256mb RAM confirmed for Archos 101??

[irishpride]

I see everywhere people quoting that the Archos 101 will only have 256mb of RAM. Has this been confirmed anywhere? Because I haven't seen anything but rumors. If it has been confirmed can someone provide a link to where it says this?

[cpg716]

I see everywhere people quoting that the Archos 101 will only have 256mb of RAM. Has this been confirmed anywhere? Because I haven't seen anything but rumors. If it has been confirmed can someone provide a link to where it says this?

If i recall someone on here emailed Archos, and the responded that the Archos 70 and 101 had 256Mb Ram.....

CPG

[irishpride]

So there's no actual proof. I've been on forums like this for long enough to know that you can't believe second hand information, no matter the source. I'm not saying that your lying, just that there's no way we can know until Archos releases the complete specs for both the 70 and 101.

I really hope they don't cripple these with 256mb, which from what I understand would make it very difficult to get Gingerbread(3.0) either through an update or ported on. The minimum amount of RAM for Gingerbread is 512mb and from everything I've heard they are specifically making Gingerbread to work with tablets.

We'll have to wait and see, I may still get the 101 just because of the price and other than the amount of RAM it seems like one of the nicer looking tablets that will be on the market.

[divx118]

You don't have to wait, confirmed by archos gen8 has 256Mb RAM.

Maurice

[irishpride]

You don't have to wait, confirmed by archos gen8 has 256Mb RAM.

Maurice

Proof?? Like I said in the previous post, taking some random person's word on a forum is never smart.

[humblepie]

if i am correct it is the RAM that determines how fast or how less clunky scrolling is. 256 would not give a satisfactory performance if u load up a few more apps.

[divx118]

Proof?? Like I said in the previous post, taking some random person's word on a forum is never smart.

You are right.

Maurice

[cpg716]

if i am correct it is the RAM that determines how fast or how less clunky scrolling is. 256 would not give a satisfactory performance if u load up a few more apps.

Not exactly true. You can find 256MB Android devices that run smoother then 512MB ones... Processor, version of Android, and overall implementation matter just as much...


CPG

[irishpride]

if i am correct it is the RAM that determines how fast or how less clunky scrolling is. 256 would not give a satisfactory performance if u load up a few more apps.

Not exactly true. You can find 256MB Android devices that run smoother then 512MB ones... Processor, version of Android, and overall implementation matter just as much...


CPG

Care to explain that a little more?

[Charbax]

Archos confirmed to me that the whole range has 256MB RAM, appart from A28 has 128MB RAM.

256MB RAM may be more than enough to run everything anyone would want to run smoothly and at full speed on Android 2.2, Android 3.0 and 4.0.

[humblepie]

what i experiement is that my desire, which has 512 mb ram was tune down from 998mhz to 246-400 mhz using set cpu and tested to load my app with 40 listview items. performance does not deteriorate. loading takes longer but scrolling still quite smooth.

what is a good test whether RAM matters all else being equal?

[rushmore]

Based on reading the Android dev forums, Gingerbread is being "assumed" to require 512mb of ram for "best function". I did not see where it said "will not work", but more ram is being leveraged in the newer OS version- Ironically, the focus on more ram is due to the larger displays on netbooks and tablets. I would have thought that need would be through video ram, but apparently it is more involved than that.

Please consider that the "rumor" not too long ago was that Gingerbread would require a dual core chipset, so seems to be a moving target for requirements ;)

I wonder if Android 3.0 is going to be adding "window" functions, due to larger displays? ;) May not be a joke....

[pascanu]

I think there's a lot of confusion because people tend to think in a windows/PC paradigm. Memory management aside, I remember reading a recent interview (can't find it now) with one of ARM's top figures and one of the things he underlined was that multi-core processors are not developed to deliver more computing power but to decrease power consumption and increase battery life (by using only one core and firing the second one only when needed).

We should stop worrying about raw specs and start having a little faith. I truly believe that Archos knows what they are doing and can't afford to flop with these tablets. To me they look pretty confident in their products, after all they are launching 5 different models at once!

P.S. Archos, please don't let me look like a fool!

[rushmore]

Based on Android dev chatter at the Android forums, 3.0 will work with 256mb, but the update is designed around adding features to support tablets and netbooks. To get the full performance from 3.0, you will need 512mb, but it is not required. This also depends on if you are using a higher res display. 800X480 or lower could be fine without 512mb, but devices with higher res may not get the full benefit of performance. The 101 should have been given 512mb for this reason. Point of perspective: My much smaller 3.7" Incredible has 512mb of ram.

Again, the reason for 3.0 is to ADD features for tablet devices and netbooks. This also means the roms in the future will be considerably bigger, so devices with 512mb of rom space (the ones where the OS and the stock apps are stored together- like the Droid 1), will probably not get a full 3.0 update.

Of course, the grand assumption is that Archos would even update to 3.0 on these devices.

Notice I put a lot of caveats in the post, since 3.0 is STILL a moving target at this point in time. Only known is the reason for the update and 3.0 naming is the evolution to full netbook and tablet support.

[d00b]

Pragmatically, any tablet launched this year (the Gal Tab included) will have a short shelf life. Whether 256 or 512MB, they'll be eclipsed in features and capabilities by the succeeding wave that has 3.0 preloaded.

If 3.0 drops by year-end, then 3.0 toys will start to appear in Q1 2011, at least from larger companies that had the inside track to its development. By Q2, most branded Android toys will be on 3.0.

As eager buyers we all like to pretend to ourselves that our (soon to be) new toy will be the best and greatest forever. But realistically, count on 6 months of fun before upgrade fever hits.

