Archos 7 Home Tablet up for pre-order, could ship first week of April
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted March 29th 2010 9:10PM
posted March 29th 2010 9:10PM
The first week of April is going to be a good one for prospective tablet owners. If a certain highly talked-about slate isn't to your liking, it seems that Archos 7 Home Tablet we spent some time with earlier this month will soon be making its debut as well. Both Redcoon.de ("usually ships in two weeks") and Amazon.de ("soon") have the 8GB model available for pre-order, for €180 and €200 (or about $240 and $270) respectively. Not the most stunning hardware, to be sure, but for less than $300 you can't really complain. Hit the source link to see for yourself.
Updated: We heard from Archos and it plans to launch the the 7 Home Tablet here in the US at the end of April.
Updated: We heard from Archos and it plans to launch the the 7 Home Tablet here in the US at the end of April.
Who cares? Archos Devices always fail in the end.
@CJisohsocool
Arbitrary comment about how an Apple equivalent is vastly superior on multiple levels despite nobody previously mentioning Apple - simply because I am an obvious fanboy troll.
@HighestRankd You are, and your comment is poorly worded as well.
@CJisohsocool I actually own an Archos PMP and it has worked perfectly for me for three years now. I had to replace the battery recently (got a full 2.5 years out of it), but thankfully it's $15 with shipping and just plugs into the motherboard.
@HighestRankd
The resemblance is uncanny!
@CJisohsocool I think there is some other product being released in the first week of april..hmm..
Price range sounds sweet so I might hit one of these up on eBay it depends.
@Alexpeegs The Archos 7 is rumored to be available on March for £149.99 ($242). But its clear, it all changed now. First view: http://bit.ly/archos7-new-info
built-in battery + no GPS = NO DICE
Can we install Win 7 in it ?
@jinishans You can install VNC or some other remote desktop app or Citrix Viewer for Android and remotely run your Windows/Mac/Linux apps on it.
@jinishans http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt6xo2LZeLc
8gb aaaaaaand....? Did I miss something?
@built2spill iit's just the 8gb. The two different prices are the two sites you can order it from, redcoon.de and amazon.de
@built2spill There is a MicroSD card slot.
Personal opinion:
With this model, I think Archos is falling back into the same problem people have had with PMPs for years. Its too big to be portable, yet too small to actually do anything. The 5 inch model is (barely) small enough to actually pocket and be carried around. I can't really see having a 7 inch screen with that much bezel (don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about bezel) being pocketable.
Had this tablet/PMP/slate been three to five inches larger and had Tegra 2 or some other high powered chipset, you could at least say that this was meant to be a home consumption device--something that could play music while you browse the web and have an email client running in the background. Possibly with an IM convo or two as well.
As it stands, the screen is (again IMO) too small to display any decent amount of content, and that doesn't come with the trade off of it being portable.
You may disagree, and by all means, I'm ready and willing to hear your opinion on the matter. :)
@BigJayDogg3 Agree! 5 inch device is too small to be called a tablet
@BigJayDogg3
Agreed. This just reminds me of an updated Sony MYLO. And we all know how that turned out.
@BigJayDogg3 Archos 5 Internet Tablet with Android is perfect to be pocketable and still provide 2x larger screen than the iPhone with 2x more screen resolution.
7" tablet is 2x larger again than the 4.8" one. To calculate the size of a screen you need to multiply weight by hight of the screen, not just compare the diagonals.
7" Tablet is perfect for watching movies, it's actually really awesome, and the Archos 7 Home Tablet at only $179 is about 6x more compact than your average Netbook, so much easier to carry around in a big jacket pocket or in a bag. If you don't want to carry it around, it is also great at home, in the living room for couch surfing or in the bed for bed surfing and just great for watching movies, even Youtube is supported.
If you want to read a lot of text, normal LCD will not work for that, only Pixel Qi based LCD will be usable for that.
Yeah, it's $300, until you try to use it and Archos, like in the past, will nickel and dime you along the way for everything.
What? You want to watch video? Sorry, the codec is $5.
That extra music codec? $5
You want to web browse? $10
...oh, you meant on a FLASH site, well, that's $15.
@Johnny Tremaine I don't think that's a factor anymore with their Android line of devices... That being said, this would be pretty cool on Flights, esp those with WiFi.
@Johnny Tremaine
I don't know if it's really nickel and diming you if the base price is as low as Archos products usually are. Some of us don't need all the bells and whistles and would prefer to spend less money to use one particular codec. I wish more manufacturers had ala carte models of their devices.
