And the assault continues! With each passing day, the passing assault on Apples iPod continues. Today Tom’s Hardware shows us the Archos Gmini 400 Portable Media Player. Designed to compete directly with the Apple iPod, I really think the size of this media player is going to be helpful.

A spectacular finish and just nice to look at, I found this player to be a real gem to read up on. One thing in Tom’s article that caught my eye that was spot on was where they state that a “Game Boy” style to it. I would have to agree and add that by allows it to operate this way it give the device a bit more functionality.

Just two months after the launch of the AV400, the first audio player / DVR, say hello to the Gmini 400. Archos’ goal: to redefine the portable media player sector with a device that represents an ambitious assault on the iPod’s stranglehold on market share.

First and foremost, Archos has ensured that its player is as small as the iPod and other competing portable media players. The Gmini 400 weighs in at 158 grams (5.64 oz.) and measures 106 x 60 x 18 mm (4.17 x 2.37 x 0.69 in.) — pretty much the same measurements as the latest iPod. It contains a very fast 20 GB Toshiba hard disk. The MK-2004GAL has a 2MB buffer, spins at 4,200 rpm, and has an average access time of 15 milliseconds. Yet it weighs only 51 grams. Our 100 MB set of 30 files transferred to the device’s hard drive in only 14 seconds.