gdgt

Nope! Doesn't have Gmail, Google Maps, or the Android Marketplace.

now why is that?

Google has not yet made Gmail, Maps, Contacts and Marketplace for Archos's 800x480 and 1280x720 screen sizes.

Since Android 1.6 was released a couple of weeks ago, and that Archos has announce they will integrate 1.6 in a firmware update later in October, I expect we will see the Google apps available on Archos soon.

Charbax is right. This isn't a "With Google" device.

but isn´t true that in some official screen shoots of archos comes with market place........ and what client of mail use???

Android edition.

Question seconded.

Archos previously used Opera browsers.

For now there is only Google's Webkit based browser available in Android, and Archos is using that one.

Though I think I've seen rumors that soon enough there will be full Firefox, Opera, and even the full sized Google Chrome browsers available in Android as well. Since the Android Native SDK has been released for a couple of months, developers have only been able to work on this since then.

It's Webkit and is nice, web pages look pretty good and load pretty quickly.

Well, basically you get all the media functionality plus web browser and apps.

Archos is using an ARM Cortex A8 processor, while the HTC Dream/Magic I think use ARM11 processors. ARM Cortex A8 is supposed to be 3-4 faster than the older ARM11 technology. Though you have to consider as well that Archos need to render 2.5x more pixels on the much higher resolution 800x480 screen compared to 480x320 on HTC.

It's got its own app store, with a bunch of apps, but no access (yet) to the regular Android market. I assume that (at least for right now) this is justified by the disparity in screen size, but that is supposed to be solved with the next version of Android.

Whole thing seems a little silly and confusing to me. Why not just let every Android device access the Android marketplace.

You can also just double click on any Android .apk installation file, and early reports are saying that most apps work fine, as long as the apps are not using the camera or compass functions. Even if the apps are only optimized for 480x320 screens.

But yet, this should all be solved when Archos upgrades it with Android 1.6 support, since Android 1.5 has not had "official" support for such higher resolution screens.

Sorry for the silly question, but where can one find .apk installation files for Android apps?

Slideme has some, and if you have an android phone you can off load your apps using app manager.

I can criticize it all I want! I've used it and it simply isn't a great experience. Doesn't matter what the reason is.

Isn't Lenovo essentially doing the equivalent of capacitive touch on their new Win7 machines like the x200T with the WACOM multitouch panel? The touch experience on that is way better than on the Archos, and that is a 12" screen that can also handle WACOM pen input. Not sure why someone could not come up with a better touchscreen for the 4.*" form factor. Peter is right, the touch experience on the Archos screen is much, much different from capactivive screens like the iPhone and the Pre. (Even though it is worlds better, in my opinion, than the last generation of Archos touchscreens, which were truly horrible.)

It's like comparing a 47" HDTV with an 32" analog TV and saying that the little analog TV has a better "experience".

Resistive touchscreens have been in consumer electronics devices for 10 years and it has been fine.

800x480 4.8" capacitative screens are simply not made by this industry.

This device starts at $249 for the 8GB model, MSRP thus below $200 street price. Nobody would want to pay twice the price just to be the first in the world with 4.8" 800x480 OLED or Capacitative.

That is simply absurd. There is no comparison between using Android on a capacitive and a resistive screen. You can try to gloss over the differences, but they are there. And the proof is that as soon as capacitive displays come out at this size and resolution (and the HTC HD2 is same resolution and almost the same size) and are cheap enough Archos will switch.

Just because resistive was standard for the past ten years means nothing.

While I do agree that capacitive screens are generally nicer to use for finger interaction, I still think resistive displays have a place for people who want to write in languages that are not alpha numeric like Chinese.

That may be true, but the Archos isn't set up for pen-based input, so you can't really do any writing with it.

HTC phones are usually sold about $400 for much lower specs than this. The HTC phone you are talking about has a 25% smaller screen which is significant. Like the difference between 42" and a 47" HDTV.

That HTC 4.3" 800x480 capaticative WM6.5 phone most likely will be sold above $500 unlocked.

Archos will most likely use capacitative on the 4.3" Archos Phone due in 3 months or so.

Though that doesn't stop the fact that no device has been announced for 4.8" 800x480 capacitative and that if by a year from now there are such screens, Archos today can sell this device below $200 for the 8GB version as street price totally unlocked. That's about the price of the ipod touch and obviously so superior in every way.

I think that sort of bears out my point.

I will certainly agree with you that given the choice I would take a capacitive version of this over an iPod touch.

I am so tired of this argument. It is fine that there will always be people out there defending resistive technology; it is your right to like it more than capacitive. Nobody is going to take that away from you. But it is clear that the majority of touch screen phone users who can identify the difference between the two technologies prefer capacitive touch screens for day-to-day use when the UI is not designed for a stylus.

As Peter pointed out, this Archos device doesn't even come packed with a stylus. It is not designed for stylus use, but rather finger use. In my personal opinion, when you remove the stylus and a stylus-centric OS/UI, you remove the benefits that resistive has over capacitive. Regardless of my opinion on the overall subject, it doesn't matter what the device costs or how many variations of capacitives are available. These facts don't change the overall usability of the device, and obviously hasn't changed his opinion on it either.

If poop was the only food available in massive quantities, but there was a small number of cupcakes available, you can bet your ass people would want cupcakes, regardless of how expensive they are. Now, I'm not saying resistive is poopie, but I think you get my point.

Relevant question below... sorry to hijack the thread for a rant. ^_^

Battery life has been good, though have mainly been using it as an internet tablet, not really using it for video so much.

It can tether to a phone over Bluetooth or USB, for what it's worth.

OK thanks. I also use my old Archos mainly as an internet tablet, but the battery sucks. However I find the 800x480 res is awesome for browsing. I reckon its the sweet spot between size and usability in a small device. I'm on the lookout for a replacement.

i am thinking of getting one of these..2 questions holding me back are 1) WM tethering possibility and 2)what is coming out of CES..will programs like PDANET work on this? do you think CES will make this tablet immediatly obselete

I'm not sure it'd make a better audio player than an iPod classic, but given how few other 500GB PMPs are out there I don't think he'd be be unhappy if he picked one of these up. Though he may find scrolling through 500GB of music to be a bit frustrating given the interface.

forget my question from before, just saw your note about bricking your device. I gues that answers my question