Owner Reviews - A70

[viking]

the mini hdmi cable is larger than the one i have and expected it to be, didn't realize there were multiple mini hdmi cables.

What does that mean? It doesn't come with that cable, so are you saying the onboard mini receptacle is bigger than something?

[digibucc]

i'm saying i have an HTC Evo with a mini-hdmi port, and a cable that turns that into a regular hdmi for tvs.

the mini hdmi on the archos 7 is larger than the mini-hdmi on my evo, so therefore my existing cord will not work as i thought it would.

edit: so evo is probably micro-hdmi and archos 7 is mini-hdmi, guessing

[AndroidCircuit]

Went out and bought a Nikon D3100 that shoots 1080i video... waiting on Froyo to do a high quality video review!

[mrkniceguy]

i'm saying i have an HTC Evo with a mini-hdmi port, and a cable that turns that into a regular hdmi for tvs.

the mini hdmi on the archos 7 is larger than the mini-hdmi on my evo, so therefore my existing cord will not work as i thought it would.

edit: so evo is probably micro-hdmi and archos 7 is mini-hdmi, guessing

Yes, the 70IT uses mini, the Evo uses Micro
http://androidforums.com/htc-evo-4g/891 ... post842742

[vohkuhl]

Just got my A70 delivered!!!

1. 8GB
2. Canada
3. http://www.archos.com
4. After playing with it for 2 hours, I'm loving it!!! It seems a lot more responsive from when my co-worker who showed it to me last month... Going to install gApps4Archos right now and play around some more!

vohkuhl

[tomasztopa]

1. 8G
2. Poland
3. Archos.com
4. http://tomasz.topa.pl/archos-70-interne ... zenia.html (in Polish, but Google Translate should help )

[rchos_fan]

i'm saying i have an HTC Evo with a mini-hdmi port, and a cable that turns that into a regular hdmi for tvs.

the mini hdmi on the archos 7 is larger than the mini-hdmi on my evo, so therefore my existing cord will not work as i thought it would.

edit: so evo is probably micro-hdmi and archos 7 is mini-hdmi, guessing

Flip it (the A70) over. It says Mini HDMI.

[luckyxero]

1. 8G
2. USA (Boston)
3. Archos.com
4. So far this is much better than the 7HT (obviously) and the Huawei S7. Had both of them in the past month and returned them both once this guy came in. One benefit the Huawei had was there was a slot for an AT&T sim card (unadvertised). However, the capacitive screen and the battery on the 70IT are much, much better.

I think Archos could really have stolen the market from Samsung here if they actually had stock to sell. I played with the Samsung Gtab for about 4 hours in the store, and decided it wasn't worth it. However at half the price and 80-90% of the features, the 70IT is very much "worth" it IMHO.

Loving this machine- hacks from this place and all of the tips make this tablet even better!!!! Rockplayer rocks, gapps4archos (or whatever) is perfect. Kindle works as expected, and couch surfing couldn't be better. Need to take it on a plane still for the ultimate test.

Also, I have a Droid X and the combination of these two devices is excellent. Haven't had any issues using 2.1 yet, so no complaints about getting 2.2 here. :P

[haha_71]

Hey my friend, I just order a A70 in www.taobao.com, and wait the good arrive

[nlotic]

1. 8G
2. USA
3. Archos.com
4. Now that I've had some time with it...I LOVE IT. Even though the froyo update came out 1 day after I got it, I haven't installed it yet. I did install Google Marketplace. I'd have to say, the Archos70 without the Google Market place is pretty sad, with it it's awesome! Official Facebook app works great, Angry Birds is fun! Pandora!

I'll keep reading the forum on the recent update to both Android and Marketplace.

[swisstricky]

For Swiss customers:
I could not get an A70 on the Archos webstore and I was already prepared to wait till next year, when, by chance, I noticed that the local MElectronics shop had a few of them. Of course what really pisses me is that the unit I could see, was hidden beneath a netbook: whoever takes care of putting staff on display decided to put it together with netbooks, but given that there was not enough space, the unit was upside down, completely covered by another pc and the tag with the price was hidden too...
Imagine my surprise... now if I can only get one of those host USB cables here in Switzerland without being ripped....

Anyway, so far the experience is good, I noticed that the machine (after installing all the gapps) can become quite unresponsive, but I'm waiting for froyo as everybody else.
Also connecting the HDMI out makes the device sluggish
What is really impressive, and one big selling point for me, are the performances of the official Adobe PDF reader: I can finally read PDFs for real (repligo reader was and is too slow for complex PDFs), and all the great video codec support that Archos offered with the A5it is there.
The video and music apps are way better than the A5it, they feel like first class citizens and not something put on top of Android anymore.

