The Archos 7 Home tablet is a cheap tablet PC option
So far in our series of iPad tablet PC alternatives we’ve picked out tablet PCs that have a point of difference. We’ve had the Archos 9 as it’s actually available to buy now, we’ve had the HP TM2t and Lenovo Smartbook as hybrid-tablet-netbooks, the ICD Gemini for it’s all round stunning spec, the Notion Ink Adam for it’s unique Pixel QI screen and last week, the ICD Vega for it’s huge screen. Today on the whattabletpc.com iPad Alternative series we move on to the Archos 7 Home Tablet. The differentiating elements here compared with other tablets are that it’s actually already out and on-sale, it’s our first 7-inch tablet device plus it’s a very competitively priced device starting at $199 in the US and £129 in the UK.
What is the Archos 7 Home Tablet PC?
The Archos 7 Home Tablet PC is designed to be a new-device between a desktop PC and smartphone. It’s actually been around for a while but recently given an upgrade.
At 7-inches (as the name suggests) measured diagonally and 13.7 ounces (0.64kg) it’s a pretty mobile device whilst still having a fair heft to it. The idea is it’s an always-on web surfing device, running the Google Android 1.5 operating system. It’s customisable using Android apps and provides multi-media capabilities. Android 1.5 is an older version of this operating system so although Android has evolved substantially since then, you’re stuck with this version.
The device is apparently compatible with Windows XP and above, Mac OS or Linux in mass storage mode – we haven’t tried it but you’d have to technically minded to attempt to get one of these operating systems on here. We would also expect that putting a full sized operating system on this would severely hamper performance.
Two of the biggest selling points of this mobile device are it’s ability to play video & music (more on that later) and the battery life that Archos claim gives up to 7 hours of video playback and 42 hours of music playback -pretty good for a device at this price. You can also buy a replacement battery that can be charged and swap in if you’re on the move.
Who are Archos?
Archos are a French based company who have focussed on slate-like devices for a number of years. Unlike many of the companies who have been talking-up their tablet PCs, Archos have actually launched products such as the Archos 9 PC Tablet (reviewed here on whattabletpc.com a few months ago) and the Archos 5 Tablet PC.
What’s the Archos 7 Home Tablet PC design and screen like?
Design-wise it lives up to the price tag so a little plasticy but it’s still sturdy. It sits comfortably in your hands and is light enough to hold in one hand and tap with the other – although not for extended periods. There’s also a kickstand to prop it up – something that’s useful on any tablet but missing on most.
Size-wise, we’re looking at 4.2-inches by 8 inches and half an inch thick. It has an 800 by 480 pixel touch screen of the resistive variety which is a pretty decent resolution for this size.
The resistive touch screen means it’s not as responsive as a capacitive touch screen and so you have to prod with a bit more force to get it to react to your gestures. This slows down typing and means you really need to have it flat or being held tightly for it to register your finger taps. It’s also a single-touch screen so there’s no support for things like pinch-to-zoom.
An area where the device falls down is the lack of physical buttons so you have to go through the virtual control bar at the top of the screen to control the volume etc. and this can be fiddly when you’re watching a movie.
One last point here with the screen is that there is no accelerometer so the screen won’t orientate itself to portrait if you hold it in that manner. Unless the app is designed to default to portrait mode – you’re stuck with landscape.
What are the key features of the Archos 7 Home Tablet PC?
The Archos 7 Home tablet PC utilises a 600MHz ARM 9 processor with 128 MB of RAM. It’s not the fastest but is fine and you’re looking at 4-5 seconds for an app to load. Android supports running multiple applications at once but the device isn’t really up to this and it leads to a sluggish performance if attempted.
The basic Archos 7 Home model comes with 2GB Flash Memory but can be extended to 8GB if you upgrade to the high-end version. Add to that, there’s a micro SDHC slot so you can add additional memory too – you may decide it’s actually better to buy the cheaper version and upgrade with a micro SDHC card (8GB cards are only around £10). You can actually take this memory up to 32GB via this slot though if you want to.
Other spec features as follows…
- 160GB Hard Drive – this is a pretty chunky hard drive to store plenty of movies and music. You can also upgrade to the 320GB version.
- Mini USB connection – You can use this port to connect a mouse or keyboard to enhance the control you have over the device when surfing or writing email. This port is also used if you want to attach a memory stick and pull files on or off the device using that.
- 2 build-in stereo speakers – these are a bit tinny but loud enough and not bad for this kind of price range.
- 3.5mm headphone jack.
- Microphone – just a single one so comparable to the iPad but not dual mics like the ICD Gemini or ICD Vega that pick up ambient noise
- Headphones – basic headphones are included in the price (the iPad doesn’t include any). The included headphones are ok but if you really want to enjoy films/music you’re going to need to get some better quality ones.
How do I browse the internet on the Archos 7 Home Tablet PC?
Pre-installed Browser – the web browser included is pretty robust and feature-strong. This means you can comfortably surf the web in full width although there isn’t any pinch-to-zoom functionality meaning you have to tap the virtual-controls at the top of the device to zoom in and out. Clearly this isn’t as intuitive as an iPad-like interface but it supports multiple pages and bookmarking.
