- Windows 7, 1.2 GHz Intel Atom Z515 processor
- 1 GB of installed DDR2 RAM (400 MHz)
- 8.9-inch LED-backlit resistive touchscreen display (1024 x 600 pixels)
- 54g Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g)
- 29 ounces
Technical Details
Product Details
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Product Description
Amazon.com Product Description
"Offering breathtaking design, excellent ergonomics and an impressive touch interface, the Archos 9 PC Tablet lets you take all your favorite entertainment with your wherever you roam as well as work in an entirely new way. Powered by Windows 7 Starter Edition operating system, the Archos 9 enables you to do the things you do every day more effortlessly with fewer clicks, faster searching, easier browsing, and simpler ways to connect.
Designed for easy portability, the Archos 9 weighs less than 2 pounds and measures 0.67 inches thin. The Archos 9 sports a full touch-sensitive 9-inch resistive touchscreen display with a virtual keyboard as well as an innovative optical trackpoint (virtual mouse) for easy navigation. An adjustable leg stand allows the Archos 9 to be positioned in a number of positions--upright for watching videos or photo slideshows, or angled for an optimal typing position.
The included Internet Explorer 8 will enhance your web experience. It is the fastest, easiest, and safest browser ever released by Microsoft. Discover the hot new features of the world's number one web browser with the Windows 7 dedicated pages. For example, with Web Slices, you can follow your bid on auction sites or view live sports scores directly in the toolbar of the new Internet Explorer 8.
 The Archos 9 PC Tablet. |
 The optical trackpoint and integrated mouse buttons make it a breeze to navigate the Archos 9 (see larger image). |
 The adjustable leg stand allows the Archos 9 to be positioned to suit a range of uses. |
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You'll also enjoy brilliant video playback on the Archos 9 thanks to the gorgeous widescreen, LED-backlit display, which provides a full HD 1080p resolution. And you can set up video conferences (using the 1.3-megapixel webcam), chat with friends and surf the web on the go via the integrated 54g Wi-Fi networking (or tether to a compatible mobile phone via Bluetooth and surf via cellular connectivity; additional charges applicable). Other features include a 60 GB hard drive, 1 GB of RAM, built-in speakers, and up to 5 hours of battery life.
Smart Features for Intuitive Use
The ARCHOS 9's controls are ergonomically placed for comfortable and natural use.- On the right, an optical trackpoint for finger navigation replaces the big touchpad of a laptop to ensure you can precisely point to any position on your screen.
- On the left, screen brightness, Wi-Fi control, and left/right mouse buttons complement the virtual keyboard, so that your regular mouse controls aren't left aside.
Designed for Portability
The Archos 9's form and design breaks the rules of the conventional laptop design. Its edges fan out from an already thin structure (0.67 inches or 17 mm at its thickest). And since it weighs less than 29 ounces, you can easily carry it with you in your handbag or backpack and use it any time. It also features a two-position leg-stand that best positions the device depending on how you are using it:- The upper position is best for viewing videos on the go, surfing the web, or reading
- The lower position is ideal when you need to type memos or web addresses, send an email, or chat with your friends.
Windows 7 Starter Edition
With Windows 7 on Archos 9 PC Tablet, accessing files regardless of where you are in the interface is easier than ever. Windows Search will transform the way you search and find your documents. It's simpler and much quicker than previous versions of Windows. Handy widgets can now be placed anywhere on the desktop. Whether you are looking for the weather forecast in your hometown, or a stock value in your financial portfolio, or the latest movie theater program, it's right at your fingertips.
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Key Specifications
- 8.9-inch LED-backlit resistive touchscreen display (1024 x 600 pixels)
- Optical finger navigation system (trackpoint) as well as integrated left and right mouse buttons
- 1.2 GHz Intel Atom Z515 processor (400 MHz front-side bus speed, 512 KB L2 cache, 2W maximum power consumption)
- 60 GB hard drive
- 1 GB of installed DDR2 RAM (400 MHz)
- Integrated Intel GMA 500 graphics
- 1.3-megapixel webcam with built-in microphone for easy video chats
- Built-in stereo speakers
- 54g Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g)
- Bluetooth 2.0+EDR connectivity enables you to connect to peripherals such as mice as well as tether wirelessly to a compatible mobile phone's cellular connection (additional charges applicable).
