Archos 7 8GB Home Tablet with Android (Black)

So, I have used Archos products for the last 8 years, I used some of their first hard drive based MP3 players and later the PMA-400, which in 2006 had wifi, audio, video, etc. I've never been very impressed with their operating systems on their media players, so I was excited when I saw they decided to go with Android 1.5.Android 1.5 seems to work very well on this system, at least relative to their prior OS. It's not as fast or as smooth or perhaps as stable as an iPad's OS, but in my opinion it's a small sacrifice to save $300+ (to upgrade to an iPad). One of the best features of this device is its use as a book reader. Literally within 15 minutes, I had downloaded an .EPUB file from Barnes and Noble's website to my desktop and then copied to the Archos mounted on my PC. The preinstalled book application, Alkido, was able to easily import the file and within minutes I was reading. HOWEVER, the only .EPUB files you can view through any Android based ebook readers are ones without DRM (digital rights management). The samples from B&N do not include DRM. The actual books when purchased, however, do. This means you CANNOT USE THIS TABLET CURRENTLY TO READ ANY .EPUB BOOKS DOWNLOADED FROM SITES LIKE BARNES AND NOBLES. There are thousands on non-DRM books available for free which are easily accessed within the Alkido application, however, and this is enough for me.The screen size on the Archos is just about perfect. The iPad is too big, the iPod/iPhone too small, this is just right for videos, web surfing, and certain book reading. Speaking of web surfing, the interface is a little awkward at first, but you get used to it. It's also maybe a tad slow surfing the web, though the appslib and slideme android application browers run fine.The video and audio playback seem to work well too, though I haven't tested any 720p media. The one final thing I want to mention here is the touch screen -- it's not close to the quality of the iPad, which I have used fairly extensively. It's crucial to carefully calibrate it at startup or you may have typing issues.

The Archos 7 Home Tablet is a decent surfing device if you're looking for something with a larger screen but don't want to spend a lot of money. I have an iPod Touch and was looking for something larger for surfing. This device is by no means an iPad and I knew that going in. You are able to multi task such as streaming Pandora or iHeartRadio while surfing the web. I use the Touch for some games (which I haven't played on this) and apps, but found myself more often than not wanting a gadget for surfing the internet that had a larger screen. This device is also an excellent e-book reader and has an app where you can download a TON of free books!You can play Youtube videos if you install Skyfire. The video quality is excellent and speakers sound good. The app library is not the full Android Marketplace and it would be nice if it were able to access it. You can find apps around if you're patient and don't mind messing around a bit. I upgraded the firmware to a newer version first thing (it will erase any apps you had that didn't come with it so do it if necessary right away before downloading too many apps.)I wanted to experience Android and for once get in as an early adopter of a tablet rather than waiting. The resistive touch screen interface can be tricky but you get used to it and can swipe, just not flick like the i devices can do. If you buy it (and for the price if that's what you're willing to spend I say do it) just give yourself a few days with it before deciding if it's for you or not. Engadget said you get what you pay for and I tend to agree with that statement. I was willing to spend what this gadget cost and I'm good with it feeling comfortable that I have a nice surfing and media device with a larger screen.

1. Touch Screen ***This is a touch screen ONLY device, the only hardware button is the power button. The touchscreen does however have good response for a restive (sp) screen. It is perfect for page turnswipes and taps. Initial configuration is a little finicky though, it took two tries to get calibrated.2. Storage ****Ok, so this is an 8gb device, but you can only read ebooks off of Android sd card, which makes no sense to me. However sd cards are dirt cheap nowadays, so that was not a huge problem. Not to mention that the 8gb can be used to store mp3s to listen to while reading...3. Battery Life ***** (outstanding!)(Wifi On and searching, but not connecting) The archos website touts 7 hours video and 44 hours music, I get about 6 hours video, but only 15 hours while just reading, so nowhere near eink, but a lot better than most other color screen devices. On the downside, the unit will NOT charge via usb, you must use the included multinational charger. Charge time is just over one hour.(Wifi on and connected) When the wifi is connected to my home network, this device gets about 30 hours battery life for ereading - still about the same 6 hours for video though; I have not tested this device with wifi turned off yet.4. E-reader ****The device comes preinstalled wit Alkido which is an excellent ereader, though figuring out how to transfer. ebooks. may take a little getting used to. There ae great brightness settingsas well as nighttime color schemes for easy reading weather in bed or outside.5. Video & Music ***** (outstanding!)This is really where archose shines, The multimedia functions of this device are outstanding -- not to mention as i stated before, 6 hours of battery life for video - this is perfect for a plane ride, or even to catch up on newsclips on the commute (metro ride!) to work. The speakers are excellent for being such a small device, very nice, crisp and loud - at least for video, slightly better quality than many laptops i have used. For music I would reccomend headphones.6. Operating System **This device uses android 1.5 - and not the full version, the app store is not included, though a bastardized version run by archose is, what this means is that 90% of android apps will NOT install automatically, including Opera and Skyfire. There are a few websites around that offer alternatives to android market of which about 75% of the apps that i have tried on the alternative sites will work. Even in the archose supported Apps Lib, there are still some (mostly games) that will not run correctly on this device. There are some major memory issues with the operating system - it is ESSENTIAL that some sort of memory management app is installed such as "kill" which will allow running apps to be stopped on the fly as there is no native way to end a program that is running. There are also some programs that will store (temporary?) data in the app space of the archos which is only about 20 megs to begin with, such as the app "funny joke" (installable from apps lib) which after a while will have built up a 6+ megs cache which makes the unit incredably slow (the ereader will crash due to not enough memory at this point) untill the user enters the settings screen and deletes the cache for the funny jokes app - which can be a pain, especially when the device is already slow...7. Design ***While this device seems to be designed fairly well, there are two large flaws -- 1.) this unit CANNOT be charged via USB, you MUST use the included wall adapter, and 2.) the headphone jack and the power adapter plug are the same size - i shorted out the headphone jack the day i received the device by plugging the power into the unmarked headphone jack by mistake. It would not have been difficult to include a different sized power jack...8. Durability **After 1 month of using the Archos, it will occasionally die and need to be reset (there is a reset button on the back if you have a pin or needle), not a huge problem, just more annoying than anything else, this seems to happen when the screen will automatically turn off sometimes when the feature is engaged - probably about 10% of the time the screen auto turns off. The power switch will sometimes get activated without touching it, causing the Shutdown screen to display repeatedly untill the device is reset (happened 5 times to me now)Overall, I would rate this product 3 stars -- For a company that built such a good device, there are some fatal flaws that should have been resolved before release such as the shoddy engineering on the durability of the device as well as support for android 2.0 at the very least - if it would cost more money, I would have happily pad an extra $50-100 for a better product.To sum up -- this is a cheaply priced Devuce, if you dont want to spend to much monney, this device is great, but you do get what you pay for!