The drawback of the resistive touch screen compared with an iPad capacitive version is that the screen isn’t really sensitive enough for comfortable web browsing. It’s just a bit more of a slog to type, making sure you press hard enough and finding your way round. You can use a pen rather than fingers to get a bit more accuracy on the standard Android virtual keyboard and the size of the display means you’re not going to have too many issues with mis-keying. One niggle is that it’s relatively easy to activate a link you weren’t intending to as you scroll on the screen. In summary, you can get away with these issues if you’re surfing the web (particularly if you largely visit the same sites) but typing email will get frustrating.
Wi-Fi – support for Wi-Fi means you can connect to the internet providing you have access to a Wi-Fi network. 3G connectivity to a cellular network is not possible so you would require a mobile Wi-Fi device such as a “Mi-Fi” plus contract with a cellular provider if you want to use the device out of range of a Wi-Fi network.
What about watching video on the Archos 7 Home Tablet PC?
High Resolution Screen – At 800 x 480 pixels on a 7-inch screen, the Archos 7 is designed to be strong in the multi-media department. The LCD display produces a very good picture. High Definition movies at 720p resolution are possible and the device supports a variety of video formats including H.264 and MPEG-4. It’s therefore capable of playing a video file with the .avi, .mp4, .mkv, .mov and .flv extensions. You can also access online content via a “Media Club”.
A downside of the resistive screen here is that in certain lighting it can give a fair amount reflection that distracts from what you’re watching. Narrow viewing angles also mean you have to position it right to view what’s playing – not really ideal if more than one person is trying to look at the screen.
The Archos 7 has a video-out port and it’s also possible to record TV on this device if you hook it up to your TV and cable/signal. You’ll need to purchase the DVR station to do this. The Archos 7 will also stream content from your PC plus deal with web TV/Radio as you’d expect from any internet connected device. Bear in mind though you need a pretty decent connection to do this.
Flash – the device will support Adobe Flash 9 so not the latest Flash video. Unfortunately, looking at general user reviews, this can be a bit hit-and-miss with some Flash videos working and a lot not. There isn’t a stand-alone YouTube player to help with this either. The message here if you’re thinking of buying this tablet is don’t rely on it playing Flash content.
What are the other features of the Archos 7 Home Tablet PC?
Pre-installed on the Archos 7 you get the following applications:
- Email and chat applications – for staying in touch with friends and family
- Photo viewer – so you can upload your photos and flick through them – it’s a little slow with high-res images but does the job
- Music player - that works fine for playing MP3s
- Deezer – music streaming service
- eBuddy – a universal instant messaging app
- Daily Paper – browse online newspapers directly
- Aldiko – ebook application – The Archos 7 has decent e-reader capabilities. This app allows you to switch from day to night settings (white text on black background), page swipes are pretty quick and this is one of the apps that defaults to portrait orientation thankfully. It supports EPUB format but not the DRM versions so you’re not going to be able to use anything that is DRM protected on this device. The LCD screen can be more taxing on the eyes than a traditional e-book reader that uses an e-Ink screen.
Android Apps – are possible via the Android application framework and you can access around 1000 apps via the AppsLib store. You can also configure widgets on the home screen giving you quick access to your favourite breaking news, sports, information, weather and local business directories as you want them. There are considerable moans that although the base unit is inexpensive, the apps can be pretty pricey. Ultimately this is probably a reason Archos have managed to get the price as low as they have as there’s a very good chance that customers will buy in to these apps and boast the income.
A point to note here is that as this is running Android 1.5, you don’t get access to the Android Market which is disappointing to not have access to the 50,000 apps there too. Although the apps in the AppsLib are apparently tried and optimised for the Archos, some reviews suggest they can be a bit buggy and AppsLib can be slow when you’re downloading apps to the device. There are also a lot of our favourite apps missing such as Facebook. You can get a lot of apps from other individual websites but you’ll need to go hunting for them and there’s no guarantee of quality if you pick something that’s less well known.
How much will an Archos 7 Home Tablet PC cost?
Prices start at $199 in the US, £129 in the UK and €149 in Europe.
When will the Archos 7 Home Tablet be released?
It will be shipping from Archos next in July, you can get hold of the older versions from various retailers including Amazon.
Conclusion – The Archos 7 Home is a cheap tablet PC alternative
The Archos 7 is a cheap tablet PC, clearly the user interface is going to be no-where near as snappy as the iPad and hardware specs not comparable to the wave of tablet PCs about to hit the market in the coming months. The Archos 7 is a decent portable media player, flexible enough to allow you to read emails and ebooks and light web surfing. If you’re primarily looking for a device that requires more keyboard input then you could well get frustrated quickly. The older version of Android means you miss out on the latest developments in the Android evolution which is a bit frustrating when you see what everyone else is getting.
However, you get what you pay for and at this price, and that’s not a bad deal. You need to account for the added cost of plug-ins which allow you flexibility to enhance the software. Currently the Archos 7 Home tablet is the only real option in this price range if you want a tablet PC, the alternatives are an iPod Touch, Sony Dash or a dedicated e-reader such as the Amazon Kindle. There will be more tablet PCs coming soon though but if you can’t wait then the Archos 7 Home tablet will do a job.
Image Source: Archos
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