things that were in her Christmas sack.

The first was a radio-controlled hovering UFO that we’d seen at a large well-known toy store in London (you won’t have to think too hard). We opened the box today and found that part of the structure was broken. Very disappointing, but I have to congratulate the store’s customer service – the guy I spoke to was as polite and apologetic as you could possibly hope for, and he gave me a freepost address for the item’s return and promised a replacement.

Postponing plans for the maiden voyage of the UFO, the other item to try out was the chocolate fountain (what was Santa thinking?). This was taken out of the box, and I discovered that while it did heat up as it was supposed to, the motor (for the purpose of pumping molten chocolate) didn’t work. So that’s another item we’re going to have to arrange the replacement of.

Quality control problems at the North Pole do you think? Thank goodness the Archos 605 is working properly (famous last words).

You’ll be pleased to know that the Archos 605 versus Apple iPod touch argument was resolved during the festive season. The wife very generously procured an Archos 605 plus DVR Station for me, while I furnished her with a tasty new iPod touch. This had the knock-on effect of a new-ish iPod for me, as she graciously passed on her iPod Video to me (to replace my faithful old 4th generation iPod). Lauren also got a new iPod (a blue nano), and this was welcomed by my older sibling Steve who is an Apple shareholder.

So, having played with the Archos 605 for a couple of days, was it the right decision? It’s a resounding ‘yes’. Now, the first thing you might say is “why have you got two devices Daz, an iPod and an Archos, when one iPod touch could have done the job?”. That was covered in an earlier blog post, but as a quick summary…

• The iPod touch’s top-of-the-range 16gb capacity isn’t enough for me (I have 9gb’s worth of music before I even start thinking about movies)
• I wouldn’t consider moving the music off the iTunes / iPod combination
• The Archos has a much better screen (larger and better resolution)

The first issue I came across with the Archos was getting DVD content onto the device, and after some experimentation and exchanges of opinion with Choddo, I went for DVD Ripper from Xilisoft (I already have another Xilisoft utility for getting movies onto iPods, but it wouldn’t work for the Archos – typical). Here lies one of the downsides of the Archos, that once you’ve bought the device you haven’t finished spending – I could actually have used iPod-ready movies but then I would have to have bought a plug-in to play them, so you have to spend either way.

Next, which format to rip to? Windows Media Video worked fine, but for some reason was very slow to rip… The Simpsons Movie would have taken (I estimated) about 10 hours. But I then discovered that the XviD AVI format worked on the device and was a lot quicker to rip.

The Archos 605 is WiFi-enabled so you can use it to browse the web… if you buy the Opera browser plugin (another £20). The case that comes in the box is rubbish (a flimsy pouch that offers about as much protection as a bus shelter in the event of a comet hitting the Earth) so chalk up another £20 for a decent case. So, there’s £60 gone on top of the cost of the device.

However, despite coughing up a few extra quid the overall experience is worth it. While the iPod touch wins for slimness and it’s user interface, the display on the Archos is beyond comparison (and you can also navigate using buttons if you want to avoid swiping your mucky digits all over the touch screen). The Opera browser is excellent (Opera are doing a good job, along with the browser on the Wii and OperaMini on the BlackBerry), there’s seven free ‘widgets’ available, the photos are crystal-clear, and the promise of being able to record from the Sky Plus box sounds great (despite my low expectation of anything to do with Sky).

Given the trouble promised at the UK airports in January (just in time for my trip to Lotusphere) I think the Archos 605 is going to be a godsend… perhaps I just need the battery extension pack.

It would appear to be Christmas Eve, so I’d like to wish the readers of dadams.co.uk a very merry Christmas. The wife’s Christmas playlist is ringing out of her iPod (as it has done since mid-November) so once again I’m struck by the idea of ‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day’ and how grossly impractical that would be. And while we’re on the subject of ridiculous song lyrics… ‘White Christmas’… lovely song, lovely idea, but totally irrelevant as we enter what I believe to be my 37th consecutive Christmas without snow.

Anyway, have a great Christmas, don’t drink and drive, be grateful for what you get and enjoy the Doctor Who special.

Hampshire’s favourite football manager is spouting crap again. On occasionally-serious footy web site Football365.com Mr Ferguson (pictured here with Ruud van Nistelrooy) delivers these pearls of wisdom…

“Arsenal are playing well, but it’s a long season and they know that, too. They will drop points, there’s no doubt about that.”

This is an incredible revelation – I had just assumed that Arsenal would win every single game from now on. This comes as a big blow to me, and I’m sure Arsene Wenger will spend a few sleepless nights coming to terms with this news.

Dame Alice goes onto to discuss their recent defeat at the hands of Bolton…

“If we hadn’t lost to Bolton then we would have been in a great position.”

Right, but you did lose to Bolton, so get over it. Naughty Bolton for denying ManYoo of their God-given right to win every game. And naughty Bolton again for not trying very hard against Liverpool and letting them win 4-0.