Archos 70 - 8 GB Internet Tablet (Black) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've wanted a tablet for a while now but the price of what was out there discouraged me from buying anything. I bought this tablet as a Christmas gift to my wife but I had to test it out for a couple of weeks to make sure it worked and that it was worth the money to keep it. If you want to get right to the Pros & Cons see below. Bottom line I still think the device is pretty descent overall but there are three large issues for me. 1. Bluetooth tethering does not work at all & Archos doesn't want to do anything to help me trouble-shoot. I will say that most of the time my wife is likely to have wi-fi whereever she would whip this out but that's besides the point 2. Dispite 8GB of internal storage the device only allows 256MB for app installation. this is still a problem even when developers allow their apps to be installed on SD and only a few apps have this feature enabled, and 3. finally I think the tech support is really really sub-par.
I've work in IT for 13 years and I've supported enterprise applications from Microsoft and RIM BlackBerry and everything in between, and I've spoken to tech support for companies of all sizes and Archos is one of the worse I've ever "tried" to get support from. At least they do reply to my tech support tickets but what good is that if they don't try to resolve your problems or they give you this simple one sentence responses like they only know a few English words. Honestly if it wasn't for the affordable price-point I would not recommend this tablet. Out of all of the more affordable Android tablets available now, this is probably the best out there. I think if you are a tech saavy person, then this could definitely be the tablet for you. if you are a regular user and don't have a lot of experience with side-loading apps, and doing tweaks outside of the normal support channel then you probably need to buy an iPad or the Samsung Galaxy Tab since they are more polished and have more User-friendly Interfaces.
Pros
- perfect price-point for the spec's your getting for this Android tablet. Since the iPad is way too expensive and the Samsung Galaxy Tab is over-priced, even though its better than the iPad, this price-point is perfect for most working people. Seriously, who can justify buying a $500-$900 tablet and then pay a monthly data plan on top of that for another 2 years???
- bluetooth tethering (if it worked - see cons), capacitive touch screen, est 7-8 hours of battery life (6 hours in real-world usage), 1GHz CPU
- Android 2.2 Froyo update is now available and with that comes all of the pros of the Android OS, which is complete customizability, really fast browser with flash, gmail apps (gmail, browser, etc)
- Full flash 10.1 support for web
- Very Thing & light (thinner & ligther than the iPad & the Samsung Galaxy Tab)
- supports all major video & audio formats
- great accelerometer
- microSD expansion up 32GB
- has stock Android so there are no proprietary skins that unecessarily delay deploying new Android updates when they become available.
- front-facing camera for video chat (full disclosure, I have not gotten the video chat feature to work. I have been able to connect up with a video call but the video was not coming through. I still need to trouble-shoot that. I tried it with OovoO video client not the built in Fring because I never got Fring working).
- user community support forums (archosfans.com) is the best thing out there for support. XDA developers site has a lot of stuff going on for these gen8 Archos tablets. Tech support has not proven to be fruitful at all.
Cons
- tech support has not proven to be good at all. In fact I've been getting these one sentence responses from tech support with no real attempt to address or fix my concerns. Their support is sub-standard in my opinion and I wonder if their support people actually understand English as they have very simple and single sentence repsonses to my questions.
- BLUETOOTH TETHERING DOES NOT WORK. Despite what they state in their tech spec's bluetooth tether does not work with BlackBerry phones (BB Bold 9700) or any phones that I can determine from reading the support forums. I think some users have hacked their phones to get it to work but with no support from their tech support. When I emailed their tech support to provide me a list of compatible cell phones they they have successfully tested bluetooth tethering with, they told me,"we don't provide any compatibility lists because bluetooth tethering involves 3rd party hardware" I thought he was joking. So does wi-fi connections but it still works when I turn it on without a problem. I'm very upset about that because one of the main reasons I bought the phone is because my wife would be able to extend Internet to the device whle she's out and about."
- 802.11n doesn't work. Even after this latest firmware release for their Gen 8 tablets, 802.11n does not work. My tablet only connects a 54Mbps which is 802.11g speeds. The fact that they advertise 802.11n for their device pisses me off because it doesn't connect at 802.11n speeds at all. It's false advertising and they should be forced to take 802.11n off their spec's page if they can't get it to work.
- No Full Android Market built-in. I knew this upfront before I bought mine so I was aware of this and this was not a problem to me. Archos has put their own android market on the device and supposedly it's the largest 3rd-party Android markets out there with 10K+ apps but even that's BS. There is an easy hack to put the full Android Market on the device.
- Device has some instability issues but it seems like the more I use it the more stable it becomes. I don't know what that's about. I definitely think that will a couple more firmware updates Archos can work out the kinks and the larger bugs in the software-hardware integration. Also the more you use Android & understand the nuiances of the OS, you'll experience problems less & less.
- Dispite 8GB of internal storage the device only allocates 256MB for applications. This is apparently a Google Android limitation but since Archos is the OEM, they should have allocated more memory to application installs. It makes no sense that I have this device and I'm getting low space status msgs when I have 6GB+ of available internal storage and 4GB of available space of microSDHC storage. This is big issue to me because this is no better than my Moto Cliq phone I use. I hope that Archos will see how many users are complaining about this and fix this witha furture firmware update. You can get around this a "little" by moving those applications that support it to SD or internal memory.