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Scrivo questa recendsione a distanza di circa 4 anni dall'acquisto di questo prodotto, quindi i tempi rispetto ad allora sono cambiati enormemente. Comunque questo tablet androidi (versione 2.0 non aggiornabile) a fatto a pieno il suo lavoro, che nella fattispecie consisteva nella riproduzione di filmati divx in viaggio. Riesce a leggere quasi tutti i formati divx senza difficoltà e l'audio è di buona qualità, la batteria dura circa 3 h con riproduzione filmati. Per quanto riguarda il resto, c'è suicuramente di molto meglio ad oggi ma sicuramente la ditta Archos non è produce le cinesate da pochi soldi, la qualità costruttiva si vede e anche se non in italano, è disponibile un servizio clienti che risponde veramente con centri assistenza nelle provincie più importanti. Sempre impeccabile il servizio Amazon che questa volta ha sostituito in maniera completamente gratuita l'apparecchio nei primi 15gg per un malfunzionamento delle schermo.

Ich habe mir das Teil nach gründlichen Überlegungen bestellt .Ich war angenehm überrascht , alles funktioniert einwandfrei .DVD`s anschauen , Bilder , Musik , Email`s , alles klappte auf anhieb .Der Screen läßt sich gut bedienen , der Druckpunkt ist optimal .Wenn man den Bildschirm einmal eingestellt hat funktioniert alles wie bei meinem HTC - Hero .Das Betriebssystem ist zwar das alte Android , ist aber völlig ausreichend .Eigendlich ist alles was man braucht zum abspielen verschiedener Datein vorhanden .Ich sehe noch keinen Grund mir etwas herrunterzuladen .Das WLan funktioniert bei mir in der Wohnung in jedem Raum ( Fritz-Box Wlan VDSL )Also : Als Zweitgerät mit Musik und Bildfunktion bestens geeignet .Telefonieren kann man nicht damit , würde aber auch albern aussehen , mit so einem Teil am Ohr :)Überall wo Wlan ist , ist man mobil , ansonsten dient das Teil als perfekter Abspieler .Ich warte jetzt nur noch auf eine bestellte 32 GB SD-Karte für meine DVD`s und Musik .Also keine langeweile mehr :)Für das Geld , ein TOP Gerät .

If you're looking for a tablet for your mp3's and movies (avi's etc) then this will be sufficient! Nice weight and design.But with no flash, youtube or standard Google Play Store avalable (as it'd old 1.0.15 android firmware) it's a no go if that's what you're after like i initially was.The WiFi is also temperamental. internet browsing ok but also struggled to get hotmail and gmail running smoothly.There are some version's of the Archos 7 Home Tablet that are compatable with a custom firmware upgrade that should allow the normal android market & flash (at your own risk as this will void your warranty) but not the version i received (the version i've recieved is 7HTv1 which there is no verified custom firmware or i could not find one) if it's 7HTv2 then it's my understanding that there are verified custom firmware's available.Ultimately it's for my 2-3 year old who likes to watch Jolly Phonics or Peppa Pig via youtube on my Galaxy S but as there's no youtube i've had to put loads of avi's on it for her and she seems quite happy with it but if it was for myself and i wanted to access the normal Google Android market like i do with my smartphone then i would look elsewhere!

Sehr schöne Alternative zum IPAD, leider ist das Gerät noch nicht ausgereift. Ich habe das Gerät erhalten und war zunächst richtig begeistert. Leider war die Freude schnell getrübt, denn nach Installation von 3 Apps aus dem Applibstore, welche auch für den Archos 7 Home Tablet freigegeben sind, konnte ich das Gerät nicht mehr nutzen. Die Kalibrierung schlägt nun immer fehl und man kann auch keine neue Firmware installieren, da man ja auf dem Tochscreen eine Bestätigung machen muss, nur der Screen funktioniert nicht mehr wegen der Kalibrierung. Ich habe das Gerät wieder zurückgeschickt, da auch mit der Hotline von Archos, die wirklich sehr gut ist, kein Ergebnis zu Stande gekomen ist.+ Handhabung+ Akkulaufzeit+ Video Funktion+ Gewicht+ Verarbeitung- Software Version