There seems to be a 5 to 6 inch STAMPEDE starting!

[frahse]

I am feeling a lot better now.

The trend seems not just to be toward Steve Job's idea of a tablet that fits in with "Coffee Table" books and magazines. 10" or even larger. Sure they are nice when you are on a sofa somewhere but I have enough stuff in my Airport Roll Along. By the way, Jobs even sneered at 7" as too little.

Archos hasn't announced a new Archos 53 or 6 with 1000 pixels or so which is what I lust for, but if we look at it's past development and placement of products like the Archos 43 with 4.3 inch screen and 854 pixels, we can hope and dream that they have positioned themselves to do well against these 5 inch beauties that I am now going to list.

TN -- (Tablet-News)
Pantech Vega No.5, 5 Inch Android with Dual Core

http://tablet-news.com/2011/05/24/pante ... ghz-video/

\\\\\\\\\\

Engadget
Samsung Galaxy Player 4" and 5"

http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/16/sams ... is-spring/

[elitistlinuxuser]

I agree the 5 inch form factor is perfect for mobility because it your pocket I carry my Archos 5 in my pocket and still have space for more stuff and you can view things for an extended period of time without squinting. Also I'm curious what leads you to believe that Archos will make a 5.3inch device?

[marcel]

bring it on!
5 inches is where it's at, bigger than a phone screen + better battery life, but smaller and more portable than a 7 inch tablet. Why did archos drop it with gen 8?

I want one!

marcel

[frahse]

I agree the 5 inch form factor is perfect for mobility because it your pocket I carry my Archos 5 in my pocket and still have space for more stuff and you can view things for an extended period of time without squinting. Also I'm curious what leads you to believe that Archos will make a 5.3inch device?

elitistlinuxuser,
First I think that Archos has very good farseeing product management. I and others I know are impressed by their product selection.
Second, I think that there is a hole in the present tablet offerings.

That hole is between a 5" and a 6" diagonal screen, with the key parameter being the resultant fit of the width and thickness of the device into a shirt pocket.

Since Archos has put 854 pixels (one way) into a 4.3 inch diagonal screen, I see no reason for it not to put 1000 or more into a 5 inch to 6 inch diagonal screen. Heck my wife's Ipod Touch has 960 pixels with a 3.5" screen. The actual size I chose to speculate on, 5.3" might have come about because that is a flip of the 3.5" Ipod Touch or just an inch added to the Archos 4.3. No insider information here.

Marcel we are sympatico, and there are a lot like us too.

[mplant1999]

It should be pointed out that the Pantech 5" tablet linked to above is actually a phone, similar to the Dell Streak...

[elitistlinuxuser]

I agree the 5 inch form factor is perfect for mobility because it your pocket I carry my Archos 5 in my pocket and still have space for more stuff and you can view things for an extended period of time without squinting. Also I'm curious what leads you to believe that Archos will make a 5.3inch device?

elitistlinuxuser,
First I think that Archos has very good farseeing product management. I and others I know are impressed by their product selection.
Second, I think that there is a hole in the present tablet offerings.

That hole is between a 5" and a 6" diagonal screen, with the key parameter being the resultant fit of the width and thickness of the device into a shirt pocket.

Since Archos has put 854 pixels (one way) into a 4.3 inch diagonal screen, I see no reason for it not to put 1000 or more into a 5 inch to 6 inch diagonal screen. Heck my wife's Ipod Touch has 960 pixels with a 3.5" screen. The actual size I chose to speculate on, 5.3" might have come about because that is a flip of the 3.5" Ipod Touch or just an inch added to the Archos 4.3. No insider information here.

Marcel we are sympatico, and there are a lot like us too.

Look as much as I want the new Archos devices to run MeeGo doesn't mean its going to happen even if they still have the problems of dealing with Android's closed nature. Archos will probably release an 5.0inch tablet instead of a 5.3inch tablet because 5inch screens are relatively common and capacitive digitizers for 5inch screens and the resolution will probably be 1024x600 or 800x480 because that is what is available.

