Archos should make a premium honeycomb tablet for $500+

[kmd1970]

We now have a mid range Archos 101 and (coming soon) the low(er) end Arnova 10. Archos needs a high end tablet to challenge xoom, galaxy tab 10.1, playbook, et al and show them how to really put good features into an android tablet. Oh, and slap that OMAP4440 into it.

I would gladly pay $$$ for a premium honeycomb tablet with all of the features of the Archos 101 including the extensive video and audio media playback and subtitle support. (I hate to re encode files). It seems the other tablet makers don't care enough about audio and video to provide better codec or subtitle support.

...Or..... Can you release your Archos 101 video/media player as a separate android market application?

[philthy_ritch]

Don't know about $500 but I agree with you. I appreciate this device for what it is but it feels like a beta model for things to come just like the 6th generation felt like a beta for the the 7th gerneration. In addition to the upgrades in software and processor I think its time for a remake in terms of the body design and build quality. It is going to be interesting to see which direction they go in with all of the competition on the horizon.

[kmd1970]

I mentioned $500 because it seems to be the sweet spot for solid tablet hardware. If they could make it cheaper then more power to them.

I loved my Archos 101 (sold it), but that touchscreen was awful and the shell was flexible and seemed fragile. I had a pen in my bag and it left a dent in the top of the Archos. Also, every time I wipe to scroll in the browser, a link would activate and I would have to hit the back button, rinse and repeat.

[mke1973]

We now have a mid range Archos 101 and (coming soon) the low(er) end Arnova 10. Archos needs a high end tablet to challenge xoom, galaxy tab 10.1, playbook, et al and show them how to really put good features into an android tablet. Oh, and slap that OMAP4440 into it.

I would gladly pay $$$ for a premium honeycomb tablet with all of the features of the Archos 101 including the extensive video and audio media playback and subtitle support. (I hate to re encode files). It seems the other tablet makers don't care enough about audio and video to provide better codec or subtitle support.

...Or..... Can you release your Archos 101 video/media player as a separate android market application?

Well, netbooknews.com reported yesterday that an Archos spokesperson was saying that the company would launch a high end tablet at IFA 2011, held late summer in Berlin. No real details, but given that all future flash updates will require dual core and that Honeycomb (and successor systems) is really developed to run well on dual core tablets, expect it to house a dual core processor. Let's just hope that Archos puts 1GB of RAM in it and doesn't skimp with 512. They're notorious for skimping on memory. Truthfully, they've got to do this or die in the tablet market. I don't see many single core tablets succeeding after Q3, there will be so many dual core tablets on the scene by then.

Here's a link to the netbooknews.com article. http://www.netbooknews.com/20981/archos ... -ifa-2011/

[sequitur]

Archos has been on a tear believe it or not. Not long ago some were speculating as to their future but they saw huge profits the end of last year with Gen 8. Given how little time it was out to jump from the 50M Euro income to upper 80M range is huge. The assumption about them not being able to keep things in stock seems accurate. They also have been expanding the total number of products they sell. The speculation is the next step is to shorten major release cycles. It's not really all that simple though so who knows if they will bring out new devices Q3 or Q4.

An OMAP 4440 would be an awesome chip to start with, though I'd like a 5 series that generation probably won't see a shipping device this year. It's true Archos has skimped on RAM. The screen is also sub par on the 101. However if they are going to higher resolution displays there may be little choice on upgrading the display. Having said all that I think they need to target the $400 or less price point if possible unless they produce something truly stellar in the $500 price point. The reason is that Archos doesn't have the marketing power to push big ticket against the major companies getting in the fray and the logical next step as tablets really do begin to hit is to see price competition. It's worth noting the iPad2 still has a number of deficits to an open platform, but they really chipped away at some serious flaws from the first version. As a result a new Android tablet needs to be boasting attractive features as well as a competitive price, or somewhere between Archos and Apple in marketing power.

As far as noting that gen 8 are single core... Yeah, the first dual core devices shipped in the last month. Archos released gen 8 in the Oct/Nov range last year and had been working on them for months. They are using TI OMAP chips, which has only recently released the 4 series dual core. Those chips have proven that as impressive as Tegra 2 is OMAP takes a back seat to no chip. Unlike some companies that release devices with 2 year old processors Archos has always had cutting edge ARM CPUs.

[kmd1970]

Even with a single core cpu and limited memory the Archos 101 still played all of my original 720p HD videos smoothly, without stuttering. I've read that the Xoom is having lots of HD video stuttering issues and it has a dual core Tegra2 and 1GB memory.

If Archos can make it work for the 101, imagine what they could with a higher end product.

[Hajile_Ibushi]

Did a quick look at the other tablets. As i've said last year, the A101 is just a stopgap for me and i was expecting to swap to a honeycomb in six months. It's now month 5 and unfortunately, the feature list on the upcoming honeycombs are missing the Archos features i really liked (Network browsing/streaming and video codecs especially).

