Archos 101 10.1inch tablet PC - Cheaper Ipad alternative

J

johnnygman

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Hi

Has anyone had any hands on owner/user experience of these?

I was thinking of getting one mainly due to cost difference and good specs, they also run with Flash so gives a better internet browsing experience.

I know they do not have the glam and rep of the Ipad but seems like a creditable alternative at lower cost to me.
8gb can be got for €285 with free delivery...
I realise a new Ipad will be out later in year but the cost seems high to me
though I don't doubt the quality of Apple's products which in general is superb, I have an Itouch and has been great over the years, still going perfect after a lot of use.

Reviews seem generally positive that I have read.
 
[broken link removed] Is this the one you are looking at? Looks like a good solid spec to me. I like that it has HDMI on it makes it nice for showing photos and movies on your TV if needed I also like that it runs on Android which I prefer to the Apple OS If it gets an Upgrade to Honeycomb (Android 3.0) [broken link removed] it would be a serious contender Harware wise I am not sure how good Archos is TBH but hope this gets you started
 
Cheers!
Yea I have been looking around and it seems very competitive, I would be happy enough with the current OS as for me it just more as a tablet browser and for using with the HDMI out to the TV, seems you can use Micro SD cards so can upgrade cheaply with another 32gb of memory if needed.
Think I will take the plunge, seems like a decent option, have read through alot of reviews and most all users seemed happy with purchase..
Dont think it can be matched currently at the price bar the dodgy Chinese no name tablets and would not touch those.
Biggest thing about the Archos 101 is the capactive touch screen, as the resistive touch screens seem to be poorly received.
 
MY Sony Ericsson phone has capacitive screen, have no complaints with it really other than if my fingers are very sweaty it loses sensitivity pretty quickly but that's only a minor a inconvenience. Other than that it is great
 
Can you still install apps from the apple store, even though this is not an apple device? Will they work?
 
No you cannot download Apple apps for an Android device But there is an android market which has equivalents of everything in the apple store
 
I'm browsing on one at the moment. It's a very versatile piece of kit.

I've customised it a bit by changing launcher (the home screen) as the standard one is a bit sluggish for me, and keyboard (cost $2), changing the web browser and image viewer. Android market doesn't come installed, but Appslib is installed which is a subset of the Market applications. Hoewever, there's a simple hack to get Android Market operational which opens up the guts of 100k apps, most of which are free - I've had an android phone for a year and the 101 since before Christmas and have only found a need to buy 3 - Documents to Go, Tapatalk for forums, and the keyboard for the 101.
The usb port supports flash drives, and low power external hard drives. I have a 250 gig hard drive which mounts quickly, and is ideal for watching movies, or shifting files about.

It's highly customisable and is capable of operating as a standalone operating system. In stock configuration it's a very capable machine, but when customised it really takes off.

The negatives are;
The viewing angles are decent, but not perfect. Colours invert at the wrong angle showing that the screen is not as good quality as the iPads. The capacitive touchscreen does operate perfectly.
HDMI doesn't work with my tv, but my tv is a bit sniffy about hdmi anyway (Samsung Series 6 - a common enough issue with that apparently)
The latest firmware update is a bit of a mixed bag, but on the other hand Archos are putting a lot of effort into updates.
 
Cheers for that, seems all in all then a good deal, prob going to pick one up this weekend and I will let you know how I get on.
Funny enough my TV is a Samsung not sure about series model though so I wonder if it will allow the HDMI out, works fine with SKY HD on HDMI so i hoping it does..
 
j26 said:
The negatives are;
The viewing angles are decent, but not perfect. Colours invert at the wrong angle showing that the screen is not as good quality as the iPads. The capacitive touchscreen does operate perfectly.
HDMI doesn't work with my tv, but my tv is a bit sniffy about hdmi anyway (Samsung Series 6 - a common enough issue with that apparently)
The latest firmware update is a bit of a mixed bag, but on the other hand Archos are putting a lot of effort into updates.
Click to expand...

Can you clarify the bolded lines, j26 ? Bit confusing...
How is that a negative ? Or did you mean the capacitive touchscreen doesn't work perfectly. If so, how ?
 
Capactitive is the best form of touchscreen right now and the device is very well received in that respect. The other kind is resistive like on a sat nav, clunky and not as accuarate but cheaper end of market mostly.
I think j26 was just making a seperate point there..
 
Pique318 said:
Can you clarify the bolded lines, j26 ? Bit confusing...
How is that a negative ? Or did you mean the capacitive touchscreen doesn't work perfectly. If so, how ?
Click to expand...
.[/QUOTE]

While the viewing angle on the screen is not up to iPad standards, the capacitive touchscreen is very sensitive and accurate. Sorry if I wasn't clear.
 
I have the smaller brother archos 70. Love it. Chose it over the 10.1 for size. Think 7" screens are sufficient enough and it fits in my back pocket
 
johnnygmann - did you get one in the end? Would be interested in your feedback.
 
Hi pj I was going to get one new, then seen an advert for a used one at €200 had agreed to buy in principle but the seller seemed a bit dodge after talking to him a few times so pulled out... Still like the machine, I am now between waiting and spending bigger bucks on one of the new tablets to be released this year.
Motorola and Samsung both releasing 10.1 inch tablets this year, will be more expensive but they seem spec wise to be really top drawer.
Not gone on ipad 2 over the lack of flash support and the locked down nature.
Will let you know if I do go ahead between now and then though..
 
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