Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Archos Fires Scattershot of Android Touchscreen Devices [Tablets]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5626889/archos-fires-scattershot-of-android-touchscreen-devices

Archos Fires Scattershot of Android Touchscreen DevicesRather than competing against the iPad with a single, carefully-crafted tablet, Archos is hoping one of its five new mobile devices will appeal to someone. The line ranges from 2.8" to 10.1", though the smaller devices aren't much competition.

The Archos 28 and 32 ($100 and $150 respectively) seem more like overpowered PMPs than tablet contenders—notable only for their 800 Mhz processor. The next step up is the $200, 1 Ghz Archos 43, squishing 854×480 onto a crummy resistive touchscreen.

Archos Fires Scattershot of Android Touchscreen Devices

The final two units are where customers might become interested. The $275 7" tablet includes a capacitive touchscreen running at 800×480, offers HDMI-out, MicroSD storage, and can chew through formats like FLV and MKV. For $25 more, you can step up to a 10.1", 1024×600 model.

The entire series doesn't have a terrible amount going for it, beyond Froyo out of the box and decent prices prices. But resistive screens on the smaller three pseudo-tablets, no Google apps, and no access to the Android Market means we expect many will take a pass on Archos' sampler. [Archos via CrunchGear]