[therooster]

come on digibucc,

that wasn't necessary. be nice or just overlook.

[digibucc]

come on digibucc,

that wasn't necessary. be nice or just overlook.

i know, and i did feel bad about it afterward - but at the same time i am not sorry.

the kid had nothing constructive to add - only to point out my mistake which i had noticed and pointed out well before him.

yeah i took it a step further - but there was no need for him to say ANYTHING. 99.9% of the time i ignore it, this is the internet after all. but every once in awhile i feel the want to respond, and i don't deny myself that right when the time comes.

but be nice? to what? to someone whose only reason for posting was to make it look as though i missed some "obvious" piece of info, which of course i did not? no, I won't be nice to that.

and every once in awhile - i won't overlook either. I like charbax - but this forum is full of useless little douchebags with nothing positive to add, and only complaints or snarky remarks to make. he was one of them, and i called him on it. so while yes, it was a minor comment by him - it was simply indicative of the childish atmosphere this board has. with so little uselfull information, it's only a matter of time before those douchebags whom you defend destroy this site for good.

[therooster]

I'm not defending him, I'm just saying you don't have to follow his comment up. that's all.

really, I took his smiley face to say, "you just missed it...."

be that's me.

[digibucc]

I'm not defending him, I'm just saying you don't have to follow his comment up. that's all.

really, I took his smiley face to say, "you just missed it...."

be that's me.

yeah i took it to mean : "it's right in front of you, only an idiot would have missed it"

and the only reason i took it like that, was because i specifically corrected myself beforehand. therefore his response COULD NOT have been to give me the answer, only to shove it in my face that i had missed it the first time.

regardless - i made it go on far too long as is. thanks for the chat and i'll just drop it here

[therooster]

np. I understand. internet discussions can be FRUSTRATING at times!!

[maximmm]

Another video with couple of thoughts and more testing.. updating to Froyo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKeyvnSaKNs
And video with market and flash testing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKeyvnSaKNs

[AllenPapapetrou]

My continuing review of the 8G A70, Allen Papapetrou
1. Date Received: 29 Nov 2010
2. Model: 8G
3. Country: USA
4. Place of Purchase: Archos Store via web
5. Review Links: None
6. OS: 2.1
7. FW: 1.0.84
8. Market Installed: Yes
9. SD Card: 32G SanDisk Class 2
10. Accessories: 10 foot HDMI Cable
11. 3rd Party Install: Yes
12. WiFi: WEP
13: Traditional PC: Dell 530 with WinVista
14. Dates of Rating: 30 Nov 2010, 1 Dec 2010
15. Current Rating: 4 Star 30 Nov, 3.7 Star 1 Dec

I've given my A70 a four star rating because it currently lacks any benefits which Android 2.2 and Flash 10.1 might bring. I will not be installing FW 2.0.54 for 2.2 until the Easy Market apk becomes available and Archos provides info on getting Flash installed.

On 1 Dec I dropped my rating .3 because the A70 screen needs to be rotated 180 deg for best viewing angles when holding it.

iPad Replacement:
My initial testing for the A70 has been to act in place of the A101 I have on order to replace my 16G WiFi iPad. I wanted the following Apps to work which I have on my iPad:

• 1. Kindle - works with slight, bottom line cutoff
  2. Mahjong - works
  3. SketchBook Pro - Replaced with GIMP on my A9
  4. FlipBook - The best RSS Reader I've seen - still looking but Android has plenty of RSS Readers

From my A70 testing, I'm satisfied that the A101 will be more than adequate in replacing my iPad which I will sell. Additionally, w/o the iPad I will sell my Mac Mini since I'm no longer considering writing iOS Apps. I like the iPad and it performs very well for what it does. However the A101 with 2.2, Flash and the Market (Google Android Market) is much more feature rich and thus less limited.

7HT Replacement:
Next, I tested the A70 as a replacement for my 7HT. In only one test did I prefer the 7HT over the A70. I played Big Buck Bunny, supplied with both, and the 7HT screen was brighter and seemed slightly more detailed. Out of the box the 7HT would not play any of the videos I converted for my 5IT. The A70 played them all. So, the A70 is a complete replacement for my 7HT, and it goes to one of my younger brothers if I can get a Windows video conversion working for it; otherwise I sell it.

Capacitive Screen:
I have had 4 resistive screen (RS) tablets and two capacitive screen (CS) tablets. All four RS tablets have been Archos. The most responsive is the 5IT. The two CS tablets I own are the iPad and the A70. The iPad is a wonderful screen to view, and in my experience too responsive: A short quick flick results in a very fast response. I have had to learn to slow down. The A70's CS responsiveness to short quick flicks is comfortable and at a nice speed as I've learned how to swipe it.

