The Archos AV500 is TV on the go

There are some products I really don’t like. I just don’t see how they possibly make a person’s life better. This is not one of them. In fact, I really want one of these. The Archos AV500 looks like a portable television with a 4-inch, 480×272 pixel color TFT screen, but it is much more. First of all, it has an impressive 100GB drive, allowing you to store a lot of video. How it really gets me excited, though, is that it’s a DVR, too. You can hook this baby up, record directly from your TV, VCR, DVD or satellite and then watch what you have recorded on the road. Now I can watch The Price is Right on the bus instead of having to wait until I get home. It can, of course, show photos or play a variety of music formats, as well.

The rechargeable battery promises 15 hours of music or 4.5 hours of video on a single charge, but as usual you can probably chop that in half after a bit of use. One feature that will appeal to the most vain of you is that the screen has a reflective coating, allowing you to use it as a mirror when it is not on.

The unit will cost you $920. If that seems steep, you can get a 30GB model for $575.