Returned a Galaxy Tab 10.1 - thinking about a G9 80 16Gb.

[StuMcBill]

I had a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 for a couple of weeks, however, I had a problem with an "Oil Spill / Newtons Rings" mark appearing on the screen, and as it seems to be a common problem with the tabs, I am now in the market for a new tab.

I found the Galaxy Tab "slightly" too big to use in Landscape view (very usable, but sometimes a bit clumsy), so I was looking for something a bit smaller. I was looking for something in the region of 7" to 8.9" (like the Optimus Tab) and I came across the G9 80, and I have a couple of questions (some relating to Archos track record rather than the tablet itself).

1. I understand that the 8.0" has a 4:3 aspect ratio which is going to be a slight inconvenience while watching widescreen movies. I understand that HMV in the UK is getting them in stock (end of Sept / start of Oct), and I was maybe going to try and take a microSD card with me when I look and try and play a few test movies before committing to buy it.

Are there any files / movies / trailers that would be good to see how it looks? Watching movies on it is not my main reason for purchasing it (mainly Internet Browsing), but I travel on planes a lot and I sometimes fire up a movie or 2 when I am travelling.

2. The specs claim that it supports MicroSDHC, does this mean that it will support a 32Gb card (so I can potentially get 48Gb on a 16Gb tablet), I understand that 64Gb MicroSD's are a different technology (and very expensive at the moment).

3. On previous Tabs which have USB Host facility, I understand that they support USB Hard Drives, however, do these need to be externally powered? I have 2 x USB hard drives which are powered directly from the USB port. Will these work with the USB Host (historically)?

4. How have the previous Tabs been for "rootability" and Custom ROMS? I would love to see a CyanogenMod port when Ice Cream Sandwich hits AOSP.

5. How are Archos normally for updating Tabs to updated software (Honeycomb to ICS for example). I believe the OMAP processor is a reference platform for ICS, which must be a good thing?

I am really looking forward to seeing how this tablet performs, the 1.5GHz TI OMAP 4 seems like its going to be a winner (and possibly a bit of Undervolting / Overclocking kernel action could push it further).

I hope these make sense and I look forward to hearing the replies!

Stewart

[Joost]

Hi Stewart,
i think i have some anwsers for ya.
I am looking for a 101 G9 so i did some research.

1. the best way to test a tablets video performance is to take some planet earth or the short anitmation movie called big buck bunny. You can download the last one via torrents. The archos g9 should be able to play full hd movies with high profile h.264 encoding. That is something no other tablet can do at the moment. Make sure you have the 'turbo' version of the tablet, the g9 tablets will be there in a 1,0 ghz version and a turbo 1,5 ghz version. archos originally made video players (before there was android), so that is why they make tablet that can play movies very well. the previous generation (g8) even plays more videos than the ipad 1 or 2.

2. sdhc (secure digital high capacity) goes until 32 gb. 64 and higher is sdxc and is indeed a different technology. the archos (and any other tablet on the market) supports sdhc (so max 32 gb).

3. i think the problem with external hard drives is that the require a lot of power. i don't think any tablet can provice enough power to power an external hard drive. offcourse external hard drives with there own powersource are no problem.

4. the g8 tablet where dual boot so i guess you can install a different OS or root them with a different version of android. also on the xda developer forum there is a lot of information about rooting specifically for the gen8 archos devices.

5. i don't believe that this is the strongest thing about archos. they do update the tablets, but i don't think they upgrade to a new version of android. but correct me if i'm wrong. but i don't see that as a big problem because they can be rooted.

Hope this helps. Sorry for my english spelling sometimes. I'm not a native english speaker.

Greetings,
Joost

[Myth0S]

1. See all the video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69EM3-CG ... r_embedded
2. True
3. As the previous poster said.
4. Dont know
5. Archos already updated from 2.1 to 2.2 so why not from honeycomb to ICS for the top line, if not that would be a fail.

[StuMcBill]

Thanks for the quick repiles!

I am looking for Big Buck Bunny, I am on the official site, but there are loads of different versions, not sure which one to go for?

