ARCHOS 101 Internet Tablet 16GB on sale

Jerick Enclan Say: ARCHOS 101 Internet Tablet 16GB
I love PC and love Android, this is best of both worlds., 2011-04-06
This review is for: ARCHOS 101 Internet Tablet 16GB
I have been interested in a tablet since the iPad was first introduced. Only problem is my gadgets at home are all PC and my phone is HTC EVO android phone. I have been looking for a device that is inter changeable with all my gadgets and the iPad will not do the job. I almost bought the Samsung Galaxy Tab but the 7" isn't that much bigger than my Evo's 4.3" I was then looking at the Motorola Zoom WiFi and although that seemed like a match, the higher price point as well as the weight and battery life was a consideration. There are others I've looked at and then I came across the Archos 101 and I've read all the review and decided this is probably the one. So now that I've had this device for 2 weeks I decided to write a review. I will keep it simple as I possibly could.Pros:1. It's wide screen. It doesn't try to look like an iPad like some of the other tablets out there.2. The available ports are a PLUS. HDMI, USB micro and mini. Bottom line is I can plug in my flash card on the USB port and it plays my movies. The mini HDMI can plug in to my HDTV and I have HD viewing.3. It's a PC, so I can locate my movies stored in the computer in the other room and play it on my Archos Tablet. The other day I was streaming via WiFI, a movie on my tablet as it's connected to my TV and watching it on my big screen; from 2 bedrooms away. The iPad can't do that. No ports.4. The battery life. No exaggeration here when I say that when the monitor on the Archos is off, you don't have to charge it at night as it doesnt use the battery. I haven't charged my Archos in 2 days and I still have 50% battery life. That's with watching a 2 hour movie yesterday (using my TV) playing games on my tablet today and reading email and browsing the web. You won't need to take the charger with you if you take it to work as the battery will last you all day and all night. I've done this so I know :)5. It's an Android so you can download apps from the Android market as well as AppsLib market from Archos.6. It has a built in uninstaller like a PC, so it's each to uninstall programs without having to uses settings and downloads.7 The optional 32gb micro SD expansion. The Archos comes with 16gb internal and with the extra 32gb you have 48gb total. And you don't have to pay $599 for a 32gb Ipad 2.8. The price. I got mine for under $350 at Amazon and with free shipping and not tax, it's a bagain. I also got my 32gb micro sd card from Amazon and that too was a bargain.The Cons:1. Every reviewer said this and I agree. The monitor on this is made for 1 maybe 2 people viewing. It blurs if you try to look at it from the side. I supposed thats good if you don't want nosy people looking over your shoulder at what your viewing. However, it has a kick stand in the back so if you stand it back and you watch it from a distance it's fine. It's a 10.1" widescreen after all so it works for me.2. It's a little slippery and I wish there was a rubber case/protector that I can put around it. I did however, purchased the Archos 101 leather glove for it and it's nice when I carry it around. It's when I slip off the Archos that I wish it wasn't so slippery.3. The screen isn't as responsive as I'd like it to be. It's not a deal breaker, you just need to use your finger lightly as you slide it for the Archos to recognize what your trying to do.4. It's a little sluggish after exiting the application and getting back to the home screen. You can actually feel it doing something in the background. I supposed that can be a good thing. It's not bad if you're not impatient. It's just a slow lag if you don't treat it like your PC and remind yourself that it's a tablet with only 1ghz of power. In other words it's an oversized phone.To sum this long review up. If and when you get your Archos 101, you must upgrade the firmware. Restart your Archos and check for Archos updates again. Next, you need to go to your computer and check out ArchosFans.com to check on other upgrades you need to get for your Archos. In particular, they will tell you how you can download Android Market on your tablet as it doesn't come pre-installed. Also, if your Archos isn't moving as fast as you'd like it to, you can change the settings on your Archos to "Overdrive" instead of "Optimal." You can find this by going to Power Management on your Archos. Lastly, register your Archos and buy the optional plug in for your Video Player to play additional movies. Although it still seems limited. I downloaded VPlayer from Android Market and the paid version of $4.99 plays everything. Think VLC player that plays everything on your PC except the VPlayer is for your Tablet. I hope this is of some help. Play with your Archos, have fun with it and remember that just like everything else, there will be some glitches, but Android is always updating. And it's all just a restart and you're back in business. Good luck.