I've discovered that the A70 CS responds very nicely compared to my RS tablets. I've learned to softly touch the CS screen compared to tapping or pressing the RS screen. My terminology has changed.
CS Action vs RS Action
1. Touch - Tap
2. Double Touch - Double Tap
3. Long Touch - Long Press
4. Swiping Touch - Swiping Press

Extended Selection
By Extended Selection I'm referring to activities such as selecting text. I haven't completely learned how to do this on either RS or CS screens and won't comment on it now.

Two Finger Zoom
I tested Two Finger Zoom in web browsers. The only browser I've used on the CS tablets are Safari on the iPad and the standard Browser on the A70. Two finger zoom works equally as responsively on both: The A70 was just as satisfying as the iPad. I am very with this since zooming is important to me when a web page has tiny links such as the links in ArchosFans posts at the bottom right.

Rotation
When rotating the screen both the iPad and the A70 seemed to get "stuck" at times. This has also happend on my A5A. Very frustrating when this happens. Overall I give the iPad a slight edge over the A70 because the A70's rotation response is slower, but mainly still comfortable, and I'm still learning with the A70.

Viewing Angle
Very narrow view angle for movies. Rotating the bottom of the screen toward me starts dimming the screen immediately and at ~45 deg the screen became totally unviewable. Rotating the top toward me the was not an issue. The narrow viewing angle becomes very noticeable watching videos. Fortunately the Video Player plays rotated 180 deg to allow the good viewing, but I don't know yet if the speakers switch at 180 deg.

My Conclusions: Archos should have rotated the screen 180 to give us a better viewing angle. For now I'm going to be holding my A70 with the Archos logo upside down at the top. To bad the stand isn't upside down.

Initial Apps:
I read about the difficulty some owners have reported in getting the 3rd Party Apps if they initially rejected them. Thus my initial resolve to install the 3rd Party Apps was reinforced and I did install them.

Additionally, I installed from my 5IT backups:

• 1. App Monster - To backup all installed Apps
  2. Advanced Task Manager Free - To prevent slowdowns from poor memory/task management
  3. ES File Explorer - As an alternate to the supplied Files App because I know how to copy files with it
  4. gApps4Archos - To get the Market for the Kindle App

Bluetooth:
Stereo Headphones - jWIN shows as JB-TH710
These worked fine. One really nice thing for A5A owners - No more Audio Lag while watching Videos

Keyboard/Trackpad - SolidTek ASK-3962 shows as BTKB-5B31
Requested a Pin from the keyboard and would not pair, this also happened with my A5A. I've gotta contact the keyboard company.

Traditional PC - Dell 530 w/WinVista shows as DELL530
The Dell saw the A70S as a smart phone. More testing to do.

WiFi On - Some folks have reported issues with BT and WiFi on at the same time. I haven't discovered any yet.

My Conclusions: None yet

Coming Soon:
- WiFi
- Backup to a Traditional PC
- WebCam
- HDMI out
- etc

Missing Features:
1. GPS - I really wanted this for normal GPS apps and a SkyWatch app like the GPS iPads have
2. Magnetometer - For true north/directional bearings useful in apps like SkyWatch
3. HD Camera - The existing WebCam has slow response to movement and lighting changes

Overall, I'm very happy with the A70. I expect Archos will provide the same excellent firmware support for the Gen8s which they have provided for the 5IT. So, I'm looking forward to the Gen8s becoming the best they can be in the coming months.

Allen

[vohkuhl]

My continuing review of the 8G A70, Allen Papapetrou
1. Date Received: 29 Nov 2010
2. Model: 8G
3. Country: USA
4. Place of Purchase: Archos Store via web
5. Review Links: None
6. OS: 2.1
7. FW: 1.0.84
8. Market Installed: Yes
9. SD Card: 32G SanDisk Class 2
10. Accessories: 10 foot HDMI Cable
11. 3rd Party Install: Yes
12. WiFi: WEP
13: Traditional PC: Dell 530 with WinVista
14. Date of Rating: 30 Nov 2010
15. Current Rating: 4 Star

I've given my A70 a four star rating because it currently lacks any benefits which Android 2.2 and Flash 10.1 might bring. I will not be installing FW 2.0.54 for 2.2 until the Easy Market apk becomes available and Archos provides info on getting Flash installed.

iPad Replacement:
My initial testing for the A70 has been to act in place of the A101 I have on order to replace my 16G WiFi iPad. I wanted the following Apps to work which I have on my iPad:

• 1. Kindle - works with slight, bottom line cutoff
  2. Mahjong - works
  3. SketchBook Pro - Replaced with GIMP on my A9
  4. FlipBook - The best RSS Reader I've seen - still looking but Android has plenty of RSS Readers

From my A70 testing, I'm satisfied that the A101 will be more than adequate in replacing my iPad which I will sell. Additionally, w/o the iPad I will sell my Mac Mini since I'm no longer considering writing iOS Apps. I like the iPad and it performs very well for what it does. However the A101 with 2.2, Flash and the Market (Google Android Market) is much more feature rich and thus less limited.

