Well, I hope I am wrong...

The archos uses a standard laptop drive that can be swapped out quite easily. The Pearl is using some special Micro Drive, correct?

Also, the Archos requires zero software to load music and/or data files. I can load music on it anywhere without emplode, or music match, or whatever.

The downside is the Archos has a very limited UI for managing tracks. We all know how empeg excels in this area. I haven't personally been swayed by the current crop of hard drive portables for these reasons... I'm waiting for Karma/Pearl/What ever it is called this week to try and change my mind.