- Fast Ethernet (10/100) via optional port replicator
- One USB 2.0 port with additional two USB ports via optional port replicator
- VGA video output via optional port replicator
- Up to 5 hours of battery life via removable Lithium Polymer battery
- Dimensions: 10.07 x 5.28 x 0.67 inches (WxDxH)
- Weight: 29 ounces (1 pound, 13 ounces)
Pre-loaded Software
- Microsoft Security Essentials (antivirus/antispyware) provides real-time protection that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.
- Lotus Symphony (office productivity) lets you easily create and edit all your documents, spreadsheets and presentations.
- vTuner (Web TV and radio player) provides access to over 11,000 radio and TV stations broadcasting over the Internet.
What's in the Box
Archos 9, removable battery, stylus, AC adapter with power cord, user guide, legal and safety notice "
Product Description
ARCHOS once again is leading the way in innovation with the introduction of the Netbook of the future, the ARCHOS 9 PCtablet. The new ARCHOS 9 PCtablet combines the performance of a high end netbook with breathtaking aesthetics, excellent ergonomics and a tactile interface on a superb screen.Pure lines, extreme thinness (0.67"), 800g and a stunning black finish, the ARCHOS 9 PC tablet pushes the boundaries of elegance and simplicity on a Netbook, fulfilling the expectations of the most mobile users. It provides all the power and comfort needed for daily usage. With this ultra-light and thin PCtablet, you can watch you videos (including Full HD format), browse the web, "video chat", or write your mails or documents. Play all your multimedia content including HD videos Use all your daily software such as Windows Live Messenger or Skype with Windows 7, or Lotus Symphony as a productivity suite . Stay connected to Internet and your emails with the built-in connectivity.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
112 of 113 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Verified Purchase
What it is:
The Archos 9 is a highly portable Netbook, without a Keyboard making it smaller and lighter weight. It has the touch screen functions of a Tablet/Slate Computer. :)
What it isn't:
It isn't a Notebook or Desktop PC. (Though if all you use your Desktop for is to play Free Cell, surf the web and check your E-Mail, then this will do the job in place of a full computer, but it isn't one, nor is it designed to be one. It also isn't a phone with delusions of grandeur. (Android Tablets and iPads.)
The Good:
It is light weight, small and portable, what you would expect from a Netbook or a Slate computer.
More power than an iPad or Android tablet at a cheaper cost than the iPad.
1. It does run Windows 7, with all that implies, to include:
a. Multi-tasking,
b. Full web browser
c. Full Flash support
d. Quicktime/iTunes
e. Real Productivity software like Open Office or MS Office, so not only can you show your Powerpoint presentation but you can edit it if you need to.
2. It has a USB Port and can add a couple more.
a. This means you can run USB drives, USB DVD drives, keyboards and mice as well as other USB uses.
3. It has a 60GB Harddrive, which is large for this class of product.
4. It uses an Atom 1.2 ghz (Multi-threaded) processor, which is typical for Netbooks of its age. Windows Experience Index is 1.7 when running Windows 7 Home Premium which is on par with other Netbooks.
5. It is available now at a great price.
a. Unlike other Windows Slate computers, which aren't available and keep getting pushed back and Android Tablets, which the OS isn't quite up to running a computer, yet, you can have this now.
b. It is significantly cheaper than the iPad, which isn't even in this class.
c. The only tablet in this class and price range that is currently available are the ASUS and Lenovo touch screen Netbooks and they are a bit larger with similar performance. (We also have a 9" ASUS.)
6. The Trackpad/Mouse buttons. While these strictly aren't needed, I find them very useful to have available. One thing I don't like about the ASUS is the need to open it to get to the touchpad/mouse buttons.
7. Built in camera for VOIP video chat.
8. A touch Screen that accepts stylus entry, and, with Windows 7 Home Premium+, very nice hand writing recognition software.
9. The Beta version of the Touch Screen tools at Archos: The calibration tools are really well done. Significantly better than those that came with the ASUS.
The Bad:
1. No SD Card slot. One would think having one of these would be a no brainer. (Oops.)
2. When they upgraded the processor they didn't upgrade the cooling. It gets a little warm on the left side which could have been avoided by simply venting the case.
3. It doesn't appear to accept Multi-touch even with Windows 7 Home Premium installed. This seems to be a lack of forethought on the part of Archos since Windows 7 handles Multi-touch very nicely.
4. The built in on screen keyboard. I hate it, YMMV but the Windows 7 Home Premium pop-up keyboard is smaller and on a 9" screen that is important.
