Amazon.com: Archos 5 32 GB Internet Tablet with Android: Electronics

Amazon.com Product Description

ARCHOS, award-winning for its constant technology innovation, now introduces its new ARCHOS 5 Internet Tablet. This product combines all the multimedia know-how that ARCHOS is famous for, with the Android operating system. It offers you an uncompromised Internet, Media, and TV experience in a customizable interface. In perpetual evolution with the continuous arrival of new applications, you can personalize your ARCHOS 5 Internet Tablet to perfectly reflect your tastes and needs.

All the multimedia know-how that ARCHOS is famous for, plus the ANDROID operating system. Click to enlarge.

HD Multimedia

Brilliant 5-Inch Touchscreen
The ARCHOS 5 features an 800-pixel-wide 5-inch touchscreen, an ultra-thin design, and an accelerometer for portrait or landscape viewing. Whether enjoying media yourself or sharing with friends, it delivers outstanding image quality.

HD Video Formats
Don't compromise--the ARCHOS 5 Internet Tablet is able to handle the widest range of video formats, even at HD 720p resolution (H.264 HD, MPEG-4 HD, and WMV HD5).

Your Music Everywhere
Enjoy more music formats directly on your device (MP3, WMA, WAV, AAC, AAC+, FLAC, and OGG Vorbis). In addition, the unique ARCHOS music browsing system allows you to create your playlists without using a PC. Who needs a tuner? Just plug your ARCHOS 5 into amplified speakers, and you're all set.

Experience Your Photos
Browse through your photos with a simple flick of your finger, or play a slideshow with music and transition effects. The high- resolution screen is great for zooming in on details.

Take It All
The device features a 32 GB Flash drive and a microSD card slot for expanding the player's capacity, so you won't waste time choosing what files to bring along--instead, take your entire media library with you.

Personalize your ARCHOS 5 Internet Tablet with apps to suit your tastes and needs. Click to enlarge.

Find your destination with the on-board GPS. Click to enlarge.

Internet

Fast and Convenient Web Surfing
The ARCHOS 5 lets you easily surf the web. With a Wi-Fi connection (802.11 b/g/n) and the new OMAP3440 processor running at 800 MHz, you get quick and responsive Internet browsing just like on a laptop, without the endless waits for page loads. Enjoy the web in full width thanks to the 800-pixel widescreen, with no need to zoom in or out.

3.5 G Mobile Phone Connection
If you own a standard mobile phone equipped with 3.5 G and Bluetooth technology, simply pair it up to your ARCHOS 5 Internet Tablet via Bluetooth. This will give you easy access to Internet directly on your device anytime and anywhere.

Web TV and Web Radio
In less than three clicks, you can access nearly 1,000 web TV channels, over 10,000 web radio stations, and 100,000 podcasts. There's no downloading wait time. Radio and TV start streaming directly from a worldwide list of traditional and independent radio and TV stations.

Media Club
The Media Club remains the easiest way to get video and music content on the go. With an even richer library that includes new partners and some of the biggest industry names, you'll discover a large library of movies, documentaries, music albums, and games. Buy or rent your entertainment in a couple of clicks, and start watching it on your ARCHOS 5 Internet Tablet.

GPS

Full-Featured GPS
Whether you are walking or driving, you will always find your destination with the on-board GPS. The GPS includes voice assistance, points of interest, fast multiple-route calculations, and car/pedestrian/adventure modes based on the latest maps from Tele Atlas with 3D landmarks.

You can go to your account at anytime on the ARCHOS website and purchase the available maps or cities.

3D Photo-Realistic City Navigation
Find your way around cities in 3D Photo Realistic mode. With multi-angle views and four zoom levels, you'll be able to recognize places as if you had taken your own photos from the sky. This is ideal when walking and visiting large cities in the U.S. (available Q1 2010).

Free 7-Day Trial
Try the GPS for 7 days free of charge.

TV

HD TV-Out with the Optional DVR Station or HDMI Mini Dock
Turn your TV into a real web-connected multimedia platform. Enjoy all the ARCHOS functions on the big screen of your living room. Watch your movies in HD (720p), listen to your music, share your high-resolution pictures, play games, or surf the web.

