Do you plan on purchasing the Archos 9?

[Charbax]

Lenovo IdeaPad S12

Archos makes the worlds best Netbooks if that's what you want. The Archos 10 Ubuntu comes with 500GB hard drive, 2GB ram, 6-cell battery for just about as much as a normal netbook ($375). You can then install a triple-boot system on it with Windows XP/7 and Hackintosh OSX as well. It could come in the Archos 10S thin form factor design as well.

If the Ubuntu version of the Archos 10 (a rebadged Hasee MJ125) is the same hardware as the Windows version but with a larger hd and Linux then it is still an average performing netbook. To improve on it to any degree you would need, as mention above, to include the NVidia ION graphic chip set plus HDMI and optical out. Now if the Archos 9 included these items then I would definitely consider purchasing one.

It ads 3x hard drive space and 2x RAM for nearly the same price. If you want that Nvidia ION thing it will cost you $100 extra, cause that's what Intel, Nvidia and Microsoft charges extra for that HDMI output which is not part of the low cost Intel Atom and Windows XP licencing limitations and cause Nvidia charges extra for their chip.

You'll get HDMI output on the ARM based $150 Laptops coming out in the next few months. Those ARM laptops will also get decent 3D acceleration based on Open GL graphics which will play any Quake3 type of game at full resolution and full framerates.

[Budwzr]

Everybody (and their brother) is coming out with new lines of ultrathin netbooks soon, they're not an "Archos Innovation". New cell phones are coming out soon with pico projectors onboard so you can play a movie on a wall from your phone. There's a lot of cool stuff coming soon.

[Charbax]

Everybody (and their brother) is coming out with new lines of ultrathin netbooks soon, they're not an "Archos Innovation". New cell phones are coming out soon with pico projectors onboard so you can play a movie on a wall from your phone. There's a lot of cool stuff coming soon.

No other company has announced 500GB Ubuntu netbooks with 2GB ram for nearly the same price as a 160GB Windows XP netbook with 1GB of RAM.

Texas Instruments is making those pico projector systems, since Archos is at the forefront of implementing Texas Instruments technology, I expect we could see Archos devices with built-in or module projectors. I think that the best way of using such a small projector would be to project on a table and detect finger or pen input on that table http://techvideoblog.com/cebit/yahsin-p ... n-concept/ , this would turn the pocketable device into a large screen interface computer. Perhaps with even a pretty decent and usable on-table finger keyboard experience like this one http://techvideoblog.com/cebit/celluon-cl-800bt/

[kb]

For once I agree with Charbax -- the 500Gb Ubuntu netbook (if it actually gets as far as being sold) is a very brave move. It's at least possible that Windows won't even run on such a machine -- it certainly won't lawfully run. So you're really going to have to be an enthusiast to buy such a machine -- and this really is Archos' traditional market.

I'm unconvinced about the merits of a built-in projector, however. I'm sure this is technically feasible, but these devices are hardly more than a novelty right now. They're OK in the dark; in even moderate daylight they're not very usable. But I'm sure the technology will improve. A screen-less netbook with a projector is potentially a winner if it's well-implemented.

[Charbax]

kb check my "yahsin projector" video. The idea is that you put your Archos on the table on its kickstand, it would then project a 19" screen right there on the table. And even would come with some sensors to detect where you touch the table. So it's a touch capable on-table projector screen, with even detector good enough to use a full sized on-table projector keyboard. All this might sound weird but I have tried prototypes of that type of technology, as you can see in my videos, and I actually think the on-table mini projector with on-table touch sensors technology is amazingly usable. This would really make for a pocketable large screen on-table computing experience.

Either someone creates it as a compatible accessory that connects to any screen output like the Celluon cl-800bt but with a full TV/screen input and a full projector built-in instead of only the laser projected keyboard and which connects USB or Bluetooth keyoard and mouse, or it would be done directly built-in to the device.

[kb]

Yeah, I've seen the video and it's a great idea. The problem is that, at present, the kind of LED projector that could be integrated comfortably into a portable media player isn't really all that bright. I've seen some of the really tiny ones in action and they're fine in blackout conditions, but not good in daylight.

And you'd still need a traditional screen for situations where there's no flat surface available, I think.

But I'm disagreeing with you (for once ) -- it's a great idea and one that I'm sure vendors will take up as soon as the technology is up to it.

[Charbax]

You'd be projecting at a distance of only a few centimeters onto the table, with an appropriate lense to keep the whole image in focus given the unusual angle of projection) so I am sure that the 10-30 Lumen output of current Pico projectors would be good enough for on-table computing interface use, at least when used on any table. It's if you switch the projector upwards to project a video against a wall, then you need a pitch dark room for it to be viewable. But usually, Cinema situations are meant to be in totally dark rooms.