5. No button to easily rotate the screen. With the buttons attached, one would think that would be one of them. they include a button for their keyboard and one for turning off the Wifi/bluetooth, at least they could have included one for rotating the screen, or allowed those buttons to be programmed to do it.
6. Windows Starter: While that is considered to be the standard OS for a Netbook, at least to get you started and to lower the cost, Windows 7 Home Premium is the cheapest version where the Touch Screen goodness is included. (Factor that upgrade into your cost.)
The Ugly:
Archos Customer Support pushed me off onto Microsoft when my Windows 7 Anytime upgrade wouldn't run. ("We don't support that upgrade.") Microsoft pushed it back on Archos. If either had read their own forums the answers are there. (Found them afterwards.)
So you don't run into the same issue here are the steps.
1. Plug your Archos in, it will take longer than the battery will last.
2. Adjust your power settings to not go to sleep, and not shut down.
3. Uninstall your virus checking software. (Simply turning it off may not do the job.)
4. Install the Drivers and Bios Updates from Archos' site.
5. Install all of the Windows updates for Windows 7 Starter.
6. Run Windows Anytime upgrade.
6a. Let it sit. Don't believe it has hung up just because it seems to be hanging. (Look at the HD light.)
6b. Don't try to do anything else while it is running.
7. Once you are rebooted into Windows 7 Home Premium reinstall your Virus Checker software.
8. Back up your hard drive. (Use that USB port and back it up to an external drive, in fact I recommend that anyway because 60GB is too small for what you may want to carry with you, and your most likely cause of needing a backup is because you dropped it and damaged the HD. :))
9. Ditch the software you don't need, empty the trash and defrag.
10. Calibrate your screen.
Additional recommendations:
1. Add: Open Office: Free, runs well and reads/writes most MS Office files.
2. Use Google Chrome for your browser. At this time less bloat than Explorer and Firefox which means it runs faster and cleaner on here. (No issues streaming Hulu or Netflix here.)
3. Get an External USB HD and either the port expander or a good USB2 hub.
4. Get an inexpensive keyboard or one of the roll up ones, if you want to take it with you, if you plan on doing a bit of typing.
5. Don't set your Power Plan to higher than you need it. (SO your batteries last longer between charges. (I do get between 4 and 5 hours out of these batteries.)
6. For long trips, or other periods of extended Battery use get an additional battery. (One of the only Netbooks or slates with the option of replacing the Battery.)
The Archos 9 is a highly portable Netbook, without a Keyboard making it smaller and lighter weight. It has the touch screen functions of a Tablet/Slate Computer. :)
What it isn't:
It isn't a Notebook or Desktop PC. (Though if all you use your Desktop for is to play Free Cell, surf the web and check your E-Mail, then this will do the job in place of a full computer, but it isn't one, nor is it designed to be one. It also isn't a phone with delusions of grandeur. (Android Tablets and iPads.)
The Good:
It is light weight, small and portable, what you would expect from a Netbook or a Slate computer.
More power than an iPad or Android tablet at a cheaper cost than the iPad.
1. It does run Windows 7, with all that implies, to include:
a. Multi-tasking,
b. Full web browser
c. Full Flash support
d. Quicktime/iTunes
e. Real Productivity software like Open Office or MS Office, so not only can you show your Powerpoint presentation but you can edit it if you need to.
2. It has a USB Port and can add a couple more.
a. This means you can run USB drives, USB DVD drives, keyboards and mice as well as other USB uses.
3. It has a 60GB Harddrive, which is large for this class of product.
4. It uses an Atom 1.2 ghz (Multi-threaded) processor, which is typical for Netbooks of its age. Windows Experience Index is 1.7 when running Windows 7 Home Premium which is on par with other Netbooks.
5. It is available now at a great price.
a. Unlike other Windows Slate computers, which aren't available and keep getting pushed back and Android Tablets, which the OS isn't quite up to running a computer, yet, you can have this now.
b. It is significantly cheaper than the iPad, which isn't even in this class.
c. The only tablet in this class and price range that is currently available are the ASUS and Lenovo touch screen Netbooks and they are a bit larger with similar performance. (We also have a 9" ASUS.)
6. The Trackpad/Mouse buttons. While these strictly aren't needed, I find them very useful to have available. One thing I don't like about the ASUS is the need to open it to get to the touchpad/mouse buttons.