[AllenPapapetrou]

If Archos doesn't come out with a high end 101 I think they'll miss a lot of business.

Allen

[mke73]

If Archos doesn't come out with a high end 101 I think they'll miss a lot of business.

Allen

Well, we'll see if the high end model mentioned by their spokesman materializes at IFA. It also needs to have truly good specs--if they cut corners on the CPU or RAM it won't be competitive.

[JiveMofo]

i'd wonder if they're capable of making a higher end unit. and if so, would you be willing to deal with their customer support with a more expensive unit?

i haven't had any bad experiences, but there are quite a few topics here about it. then again people always speak up more to complain than to praise.

i really don't care who makes a good device, i'm not brand loyal to anyone. i'm more bang-for-your-buck. so if archos can pull it off i'd go for it. shoot, at $300 there's still no one that's come close (at 10" and not including the clearance on the iPad 1's).

[gottahavit]

i'd wonder if they're capable of making a higher end unit. and if so, would you be willing to deal with their customer support with a more expensive unit?

i haven't had any bad experiences, but there are quite a few topics here about it. then again people always speak up more to complain than to praise.

i really don't care who makes a good device, i'm not brand loyal to anyone. i'm more bang-for-your-buck. so if archos can pull it off i'd go for it. shoot, at $300 there's still no one that's come close (at 10" and not including the clearance on the iPad 1's).

agreed, I don't see too many people willing to spend 500+ with a company like archos at least in the US, when you can probably get an identical(or better) spec'd tab for a little more at your local B+M. The QC is too questionable, their RMA process is ridiculous, and their customer service is... oh wait never mind they don't have any.

That said for 300 bucks there aren't too many competitors at the moment at least in the 10" tab market. For 7" you have tons of options several I would buy over the a70.

[philthy_ritch]

http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/05/arch ... -this-sum/

[JiveMofo]

by summer seems like a kinda rush. not much r&d and beta testing on it then. especially since they have no clue what it'll be yet. i'd guess that they're going to buy a pre-fabbed tablet and tweak the os.

[baxjohnson]

I love my 101 but I would be hesitant to pay $500+ bucks for an Archos until I was sure they would be able to offer the quality that kind of price tag demands.

An analogy is if Hyundai offered a car in the same price range as the BMW M6. I'd have to do some serious research to convince myself that I should buy a Hyundai for the same price as I would pay for an M6.

Now, that being said, right now there are no BMW M6 10" tablets on the market now so maybe it is not a good analogy.

Bax

[gottahavit]

I love my 101 but I would be hesitant to pay $500+ bucks for an Archos until I was sure they would be able to offer the quality that kind of price tag demands.

An analogy is if Hyundai offered a car in the same price range as the BMW M6. I'd have to do some serious research to convince myself that I should buy a Hyundai for the same price as I would pay for an M6.

Now, that being said, right now there are no BMW M6 10" tablets on the market now so maybe it is not a good analogy.

Bax

but you just hit on the issue, NO ONE is going to buy a $100K+ Hyundai, no matter how much research they do.

[JiveMofo]

but you just hit on the issue, NO ONE is going to buy a $100K+ Hyundai, no matter how much research they do.

maybe after a few more years of establishing themselves. honda used to be a budget car way back too, now they make acuras.

[kmd1970]

but you just hit on the issue, NO ONE is going to buy a $100K+ Hyundai, no matter how much research they do.

The Hyundai Genesis luxury sedan was named the 2009 North American Car of the Year. It's 33k and higher and competes with BMW and Mercedes.

I for one will bet on Archos and give them a chance. No other tablet (high or low end) has the extensive software features that Archos offers. (I don't want to convert videos in 2011!)

I must admit I was annoyed with all of the bugs in the initial Archos 101 firmware, but they were quickly fixed.

All I can do is just wait and see what new tablet they release and what the reviewers say.

I have $500 saved Archos.

[baxjohnson]

No other tablet (high or low end) has the extensive software features that Archos offers. (I don't want to convert videos in 2011!)

I couldn't agree more. One of the things I love the most about my Archos...rip and watch!


Bax

[AllenPapapetrou]

I hope you guys are right. I just got in an Asus EP121 and it flat out performs. I'm looking for 7 and 10 inch productivity tablets and I would like them to be Archos devices.

Allen

[gottahavit]

No other tablet (high or low end) has the extensive software features that Archos offers. (I don't want to convert videos in 2011!)

I couldn't agree more. One of the things I love the most about my Archos...rip and watch!


Bax

Other than DVD with optional plugin what exactly can you rip and watch on the archos. I have yet to run across a 720p bluray. Nearly every thing I own is 1080p either mpeg2 or mkv

just curious.

Don't get me wrong I know from experience that even tegra 2 can't play bluesy rips well but Archos has no shot. The only device ive tried so far that managed it was the sylvania 7" and its HDMI never worked right.