The bottom line: The Archos 70 offers more horsepower and features than any other tablet under $300, but its limitations make it more of a toy than a tool.

The build and materials leave a lot to be desired and the screen isn’t the greatest by a long shot. But the Archos 70b sort of succeeds in being a jack of all trades: it masters none, but we can see that its skill set will appeal to some at this price.

Given its size and price, the Archos 70 internet tablet could be a neat purchase for anyone regularly travelling or on a budget. But, thanks to performance foibles, we'd suggest this as a secondary device rather than a first choice machine.

The diminuitive Archos 70b internet tablet is a mixed bag. We appreciated the look and feel of the device, as well as the Android Honeycomb operating system and battery life. But we just couldn’t stop ourselves being slightly underwhelmed by the performance

It's a cheap way to get ereader and tablet functionality, but the experience of the bargain basement 70b isn't a patch on an Amazon Kindle or more expensive tablet.