7HT Replacement:
Next, I tested the A70 as a replacement for my 7HT. In only one test did I prefer the 7HT over the A70. I played Big Buck Bunny, supplied with both, and the 7HT screen was brighter and seemed slightly more detailed. Out of the box the 7HT would not play any of the videos I converted for my 5IT. The A70 played them all. So, the A70 is a complete replacement for my 7HT, and it goes to one of my younger brothers if I can get a Windows video conversion working for it; otherwise I sell it.

Capacitive Screen:
I have had 4 resistive screen (RS) tablets and two capacitive screen (CS) tablets. All four RS tablets have been Archos. The most responsive is the 5IT. The two CS tablets I own are the iPad and the A70. The iPad is a wonderful screen to view, and in my experience too responsive: A short quick flick results in a very fast response. I have had to learn to slow down. The A70's CS responsiveness to short quick flicks is comfortable and at a nice speed as I've learned how to swipe it.

I've discovered that the A70 CS responds very nicely compared to my RS tablets. I've learned to softly touch the CS screen compared to tapping or pressing the RS screen. My terminology has changed.
CS Action vs RS Action
1. Touch - Tap
2. Double Touch - Double Tap
3. Long Touch - Long Press
4. Swiping Touch - Swiping Press

Extended Selection
By Extended Selection I'm referring to activities such as selecting text. I haven't completely learned how to do this on either RS or CS screens and won't comment on it now.

Two Finger Zoom
I tested Two Finger Zoom in web browsers. The only browser I've used on the CS tablets are Safari on the iPad and the standard Browser on the A70. Two finger zoom works equally as responsively on both: The A70 was just as satisfying as the iPad. I am very with this since zooming is important to me when a web page has tiny links such as the links in ArchosFans posts at the bottom right.

Rotation
When rotating the screen both the iPad and the A70 seemed to get "stuck" at times. This has also happend on my A5A. Very frustrating when this happens. Overall I give the iPad a slight edge over the A70 because the A70's rotation response is slower, but mainly still comfortable, and I'm still learning with the A70.

Initial Apps
I read about the difficulty some owners have reported in getting the 3rd Party Apps if they initially rejected them. Thus my initial resolve to install the 3rd Party Apps was reinforced and I did install them.

Additionally, I installed from my 5IT backups:

• 1. App Monster - To backup all installed Apps
  2. Advanced Task Manager Free - To prevent slowdowns from poor memory/task management
  3. ES File Explorer - As an alternate to the supplied Files App because I know how to copy files with it
  4. gApps4Archos - To get the Market for the Kindle App

Coming Soon:
- WiFi
- Backup to a Traditional PC
- WebCam
- HDMI out
- etc

Missing Features:
1. GPS - I really wanted this for normal GPS apps and a SkyWatch app like the GPS iPads have
2. Magnetometer - For true north/directional bearings useful in apps like SkyWatch
3. HD Camera - The existing WebCam has slow response to movement and lighting changes

Overall, I'm very happy with the A70. I expect Archos will provide the same excellent firmware support for the Gen8s which they have provided for the 5IT. So, I'm looking forward to the Gen8s becoming the best they can be in the coming months.

Allen

Great job Allen, very detailed, I actually decided to update to Froyo since I didn't have that many apps installed in the first place and the A70 being my first droid experience. I'm willing to wait for the google markets app when it becomes available for 2.2!

vohkuhl

[5th Horseman]

Hi, yall!

First post so here goes.

1.8G
2.UK
3.www.thurgo.co.uk
4. no video review

Started using the A70 on last Friday, 26th and was pleasantly surprised at the speed and general usability of the unit. Of course, had to install gapps4archos.apk and that was more than I had hoped. It was great. It was until I installed Froyo last night and found that gapps is only for 2.1[Eclair]. Horror!! Never mind, apparently someone has already come up with gappsforarchos2.apk so I will have a go with that tonight.

Disappointed with the update. Has made the A70 really sluggish and treacly. Hopefully Archos will issue a patch to return it to its former glory.

At least Angry Birds is on Apps Lib now so worries there!
Cheers.

5th