Archos 70 internet w/250gb best tablet ever?

[Salt-City_Slasher]

I am not sure if this is the right spot, but I am waiting to get either one of these preferably the archos 70 internet tablet with 250gb. I haven't seen one in stock for quite a while, so I am just sitting patiently waiting.

I just wanted to hear some opinions on the two. I like the archos 9, but that kind of money I could buy either an ipad or a nice little laptop. But it does come with a whole lot of goodies and I almost just think if I am going to pay 350$, i might as well go to the very top and spend 450$! But then in that theory I might as well spend it on a 500$ ipad.

I just know that the archos 7 has a better fit in my hands, just barely enough to use the keyboard with my thumbs, so I don't think I would be able to use the archose 9 unless it has a pen/stylus, which I think it does.

But overall for $350 the archos 70 seems to be the real deal. I could store chunks of my collection(which I wouldn't need more than 10gb's at a time) and then the countless Droid Apps, and free apps to read/watch/hear my collection of ebooks, music, comics, cartoons, movies and documents. I could pretty much log into online classes, and read the chapters, or do the math work through it.

So in your opinion would get the archos 70, and why or why not? and if not what would you get?

2nd, do you think that the archos 9 would be way better because of it being windows 7 and downloading any thing a pc can?

 

[marathon332]

I own an Archos 70 8GB and love it... I own 2 windows laptops and numerous phones but what I wanted was a middle ground device that was lightweight and portable but without a postage stamp sized screen.

I want to be able to surf and read in comfort on my sofa, answer emails, play a few games, watch videos and generally stay as connected as I am on my laptop. All of which my Archos 70 does admirably. Add that to the fact that it's the lightest, thinnest 7 inch tablet out there and I'm sold again every time I pick it up and use it. Haven't been able to keep my hands off it since I got it...

I don't need a huge hard drive so I went with the 8GB but if I owned a lot of media files that I needed to transport I would have gone with the 250 GB version..

As for you, do you really need Windows on another device? If you need that total compatibility for some compelling reason, then you're probably better off with an Archos 9. But if that's not the case, why worry about something you'll probably never need?

From what I've read here, you're probably okay with the Archos 70/250 GB since you haven't said that windows is crucial to your purposes. But you have said that you have a lot of media files.

What is it that you think you want to download portably that the Archos 70 can't handle? The only thing it can't handle is a Windows software program, so if you need that, then there's your answer..

Anyway, hope that helps...

 

[Salt-City_Slasher]

**answer my questions please!**
Well here are my reasons for a tablet. Initially for pretty much a toy, but until I realized that it is more than that, I soon realized that I could pretty much use it as my laptop. Since I was going to buy a laptop and decided I don't really need one, I decided that I should get the best tablet for my money because if I can mimmick all the things I would do on a laptop than sweet.

Uses:
1-Internet Using(Online classes that are Java 6 heavy)
2-eBooks & eComics(countless files of books and comics)
3-MS Office Stuff(An App that can read/edit word(mainly) then Powerpoint and Excel)"like the Pages/keynote/numbers on ipad
4-Toy(games and stuff)

So I pretty much got all my money from school and I have enough for any tablet I want, but I want to keep my budget no more than the 500$ range.
I recently have been told numerous times that iPad should be my pick, and based off the things I have seen I am leaning in that direction, because for the extra $150(against archos 10 and 7-250gb) I could have a machine that literally will take over as my laptop as far as all my college student needs are. I didn't want a netbook or laptop because for what I would spend on one, I realized that I just need internet and office. And since I wanted a tablet for a toy, I put two and two together and realized that all these tablets are fully capable of being used as my college machine and my at home media device.

**Can you answer me these questions about Archos 70/101?:

Is there an app. for me to take my .cbr files and read them in a comic book viewer?

Is there an app. for me to take my eBooks(pdf mainly) and read them in an ebook viewer(like iBooks) which contains a dictionary to instantly check words definition and not just a pdf reader?

Is there an app. to do MS Office things like the iPads Pages/Keynote/Numbers?

Lesser Questions:

Is GPS enabled on the device to use it as a navigation?

MAIN QUESTION: CAN THE ARCHOS DO EVERYTHING THE IPAD CAN? OR BETTER?

 

[marathon332]

A lot of questions there, so I'm just going to focus on the main one and let someone else chime in if they want to..

*****MAIN QUESTION: CAN THE ARCHOS DO EVERYTHING THE IPAD CAN? OR BETTER? ****

Answer: YES, Archos 10 can with one exception. It has no sim card, so it's not a phone... However, it can tether to any Android phone, so for most users this is not an issue. iPhone can't. Also, I'm using it with Google voice for free VoIP calling...

Now let's talk about what iPad can't do that Archos can...