7. Built in camera for VOIP video chat.
8. A touch Screen that accepts stylus entry, and, with Windows 7 Home Premium+, very nice hand writing recognition software.
9. The Beta version of the Touch Screen tools at Archos: The calibration tools are really well done. Significantly better than those that came with the ASUS.
The Bad:
1. No SD Card slot. One would think having one of these would be a no brainer. (Oops.)
2. When they upgraded the processor they didn't upgrade the cooling. It gets a little warm on the left side which could have been avoided by simply venting the case.
3. It doesn't appear to accept Multi-touch even with Windows 7 Home Premium installed. This seems to be a lack of forethought on the part of Archos since Windows 7 handles Multi-touch very nicely.
4. The built in on screen keyboard. I hate it, YMMV but the Windows 7 Home Premium pop-up keyboard is smaller and on a 9" screen that is important.
5. No button to easily rotate the screen. With the buttons attached, one would think that would be one of them. they include a button for their keyboard and one for turning off the Wifi/bluetooth, at least they could have included one for rotating the screen, or allowed those buttons to be programmed to do it.
6. Windows Starter: While that is considered to be the standard OS for a Netbook, at least to get you started and to lower the cost, Windows 7 Home Premium is the cheapest version where the Touch Screen goodness is included. (Factor that upgrade into your cost.)
The Ugly:
Archos Customer Support pushed me off onto Microsoft when my Windows 7 Anytime upgrade wouldn't run. ("We don't support that upgrade.") Microsoft pushed it back on Archos. If either had read their own forums the answers are there. (Found them afterwards.)
So you don't run into the same issue here are the steps.
1. Plug your Archos in, it will take longer than the battery will last.
2. Adjust your power settings to not go to sleep, and not shut down.
3. Uninstall your virus checking software. (Simply turning it off may not do the job.)
4. Install the Drivers and Bios Updates from Archos' site.
5. Install all of the Windows updates for Windows 7 Starter.
6. Run Windows Anytime upgrade.
6a. Let it sit. Don't believe it has hung up just because it seems to be hanging. (Look at the HD light.)
6b. Don't try to do anything else while it is running.
7. Once you are rebooted into Windows 7 Home Premium reinstall your Virus Checker software.
8. Back up your hard drive. (Use that USB port and back it up to an external drive, in fact I recommend that anyway because 60GB is too small for what you may want to carry with you, and your most likely cause of needing a backup is because you dropped it and damaged the HD. :))
9. Ditch the software you don't need, empty the trash and defrag.
10. Calibrate your screen.
Additional recommendations:
1. Add: Open Office: Free, runs well and reads/writes most MS Office files.
2. Use Google Chrome for your browser. At this time less bloat than Explorer and Firefox which means it runs faster and cleaner on here. (No issues streaming Hulu or Netflix here.)
3. Get an External USB HD and either the port expander or a good USB2 hub.
4. Get an inexpensive keyboard or one of the roll up ones, if you want to take it with you, if you plan on doing a bit of typing.
5. Don't set your Power Plan to higher than you need it. (SO your batteries last longer between charges. (I do get between 4 and 5 hours out of these batteries.)
6. For long trips, or other periods of extended Battery use get an additional battery. (One of the only Netbooks or slates with the option of replacing the Battery.)
217 of 233 people found the following review helpful
Note: This is a total revamp of this review, after having had it a few days.
The Archos 9 in a neat little device. While it's not going to be an "iPad killer", it does seem to straddle the middle ground between a pc and a mobile device a little better.
The Archos 9 is effectively an EXTREMELY compact pc. And by extreme, I mean this thing is SMALL! And by PC, I mean it runs Windows 7, so in theory if the app works on a home pc, it'll work on this. There are obvious performance issues which we'll get to, but in general, it's code compatible with all Windows 7 software.
First off let me say I really like this device, but it is not flawless. The main flaws seem to be in the preinstalled software, which frankly suck, and the touch sensitive screen, which is only `alright', although I want to talk about what I like about the Archos 9 first, since, after all, I do like it.
