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This review is from: Archos 70 - 8 GB Internet Tablet (Black) (Personal Computers)
I own the Archos 70 Internet Tablet with Android 2.2 Froyo installed.
I am going to start by listing the three things I hate about this tablet.
1. It only has 256 megabytes of RAM. It really should have 512 megabytes of RAM. (And I would have paid a little more to get twice the RAM.)
2. It does not come with the Android Marketplace App or Google Apps pre-installed. (So, with each update, you have to rely on others to create the Google Apps .apk that you can hunt down and manually install. I did it, of course, but it is a little pain in the butt. And, not all the apps show up in the Marketplace.)
3. It is a fingerprint magnet like you wouldn't believe. The bezel around the screen absorbs oil from your skin like crazy. Keep a wiping cloth handy at all times.
OK, now to the good. I paid just over $250 for this tablet direct from Archos, and at that price, I am satisfied where I give the device 4 out of 5 stars. I like the size and weight (as I found the iPad to be too heavy when holding it for a long time). Battery life is good. The screen is excellent for Internet, email, and video.
Android 2.2 Froyo runs well on my tablet, and I am happy to have Adobe Flash (although not every single Flash Website works...and if you encounter a chat box that runs on Flash, like Chatango, the keyboard does not respond, you cannot chat).
Bottom line: If you want a very good and reasonably-priced 7" WiFi-only tablet right now, the Archos 70 is the one to get. (If you don't need one right now, it is expected there will be many more tablets offered in 2011...and they will have more RAM and a more powerful processor. And yes, I know, they will be more expensive.)
Rerated Products
This review is from: Archos 70 - 8 GB Internet Tablet (Black) (Personal Computers)
ReplyDeleteI am writing my review on my 70IT...this tablet, overall, is fantastic. The capacitive touch screen is very responsive and stock applications run fast and are well designed.
PROS
Capacitive touch screen
beautiful display.
7inch is good for thumb typing.
Froyo (Android 2.2)
1 ghz cpu AND graphics accelerator
Built in Wifi and Bluetooth
Excellent video and audio playback with a wide range of supported formats
Excellent support forum available
Can load full android market onto the device (see forum)
Very good gsensor
Front facing camera for video chatting
Support for tethering a cell phone so no need for an extra contract
Supports adding on gps via bluetooth
Stream music and video from your media server
Flash player 10 support (download free from market)
HDMI out to TV
Comes with USB cable so you can tranfer files from you computer
Default music and video player is well designed and easy to use.
Good battery life...I watched a full movie from an 80% charge and still had 30%+ battery remaining.
*[EDIT] As of Firmware 2.0.71 (Android 2.2.1) you can select between three different levels of performance to adjust your batter usage. A nice addition so that you can lower your cpu speed to conserve battery life if you take your Archos on the go!
CONS
[EDIT: CPU under clocked at 800mhz at the time of this review.] - REMOVED FROM CONS LIST *]
Flash is laggy right now but Archos is promising a fix for this, so not too big of a deal.
Appslib preloaded has a poor selection of apps and games, but you can install the full market place very easily.
Have to pay about $20 extra dollars to get codecs pack if you want to watch videos of certain formats. I was unable to play a video with AAC audio without this codec in the default player
No built-in GPS (but could add this with an external bluetooth GPS device)
No built-in compass
Device tends to get slower the more applications you install.
Not much reserved for system storage so you aren't going to be installing 100's of application like they claim. I think it's about 500MB of the 8GB that is reserved for system storage. Fortunately, it does let you move many applications (that support it) to the internal storage.
USB doesn't provide enough power for an external hard drive on the 70 but on the 101 it does.
This review is from: Archos 70 - 8 GB Internet Tablet (Black) (Personal Computers)
ReplyDeleteI've had this device for 6 days and I've been very pleased with all aspects of it. I did a lot of research before buying and it has met all of my expectations. Best for those who already have some experience with the Android operating system.
Here is what I like:
It makes an excellent e-reader. I can use books from Barnes and Noble, Borders, Amazon, Google and my local library. It is a great PDF document reader and works great for comics as well.
It is very good internet browser. Flash capability isn't perfect yet, but having it in even a limited capacity opens up a lot more of the internet. I've been an iPod Touch/iPhone user for several years and I really like this device. The internet experience is superior.
Google integration. If you use Gmail and google apps, Android offers better capabilities than iOS devices. (Note, this does require a hack, but it is very easy to do).
Expandability. MicroSD, HDMI, USB. Archos doesn't control what I can and cannot do with this device.
Video playback. Excellent playback of local, network and internet video.
Form factor. I've played with an iPad and it's a fun device, but I like the size/weight of this device a lot better. It is more practical and easy to take with me. Much easier to hold for long periods of time when reading.
Battery life. Not iPad levels, but still very good.
What I don't like:
Future ability to upgrade. By only putting in 256MB of RAM, they have limited the ability of this device to Android 2.2, which means I will probably want the 2011 version, instead of upgrading this one. (I think they planned this)
Hacking is necessary. Because of limitations that Google puts on Android currently, it is necessary to hack the device to access it's full potential. This will ultimately damage the ability of new/inexperienced users to enjoy their Archos tablets.
Overall, I love this device and if you have used Android or if you are willing to do some research on websites like archosfans.com, you will love it as well!
I am writing my review on my 70IT...this tablet, overall, is fantastic. The capacitive touch screen is very responsive and stock applications run fast and are well designed.
ReplyDeletePROS
Capacitive touch screen
beautiful display.
7inch is good for thumb typing.
Froyo (Android 2.2)
1 ghz cpu AND graphics accelerator
Built in Wifi and Bluetooth
Excellent video and audio playback with a wide range of supported formats
Excellent support forum available
Can load full android market onto the device (see forum)
Very good gsensor
Front facing camera for video chatting
Support for tethering a cell phone so no need for an extra contract
Supports adding on gps via bluetooth
Stream music and video from your media server
Flash player 10 support (download free from market)
HDMI out to TV
Comes with USB cable so you can tranfer files from you computer
Default music and video player is well designed and easy to use.
Good battery life...I watched a full movie from an 80% charge and still had 30%+ battery remaining.
*[EDIT] As of Firmware 2.0.71 (Android 2.2.1) you can select between three different levels of performance to adjust your batter usage. A nice addition so that you can lower your cpu speed to conserve battery life if you take your Archos on the go!
CONS
[EDIT: CPU under clocked at 800mhz at the time of this review.] - REMOVED FROM CONS LIST *]
Flash is laggy right now but Archos is promising a fix for this, so not too big of a deal.
Appslib preloaded has a poor selection of apps and games, but you can install the full market place very easily.
Have to pay about $20 extra dollars to get codecs pack if you want to watch videos of certain formats. I was unable to play a video with AAC audio without this codec in the default player
No built-in GPS (but could add this with an external bluetooth GPS device)
No built-in compass
Device tends to get slower the more applications you install.
Not much reserved for system storage so you aren't going to be installing 100's of application like they claim. I think it's about 500MB of the 8GB that is reserved for system storage. Fortunately, it does let you move many applications (that support it) to the internal storage.
USB doesn't provide enough power for an external hard drive on the 70 but on the 101 it does.