-- can't tether
-- can't run Flash so, fewer games if that's what you want.
-- it's not wide-screen (it's 4:3 not 16:9 like Archos) so it sucks as an HD video player
-- no HDMI output, so you can't attach it for larger display, especially good for games
-- needs adapters for everything
-- thicker and heavier than the Archos so not so good for one-handed use
-- the Apple ecosystem is closed so if you want to load apps from anywhere, you can't unless you jailbreak it.

With Archos, the company encourages outside development and even have a special free version of the OS for people that wan't to customize their machines to their heart's content! This is important to me because I'm one of those people. It's the whole reason why I personally shun the whole Apple line. I want the freedom to do as I please without being dictated to by Steve Jobs...

I'm not bashing Apple or the iPad.. A lot of people like and use them and they're fine products but you should also know that Android is outselling Apple right now and will clearly win the tablet race thanks to overwhelming developer support.

What that means to you is that you'll have more apps than the iPad to choose from moving forward. Apple does have an early lead but unless they shape up they'll become the also ran...

BTW, all these comments are regarding the current iPad so I may have to eat my words when they release the new one in a couple of months. But you can bet that it won't be a the price of the current iPad...

Maybe your best bet if you want an iPad, is to wait until the new one comes out and jump on it at the clearance price.

Anyway, best of luck with whatever you decide...

 

[Salt-City_Slasher]

Well, it looks like I am going to have to wait till the iPad 2 comes to even get any archos. lol

From a build point a view, iPad seems to have a more seemless use on the internet and OS. But as a hard a viewpoint they did not offer even the basic SD and usb port. With the memory slot its capacity is endless, and I could buy 4 32gb sd cards, and use one for ebooks, music, comics and videos. With out it I would be limited to the 8gb, and would constantly be on iTunes fluctuating between what files I want on my iPad.

I did however like the youtube video of tablet by tablet comparison and the 16:9 work oh so well for gaming and HD video.

There were small details about the Droid Tablet that I needed answered, because word processing makes my tablet everything I will ever need in college, because my Built computer is a super computer!

Here is some other features I hope to have:

1-Is wifi printing to my HP printer possible?

2-Can a mac blue tooth keyboard work with the tablet, or is there another compact bluetooth keyboard with out using usb??


Is the iPad just like the droid, being that its just an oversized iPhone, like the Archos is an oversized Droid?

I ask this because the iPad from what I have seen looks like its OS/system was developed just for it. Being a a full functioning device that can do everything a laptop can.
While the droid tablets just seem to be an oversized Droid Phone and thats it, and has nothing more to offer than a bigger screen compared to my Droid 1 phone.
Even is this is the case, my 3.7" screen is worthless and would rather spend the money on a tablet, and use it for my cell. phone calls using goodle voice, skype and others are more than I really need
So this way I can cancel my 30$ a month verizon phone.

 

[Maziar]

1)Depends on the model
2)By default no,but you can install apps(from appstore) and with them you can send files easily
3)As an owner of both iPad and iPhone 4,I have to say iPad isn't an oversized iPhone.
They may share the same OS but iPad has a bigger display which makes it better than iPhone for reading PDFs,e-books and web pages and of course videos.It also has an outstanding battery life(10hrs) which is about 3-4hrs more than iPhone 4.
Also iOS 3.4.5 will bring some features to iPad which won't be available for iPhone such as 5-gesture multi-touch.

 

[Salt-City_Slasher]

Oh well the iPad is completely useless tool, and I wouldn't pay $500 for an eBook reader/Toy.

I thought it would be able to do so much more, but behind closed curtains, this thing has half the technology any
Archos 70/101 has.

So after finding out all the information about iPads, I would be abolished from half the internet and wouldn't be allowed to:

Log into school
Use Flash Games
Couldn't log into any class work
No Hulu or any site that offers Videos
Countless sites that use Flash
Countless sites that use Java
Countless places that woulnd't work right
and Countless Other reasons, but I think I made my point.

So apparently "Java's not worth building in. Nobody uses Java anymore. It's this big heavyweight ball and chain."
Quote-Steve "The Hand" Jobs

Well everything was cool until I realized I compared an iPad to a Archos 7 hometablet a last gen product using Droid 1.6.
Honestly for $500 it can't do what is needed at that price range.

So if I was a complete retard I would buy one, but the fact is, after I buy it would be obsolete because it can't function the way I need it to, and in the end thats all that counts when buying tablets.

 

[Maziar]

OK,Go with the Archos one,why do you even compare them then ?
Obviously you haven't worked with an iPad or used App store because you can play Flash videos with 2 different ways(Using Skyfire, or a simple hack with no JB required)
And you can login to your desktop/laptop using apps like Remote desktops.
of course it has it's shortcomings, but IMO its not anything useless.

 

[Salt-City_Slasher]

From what some people told me, Java and Flash are completely non exsistint on the iPad.

Obviously the screen and the seemless use are top notch, but unless I don't want to log into school which is
Java heavy, then it would defeat my purpose of getting one.