Record Your Favorite Programs with the Optional DVR Station
With the optional DVR Station, you have the perfect match for your ARCHOS 5 Internet Tablet at home. Record TV shows and movies in one step using the included remote control. Then you can enjoy your recording at home on your widescreen TV, or in the palm of your hand when you are out.

Add the DVR Station to record TV, play video back to your TV, and charge your ARCHOS. Click to enlarge.

Get extended playback and S-video/composite video with the battery dock. Click to enlarge.

Use the DVR Snap-on to record from almost any audio or video analog source when you are on the move. Click to enlarge.

Applications

Ready to Go with Pre-installed Applications

Enjoy a selection of fun and practical applications for daily use right out of the box:

eBuddy IM: For Instant Messaging
The multi-platform instant messaging application. Chat from one place with all your friends on the various platforms. Supports MSN, Yahoo, Gtalk, Facebook, ICQ, MySpace, and AIM (AOL).

DroidIn: For Connecting to LinkedIn
Connect to your LinkedIn account to exchange information, ideas, and opportunities. Stay informed about your contacts and industry. Find the people and knowledge you need to achieve your goals. Control your career online.

Twitroid: For Instant Micro-blogging
Twitroid is the industry-standard Twitter client for the Android platform. Easily access the famous free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables you to send and read tweets and publish short URLs and pictures.

Deezer: For Music Streaming
Enjoy 35 free web radio stations and the SmartRadio directly on your ARCHOS 5 Internet Tablet.

Dailymotion: For Viewing and Sharing Videos
Browse videos by searching tags, channels, or user-created groups.

QuickPedia: For Access to Wikipedia
Access to the free web-based and collaborative encyclopedia.

ThinkFree Mobile: For Viewing Office Documents
This application allows you to view, edit, and create Microsoft Office 97/2000/XP/2003/2007 Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF documents. You will get a free update before year's end, allowing you to also edit and create documents.

E-mail and Contacts
Stay in contact by using the fully integrated e-mail and contacts applications.

Moov: Toggles Easily Between Your Apps
Moov wraps up your search needs all in one place, so you can quickly toggle between the product's contacts, Google, Wikipedia, and the remaining applications on your product.

CraigsPhone: For Access to Online Classified Advertisements
CraigsPhone is a centralized network of online communities, featuring free online classified advertisements--with sections devoted to jobs, housing, personals, items for sale, services, community, gigs, resumes, and discussion forums.

High-Paying Jobs: For Access to a List of Jobs (U.S. and Canada only)
Browse through job lists, and search over 2 million jobs from all the leading job sites.

Add-ons

DVR Station
This accessory allows you to record TV, play video back to your TV, and charge your ARCHOS. Recording your favorite programs has never been so easy. You can also surf the web or stream web video to your TV while comfortably lounging on your couch and using the included remote control as a keyboard and mouse pointer.

DVR Snap-on
Use our DVR Snap-on to record from almost any audio or video analog source when you are on the move.

Mini Dock
Transfer your files directly from USB keys, digital cameras, or other portable media players. Quickly charge your ARCHOS with the included charger/adapter. Play video out to your TV with video output in high-quality S-video or standard quality composite.

HDMI Mini Dock
Optimize TV playback with HDMI output quality. Transfer your files directly from USB keys, digital cameras, or other portable media players from the standard USB port. Quickly charge your ARCHOS with the included charger/adapter.

Battery Dock
Transfer your files directly from USB sticks, digital cameras, or other portable media players. Quickly charge your ARCHOS with the included charger/adapter, and get extended playback with the built-in backup battery. Play video out to your TV with video output in high-quality S-video or standard quality composite.

What's in the Box

ARCHOS 5 Internet Tablet with Android (32 GB), headphones, standard USB cable, DVR station adapter, quick start guide (QSG), and legal and safety notice.