Ryne Say: ARCHOS 101 Internet Tablet 16GB
The Archos 101 is a value for the pricetag, 2010-11-24
This review is for: ARCHOS 101 Internet Tablet 16GB
I ordered the Archos 101 Internet Tablet from Archos' own website about a week ago with the first release and received it a few days ago. I was excited to get my first tablet, and the price tag didn't make me fear starvation as a college student, a fear which the Galaxy Tab is all too enthusiastic to give. I had expected a little more from the device, and my own possibly defective unit may have hindered my experience somewhat. It's being replaced soon, and if my problems are not present in the next unit I'll probably keep it.We all know that Android isn't really ready for tablets, or so Google has told us, but we're all a little anxious to see what the experience would be like. Us early adopters know no bounds, and our research has led us here, to the Archos 101 Internet Tablet. It's price tag makes it a prime choice in comparison to most of the major-brand tablets being released as you read, but that price comes with certain drawbacks that any informed consumer should be aware of.To begin with, the problems:The digitizer on the touchscreen is not particularly sensitive, and operates at a very low operating resolution. It also loses its calibration quite often (about every 20-40 minutes) and I was unaware that a capacitive touchscreen even could lose its calibration. Unfortunately this loss of calibration isn't always slight, and sometimes it will seriously take hours of fiddling with different points on the screen to navigate through the menus to recalibrate. I called Archos about this and my unit is being RMAed, so this could just be a feature exclusive to my dud.The build-quality is unbelievably poor. Seriously, you don't want to take this tablet out of the house. The metal plates covering the two small areas on the back are incredibly flimsy, and even changing your grip on the tablet causes a cascade of ripples through the LCD. The LCD also sports pretty narrow viewing angles, severe enough to cause saturation and brightness distortion between your eyes' different perspectives when held in portrait mode.The Wifi isn't particularly good. Signal strength is poor and intermittent, and I can't actually even use a wireless connection unless I am in the same room as my router without it dropping out. Unfortunately the speed of the connection during those fleeting moments of connectivity also leaves much to be desired. I haven't run any benchmarks on it's networking speed, but you definitely don't need to worry about breaking any records.Worst camera man has ever made. This wasn't really a big deal for me, since I don't really see using videochat on a Wifi-only tablet being much of a selling point here, but this camera is horrible. Poor color reproduction, a ridiculous level of noise being picked up by the sensor, and poor contrast makes for a washed out lifeless grainy facsimile of your face. Not good for self-esteem.And now, the good:It's pretty fast. I don't have to worry about running programs eating too many resources, and the browser is quick and snappy.It's ridiculously easy to put Google Marketplace on. Seriously, I did it using just the tablet. Download gapps4archos, enable sideloading apps from the settings menu, and you're good to go. It takes about 3 minutes from Google to complete, and you can do the whole operation without touching your computer.The screen is huge. I was back and forth between the Archos 70 and 101 for quite a while, and I finally decided that the 101 would be fun to try, being essentially a netbook sized tablet. The added space, both in terms of the increase in resolution and the increase in actual size, is fantastic. I always fall for high-resolution devices, and while I wish I could get something with a resolution higher than this in a 7 inch package this definitely serves both its purpose and my desires.HDMI output. Need say no more.Good playback of both video and audio, with a pretty wide selection of formats supported right off the bat.Good 3D acceleration. I don't know who the manufacturer of the "Open GL acceleration" feature is, but it seems to work pretty reasonably. The game comes pre-loaded with some half-baked racing game. While the free game is bad, the visuals in it are pretty decent.Good battery life. I've only charged it twice over the last 3 days. Considering the amount of poking, prodding, and fondling I've done - and as I'm sure any good nerd does to their new toy - it has held up pretty well. I'd estimate somewhere around 4 hours with wifi on and about 6 with it off. I had the back light at about 50%Decent little speakers. The speakers on the back are pretty loud and only mildly tinny, about the same quality or a little better than most net book speakers.MicroSDHC slot and usb host connectivity. Those familiar with Android wouldn't really make a huge deal about this, but those looking at iOS devices should consider the benefits of the alternatives, singe going beyond your default storage capacity is always useful when you need it.And that's about it. I'm returning the unit for a replacement over the next few days, and I'll see how that pans out and update this review as needed. If the problem with the capacitive touchscreen digitizer isn't present in the next one I might consider keeping it, but the Wifi issues might just be too much. What use is a tablet that can't go online? Hopefully both problems will be addressed by the replacement.

