Archos 101 Internet Tablet

“The Archos 5 Internet Tablet may look familiar, and for good reason—it very closely resembles, in appearance and name, last year's touch-screen Archos 5. The primary difference is significant, however: Archos has replaced its old operating system with Google's Android 1.5. When browsing music, video, and photo menus, the experience is more or less identical to what you get with the original Archos 5, but you can feel the Android presence in the main menu, which is dominated by Android apps. So does Android make the Archos 5 a better device? Yes and no. It's nice to have the apps, but in our tests, many of them didn't work very well. In addition, time is a factor here: The touch-screen PMP competition has become a lot more intense in the past year.”

“If the Archos 70 and 101 were priced at $399, we'd find a lot of the shortcomings to be unforgivable, but for $299 (and in some places $275), we're just not sure you can beat the duo. Yes, we can all agree that the displays are seriously cruddy and the overall build quality and design, for lack of a better work, suck, but at this point we've just come to expect that for a tablet under $300. That said, the browsing and media experience are quite good, and once you get the Market loaded you've got a solid Android experience. If we were you, we'd still consider shelling out some extra cash to buy a more solid-feeling and better performing option like the iPad or Galaxy Tab -- they will undoubtedly wear better and the experience is more user friendly -- but for the price, Archos still makes the best tablets on the cheap.”

“Archos has a reasonably priced, well performing and versatile internet tablet on offer with the 101, which despite its faults is ultimately a far more flexible device than the iPad. Apple fans will no doubt exacerbate its weaknesses, and they will have a point if display performance and build quality is a priority, but for those looking to experience the benefits of a lap-based tablet this is one the more compelling devices currently available.”

“Among 10-inch Android tablets, the Archos 101 is the slimmest, most solid, and, at $299 ($349 for the 16GB version), the best value thus far. However, that doesn't mean we don't have reservations. For such a large screen, the viewing angles are too narrow. Also, you don't get access to all of Google's apps or the Android market, and the pricier Galaxy Tab offers faster performance. Still, with 8GB of storage, two USB ports, HDMI, and long battery life, Archos delivers good bang for your buck.”