Also Available for this Android Device

	Amazon Appstore for Android Get a great paid app for free every day.		Kindle Buy a book once and read it everywhere with our free Kindle Reading App for Android.		Amazon MP3 Shop 15 million songs and stream your Cloud Drive music directly from your Android device.
	IMDB Find local movie showtimes and TV listings, watch trailers, and search the world's largest source of entertainment information.		Audible Download audiobooks directly to your Android device, then listen wherever you go, get audiobook news, earn badges, and more.		Amazon Mobile Shop for millions of products, get product details, and read reviews--right from your mobile device.

273 Reviews

5 star:		(65)
4 star:		(64)
3 star:		(26)
2 star:		(36)
1 star:		(82)

Average Customer Review

3.0 out of 5 stars (273 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

487 of 516 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 1st Impressions: big and beautiful!, October 17, 2009

Alan "Choklat Luvr" (Sanford, FL, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: ARCHOS 5 4.8-inch 500GB Internet Tablet (Electronics)

I just got my new Android 5 500GB direct from Archos yesterday and its quite a beauty. I'm upgrading from my old Archos 5 250GB, so that will be my primary point of comparison. I also have the following to compare to: iPod Touch 64GB, Archos 605, Walkman X, Samsung P2, and a host of other MP3 players large and small.

Given that my iPod Touch upgrade this year was less than astounding, I pretty much figured that this upgrade for Archos would be similarly understated. Mainly I just wanted the extra hard drive so I could backup all my laptops onto my music player. I was wrong! The new Android version seems to have a whole new feel both in form factor and the new software. I had heard that Archos was having problems with the software, but they seem to have ironed most of them out as of 1.1 firmware release. I did update my firmware immediately, and the process was quite smooth.

I'm going to rate this player on my absolute scale. I will also be making notes on the value of the upgrade from my old Archos 5. Note: I mostly use this as a media center to play music and video; secondarily as a backup drive.

Let's get to it then, these are the things I love about my new Android:

1) 500GB -- totally awesome amount of disk, I can now put just about every digital file I own on the Archos.
2) Android interface -- the overall feel of the software interface has definitively improved with the integration of Android. Effects are crisper, the esthetics are cleaner, things seem to happen faster. I especially like how easy it is to access the most recently played song or video from the main screen, pops up with a little thumbnail that you tap on and voila, resumes right where you left off!
3) Apps -- with Android we now have access to some serious app selection. Of course, nobody compares to the Apple App Store, but this comes the closest.
4) Weight -- this actually feels lighter to me than my 250GB.
5) Dock/DVR -- this popped right into my old 5 DVR and started playing right away. I still think this is the best DVR/Player combination available of all the MP3 players.
6) Video/Hi Def -- of the players I have owned, this has the best, biggest, and highest resolution screen.
7) Portrait/Landscape -- Archos has borrowed the iPhone trick of rotating the display according to orientation. I guess they have an accelerometer in there now, I dunno. Still, its fun to see this feature on an Archos. Its a lot easier to navigate playlists in portrait mode.
8) Easy and regular firmware updates -- with a WiFi connection, the firmware updates are easily performed on the unit itself. That's the easiest system I've seen of all my players. One thing I've learned about Archos over the years, they will put out a steady stream of firmware updates.
9) WMV/MTP mode-- very smooth interface to Windows for either Media Monkey or Windows Media Player.
10) Dedicated volume button -- power and volume buttons have been conveniently located onto the top edge. This is actually much easier to use when it is docked on the DVR (which is where mine spends most of its life!).
11) Sound quality is quite good, sounds great through my Klipsch speakers and seems to have more oomph than my other players.
12) WiFi/Browser -- has a good browser and WiFi connection has worked well for me. I think the keyboard is better than the Touch's, although Safari is probably the slightly superior browser. The bigger screen also helps for browsing. Overall I'm inclined to give the Archos the top ranking for browsers.
13) I just discovered Twidroid, one of many apps pre-loaded, allows me to check my Twitter in a really nice format -- love it!
14) Portability -- well there's only so much portability that can be expected with a screen and hard drive this large. This new design is smoother and rounder so its a little more comfortable in a pocket. It is very easy to carry around as a handheld device, fits nicely in my hand as I stroll about the house trying out all of the Android Apps! In any case, this is not as portable as a Touch but I think its pretty good for a small computer -- which is basically what this is.
15) No extra plug ins needed (so far!). Always in the past I've laid out another $40 for additional Archos plugins to play iPod format music and other video formats. So far I haven't had to do that -- thank you Archos :)
16) Archos will stand behind their product. I've had to send in a couple of Archos units over the years and they have always been happy to either repair or replace the unit without quibbling about it, as long as its under warranty. Note: it did take two weeks to get my unit back!
17) Multi threading: now I show my engineer/geek side. This baby can do a bunch of different stuff at the same time, unlike the iPhone/Touch which can really only do one thing at a time. The Android can be doing other stuff while you are listening music. I love the little bar on the top that you can pull down and switch to any other task that is running.
18) Built-in kickstand, very nice feature.
19) Stylus friendly touch screen -- sometimes you just get tired of trying to type a touchscreen keyboard with fat fingers! In general, this is one of my favorite touch screens. Most of the other touch screens, including iPod/iPhone, are capacitance which means stylus won't work
20) Micro USB cable plug-in: finally a standardized USB plug and you can have it resting on its kickstand while plugged in :)