[frahse]

mplant1999,
I missed the "connectivity" spec.
I saw this line up top and my heart jumped a bit, and I didn't read the rest very thorougly-

"This model mustnÔÇÖt be confused with the Pantech Vega Racer smartphone, that was recently launched and also packs a dual core 1.5GHz CPU. If youÔÇÖre curious about the looks of the product, you have the pics right here and if you want specs, hereÔÇÖs a list:"


elitistlinuxuser
you may have nailed it, but with all the different screen sizes, 2.8, 3.2, 3.5, 4.3, 4.8, 5., ..., 8.4 inch, and I could do some more research hunting for others, there is hope for a new paradigm, say 5.3 or 5.5, or 6, or something along those lines.

Once you make up your mind to get/make the best sized pocket (front shirt pocket) tablet then there are new sizing possibilities.

[frahse]

First off let us not forget the heavyweight in the tablet game.

Apple and it's I-pad are that heavyweight. I like a Kindle for reading books, but for magazines, and color, the I-pad is better. For consumption of material, photos, videos, color, it is great. Also I just saw it on the side lines of the National Rugby tournament (Go AZ), in news rooms, on President's Obama's desk, in Air Liner Cockpits, etc.
The greater amount of cash for purchasing tablets goes to Apple.
Microsoft sorta invented the tablet 10 years ago, but it didn't go very far but it is now coming back and there are dozens of new contenders including Archos, Samsung, HP, and others, now, and they are gaining share and validity just like Droid is gaining share against I-phones and Blackberry's but they are still eating Apple's dust right now.

So maybe we should look at what Apple has in mind for the future. Now Steve Jobs has scoffed publicly at a 7" tablet. You know all that great experience would be lost without the 10 inch (9.7") Ipad, but what else might Apple be doing/planning/plotting between the Iphone/Ipod Touch 3.5" screens and the Ipads 9.7" screens if not 7."


Is Apple thinking about playing the 6 (5.6 or 5.7") inch tablet game?

http://www.netbooklive.com/is-apple-pla ... game-8045/

http://www.onlinesocialmedia.net/201102 ... blettouch/

http://www.maxconsole.net/content.php?4 ... DS-and-NGP

Question is, if the new device would pattern closer to a little brother of the I-pad or a big brother of the I-pod Touch.
The consensus is so far leaning toward getting a new big brother for the Ipod Touch.
-- with gaming, NGP, and maybe 3D as strong suits

And now I might offend a few people in making my next point though I don't think they frequent this forum. A good many people say things like "well a smaller tablet would dilute the wonderful Ipad experience, so why would Apple do that, and I say the Ipod Touch (with a screen the same size (3.5") as the Iphone (with all it's experience) but without the IPS screen does pretty well, and ask the same people "what kind of wonderful experience do you have carrying an Ipad in your pocket? Your shirt pocket?

They might say "well that is different" and I would say, "you finally got it right!" Anyone can be a genius if someone feeds them the answers.

So the gist of my comments is which Tablet maker is going to see the direction the wind (Apple) is blowing, and give us a 5 to 6" tablet? Archos is a good bet in my mind.

[tmc]

The 5" form factor is about the MAXimum size you'll see a smart phone.. as many expensive htc models are around that size (although some earlier models had the Archos's 4.3 size). This form factor does give possible benefits such as sourcing a larger li-ion battery, larger storage and multi-core processors & other memory such as video ram. All of these can make a tablet act more like a desktop of a few years ago.

Ponder this: Will arm9 development begin to include x86 support ? I be microsoft hopes so..

[JamesDax]

First off let us not forget the heavyweight in the tablet game.

Apple and it's I-pad are that heavyweight. I like a Kindle for reading books, but for magazines, and color, the I-pad is better. For consumption of material, photos, videos, color, it is great. Also I just saw it on the side lines of the National Rugby tournament (Go AZ), in news rooms, on President's Obama's desk, in Air Liner Cockpits, etc.
The greater amount of cash for purchasing tablets goes to Apple.
Microsoft sorta invented the tablet 10 years ago, but it didn't go very far but it is now coming back and there are dozens of new contenders including Archos, Samsung, HP, and others, now, and they are gaining share and validity just like Droid is gaining share against I-phones and Blackberry's but they are still eating Apple's dust right now.

So maybe we should look at what Apple has in mind for the future. Now Steve Jobs has scoffed publicly at a 7" tablet. You know all that great experience would be lost without the 10 inch (9.7") Ipad, but what else might Apple be doing/planning/plotting between the Iphone/Ipod Touch 3.5" screens and the Ipads 9.7" screens if not 7."


