Customer Reviews

Archos 28 4 GB Internet Tablet (Black)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

Even though this is the smallest one in the food chain at 2.8 inches for the screen, it does not dissapoint. VERY good resistive screen and android is cool!

if u need more answers about how this works comment on my review and ill comment back.

NOTE: do not buy this thing for more than 105 bucks... some sellers here are selling it for 115...insane price!! i got mine for 98 bucks w/ free shipping.

I bought this from Tiger Direct through Amazon. It came quickly and worked fine right out of the box. Comes with cable to charge/program from your computer and small earphones without a headband.

It comes with Android 2.1, but an upgrade to Android 2.2 is available. I had a little trouble downloading the upgrade, seems like the Archos servers are very busy in the evening. I tried again in the morning, early, and it worked first try.

Very nice little MP3 player, very light, fits easily in my pocket. Music sounds good. Easy to load music from the PC, just copy it over like it was a flash drive. Earphones are pretty lame, a $5 pair of Panasonic phones with a headband work fine though.

As a portable computer it is really a little too small. Quarter VGA screen. Touchscreen works but not as well as other devices. Screen is too small so you need something smaller than your finger to type with. A ballpoint pen cap seems to work well in the on-screen keyboard.

App Store is not the Google store but an Archos store. Wants you to sign up with PayPal for paid apps, but when I tried to do that the link was busted. Free apps are fun. I saw postings that said how to install the Google app store but have not tried it.

WiFi range is a tad short. Works throughout the upstairs of my house (access point is upstairs on one end of the house) but does not work well downstairs in the family room. Probably too much metal heating duct, etc, in the way but that never bothered laptop computers.

Overall, a nice little toy for listening to music and playing with Android.

This product (Archos 28 internet tablet) would be great except for one little problem: It constantly (every 1 to 10 minutes)drops its wifi link. That takes all the fun out of streaming audio. It drops on my home network about 10 feet from the router. Not only that but, my laptop usually sees 5 to 6 wifi connections from my home. The Archos in the same location sees only one. I did get the Archos to connect at a couple of public hot spots but it soon locked up on one and dropped the link on the other.

It does make a nice pocket photo viewer or mp3 player (if you USB those in from your PC) and the screen is surprisingly responsive.

It will also run Android apps but that brings up another problem or series of problems with the 28 - being how to load applications. It doesn't have access to the Google market (unless you use an unofficial hack). The Archos came with a 3rd party marketplace that is not bad but you may want to use other sources as well. You are not limited to using a market and many app programmers make their software available for download on their own sites. Many of those offer to install either by send to mobile or by scan the bar code method. Since the 28 does not have G3 - you can't use the send to mobile. It also does not have a camera so, you can't scan the bar code.

Overall, this product has a lot of potential but just isn't quite there yet. I wanted it for something convenient to stream audio around my home and to do some light web surfing when I travel. The unreliable wifi will prevent me from using it for either.

I also think Archos is over promoting this product. From looking at their product info you would expect it to do everything a computer does. You would spend a long time sorting through and installing apps before you even got close and I just can't see any reasonable person trying to do serious work on a device this small.

If the price (around $100) isn't much to you and you want a sexy looking mp3 player, you might appreciate this product. If you want an ipad or notebook, buy one of those instead.

Edited: Thanks to Lakers "FE" telling me how to install the Android App Marketplace (simple few steps), I am now changing my rating from 4 stars to 5 stars.

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I've had this a week and like it a great deal as a media player, but you should be aware that it does not allow connection to the Android App Marketplace and many Android software apps will not work on it (I suppose due to it not having speakers, GPS, and other phone functions). Still, you can download many apps from the Archos marketplace - most free - and it works great as a media player. I like using it for Internet-based talk radio. I connect to listen to Jim Rome, ESPN, NPR, and other sources using one of the apps and it never drops my feed as I walk around the house and office. I'm a little disappointed that it won't allow access to the Android App Marketplace, so I can't give it 5 stars, but it is a solid 4-star item.

I bought this primarily so I could send e-mails from wifi hot spots while on vacation and I wanted an MP3 player. I did not want to spend a lot because I will buy something bigger and better later on. I do not care about applications.

The battery life is pretty good.

The MP3 player is great.

The wifi works good.

But my main problem is navigating; during scrolling I usually "select" something without wanting to. Also, when typing an e-mail I often get the wrong letter, even when using a sharpened wooden dowel.

So, my only problem is the touch screen. I have improved, but still have constant problem "selecting" while trying to "scroll".

But I am glad I bought it. It just takes me longer to get the job done.

I despise Apple products and am a huge Android fan. My oldest daughter got one of these for Christmas. About a week into it, it just wouldn't turn on. Called Archos and told them it wouldn't turn on and he apologized, sent me a paid packing slip and an RMA and I sent it back in. Two weeks later a new one arrived and it is working just fine.

Kudos for their customer service.

It is a nice mp3 player with games and email and Facebook and she is very happy with it.

If she wants me to it is child's play to root it and add the Google apps store.

I have found the forum at archosfans.com to be of great help.

The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of the A28 is that it REALLY REALLY lacks some RAM to work as a tablet. Basic functions like playing mp3 and looking at the calendar / contacts work smoothly. However, when you expect it to do more - surf the web seamlessly or watch a simple video it is either barely able to keep up or it simply hangs.

The screen could do with better resolution. Such a tiny screen with such poor resolution makes web surfing a pain.

However, for $99 it is still excellent value.

Like I said, think of it as an mp3 player that can also (just barely) work as a make-shift tablet

Pros:

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Unbeatable value

Touch-screen

Android 2.2 with (hackable) Android market

No complaints about mp3 / video playback quality

Cons:

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Simple multitasking or eve single apps like web surfing can cause this to hang easily

Feels like buying a product that is second best.

--EDIT--

After looking into ebay for a few minutes I have realized that I could have picked up a lightly used 2nd generation Ipod touch for $120 or a 3rd generation Ipod touch for $160. If I could go back in time, I would have simply picked up the former instead of this Archos 28.

I desperately wanted to like the Archos 28 as I I purchased it in hopes of it being a slightly inferior version of an iPod Touch (for half the price). Instead, it's vastly inferior, so much so that it'll likely go in a drawer to never see the light of day again after just one hour of use. Warnings like "Server error, please check your connection." and "The application Music has stopped unexpectedly. Please try again." appear more often than not. The screen leaves a lot to be desired, and there is no speaker at all without headphones plugged in. I don't like Apple's walled garden approach, but the Archos 28 isn't the device to threaten Apple's dominance.

I Woul have to give this little thing two thumbs up. It doesn't necessarily become yours until all your favorite apps are installed. It hasn't frozen on me(had it for atleast a month now). The only problem would have to be battery life.

I just got mine and it does what I expected from it. For under 100 dollars I did not expect as much functionality as I have gotten. It allows me to access email, Facebook and the Radio Time streaming internet radio station database through the TunedInRadio application. I have seen a lot of people complain about the device's ability to access the internet through the browser, but I have found that if I use websites designed for smaller devices "Wapedia instead of Wikipedia" the device is very useful.