Given that the Archos tops the class in several categories, and continues to be the best 500GB 5 inch screen player available I give it about a 4.7 stars out of 5 (round to 5). There are a few things I'm less than thrilled about:

1) Update: I believe you can now format your drive in a Windows friendly format on 1.7.96 version of firmware. External hard drive EXT3 -- as I understand it, Archos changed to the EXT3 hard drive format for reasons of speed and reliability. The result for me is that I can no longer simply select hard drive MSC mode, plug the Archos into a Windows machine and expect to access the drive. You have to install an Ext3 driver such as EXT2 IFS on your Windows PC. Once I did that I was able to access the hard drive and backup files to my hearts content.
2) The playlist interface didn't get much of an upgrade and its still kind of clunky. I want to simply tap my playlist and it starts playing. Often times I have to do a couple of extra taps to get the thing playing.
3) We lost the dedicated play button and removable battery a while back -- but I still miss them both! None of my favorite touch screen players has either of these features. I'm also missing the brown metallic color and the rubbery backside.
4) Finding a case for this baby is no easy trick. You're not going to find one at the local Best Buy I'm afraid. In the past I've resorted to ordering my Archos cases from European companies like I-nique and Noreve. This is generally true of any player that is not an iPod or a Zune.
5) As always with Archos, you must remember that you are dealing with a French based company. This means that they don't always provide the best support/service/upgrades to us Americans.
6) Lets face it, Archos is always playing catch up. Some of the new features aren't fully functional yet. I do have faith that Archos will fix all the little glitches with things like GPS over the course of the next 6 months. The Apps available are currently a bit limited. I expect this will improve over the coming months.
7) Keep in mind that this is not a unit for the faint of heart. This is more for the hobbyist who wants a cutting edge experience that may take some messing around to get it just the way you want it. If you want something easy that requires minimum effort then iPods are going to be more your cup of tea.

For me this is still the best player of its class -- that class being large hard drive, big screen PMP players with other fun features. Android makes for some fun possibilities, and overall I'm impressed with this as an upgrade. Once again, if you don't mind a smaller screen and you love apps I suggest you get an iPod Touch. If what you care about most is sound quality you may want to get a Walkman X. For me those are your top 3 touch screen players, it just depends on what you care about the most.

Note: 10-23-2009; I upgraded to firmware version 1.2.03 which fixes some App, Browser, and YouTube issues. Apps do seem happier now, upgrade process was very smooth. Still happily listening to tunes for about 8 hours a day with no problems :)

Update 11-7-2009: I've been running version 1.2.15 with a host of bug fixes and the unit does seem more stable in general now. Wifi is working better and USB connection seems more reliable.