Is Apple thinking about playing the 6 (5.6 or 5.7") inch tablet game?

http://www.netbooklive.com/is-apple-pla ... game-8045/

http://www.onlinesocialmedia.net/201102 ... blettouch/

http://www.maxconsole.net/content.php?4 ... DS-and-NGP

Question is, if the new device would pattern closer to a little brother of the I-pad or a big brother of the I-pod Touch.
The consensus is so far leaning toward getting a new big brother for the Ipod Touch.
-- with gaming, NGP, and maybe 3D as strong suits

And now I might offend a few people in making my next point though I don't think they frequent this forum. A good many people say things like "well a smaller tablet would dilute the wonderful Ipad experience, so why would Apple do that, and I say the Ipod Touch (with a screen the same size (3.5") as the Iphone (with all it's experience) but without the IPS screen does pretty well, and ask the same people "what kind of wonderful experience do you have carrying an Ipad in your pocket? Your shirt pocket?

They might say "well that is different" and I would say, "you finally got it right!" Anyone can be a genius if someone feeds them the answers.

So the gist of my comments is which Tablet maker is going to see the direction the wind (Apple) is blowing, and give us a 5 to 6" tablet? Archos is a good bet in my mind.

You might be on to something. I played around with the new Nook Touch the other day. What a great size. If you could get a color tablet with some good hardware under the hood the size of the Nook Touch that would be perfect.

[frahse]

You know a picture is worth a thousand words, and I like this picture at

the "5-inch Chinese craze"

http://tipstir.the-talk.net/t3269-china ... blet-craze

Some info too:
Specs

ACHO C902 is also fitted with a Rockchip RK2818 processor which is reportedly clocked at 1GHz, (well as we all know this is a dual core 600MHz 1.2GHz) but again no 3D support but it quick! It utilizes a five-inch touchscreen display capable of a native 800 x 480 resolution. and will come with version 2.2 of the Android operating system pre-installed into the it. Also, word has it that the C902 will feature built-in support for 3G and WiFi, along with hardware accelerated HD movie playback at up to 720p. More of DSP digital sound processor boost for 720p playback. Oh joy. What's the internal NAND another 2GB or will it be 4GB or 8GB?

[Dominick_7]

I agree that a 5 inch screen is the sweet spot for portable devices. It's big enough to allow less eye strain, more room to view videos, pics, and have more short cuts, and is still portable. Ideally I would love a solid Smartphone with a 500GB (SSD?) hard drive (with possible vertical sliding qwerty) to be my all in one device.. likely not going to happen, but still. You'd get the option to type with a big enough one handed keyboard OR virtual software keyboard, enough room for your videos and music, and it can make calls and have 3g/4g. If I can't get that a nice 5 inch Generation 9 Archos with top specs, as in IMPRESSIVE specs even by the time it comes out would be sweet.

[Harfainx]

Ideally I would love a solid Smartphone with a 500GB (SSD?) hard drive

You sure about that?
http://www.google.com/search?q=512GB+ss ... 59&bih=904

[frahse]

One more day!

I hope that Archos lives up to our hopes.

[CounterPunch]

I ahve neve rowned a portable tochscreen device i'm excited to ge tthe new Archos gen 9 5 inch I agree with above i hope archos keep it's promises and lives up to our hopes.

[frahse]

Ok. My expectations weren't met this time by Archos. I will have to
look more thoroughly into what else is available (4.5 to 6 inch).

For those of you who want the 8 and 9 inch format, I am happy for you.

I really did like the $50 3G dongle. I might get one of those. I am going to
check into that some more for sure.

[ubergrog]

I for one am very dissapointed. I'd appreciate if you guys keep this thread updated with what you find. I'm still looking for a good pocketable tablet. TX

[paulus3476]

You might want to consider getting a dell streak - considering its an older device, newly rejuvenated with 2.2.2 and getting 2.3 and probably above, it is a suprisingly good device, what the A5 should have been

[ubergrog]

You might want to consider getting a dell streak - considering its an older device, newly rejuvenated with 2.2.2 and getting 2.3 and probably above, it is a suprisingly good device, what the A5 should have been

That's funny you mention that 'cause I was just checking out the specs & reviews myself .

Looks great, even has the rear camera that I so much missed having. Now I just have to get past the household budget inspector (AKA my wife)

[rushmore]

Why not get a 4.3" or 4.5" dual core Android phone instead, since one device and better connectivity?