Archos 7 Home Tablet now shipping, days ahead of schedule
By Sean Hollister 
posted May 25th 2010 1:51AM
posted May 25th 2010 1:51AM
posted May 25th 2010 1:51AM
Archos 7 Home Tablet
Google Android 4.0
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Meh
@enaybee
its just paving ground for the Dell Mini 5i that'll Android up the place
@enaybee "Meh" sums up my feelings quite nicely.
+1
@Zylam when will the dell mini5 pop out? don-t want to travel to shenzen to get one ...
@enaybee Yea, this thing fails as an Android tablet. Got it a few days ago. For ebooks, movies and audio, or browsing web (sans flash) it's okay, but not much more. I was able to shove the youtube app into it, but without the real android market, it's pretty pathetic software-wise. Archos did it wrong. Also no device driver so I can't hook it up to adb for development.
Resistive Touchscreen?
This is 2010 people
@AlienSix Exactly. The market window for resistive touch screens is over. Any company that doesn't get that is going to fail.
@AlienSix what is your problem with resistive touchscreen? Resistive ones are actually a lot more accurate than capacitive ones. The reason why most devices with resistive screens sucked is that their UI's were composed of too small elements and relied too much on the accuaracy of the screen.
@AlienSix
7" screen?
This is 2010 people. Should be at least 42".
@stoffer
come back and tell us that after you have a chance to use this thing. I thought that at one point too until I used the Archos 5. Couple the resistive screen with laggy processor and it's an ugly combination.
@stoffer That is incorrect. Resistive screens are not more accurate than capacitive screens. I've tested both and it isn't even close.
@AlienSix : I realize that you are from another planet, but capacitive would make it more expensive. think of the children!
...but its still a fail compared to the dell looking glass or streak. :)
@One Love
yes - capacative would be more expensive.
but the archos resistive screens are pure failure, no matter how cheap they are. go use one for 10 minutes and it will feel like an eternity with all the screen issues you'll experience.
@McBeese resistive touch screens still have plenty of uses, you cant use a stylus on a cap touch screen, unless its one of the few special styli designed for touch screens. Have you seen them? they are blunt and somewhere between a wooden pencil and fine tipped sharpie in thickness, with no tapered point for accuracy. compared to just a plain inexpensive plastic fine tipped stylus that resistive screens have had for more than a decade. The styli that have been used with cap screens are no where near accurate compared to their resistive counterparts, ie you cant really hand write with one unless your writing 1" high letters like a kindergardener.
Both touchscreens have their purposes, cap is good for finger only input, resistive is good for finger and stylus input. i believe resistive screens can also be made pressure sensitive by sensing how much of the resistive layer sandwich has been mashed together, all a cap screen does is track the capacitive charge of your finger, so there's no way to tell how hard you are pushing on it, either with finger or stylus
I'll get this once it runs 2.0+. I'll just wait till xda devs get that working.
@spy323
the archos community sites are a far better place to lurk for such a thing. xda is ostensibly phone-centric.
@spy323 XDA is also HTC-specific
Such a great concept, just a few nickles and dimes short of an awesome product.
Why wouldni want to has one One of these things c3b05cd6 oringsn jellyirings getnyour jellyringsnfor freenndont be charged for then.
Archosaurus tablet seems pointless. No one in this forrum is allowed to pretend they are excited about getting one.
Had an Archos 5 a while back, I would never buy another Archos product again. THE WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER.
I'd rather get this 8" Andriod 1.6 tablet for $136.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.39459
@TIMMAH
I'd rather get a ChromeOS tablet.
@gerrrg Or WebOS
@TIMMAH : Beeeeezeeeel!
I was thinking about buying it. Then I read the rest of the post. And then I said pass.
double ehh
Never liked the archos, the touchscreen sucks and it constantly crashed/freezed when I tried to demo it.
Resistive touchscreens can work in products that have resistive multitouch and you want to use a pen. I don't see multitouch or a real need for a pen on this.
Until Google starts putting the marketplace on things that aren't phones Android will always just be a phone OS.
root + froyo!
The saucee is weak on this one.
After my experience with the Archos 9, I'll pass.
Pro: With an SSD drive and the Z515 cpu, the thing flew like a bird and was one of the best devices I've owned so far (and I've owned a lot)
Cons: Stability. The screen turned off on its own despite the power options being set. Didn't play nice with a Runcore SSD.
Meh. Oh well
This is something I kinda want but only if I got one for free. I think a lot of people feel the same.
Meh. This doesn't even get to utilize the Market and all of the apps that come with it since it's not a phone and Google only likes phones. That's kind of a fail on Google's part...
LOL @ engadget's "review" where they don't even mention the audio player or movie player or even Audio quality using headphones on what's supposed to be a multimedia device. Not to mention I'm sure we would all want to hear how Archos's player competes with the stock Android one.
If I had 200 bucks I could just, use, I would purchase this device. Or a Kindle. Tough call, there.
2.2? Seeing how 2.2 improved actual performance of Android, I would not buy any Android device if there's no definite confirmation that the device would get 2.2.
What is the strategy of not shipping the latest version of Android?
@netsql This is the same company that ships W7 'Starter' with the Archos 9. It mystifies me why a company would try to build really good devices and then cripple them with the wrong o/s version.
I like my Archos 5 for the hard drive space. I hate it for pretty much everything else.
"coupled with a sub-par Android 1.5 experience and a resistive touchscreen." - Next please.
I ordered one and it is on its way. It might be an older version of the OS, but it will do what I need it to. If I could add one thing, it would be a GPS, but I will manage for now. It has a resistive touch screen because 7" capacitive touch screens don't exist yet. They will be coming out later this year, but Archos wanted to be a first mover into the 7" Android market and it had to release this trimmed down tablet with the resistive at a low price point. If I were to make a prediction, it would be that Archos plans on releasing a new souped up version of a 7" Android tablet next year. With the works, I bet it would be around $400, which would still be a great price. This will be a nice placeholder until the 7" tablet market gets more defined.
@Diknak I have a 7" resistive touch-screen tablet from one of the name-brand Korean manufacturers and it sucks. The device itself is nice (it feels better in my hands than an iPad) but the resistive touch-screen and Android o/s feel like they're from the 1800s when compared with the iPad.
@McBeese I have no doubt that the resistive touch screen is one of this device's biggest downfalls. Isn't "Korean name-brand" and oxymoron? I don't think you can use one resistive touch screen and claim that every other resistive touch screen will be the same. I have heard some bad things about Archos in the past, but I will see for myself how the device works for me.
This device is not going to compare in any way, shape, or form to the iPad. The iPad is very closed off and all about the user experience to ensure that everyone has a smooth ride. Besides, 7" and 10" tablet markets are completely separate and I just don't think that you can compare any product in the two. I don't think I will ever be in the market for a 10" tablet simply because it is just too bulky and not portable enough for me. In a year or so, I will probably hand this device off to my wife and look for a new one when there are some real nice 7" tablets available.
My main purpose for this device is a media player, ebook reader, and to run some simple apps for traveling, which is why it is a great value for the price.
I like my laptop
Is that box design from the 90's? This is 2010, ffs.
add 3G, and we are talking...
As a tablet computer, yes it sucks, but as an alternative to a portable DVD player for the kids, this looks pretty tempting. Since it's solid state it should last much longer than those terrible portable DVD players.
Well mine came yesterday (the 25th) and so far I like it. They have there own version of the market but you can connect to your PC via USB and put any Android app on it you want. I put a couple I use on a regular basis on my G1 phone on to it and they work fine. Like that I can use either my finger or a stylus on it.