Update 11-23-2009: Upgrade to firmware v 1.3.07 -- a long list of bug fixes including a few improvements that I had hoped for to control the scanning of multimedia files/ ArcLibrary. Got an AppsLib update which seems to work more reliably. There seem to be a lot more apps available now (300 ish) in AppsLib. Just keeps getting better and better! Still is playing music day in and day out with no problems and I'm backing up 2 laptops worth of files onto my 5 IT.

Update 12-18-2009: I've been on firmware 1.4.16 for over a week now. Lots of little fixes, seems even more stable now.

Update 2-11-2010: Firmware 1.7.33 (Android Donut) upgrade. The upgrade was a bit of work, I ended up reformatting the drive and starting anew. However, power saving seems to work a lot better and I haven't seen it reset itself for quite a while now. This seems to be the most solid release yet!

Update 4-8-2010: Firmware 1.7.96: just keeps getting better! Several annoying bugs... Read more ›

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91 of 95 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars In for a penny in for a pound, December 22, 2009

Jay Houston (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: ARCHOS 5 4.8-inch 500GB Internet Tablet (Electronics)

This device will do everything it says it will. BUT, there are a lot of things you have to do first. So, I'm happy with the product. But it has taken me a long time to get it set up. And, there are some hidden fees that you should know about. Let me start with the positives. The Archos 5 with Android is awsome. If you like movies and videos and photos, etc. this thing is great. I copied and pasted a digital copy of a movie off of a blue-ray disc. The movie plays great on the Archos. Oh, it'll do all of the texting and facebooking and e-mails like all the other PDAs. It has apps and all that. But the big bang is in the video. The display is great and the layout is really good. I love it. It is easy to navigate and enjoyable to use. The touch-screen is a little sluggish. But, Apple really set the bar high on that. No one does it like Ipod.

Set-up: I spent hours getting the thing set up. It crashed a lot. Right in the video tutorials at Archos.com (the video tutorials are awsome by the way) they show you how to use a paperclip to push the reset button. Yes. You will need a paperclip. I imagine someone will stop reading right there and go back to looking at Ipods. I don't blame you. But, remember what I said. In the end, after the setup, the Archos is really good.

Portability: This is the 500 gigabyte model. So, yes it will fit in your pocket as advertised. But, it needs to be a big pocket. I bought the leather case for it. Honestly, strapping it to my belt reminded me of the Nerds movie. I don't know anyone who would carry it like that. Realistically, it's not something you are going to strap to your arm and go for a jog with. If that is what you're looking for, go buy a cheap mp3 player. On the other hand, with 500 gigabytes, I have all of my music on it. That's about 50 cd's worth of music. That only takes up about 5 gigabytes. You get the idea.

Hidden Costs: 1) I spent several hours trying to figure out why the FM Transmitter wouldn't work. I then found out that the device has to be plugged in to the car charger for it to work. That would have been nice to know. I hadn't purchased the car charger. I opted for a cheaper generic window holster. So, I have to spend more if I want the FM transmitter to work. 2) The GPS only has a 7-day free trial. You have to spend about $40.00 to get the full version. 3) I'm sure there is some fine print somewhere that says what video formats will work. What I remember most is the review which says you can throw just about any format at the device and it will take it. Well, that may be true. But in order to get some of the formats to work, you have to spend another $40.00 for a software bundle.

DVR Station: I was really excited about the DVR station. I still am. But, I haven't been able to get the video right yet. I'm hoping I can still figure out what the problem is. And, the program guide isn't available outside of the UK. That's right. The program guide that is advertised is not available in the U.S. That would have been nice to know ahead of time. So, it's like the old VCR days. You have to look at your local TV listings and then manually set up the channel and time. That's just one thing. You have to leave the device on stand-by or on the home screen when the time for the recording is about to begin. If you are on any other screen, it won't record. That's not a big deal I guess. But, I spent a lot of time and frustration figuring that one out.

Summary: I picked the Archos over the Ipod because it had so many features in one device. I could buy one device instead of a DVR, a GPS, and an mp3 player. Well, you have to pay extra for the GPS. And, I still haven't been able to get the DVR to work right. Why am I hanging on to it? It's the 500 gigabytes of storage. None of the Ipod's currently on the market come even close.