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Redefine the way you browse the web and enjoy HD multimedia with an ARCHOS 70 internet tablet. With the latest version of Android, enjoy fast web surfing and all your favorite applications, including games with 3D graphic acceleration, all your favorite media, an eBook viewer, and more. All the functions of a computer: your apps, the Internet, video chat, your photos, music and videos actually fit inside your bag or your briefcase.

Best ARCHOS Design Yet
Slim and LightThe ARCHOS 70 internet tablet is just .43 inch thick, and weighs 11 ounces (the 250GB hard drive model isn't much bigger). It's easy to fit in your handbag or your briefcase.

Leg StandYou can comfortably enjoy your movies or TV shows using the leg stand to prop up the player on your lap or table.

High-Resolution ScreenThe wide seven-inch touchscreen, combined with a g-sensor for automatically switching landscape and portrait views, lets you experience fantastic viewing quality. The 800 x 480 pixel high-resolution display is plenty sharp, for enjoying the details. In addition to the HD resolution, the 16:9 aspect ratio is great for widescreen format video.

Connections, Connections
AndroidAndroid is the application framework developed by Google for connected mobile devices, coming with a full pack of connected apps, such as a web browser and email application. The five home screens of the Android user interface allow advanced personalization: icons can be placed, moved, or erased with just a flick of a finger. Thanks to the home screen widgets, users can instantly access their favorite applications.

Android on TVBasically, this is what you see on your product screen, but ten times bigger. With its TV output, the ARCHOS 70 internet tablet displays every Android sceen on your wide screen TV. You can then browse your files or surf the Internet from your couch, not to mention enjoying some immersive 3D games.

TetheringWant to be connected anywhere? Grab your mobile phone equipped with a data connection and Bluetooth technology, pair it up to your ARCHOS 70 internet tablet via Bluetooth (or even USB cable), and enjoy easy access to the Internet on your device anytime and anywhere. No need to pay an extra fee when you already have a data service plan. (Note: may not be authorized by your mobile phone operator or may require a special data plan option. Please refer to your contract.)

Serious Multimedia
Unique Android Multimedia ApplicationsOn top of Android's standard offerings, ARCHOS offers its own exclusive applications for music, video, and photos. Get smooth browsing through your album covers and widgets on the home screen to give instant access to your media. Make your own music playlists, browse your songs and music by favorites, or by files recently played or added.

ARCHOS also makes your life easier by supporting audio and video formats beyond the standards supported by Android. It can even display subtitles and alternate audio tracks, all you have to do is drag, drop, and play.

Other ARCHOS offerings include an internet-connected Photo application with 3D transitions, and the ability to sync your pictures with your Facebook, Picasa or Flickr accounts.

Portable HD Video PlaybackThe ARCHOS 70 internet tablet has a monster seven-inch touchscreen, for movies and TV shows in HD quality.

Share Your PicturesOpen the new Gallery application and show your latest vacation to your friends, or even share them via a wireless network.

A PC in Your Pocket
Real WebConnect the ARCHOS 70 internet tablet to your Wi-Fi network and you will be able to do just about everything that you do on your home PC, wherever you are. You will be able to surf the full web, not a scaled-down mobile version of the Internet thanks to Flash 10 support, which let you access to all your favorite websites.

Display web pages quickly and at full 800 x 480 pixels with a high-speed processor running at 1 GHz. The browsing experience is made even more intuitive with the Android browser. Tap a part of the text that you're interested in and the display will be automatically resized to the paragraph you want to read.

You can also easily check your emails with the Android email client, which gives you the ability to manage all your email accounts (Gmail, Yahoo!, etc).

3D Graphics AcceleratorThe ARCHOS 70 internet tablet feature a graphics accelerator (3D OpenGL ES 2.0) to exploit Android 3D capabilities such as 3D games, animated interface with live wallpapers and transitions effects. You will be also able to enjoy the Android interface on your TV screen via the HDMI output. Discover a new way to play games on TV, as your device becomes your gamepad.

Google SearchAll your searches are done in a simple tap on the Google search bar, which can be placed anywhere on one of the five screens of the Android interface.

Apps Galore
AppsLibJust tap the Appslib icon on the home screen of the ARCHOS 70 internet tablet to immediately discover a large choice of Android apps to download for the widest variety of needs you might have.

ApplicationWant to check the weather, the latest news, your social network account or read ebooks? Simply select the app and it will be available in a couple of seconds.

GamesAdditionally, this product has a superfast CPU with OpenGL 3D graphic acceleration and a g-sensor to offer you excellent performance for playing the latest 3D games found on the Appslib.

What's in the Box
ARCHOS 70 Internet Tablet (8GB), Earphones, USB Cable, Power Adapter, Quick Start Guide, Legal and Safety Notice

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