So the question isn't whether we should have faith in Archos to upgrade to 3.0, or if Gen8 is 3.0-doable. The question is if we want to wait around 4-6 months for 3.0 toys to hit. If you are here reading this, the answer is: probably not.

Then, if not, what's the best way to go? Buy expensive (Gal Tab) and hope it lasts a long time? Yeah, right. Or buy good-enough (101) and dump it for next new toy for minimal loss?

I'm seeing several Tegra 2 toys hitting the shelves for Santa this year. All will have 512+. Generic ones are $400, branded ones will probably push $500. Theoretically, they're more upgrade-capable. More likely, vendors' priority will be to put out new 3.0-preloaded wares, and the best you can hope for the old toys is a stable 2.2.

Then, pay another $150 or so for the extra 256MB, and hope either the vendor (probably not) or the community (ditto) comes through with 3.0?

How much faith do you have?

[rushmore]

Good point. From a cost curve / upgrade standpoint, the Archos 101 seems a better option regardless. Nobody yet knows that 256mb less will even have an adverse impact to performance with 3.0 (and assumes Archos upgrade to it). Could be no harm, no foul.

$333 delivered with the features the 101 has is too good to pass up. The main issue is device app storage. There seems to be a misnomer that apps2sd has fixed the problem, but it has not. You still need to have more at least 1gb of internal app storage, since apps like Google Earth install 15mb on the device and the balance to the SD card and lot of 3D games but 5 or 6 mb in the internal space.

I hope the Archos does not just have a few hundred megs of app space. Most people will quickly run out of space- in spite of apps2sd.

I look forward to getting my 101, but will cancel if it has low app space.

[d00b]

Default app space, per report of the Archos 32, is 220MB available. It's a personal preference whether that is "sufficient." For the short-term (read: 6-month) view, that should be enough for me, but again, YMMV.

My gauge isn't predicated solely on app use. It's apps + web browse + AV. Even if app deficient, the other two have substantive enough use cases, and the pricing low enough, that my concern is minimal.

I think it will depend on RAM and space usage of upcoming apps (more likely, games). Big games will do better in 512 & more space. Then again, big games will do probably do better with 3.0 as well. Those games aren't here now. They will come in 2011, and will sync more with the next Android toy I buy.

I think the Android future is in too much flux to buy "upgrade insurance." I think it's wasted money. But everyone has a different strategy (and budget).

[rushmore]

I will cancel if just 220mb. This would mean that the Archos only has a 512mb rom, so Android OS and stock apps take up the rest of the space (hence 220mb remain). Considering 3.0 is expected to be larger, this would mean these devices will have even less space than 220mb (Bigger OS and stock apps have to go somewhere). If the Archos devices only have a 512mb rom, probably not likely it will see 3.0.

Here is an example of how quickly app space fills up and this is WITH apps2sd on Froyo 2.2 (BTW, there are already some great 3D games without 3.0).

This is the space apps take up ON the device storage (not microsd card, example- NOVA is several hundred megs on the card- nice Halo clone).

Google Earth = 15mb
NOVA =15mb
Anytime Pool = 13mb
Hockey Nation = 12mb
Open Tyrinian = 12mb
Adobe Flash = 12mb
Asphalt 5 = 10mb
Doodle Bowling = 9mb
MS Soccer = 9mb
Space Buster = 9mb
Maps = 9mb
Winds of Steel = 8mb
RockPlayer =7mb
Bonsai Blast = 7mb
Magic Gem 2 = 7mb
Dolphin HD = 7mb
SkyFire = 5mb
RadioTime =5mb
Field Goal = 5mb
Swype = 5mb
Jewellust = 5mb
Raging Thunder 2 = 4mb
MLB Baseball = 4mb
Gmail = 5mb
Astro = 4mb
Lets Golf = 3mb
Shopsavvy = 3mb
Mini Squadran = 2mb

28 apps and already out of space for 220mb. This assumes you can even install 220mb worth, since Android 2.2 starts acting up and warns of storage problems with 5% to 10% space left. You usually can not install apps when this happens.

220mb on the new Archos devices would equal MAJOR AND INSANE fail.

[d00b]

For fun, I looked up the median for above apps, which is 7MB.

http://easycalculation.com/statistics/m ... n-mode.php

15,15,13,12,12,12,10,9,9,9,9,8,7,7,7,7,5,5,5,5,5,4,4,5,4,3,3,2

(220 / 7) = ~30 apps, or as you said, more like ~25 at any given time. For me, that's a sufficient number to not make the uninstall-install routine too onerous (will need to find or write script to facilitate procedure).

But point taken. If app use is your priority, and you don't want the uninst/inst hassle, then 220 probably won't fly. Other tabs will be out come Oct/Nov. Let me know what catches your fancy.

As a hypothetical, if the choice is between the 101 and Gal Tab for the rest of this year, would you pay the extra $500 (or the 2-yr sub) to get the extra system storage and RAM, or would you wait for 2011?

[rushmore]

I would not get either for myself, but I still may get the 8gb version for my wife around Christmas. Still, SURELY Archos would not screw this up and instantly constrain sales of this device and almost certainly prevent the device from getting 3.0. Hoping it is not true, but releasing a new tablet with 2.2 and only a 200mb of app space and assuming apps 2sd would solve it would be naive of Archos.

Please also consider that I only picked the larger apps. Media and social apps take up a lot space and cache too. We can only hope Archos has mapped space like the competIon does. Heck, even my phone has about three times more space.