What's good about this thing is the aforementioned PC-compatibility, the similarly aforementioned compactness, & the ton of built in hardware. This thing has built in WiFi & Bluetooth, which pretty much lets you connect it to anything you need to connect it to, even without the (sold separately) port replicator. The built in face-forward webcam is nice, I suppose, but not something I would really use. Same goes with the built in microphone, although I could see this getting more use. The built in speakers sound good considering their size. It has an HDMI output on the bottom of the device, which is strangely NOT advertised! Considering the potential of this device as a media player, I don't understand that at all. Also, the display is true 16x9. Despite all this, it seems to get some serious life out of the batteries - while I haven't totally drained mine, the 5 hour advertised lifespan seems reasonable given my experiences. What's missing here is a DVD drive, which of course makes sense for a device like this - and you can plug an external USB drive into the single USB port if necessary.
Now here's the bad news. The 32-bit, single-core Intel Atom Z510 processor is pretty lame, and gets a Windows rating of only 1.3. Now the Atom line of processors are designed for power savings, and compactness, but for those looking for a laptop replacement, beware: this puts it on par with 6 year old machines. The single gigabyte of (non-upgradable) ram isn't overly generous either, and leads to page-flipping, which further bogs the machine down. The 60 gb drive feels a little claustrophobic by today's standards, and is made more so by the ridiculous partitioning of the factory install, leaving only 25 gigs of useable space, and lastly the screen is only "OK" by today's standards, although those standards have been set by the iPhone and the forthcoming iPad, which legitimately have fantastic touchpads. Speaking of which, the touchpad on this device is resistive, which means single-touch (unlike the i-stuff), and feels a little "mushy", for lack of a better word. Again, think of a 6 year old PDA in this respect. The Archos 9 comes with a built in stylus, which given technology on display here, makes sense. One other hardware-related issue I've had is occasionally plugging a drive into the USB port seems to short the whole machine out randomly, forcing a cold reboot. Sometimes this happens, sometimes it doesn't, and I can't seem to determine what causes it. It's happened both when plugged in and on batteries, with a USB hard drive, and a USB DVD drive, but at other times (most of the time in fact), worked fine with both devices.
The biggest failure however isn't the hardware, it's the pre-installed software, which is terrible. Windows 7 Starter sucks. While the Archos is capable of running the Aero theme, windows 7 starter doesn't come with it, you need to upgrade. There are a handful of other missing features, but that's definitely the most visible. The installed media software is called vTuner, which in my opinion isn't terribly interesting. Going back to the lack of hard drive space, there's a 20 gb partition for backups, but from the factory there's NOTHING IN IT! In the fine print of the manual (really, it's all fine print, another gripe), you will find that it says to do a backup upon first starting the machine, but that's just lazy on Archos's part. If you're going to provide a backup partition, it should come with a "factory presets" image, ESPECIALLY if your device doesn't come with a DVD drive! I found this out the hard way when I tried to update the operating system to windows 7 ultimate and had a failure - I ended it having the wipe the machine and install from scratch, which also meant all my preinstalled software was gone, with no way of recovering it.
In the end I DID succeed in installing Windows 7 Ultimate, along with a standard suite of productivity apps (office 2007, adobe reader, itunes, chrome), and after experimenting with some of the settings (particularly the touchscreen & display settings, along with turning Aero back off), I'm getting acceptable performance from this (again, extremely compact) device. It won't run World of Warcraft (in any playable sense, anyway), but with the right software suite, it serves its purpose quite well. Realistically, I probably didn't NEED to put Windows 7 ultimate on it (if I hadn't messed up the previous install), but leaving out all those other free apps (neglecting Office) seems like another oversight to me, especially Adobe Reader, this thing is BEGGING to be used as an e-book reader!
Speaking of performance, while does technically do 3D, it does it poorly. I loaded a 6 year old 3D 4X space conquest game, "Hegemonia" on this machine and while it ran, it was very choppy on even the lowest settings. Maybe this isn't the best test program, but it does tell you something. Baldur's Gate(1) seems to run well enough. One non-performance software-related issue I've had is that after about a week the onscreen keyboard software seemed to stop working. I reinstalled it and all was well, but if this is going to become a regular occurrence, it'll definately be irritating.
So what is the purpose of this device, might one ask? Well, for me, again, because it runs Windows 7, it's an extremely portable PC. It works well as a media device as well, because of the inherent compatibility of a Windows PC, and here it might even have the iPad beat. Non techies will probably not like this however, as you definitely need to do some tweaking to get the most out of it, and in this respect, Apple will definitely win the battle of the tablets, but really, is anyone surprised by this?
