Archos Vision 3 with VGA cam arriving this summer
By Joanna Stern 
posted May 5th 2010 10:01PM
posted May 5th 2010 10:01PM
Oh, we see what you're doing here with the updated Vision 3, Archos -- going straight for the $149 iPod Nano's jugular by pricing the 8GB, VGA cam-toting player under $100. Pretty clever, and after spending a few minutes with the small PMP, we have reason to believe that Archos may just have better luck than ever before. The 3-inch touchscreen on the Vision A30VC is responsive and the interface easy to navigate, and though the 640×480-resolution camera won't capture award-winning footage, you can tap to record video and snap some stills. Sure, the plastic body feels much cheaper than the iPod's anodized aluminum back, but at under $100 we're not complaining. Check out some hands-on pics of the gadget below, and look for the little guy to hit retailers in late summer.
Resistive? Wait, it's Archos.
It's funny but one can tell how successful a product will be based on the total comments on such product's Engadget posts.
Good luck with this one, Archos.
Who would buy this?
@ComeShot People with only 100 to spend? I assume this might have mp3 playback, but I'm not sure without it being spelled out, it has a bigger screen and more versatile than the competition, especially at this price point. This could be quite useful for me since I don't like paying much for cameras and don't have need for great quality, just quick shots, and if it can hold 2-4 gigs of music it'll make a great non-primary device. However, seeing as my next cell phone will probably capture 720p video, I'll probably pass, but there is definitely a market of people who don't have superphones and could use something with these capabilities.
@ComeShot
Well anyone who :
A) wants to buy an iPod nano
B) is smart and realises the is cheaper and better.
Smart move for Archos????? ehhhh..... My phone can do alot better than that.
@shoxite
Indeed it can...
However, does it cost less than $100 dollars? Can you buy it at Best Buy without spending precious time signing up for a contract? That's what I thought...
@shoxite
Considering how well the iPod nano sells, regardless of it being an inferior product and costing 50%-90% more than the competition, maybe Archos can snag some of the market for itself. It's a pity that companies with solid products struggle because they don't spend a large amount of money on ads, or they haven't made a large and established fan base.
@hated one
Are you arguing with yourself?
I'll stick with my Zune HD :)
What is this VGA crap, it needs to be at least 28 megapixies wtf
@hated one
Third world countries? Like France?
Anyways, this has a larger and touch-screen display and probably plays more video formats than the nano. $40 is not that much, just 5 hours of work on minimum wage, right? And people on welfare surely can waste their checks on these things, after all, they have plenty of money, right?
This falls short of what? Hype? Archos doesn't have as much publicity as Apple, but it consistently pumps out better PMPs than Apple. The free-market of today is not so much about product quality as it is marketing and hype.
KIRF: Keepin' It Real French
@hated one 'Comon the Kin ONE is the same price with more features than this. And a better camera. Yeah some would argue "But this isn't a phone this is a PMP". But seriously, whats the point of having one? I seriously believe that PMP's will be extinct soon. The phones that are coming out are OUT OF THIS WORLD with the features in it! (Hi DELL, EVO, iPhone 4G ,
Archos' products have a sense of cheapness to them..they are always so lackluster and never live up to their expectations.
@DoctarPeppar
I look at features over build quality. Like if archos made a small pmp with hdmi out and 640x480 30fps and quality screen. All of this and decent battery that's all I want. However I have 3 ipod video and 2 ipod classic. 3 archos players like 605 wifi 705 some older yet very capible. And for people who want everythig on pne device.... I like having seperate devices. G1 ipod video and my casio exilim 10mp slim.
@ciloteille
I hate having seperate devices...and the fact that Archos products don't use the android marketplace is even shittier. They need to get with the program and offer a more universal android experience.
@shoxite
I like my cellphone batteries lasting more than a day, besides, the people who buy this are not the ones spending over $2000 during a 2 year contract for a smartphone.
PMPs might become a niche product soon, but they won't be eliminated because of smartphones/featurephones coming out. At least not in the next few years.
Android y/n?
@Yandereboat my best guess, yes but without the marketplace.
@Yandereboat No, no Android. Just a custom firmware
@Firehazel Fo' sho'? Because I'd consider if it had Android sans marketplace, but then if there's no Android at all it's a no.
@Yandereboat Sho' nuff, no 'Droid dawg...
Sorry, I just had to go along with it...
What a waste, no wonder their Android phone went vaporware.
1 look and I can tell its gonna be buggy, slow, and look fugly.
Yeah I'm sure Apple is quaking in its boots right now.
I like it.
No android... WHY!??
@flea925 Not sure where you got that information, but presuming you are correct it doesn't matter much. Archos is known for not having the Android marketplace on the devices they sell with Android.
for the price this is not bad at all although they could probably do a bit better on the camera and go at least 2 mp
@hated one
Archos brought out the its first hard disk player 18 months before Apple released the first iPod. Archos released its first video player a full three years before Apple released a video iPod. Archos released its first UMPB a full four years before Apple's sonly semi-functional UMPC (the iPad).
Archos is often years ahead of Apple. Apple plays it safe and sells minor iterations of products to repeat customer fanbois using blanket marketing budgets and spamming the media with tedious press releases about "A BILLION APPS SERVED HERE" or other such garbage, whereas Archos takes real risks.
A lot of people seem to dog on Archos but I am still rockin' my 605wifi can't complain either. Just finished watching "The Hangover" for the hundredth time last night. Archos you are always welcome in my "Wolf Pack".
@WinMo4Evah And each one was weak. They are innovators, just not very good ones. Timing, quality, execution, investment. You need all these things. Apple doesn't sell things because of marketing. That just builds
awareness. People go into stores, try them, like them and buy them. That's how you sell 250M of them. Apple invested in Stores (which everyone said would be a total disaster) and iTunes and content agreements and game changing UI and DRM to keep rights holders happy. Archos made some cool but flaky gadgets. All the haters can pretend it is hype and marketing but Apple worked harder, risked more and won big. Good luck to Archos but this won't make any more inroads than their other slightly more feature-rich efforts.
I guess I am a neo-luddite (is that even possible?) in that I want all of the Android features, a nice camera, GPS and access to the Marketplace over WiFi, but I have no desire for the cell phone parts and data contract. Pretty much I want an Android 'smart PDA/PMP'. This unit probably is as close as I will ever find, unless I want to purchase an unlocked and uncontracted cell phone.
@GreatSunJester I think you're looking for the Creative Zii, good sir. It'll have an Android option, if I'm not mistaken. I just pray it won't be vapourware.
Jailbroken ipad
@capnbob66
When Steve Jobs was at Next, it bombed and everyone knew he was just a flashy failure. Overpriced kit that looked good but performed with difficulty and in the end was too precious for people to stomach.
Only at Apple, with access to an established brand and oodles of spending money to spam the airwaves did he manage to shift some real high volume kit again. And even that's not certain given his ability to wring defeat from the jaws of victory: remember the Cube, or the Lampshade iMacs? Or the continuing miserable failure of AppleTV? Practically every ad break now has at least one Apple advert convincing sheeple hipsters that the newest Apple gear will transform their lives and get them laid. EVer get the feeling you're being had?
Without the backup of a brand and cash, Jobs is overrated.
Ahem, a VGA camera?
Why would anybody want that when everybody always carries a phone with an equal or better camera?
@GGG because some people still have today's phones that have a camera with no video shooting option.(That would be me, along with a LOT of people I know.)
@JamesR That's his style, you know? If the future, if you see a post by him, just downrank, and be done.