If you have a lot of video and music that you want to take with you everywhere you go, the Archos is for you. If you're looking for an mp3 player that has aps, get the Ipod.

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108 of 115 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Review from an Experienced Android user. 8GB Archos 5 Android, April 7, 2010

ViBu "Striderhayasa" (Philly) - See all my reviews

This review is from: ARCHOS 5 4.8-inch 500GB Internet Tablet (Electronics)

First let me start off by saying I've used every version of Android extensively and I know ways around faulty apps with free alternative apps in the marketplace. Please keep this in mind while reading this review. Also, I used a friend's Archos 5 for 3 days before I bought my own Archos 5 8GB from Radioshack (The Shack?) for $[...] I fully reconfigured and updated his device with Google apps support and Google sync. More on that below.

Pros - beautiful build quality, beautiful screen, nice size that's bigger than a smartphone but small enough to fit in a large pocket, Access to the entire Android Marketplace after enabling Google apps, Google apps support and Google Sync on the Archos after enabling them. SD card slot for easy storage upgrades

Cons - Touch screen works but isn't as responsive as it should be, device can lag at times (but this isn't all that unusual with Android devices in general) Some apps didn't work as advertised. icons don't always use space in the best way resulting in large gaps between icons

For anyone that wants to truly see what the Archos 5 Android can do, they should install the Google apps after updating to the latest firmware. I understand this should not be necessary for a device such as this but under the circumstances, it's highly recommended, only take a few minutes and is easy to do. The Android Marketplace alone gives the device so much extra firepower and flexibility that it cannot and should not be ignored. GPS default app isn't working right? Use Google Navigation. Can't get Pandora to run in the browser? Use the free Android Pandora app. Hate the default Archos 5 browser? Get Opera, Xscope or Dolphin browser in the Marketplace. It's that simple.

I will keep this as brief as possible. Archos did screw up big time by releasing a device that has potential but shipped flawed, buggy and gimp. I wouldn't be surprised if lawsuits are being prepared for false advertising considering some of the default apps don't work. But despite this, I still liked the device because as I mentioned above, after installing the Google apps and marketplace, I was able to fully customize the Archos 5 Android to run like I needed it to run with the exception of the touchscreen. I didn't use Archos's software to playback video. I used Astro, Xscope or the Android Gallery. I didn't use the default music player either. I used the default 1.6 Android player and "3". I even switch the home launcher with DXtop and custom skins and icons. I tried to get the Archos to run similar to my Nexus One as best I could and the results were impressive. Also considering added storage through SD card is a welcome addition as well as the bluetooth tethering support. Speaking of which, I used the Bluetooth File Transfer app from the marketplace to transfer files from my Nexus One to the Archos 5 Android and it worked without any problems. That's my constant theme for this review. If you are familiar with the Android Marketplace, you can find apps that function better than many of the default apps that ship with the Archos, It made my life less stressful for sure. Video playback is great, music playback is great even though the speaker is good but not the best I've heard on a portable device. I had no stalls, freezes or crashes in the 3 days that I've ran the Archos and I ran it pretty hard.

The problems I did have all revolved around the touchscreen. Archos really should have known better and simply put a capacitive screen on the device. What's the point in having a touchscreen if it isn't going to be as responsive as it should be? Really. This was almost a deal breaker for me until I came to grips with it. It's still not as good as my Nexus One, not by a long shot but it's doable for the tablet. If lack of screen responsiveness can be addressed through software, then Archos should make that priority one. The stability issues are being dealt with as I just used the device with the latest firmware and it was very stable. But Archos should keep at it to ensure that the Archos 5 Android becomes a monster that will almost never fail.

Summary, if you're an experienced user of Android and can deal with a resistive touchscreen then I'd say the Archos 5 may be for you. Android Marketplace will provide so many apps that will add so much functionality to the Archos, that is almost worth the price of admission alone. Audio and Video playback are great with Android apps, there are a number of good browsers to use for the web allowing you to download Youtube videos...almost any video you find actually and run it direct from the unit. I had no problems with Wifi as I'm running a Linksys WRT54G router. My only other gripe is that my PS3 will not recognize the Archos as a mass storage device.