At $549, you can definitely get more pc bang for your buck if you're not looking for ultra-portability, but then again, if you're in the market for a tablet, you probably are. In that respect, the Archos 9 wins hands down. Cheaper than all but the cheapest iPads, able to hold its own with netbooks & laptops, and useful as a media device, the Archos 9 PCTablet is a cool tech device, but only for those not afraid of mucking with the installed software. 3 Stars.
The Archos 9 in a neat little device. While it's not going to be an "iPad killer", it does seem to straddle the middle ground between a pc and a mobile device a little better.
The Archos 9 is effectively an EXTREMELY compact pc. And by extreme, I mean this thing is SMALL! And by PC, I mean it runs Windows 7, so in theory if the app works on a home pc, it'll work on this. There are obvious performance issues which we'll get to, but in general, it's code compatible with all Windows 7 software.
First off let me say I really like this device, but it is not flawless. The main flaws seem to be in the preinstalled software, which frankly suck, and the touch sensitive screen, which is only `alright', although I want to talk about what I like about the Archos 9 first, since, after all, I do like it.
What's good about this thing is the aforementioned PC-compatibility, the similarly aforementioned compactness, & the ton of built in hardware. This thing has built in WiFi & Bluetooth, which pretty much lets you connect it to anything you need to connect it to, even without the (sold separately) port replicator. The built in face-forward webcam is nice, I suppose, but not something I would really use. Same goes with the built in microphone, although I could see this getting more use. The built in speakers sound good considering their size. It has an HDMI output on the bottom of the device, which is strangely NOT advertised! Considering the potential of this device as a media player, I don't understand that at all. Also, the display is true 16x9. Despite all this, it seems to get some serious life out of the batteries - while I haven't totally drained mine, the 5 hour advertised lifespan seems reasonable given my experiences. What's missing here is a DVD drive, which of course makes sense for a device like this - and you can plug an external USB drive into the single USB port if necessary.
Now here's the bad news. The 32-bit, single-core Intel Atom Z510 processor is pretty lame, and gets a Windows rating of only 1.3. Now the Atom line of processors are designed for power savings, and compactness, but for those looking for a laptop replacement, beware: this puts it on par with 6 year old machines. The single gigabyte of (non-upgradable) ram isn't overly generous either, and leads to page-flipping, which further bogs the machine down. The 60 gb drive feels a little claustrophobic by today's standards, and is made more so by the ridiculous partitioning of the factory install, leaving only 25 gigs of useable space, and lastly the screen is only "OK" by today's standards, although those standards have been set by the iPhone and the forthcoming iPad, which legitimately have fantastic touchpads. Speaking of which, the touchpad on this device is resistive, which means single-touch (unlike the i-stuff), and feels a little "mushy", for lack of a better word. Again, think of a 6 year old PDA in this respect. The Archos 9 comes with a built in stylus, which given technology on display here, makes sense. One other hardware-related issue I've had is occasionally plugging a drive into the USB port seems to short the whole machine out randomly, forcing a cold reboot. Sometimes this happens, sometimes it doesn't, and I can't seem to determine what causes it. It's happened both when plugged in and on batteries, with a USB hard drive, and a USB DVD drive, but at other times (most of the time in fact), worked fine with both devices.
The biggest failure however isn't the hardware, it's the pre-installed software, which is terrible. Windows 7 Starter sucks. While the Archos is capable of running the Aero theme, windows 7 starter doesn't come with it, you need to upgrade. There are a handful of other missing features, but that's definitely the most visible. The installed media software is called vTuner, which in my opinion isn't terribly interesting. Going back to the lack of hard drive space, there's a 20 gb partition for backups, but from the factory there's NOTHING IN IT! In the fine print of the manual (really, it's all fine print, another gripe), you will find that it says to do a backup upon first starting the machine, but that's just lazy on Archos's part. If you're going to provide a backup partition, it should come with a "factory presets" image, ESPECIALLY if your device doesn't come with a DVD drive! I found this out the hard way when I tried to update the operating system to windows 7 ultimate and had a failure - I ended it having the wipe the machine and install from scratch, which also meant all my preinstalled software was gone, with no way of recovering it.
In the end I DID succeed in installing Windows 7 Ultimate, along with a standard suite of productivity apps (office 2007, adobe reader, itunes, chrome), and after experimenting with some of the settings (particularly the touchscreen & display settings, along with turning Aero back off), I'm getting acceptable performance from this (again, extremely compact) device. It won't run World of Warcraft (in any playable sense, anyway), but with the right software suite, it serves its purpose quite well. Realistically, I probably didn't NEED to put Windows 7 ultimate on it (if I hadn't messed up the previous install), but leaving out all those other free apps (neglecting Office) seems like another oversight to me, especially Adobe Reader, this thing is BEGGING to be used as an e-book reader!
