The Archos 104 is an update of the company's 3GB Gmini XS 100, which was intended as a bare-bones MP3 player for digital-audio newbies. The new version—still hard drive–based, but now with 4GB of storage capacity—is a slight improvement on the original (and the name has been streamlined too), though it's now competing with flash-based players such as the Apple iPod nano and SanDisk Sansa e260, as well as other 4GB hard drive players such as the Cowon iAudio 6. What the player lacks in features and compactness, however, it makes up for in value; at just $159.99 (direct) for 4GB, it undercuts the competition by quite a bit. It's not the fastest or sleekest on the block, but it's not bad for what it is.