If you want overall ease of use without the hassles of constant firmware updates, if you want a more responsive touch screen and a "it just works, out of the box" experience, then buy Apple and never look back.

I'll update this review as I spend more time adding apps and files to the device to see if it holds up over longer periods of intense use.
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UPDATE: 4-10-10 I've spent the last few days really putting this device through it's paces and I've learned quite a bit. First and foremost, after calibrating the touchscreen, I can say that it's definitely functional with finger use. No stlyus needed. But it's not as good as a capacitive screen and rightfully so considering the Archos 5 Android has a resistive screen. With that in mind, I can navigate the Archos fine with my fingers and type fairly well on the virtual keyboard. Calibrating the screen is key and it very easy to do considering you're prompted to calibrate the device on the first power on. Not sure why my friend didn't do this with his Archos 5 Android. The unit has been very stable as well and only crashed on me once when I had two browsers open, one having multiple tabs and trying to run video at the same time while running two other apps in the background. (I'd like to see a 1GHz Archos 5 Android with 512mbs of DDR3 instead of the 128mbs that's used now.)

I've thrown quite a few video formats at it, Xvid, Divx, Mp3 and Mp4 videos etc and they've all worked with the exception of two that needed a codec that Archos offers for a price. That sucked and I passed on it. The only other format that I have to try is .FLV which I fully expect to not work but I'll be happy to be proven wrong. Transferring files from my PS3, Nexus One and PC to the Archos was very easy once I put a 16GB microSD card in the unit. The PS3 and PC wouldn't play nice with the Archos until then.

The unit is very stable after installing the Android 1.6 update. But I decided to not put the Google Marketplace on my unit as the Archos Marketplace has quite a few apps in it and I realized without a constant internet connection, Google sync wouldn't be worth the install. Any apps I needed I just bluetooth pushed them from my Nexus One to the Archos using the free Bluetooth Transfer app in both marketplaces.

Also, I was wrong about the video playback being better in Android apps as opposed to Archos's own apps. I've found that once you use a Android Launcher (Home Alternative app, DXtop, Open Home, Panda Home etc) on the Archos, you lose the Archos icons for music, video, photo playback that's part of the Archo's software that runs within Android. You need those apps and can have them on your desktop as widgets if you get them from the Archos marketplace under Multimedia. They're free too. What this does is allows you to run Android apps as much as you want but also have the more robust Archos video app and the far superior codec support as customizable widgets without missing a beat.

I did have problems with the playlist creation with the Archos music player. Although I like the layout of it once songs start to play. But at this time, it's just easier for me to make playlists using the default Android app.

The photo gallery is a matter of preference. Archo's Gallery is superb and images look fantastic on the screen along with a larger sized thumbnails for easy viewing. The Android Gallery is good and images quality still looks great but the thumbnail view isn't as big and doesn't look as slick especially after seeing the excellent Android 2.1 gallery.

I believe that the Archos 5 Android tablet is a great device with some negatives that can be fixed with software updates and/or revisions. I didn't buy the larger 500GB, 320GB or other sizes because I wanted the slimmer form factor of the 8GB version. It offers a lot of flexibility and power for such a small device and isn't sold at a premium. Having the ability to run Android .apk files regardless of the lack of Google Marketplace support means users can still get access to the huge catalog of Android apps available and run them on their devices. If potential buyers are already running Android smartphones then they're ahead of the curve. It could benefit from more RAM in future versions as the device lag at times but the lag was no where near as bad as some people have made it out to be. It's not G1 or Mytouch 3G bad where the device locks up for minutes at a time. If Google wouldn't make this a "Google Experience" device then they must have something truly special in the pipeline but as it stands, even at a much cheaper price for the 8GB version, Archos 5 Android does quite a few things that a Ipad can not.

4-20-10 UPDATE

This will be my final update for the Archos5 Android as I've put it through it's paces pretty good since I've started using it.
I found out that the device will play flash movie files (.flv files) native without having to encode the video for playback in a different... Read more ›

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