@LC Definitely with you on this. I remember when Archos came with all the codecs loaded and so many things, it was basically the most expensive PMP we could dream of desiring, but their price was a big problem getting them adopted in spite of having amazing reviews. Then, they stopped supporting and giving you everything out of the box. Perhaps, 2 models would be good, a deluxe package with a decent discount and a version with the same hardware just missing the accessories and codecs, then people wouldn't have an argument and you reward high value customers; win-win.
I used to be in love with Archos, from both afar and personally once I bought one of their devices. I think they have the spirit to stick around for a while, but I was really hoping for big news over a year ago with their first 9" that disappointed. Still looking for them to actually find the sweet spots in markets while not neglecting the experience, rather than one or the other.
@Johnny Tremaine
You're seriously living in the distant past, because none of Archos' Android offerings utilize such a 'pay-to-play' system.
The only time a fee is required is to register the GPS software on their upper-line devices e.g. Archos 5 IT/Android etc after the trial period.
@Johnny Tremaine Every codec and feature is included for free in this product.
And even the GPS is free on the Archos 5 Internet Tablet with Android, as long as you find some free app for GPS navigation on Android.
They suck and will always suck buy an Ipad and support Steve Job.
This could be something my dad would use, and he wouldn't get too angry at me for spending money on him. He'd probably like the iPad better, but it'd be too much $ for him. THIS...maybe. Gotta see some reviews first, maybe get some hands-on time. 8GB is more than enough for him, though.
@uHorndog
Since you obviously don't know, the screen technology to which you are referring is called 'resistive', and in colder climates, ones wherein people tend to wear gloves and the like, it's much preferred over capacitive screens as it reacts to pressure rather than actual touch. Resistive displays also fare much better for those who appreciate the accuracy afforded by using a stylus (like typing on smaller screened devices).
So Now You Know...
@uHorndog
I guess it's opinion, but I really don't mind, and even like the raised touchscreen. It makes it so there is some tactile feedback when you touch it (khotar factor), which is nice. Yes you can have haptic feedback, but that not only wastes battery, but also takes up space inside the device, all when you can have a more natural feedback using this method.
Some of the old Palm PDAs had it(T3 did), but if it has a capacitive screen it won't have it, but I don't know if it'll have it.
It'll also make it more susceptible to scratches, since it'll have a thin flexible plastic filament over the screen (Palm T3 screen after many solitaire games)
@writeinC
I have a feeling it isn't khotar. It's KOTOR, in reference to the Xbox RPG Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.
If you haven't played it, I suggest finding a copy. It's an original Xbox game and should be dirt cheap by now. It's AMAZING.
@BigJayDogg3
O wow..I'm pretty sure its khotar...and if the 7 is anything like the 5it the khotar is about a 5 on the negative side...better keyboard improves it somewhat
I have the exclude-apple filter on, so you guys aren't allowed to mention iPad or Steve Jobs at all. Thank you for your cooperation.
@summerboy18
It was supposed to ship today and I've seen nary a word about it. It is supposed to have some digital content ready for download and I'm curious as to how smoothly it will work. When I looked at thejoojoo.com site it didn't even have any Guided Tour videos to show it's ease of use. No mention about number of pre-orders, either. That is one of the plainest sites I've seen in a long while. I'm not knocking it. Actually, it's rather refreshing to see.
@hated one
ummm.... no
@hated one
Get back under your bridge, troll.
This is going to run Android right? Last time I checked, these devices don't have access to the marketplace. Am I right?
@Plazmic Flame
As long as you're running Android 1.6 (or higher), it's just a matter of installing the Android Market app, a process that takes all of 5 seconds.
@Plazmic Flame
kind of..I have the archos 5it..getting access to the market isn't very hard...nothing a few seconds on google couldn't help you with
The US price is $179 for the 2GB model and $199 for the 8GB model (not $240 and $270 as mentioned in the article). EU prices include about 25% EU taxes which consumers don't have to pay in the USA.
Does anyone know what TV show is on the Archos's screen?
(Yes, I'm out of the loop)
thanks.
Hate to be negative, but I received a response from Archos Sales (US) 3 days ago:
As of right now there is no official release date on the Archos 7 Home Tablet. It is slated for release this summer however. At the moment I have no information as to 3G support. It will however wifi support however.
Thank you,
Andrew H
Archos Sales Support
There is some false information somewhere, not sure if it's spread by them or by others.
@koppit yeah, that's the "home tablet" not the "internet tablet."
@jessiejamiez
You linked to the wrong Archos. Thats not the 7 IT/HT it's the 7 IMT. Slight difference I know but a difference all the same. The IMT runs some vanilla Linux with an Archos in house skin.
I would love to sell an Archos product that doesn't come back to my store carried by a red faced angry consumer.
2 for 2 so far.
ill buy one. $200 for a good sized android tablet works for me. tho the archos 5 might be better. we'll see what this thing really has