Abraham Seno Bri "Mazal" Say: ARCHOS 101 Internet Tablet 16GB
On balance : a nice tablet, 2010-12-08
This review is for: ARCHOS 101 Internet Tablet 16GB
My conclusion, the Archos 101 is a great tablet, but :(1) Out-of-the-box the Archos 101 comes without Google synchronization. This is a big issue, when you want to use Gmail and Google Calendar. It also means that you don't have the Android Market Place, which is also a big limitation. There seem to be all kinds of reason why this tablet does not come with Google, but buyers are not sufficiently advised by Archos of this crucial limitation. However, the problem can be resolved by downloading the gApps4Archos2.apk file from [...]. BTW gApps4Archos2.apk is for Android 2.2 . Now my 101 synchronizes with my Google applications (including Picasa and contacts) and market place works perfectly.(2) Out-of-the-box the Archos 101 comes with Android 2.1 . It is easy to update the tablet to Android 2.2 once you are connected to the internet.(3) While Android 2.2 improves the system, in the short term the upgrade creates problems for a number of applications. In my case, I am very disappointed that I can not install the Slingbox Player on my tablet, because it is not (yet) compatible with Android 2.2. The same applies to other applications. Slingmedia blames Android (Google) for this, but whatever the reason, it's a shame. I tried to access [...]and access my Slingbox through the web, but that is not possible either. I also have not yet been able to make use of the supposed video chatting advantage of the Archos 101 over the Ipad and this may also be related to Android 2.2 .(4) It is not easy to print from the tablet.(5) I have some problems with watching videos (that I transferred from Tivo desktop on my pc) but I hope to resolve this soon by tweaking some settings.(6) A number of app have problems. I blame it on Froyo but am not sure.I now have had the Archos 101 for 4 days, and I love it (aside from the issues mentioned above) but it is not perfect. Several times a day I must reboot the tablet because one app problem or another but I hope that these will be resolved by updates from Froyo, Archos and/or the app makers. Nevertheless I carry it around almost all day long. Though the weight is less than an Ipad, it remains a bit heavy when you use it to read a book or newspaper on the tablet. Nevertheless reading the newspapers and books (with the Kindle software) is a real pleasure.The tablet has a usefulness, between the smartphone and the computer, that I did not understand until I got my Archos 101.In brief, you NEED the gApps4Archos2.apk upgrade, but you need a bit of computer skills for the installation. Any experienced computer can do it for you if can not do it yourself.Jan 16, 2011I now have had the Archos 101 (16) for more than a month. I still like it very much but these are my pros and cons :pros : cheap (-er than Ipad); nice feel and look; Google synch is great when you use Gmail, Google Calendar and other Google software on your phone and/or computer (but you must first install the unofficial Google 'hack');cons :out-of-the-box does not have Google apps (such as Market and Google apps). The unofficial 'hack' is easy for anyone with a bit of experience, but without this the Archos tablet is much less fun.sometimes very slowre-boot required quite oftenlousy speakersthe auto-rotating works fine, but it would be nice to be able to quickly disable the auto-rotating when you read a book or newspaperI definitely hope that the next generation will be faster and better, and Archos has an enormous challenge to keep up with the now many competitors. I am not (yet) an Apple user myself and have an Android phone and now this Android tablet. For me the big advantage of Android (over Apple) is the Google synch with your phone and computer, but Android has a big challenge with the phone/tablet landscape over the next few years.