I asked a bunch of places if there was a way around this, even if it was through jailbreak, and there was no alternative.

So what your saying, there is a "teamviewer" type app, that would allow me to log into my computer, and use it??

Because if that worked even in the slightest bit, then that would be the answer to my prayers.


Anyways, I am just upset because I wanted to buy the iPad today, and found out last night in an Android forum, that I would not be able to do half the stuff on the internet.

IF this app is able to log in my computer and just look at the page, that would be awesome.

 

[Salt-City_Slasher]

The Mac Store is open, so I will head over there to try them out again.

The big reason why the iPad is the only one I should buy, is because you should never buy a tablet unless you try it first.
From my time trying to buy one, nothing is how reads on the internet, or even the u tube videos.

Honestly I wanted the iPad for all the nice things on it. But the thing is I have a Droid, and I will probably get the DROID X or IPHONE here when my upgrade comes, so I won't use music, flash games, or what ever on the ipad, cause Iwould use them on my phone.

So these things I mentioned I more than likely wouldn't use, but the school stuff is for real and not just reasons to bitch.

If I can access the music class, that would be nice. The others i know for sure have to use java or flash, if these can be fixed in any way possible then I am game for the iPad.

 

[Salt-City_Slasher]

Now that I think about all the information I got about the iPad not being able in any way shape or form, be able to get access to school pages.
I checked and there is iTeleport, Jaadu RDP, Windows RDP and LogmeIN.

Which remote app. do you use to access a PC from home??

The two biggest things I want to do:

Math class through the portal.mypearson.com/cclogin.jsp -I want to be able to see the questions and type in the answer even if I can't use the animations and videos.

2nd-be able to read everything on the BlackBoard system, and I can email from my phone. Also read the ebook on the Music class, which is a separate place.

According to what I read about those programs, I would be able to do all of them and more.

 

[Maziar]

Yes there are lots of apps for viewing your PC,such as iTeleport,splashtop remote desktop,team viewer Etc.I use splashtop remote desktop and it's great.(Many call it the best remote app)
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/splashtop-remote-desktop-for/id382509315?mt=8
You can even run few games such as WoW(The performance isn't great but it's great that you can control it from your iPad)
Java is a no-go(AFAIK) but like I said you can view flash videos with Skyfire
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/skyfire-web-browser/id384941497?mt=8

 

[Salt-City_Slasher]

Sweet, But if I am in the SplashPort and I click on the internet I could go to any website I want right and do anything I could do on a desktop on the iPad right?

 

[Salt-City_Slasher]

What is the release date of iPad 2, MKII, rev 2.0 or whatever its going to be called?

I thought it would be released by Christmas, but then it was said to be Feburary or Q1, but then it looks like its going to be April.

 

[Maziar]

Yes you can do anything that you do on your desktop on the iPad with that app.
It's rumored that the next iPad will be released in April,there is no exact date.

 

[Salt-City_Slasher]

Yeah, thats why plan to just buy one and if the February announcement is true then I can see if there is anything worth waiting for but I don't think I will wait.

 

[vinegarjoe]

Hi,

Enjoyed the read. I'm trying to pick a tablet for my wife. She needs to be able to edit/view MS Office files (word, excel, and hopefully publisher too) and accounting software while being able to transfer those files back and forth from windows based home/work computers. And also needs to be able to run a remote desktop app like logmein to control her work computer from the tablet. Can the Archos 70 or 101 do all that? If not, can anyone recommend a tablet that can other than ipad.

 

[Salt-City_Slasher]

Well I was finally able to order from BHphotovideo, and now several other websites have now opened up.

If you want one I would not hesitate for one second if you are able to order one without backorder, because I have been waiting since Janurary 3rdish and I have just order mine!

Anyways, if you have a android phone, your tablet can do anything it can but with the bigger screen!

I know of programs that will allow to view edit, word/excel/powerpoint, I have never used a program for publisher but I know they have one.

As far as remote desktop's go, LogMeIn as far as I know is consider the best by MacBoys but I wouldn't recommend it on the basis it doesn't have sound.

You can do a google search and find every thing you want.

http://market.android.com/

The iPad can NOT do everything the Archos can because of locked features and no third party applications.

The Archos CAN do every thing the iPad can, and a whole bunch more!

Archos PROs: HDMI OUT, microSD, All thrid partys: Flash, Java, and all partys are allowed, bigger screen thats 16:9,
massive market of open system apps, kick stand, PRICE/PERFORMANCE, and tons more

Ipad Pros: ePub Books read cool like, and it has an Apple logo on the back!
iPad Cons:I paid 890$ for a 16gb w/1year insurance, camera kit, case, screen cover, keyboard, dock. + apps

The things the iPad does best, the archos will be able to do better. The only thing I have not validated is an eBook reader that does epub with the cool page turn and dictionary. But I am sure its there!

 

[Maziar]

Seems you already answered your question,so I'll close this topic.