[Joost]

look for a .mkv with 1080 p high profile h.264 encoding.

also look for 'the bird scene' from planet earth. that is the thougest part of the entire show when it comes to decoding performance.

You can also check out the review below. They are also showing the bird scene and big buck bunny. It plays very smooth, and this is just the 1,0 ghz version!
I pasted the link below, but i don't know if i did it correctly.

[url]http://www.arctablet.com/blog/archos-ta ... ities/[url]

[StuMcBill]

Yeah I have the Bird Scene from Planet Earth - The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 had NO chance!!

[Joost]

But what was your overall idea of the samsung galaxy tab 10.1? I have a samsung galaxy S2. This phone is my first samsung device but i am pretty satisfied with it. Still i am going for the archos 101 g9 because of it's great video capabilitys. It also feels a bit weird if i would buy the galaxy tab 10.1, because it is less powerfull then my phone

[StuMcBill]

The SGT 10.1 was a good tab overall, but like said before, the Tegra 2 processor is a bit outdated nowadays, and has single channel memory!

Stewart

[arczi79]

3. i think the problem with external hard drives is that the require a lot of power. i don't think any tablet can provice enough power to power an external hard drive. offcourse external hard drives with there own powersource are no problem.

Simple examples:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvGLOmUdNDI


Regards.

[butterflygirl]

3. The gen 8 Archos 101 has a full size usb port which has enough power to use a portable usb hard drive without any external power. I have used a 1 tb drive before. Some Gen 8 101s have an issue with that port failing. Mine has. The Acer Iconia A500 has a usb port that will power an external hard drive. Gen 9 has a micro usb host port which requires a special cable to use to plug in usb peripherals. The same type of port on the gen 8 A70 requires separate power for an external drive (y cable and usb battery pack works). There is a full size usb port on the back of the gen 9 for the modem. I don't know that any other device is recognized by that port.

[JamesDax]

Let me understand you. You returned a Galaxy Tab 10.1 and you're now thinking about an Archos G9 80 because the 10.1 was too big?? Really?? You do know that there is a Galaxy Tab 8.9 availible? Perhaps you'd best look into that.

smh@u That's like saying I returned a BMW 750Li and I'm thinking about a Ford Fusion when there is a perfectly good 535i setting in the lot.

[StuMcBill]

Let me understand you. You returned a Galaxy Tab 10.1 and you're now thinking about an Archos G9 80 because the 10.1 was too big?? Really?? You do know that there is a Galaxy Tab 8.9 availible? Perhaps you'd best look into that.

smh@u That's like saying I returned a BMW 750Li and I'm thinking about a Ford Fusion when there is a perfectly good 535i setting in the lot.

Yeah, but the 8.9 is still using the underpowered Tegra 2 processor, which is something I don't want to try again.

I am between waiting for the Transformer 2 or a Archos G9.

[crashmw]

I am still stunned by the youtube video of the G9 posted in the link earlier on this thread.
I have G8 101 and 70it, and I do not believe that I could have duplicated all the button presses that he did without BOTH of them rebooting or freezing or what not.
I so badly want a new tablet because the ones that I have can be so maddening...however, paying for the high end Sammy will only get me kick into the doghouse. I caught crap for getting these tablets -which was primarily so we could play videos in the car during our commute with our baby. When these things work, they are fantastic and helped the wife and I to keep our sanity since any commute, plus crying baby is a quick way to considering suicide (j/k).
Now that we moved closer to our work, we no longer have the commute, but we still have the tablets...along with their issues. The 101 is actually performing really well as of late (last month or so). It basically never leaves the wife's car...and has not been updated in ages.
The A70 on the other hand has all the latest updates, but nothing has really helped the performance. Just sitting next to me on the desk, plugged in and fully charged, I just saw the ARCHOS logo -meaning the unit decided it was a good time to just reboot itself. Nice feature if you want videos interrupted, or you want a device to force you to take breaks (don't wanna sit in your seat too long playing with a device...)
Sorry, I realize this is off topic, but I truly was amazed by that Youtube video, and I wonder if there IS hope for a low cost tablet after all?
I am thinking that I might get this past the wife -saying, what do you mean my tablet looks different -it is just different software!