Speaking of performance, while does technically do 3D, it does it poorly. I loaded a 6 year old 3D 4X space conquest game, "Hegemonia" on this machine and while it ran, it was very choppy on even the lowest settings. Maybe this isn't the best test program, but it does tell you something. Baldur's Gate(1) seems to run well enough. One non-performance software-related issue I've had is that after about a week the onscreen keyboard software seemed to stop working. I reinstalled it and all was well, but if this is going to become a regular occurrence, it'll definately be irritating.
So what is the purpose of this device, might one ask? Well, for me, again, because it runs Windows 7, it's an extremely portable PC. It works well as a media device as well, because of the inherent compatibility of a Windows PC, and here it might even have the iPad beat. Non techies will probably not like this however, as you definitely need to do some tweaking to get the most out of it, and in this respect, Apple will definitely win the battle of the tablets, but really, is anyone surprised by this?
At $549, you can definitely get more pc bang for your buck if you're not looking for ultra-portability, but then again, if you're in the market for a tablet, you probably are. In that respect, the Archos 9 wins hands down. Cheaper than all but the cheapest iPads, able to hold its own with netbooks & laptops, and useful as a media device, the Archos 9 PCTablet is a cool tech device, but only for those not afraid of mucking with the installed software. 3 Stars.
70 of 77 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Verified Purchase
Bought this for minor word processing and spreadsheet work. Watching movies and Wifi was just a side bonus.
Screen: You can watch movies on it, very clear in door screen/monitor. however Glare is bit of a problem when you are outside. Even when screen is at brightest, you will have some difficulty with the screen when you are outside. Touch screen isnt as sensitive as the ipod. You are going to need your stylus or push bit harder w your fingers.
Also get a screen cloth if you dont want smudges on your screen.
Opitcal mouse: really pointless. but better than nothing.
Camera. good for on the go video conferencing. emergency photo taking; i suppose.
Speakers: Not really worth mentioning. although its better than what i expected. Buy seperate speakers if you plan on watching movies/mp3s or buy a good set of ear phones.
Processor: bit disappointed at the lack of CPU power. cheaper tablet modles have more powerful CPU. but is more bulkier. its a give and take.
Noise: no fan = no noise. minus some hard drive noise the unit is noiseless.
Heat: left side of the tablet gets warm. just bit annoying. guess thats where the processor or video card is located.
WiFi: Solid at home. Avg outside, was 2-3 bars at starbucks and slow data DL/UL. maybe Starbucks wifi sucked.
Battery: With normal use (running 2-3 programs, word) lasts about 2.5 hours; also takes 2 hours to fully charge. Havent really tried Stand-by. Only can be charged via wall outlet.
Kick Stand: looks very flimsy. probably end up breaking in the near future.
Comment: When you use the touchscreen keyboard. you lose 1/2 the screen. keyboard size can be adjusted, its still bit annoying. Wish it was bit lighter so i can hold it in 1 hand comfortably.
The system Hard Drive is partitioned. 15g for backup. and 40 or so for main. you hae 25gigs free on your main patition. After your Win-7 update. ull have 24gigs free. You might wanna get a larger HD/USB drive.
Also, you will need to buy a USB DVD Rom. you cant install any programs w/o it. i recommend [...]usually 55 bucks. on sale for 40 bucks. glossy black is nice.
Boot up takes longer than i thought it would cause of system security program. Also went into setting and put it on Best Performance rather than look. Only comes w 1 USB port. if you might want to get a USB spliter. It comes with a coupon for 35 free MP3s off of archos's site.
Over all. I wouldnt recommend this to a business looking for tablet PC. BUT i would recommend this to the general public who wants portable/stylish media player/ w some computer capabilities. THIS IS NOTHING like ipad. iPad is designed for solely entertainment/multimedia. if anything. Archos is better; simply because it does everything ipod does + it can do word/spreadsheet processing. that and it costs less. If you want to wait, you can get the MS-Courier, which looks awesome.
