We still gotta wait
until September 15th for the whole scoop, but
B&H has gone ahead and spoiled some of the mystery of Archos' Android-based
Archos 5, giving the internet tablet its own listing in a number of different storage capacity options, pictures in tow, as well as a $130 DVR station. Prices are currently listed as TBA, but fortunately it looks like the fine fellows at
ArchosFans managed to capture the page when there were more concrete dollar signs on each model, to the tune of $294 for 16GB SSD, $370 for 32GB SSD, $320 for 160GB HDD, and $420 for a 500GB HDD. In the DVR station pic we spotted "HD" listed in the video names, which gives us hope that even more of
those February leaks are coming to fruition. Screenshot of the with-price listings after the break.
[Via
ArchosFans; thanks,
Steve and Axel]
Read - 500GB HDD listing
Read - 16GB SSD listing
Read - 32GB SSD listing
Read - DVR Station
posted September 1st 2009 4:58PM
Am I the only one who thinks one of these + a folding keyboard stand would be the ideal note-taking device for students? Superior to netbooks in most ways ...
Yup, I'm looking forward to use it with a foldable full sized Bluetooth keyboard like one of these:
http://www.instablogsimages.com/images/2009/01/21/foldable-bluetooth-keyboard-1_oyDrk_58.jpg
or
http://www.mrpalm.com/board/images/member/s_oat@hotmail.com_hmylgekbk.jpg
Just have your Archos in one pocket and the full size foldable Bluetooth keyboard in the other.
Thought this was gonna be a phone
http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/09/archos-to-release-android-phone-tablet/
I've seen these in Futureshop (Canada) about two weeks ago.
Now make it WORK right. It's so pretty and has such nice specs, but I read reviews of more recent ones and owned an older one (I don't remember the model), and they just crash and crash. My NDS homebrew works more often than it did.
I have an Archos 5. Here's my history with it:
First try: had a dead pixel right in the center of the screen. That's very distracting on a 5" screen. Luckily the store I bought it from switched me out a new one....
...but on the new one the wireless stopped working. Apparently this was a well-known problem, because it was covered under Archos' warranty. It took 30 min on hold to get to customer support, and a month to get the replacement, but they did eventually send me a refurbished one...
...but there were disk problems with the refurbished one. After spending 30 min on hold to get to customer support, they agreed to replace it under warranty. After a month I will finally be getting the replacement tomorrow, when I get to see what new problems they sent me.
I will never ever buy another Archos product. I spent $300 to get a machine that I could use without problems for about a week, and which has spent about 6 months being shipped around getting "fixed". Quality control is beyond awful. Also, I wasn't that big a fan of the product (what what I could tell from using it for a week). My iPod touch has really won me over, and I'm not going back.
Ok here is my story.
I bought a Archos 6000 back in 2000 or so. kept it 2 years than hand it to my sister cause I got a Jukebox 20Gb. I Kept it 3 years and then got a Gmini XS 200, which my father crushed under his fat ass (only archos device I owned that ever died).
I eventually bought a Gmini XS 202 (the exact same) and kept it until I bought a Cowon S9 32GB this year.
This last archos player is still working in the hands of my little bor', the others are kept in my room because soon they'll be like museum worth.
(Oh and my father bought a A5 250 GB. no problems)
I never experienced any of your crap and I feel like I have a much MUCH MUCH larger experience of the archos hardware and software then you so stop trying to scare people off with you FUD and your "well-know problems"...
Archos has perfectible software that's for sure ! but they don't produce players that have a "well-know problem" consisting in stopping to work after about a month ... Stop the bullshit please.
It's sweet that you have a working Archos, but the fact is that you're in the minority, and if you could remove your head from your posterior you'd know that.
Here's some facts for you: Best Buy stopped carrying Archos products because of the number of returns and complaints. At a poll on Archosfans, the majority of people surveyed said they regretted buying an Archos 5 (and these were people who love Archos). At anythingbutipod, the reviewer initially gave the Archos 5 a good review (and that's why I bought it), but later went back and downgraded his rating because he'd started having problems with it, and apologized for giving it such a high rating.
If you haven't had problems with your Archos 5 then you're in the minority. Good for you and all, but don't go calling bullshit on the vast majority of people who have had problems with it, including me (unless they're paying you to say good things, in which case go ahead)
Oh, and I don't know anything about the other Archos products you mentioned. I've only owned an Archos 5, and it's possible that their quality has dropped considerably since 2000, but for you to discount someone else's problems is a pretty low class thing to do.
IDK. Look nice, like something I could use.
@PJR
Your lucky I haven't been able to get Archos to repair my busted Archos 5 and thats 6 months ago
look the battery is so swollen it's bust out of the case (breaking the LCD in the process)
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/8672/archos5.jpg
They just don't reply to my emails
Avoid Archos
Rento, I think it is you who's never owned an Archos device. My 5 is a piece of shit. If I didn't buy the original 5, I would fall for this instead. As the old saying goes, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.
Thank you Frank. These products suck.
Archos does have some problems, but where else are you gonna go? If you want to carry around your music and video collection in your pocket, you really don't have any other choices. And maybe that's the problem, maybe it doesn't work that well because it is bleeding edge technology. I have sent my archos back to get fixed once, and I did get a unit back with a dead pixel. Turns out however, that it didn't have a dying hard drive like I thought it did, and I didn't need to send it back in the first place. It went dead while transferring files because the battery drains faster then it charges when transferring files. This is because it is a very advanced device with high power demand. It's probably unavoidable and that's why no one else bothers to make a 250GB+ (or for that matter a 120GB+) PMP.
If I were to give the reliability of the Ipod 5 of 5 stars (which I wouldn't) I would give the archos 3 of 5 stars. But if I were to give the functionality of the Archos 5 of 5 stars, I would give the Iphone 2 of 5 stars, because with the archos I don't have to 1. convert files to match apple approved formats, 2. Select which media I want to have with me and which media I don't, 3. Use (crappy) proprietary software, 4. Watch videos on a tiny screen, and I can 5. browse by album art quickly, 6. use the internet. And truthfully ipod's have their fair share of reliability problems, especially if they have a hard drive in them.
The point of my post is that these devices push the envelope of what technology can do, so of course they might have some hiccups. But they do things nothing else can do, and they do it fairly well.
Can someone explain to me why we are still going orgasmic over dedicated PMPs? Is it just me, or are smartphones like the Omnia 2 making these things obsolete? The Omnia 2 has a large 3.7" 480 by 800 res screen with AMOLED technology making the battery last 3-4 times of that of the iphone 3gs. It is an excellent phone and multimedia and internet device with all the added benefits of windows mobile 6.5 (3rd party apps). So why should I carry around this thing along with my phone? WHY????
Let's see:
Because the new Archos Android device will have 500gb of hard-drive space (can't hold your entire video and music collection on a paltry 32gb).
Because the new Archos Android will allow you to play almost every type of video known to man.
Because the new Archos Android does not tie you in to telephone contracts.
Because like hunterpritchett said - we don't really have any other viable choices.
You have to remember. This kind of PMP is for those of us looking to carry around our entire collection of media. Add the fact that you can use it as an external hard-drive and you have yourself something that separates itself from anything else you can currently purchase.