Screen: You can watch movies on it, very clear in door screen/monitor. however Glare is bit of a problem when you are outside. Even when screen is at brightest, you will have some difficulty with the screen when you are outside. Touch screen isnt as sensitive as the ipod. You are going to need your stylus or push bit harder w your fingers.
Also get a screen cloth if you dont want smudges on your screen.
Opitcal mouse: really pointless. but better than nothing.
Camera. good for on the go video conferencing. emergency photo taking; i suppose.
Speakers: Not really worth mentioning. although its better than what i expected. Buy seperate speakers if you plan on watching movies/mp3s or buy a good set of ear phones.
Processor: bit disappointed at the lack of CPU power. cheaper tablet modles have more powerful CPU. but is more bulkier. its a give and take.
Noise: no fan = no noise. minus some hard drive noise the unit is noiseless.
Heat: left side of the tablet gets warm. just bit annoying. guess thats where the processor or video card is located.
WiFi: Solid at home. Avg outside, was 2-3 bars at starbucks and slow data DL/UL. maybe Starbucks wifi sucked.
Battery: With normal use (running 2-3 programs, word) lasts about 2.5 hours; also takes 2 hours to fully charge. Havent really tried Stand-by. Only can be charged via wall outlet.
Kick Stand: looks very flimsy. probably end up breaking in the near future.
Comment: When you use the touchscreen keyboard. you lose 1/2 the screen. keyboard size can be adjusted, its still bit annoying. Wish it was bit lighter so i can hold it in 1 hand comfortably.
The system Hard Drive is partitioned. 15g for backup. and 40 or so for main. you hae 25gigs free on your main patition. After your Win-7 update. ull have 24gigs free. You might wanna get a larger HD/USB drive.
Also, you will need to buy a USB DVD Rom. you cant install any programs w/o it. i recommend [...]usually 55 bucks. on sale for 40 bucks. glossy black is nice.
Boot up takes longer than i thought it would cause of system security program. Also went into setting and put it on Best Performance rather than look. Only comes w 1 USB port. if you might want to get a USB spliter. It comes with a coupon for 35 free MP3s off of archos's site.
Over all. I wouldnt recommend this to a business looking for tablet PC. BUT i would recommend this to the general public who wants portable/stylish media player/ w some computer capabilities. THIS IS NOTHING like ipad. iPad is designed for solely entertainment/multimedia. if anything. Archos is better; simply because it does everything ipod does + it can do word/spreadsheet processing. that and it costs less. If you want to wait, you can get the MS-Courier, which looks awesome.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
this needs help
this is the worst tablet ever evingtryygrtggg typing sucks.my cell phone has a larger screen... half the time the key board will not come up when you press for it...getting ipad. Read more
Published 6 months ago by tibor
Customer Service Sucks
I love this piece of hardware! When it came time to upgrade however, Archos was less than compliant at assisting me with recovering my Windows. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Charles Akers
worst company ever
This is the worst company ever.
They release their products half done and use cheap parts.
I got a product from them and it broken in 1 month of use. Read more
They release their products half done and use cheap parts.
I got a product from them and it broken in 1 month of use. Read more
Published 10 months ago by puppetmast
Bring it back!
I love my Archos 9 more every day, and we have an iPad!
The only problem with the device has been short-ish battery life compared to other tablets anyway, and some... Read more
The only problem with the device has been short-ish battery life compared to other tablets anyway, and some... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Sharon
Know what you're buying (game or work?)
I would have given this device 5 stars if it had come with something other than Windows 7 Starter. It's not the fastest thing in the world, but it's small, very compatible (windows... Read more
Published 13 months ago by J. L. Durney
Looks good but does not perform very good
I have had this tablet for about 3 months. When reading the product description it sounded like just want I wanted. After receiving it, I began to see problems. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Tommyyamaha
Great for my work, I wouldn't use it for much else
I needed a portable windows computer that could use a web-driven piece of software. Archos 9 delivered. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Benjamin Archambault
Great Portable Alternative
This is a great tablet Windows 7 PC! It isn't a replacement for a notebook, but is a viable notebook alternative. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Flagpiper
More for less.
I am a college student in Michigan. My degree is Computer Network Systems and Security and I wanted to save money by buying eBooks. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Jim Smiljanich
Customer service is impossible to reach for a refund! *Buy the HP...
To preface this article, this is the very first product that I've ever thought deserved a review. Normally, I would get my refund and move on, but any consumer sucked into this... Read more
Published 15 months ago by aggrevated consumer
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