Archos 70 – 250 GB Internet Tablet (Black)

I am writing this review because I don’t want future Archos 70 owners to experience what I went through. I have had it for a week now and have contemplated throwing it down a deep ravine. Finally, thank God, I was able to get it to work. Here’s how:

1. Firmware must be updated to latest version – my Archos would connect and disconnect with the internet continuously. I thought it was because of a weak signal, but it is a firmware problem. How can you update the firmware when you can’t download it online because your Archos wifi does not work? In the Archos website, they have instructions on what to do using your desktop/laptop.

a. Download the latest firmware into your desktop/laptop.

b. Connect the Archos 70 to your desktop/laptop using the USB to micro-USB cord supplied. The Archos 70 will then ask you if you want to mount it to your desktop/laptop. Say yes.

c. Open My Computer on your desktop/laptop. It should recognize the Archos as an additional hard drive.

d. Copy the firmware you just downloaded on the desktop/laptop by pasting it on top of the Archos icon on the desktop/laptop. It will then load onto the Archos. When it is done, un-mount it on the Archos 70 then pull out the cord.

e. It will then ask you to plug the Archos 70 into the wall. It will do some other stuff and then you are done.

By the way, it is helpful to look at the “More Info” section of the download webpage. It shows you all the different versions of the firmware, when they were “issued” and what improvements they are supposed to make. This way, you can see how old your firmware is and what it is supposed to do.

2. Upload Android Market and Flash Player – the pictures won’t come up on the websites I went to. Buttons would be missing. Flash is not on the Appslib on the Archos 70 because Archos is not yet certified by Adobe to have Flash Player.

I found the solution on YouTube. See link below.

You have to follow the steps exactly. Your Android should be at least 2.2 Froyo. Anything older and you have to install Android 2.2 Froyo on your machine, which is a very complicated process.

If your Archos is already on Android 2.2 Froyo, this is what you have to do.

[...]

I would like to thank the person who posted this on YouTube. Here are his steps:

a. Go to Settings – Repair & Formatting

b. Reset Android – ok

c. Reboot – do not shut off Archos and then turn on. You must pick the “reboot” option

d. Startup Wizard comes up – go through the whole process, including connecting with your wifi.

e. Reboot – same as c.

f. Go to Appslib icon on home page

g. Type “arctools” (with no quotation marks) and install

h. Open Arctools

i. Click on “Default Apps & Market b 2.2.7″

j. Click on “Install apps”

k. Reboot – same as above

l. Market app icon should be on your home page, click on it and create your new Google account if you don’t have one;

m. Search for Adobe Flash 10.1, download and install

3. Go into Browser App

a. click on Options “button” on right side on screen (four white lines),

b. pick “More”, “Settings” and check “Load Pictures”.

I don’t know why it defaults to “no” which is really stupid.

4. By the way, if you download Flash from another source into your desktop/laptop and are thinking of copying it into your Archos, you need to do a special step. After your download Flash onto your desktop/laptop, make a copy of it but change the extension from .zip to .apk on the copy. You can then mount your Archos like before and paste the copy like normal. Be sure to paste it into the Files – Downloaded area or else you cannot install it into the Archos. Un-mount, and then touch the Flash file you just pasted into the Archos and it should start to install. If you don’t change the extension from .zip to .apk, it will just say “cannot open file” and you can’t do anything.

This caused me a lot of frustration.

5. One more thing. If after all this, you still cannot listen to stuff on the website, contact the website and ask how you can listen on an Android device (tell them which version). They might direct you to another website that carries their “station” for Android users.

After all this suffering, I love my Archos 70!!

For starters let me just say that I’d love to rate this a 5 as it meets all of my requirements for a portable media player that just so happens to have access to the net (internet activity was not what I purchased this for). 5 stars would mean a perfect product and I have yet to stumble upon one; even from Apple.

PROS

- LARGE storage! As long as Archos continuous to give customers a choice on large capacity players they will remain in business; companies are forgetting that’s people’s library of media is only increasing not decreasing

- Support for a ton of video including hi def rips (ie. MKV and H.264 with subtitles)

- Music layout is pretty darn good

- Multi-touch screen is responsive, maybe not as much as an Apple product, but it does the job

- Battery lasts! Very surprised on the life of the battery before it needs a re-charge

- Great e-book reader (with access to Kindle and Nook readers from the market)

- Impressive screen

- Kickstand in the back; I can enjoy a video on my lunch break without having to hold the player.

- External speakers

- HDMI out (no longer a need to purchase silly docks to connect to a flat screen)

- Web is better than I thought. I was able to pick up my home network with ease

- Can install the Google market via hack (real easy to do)

* Don’t be fooled by so-called “professional” reviews which state that the device feels cheap in your hands; it does not by any means. If anything it feels super light.

CONS

- VGA camera is a joke. I have had camera phones from years ago that were better than this

- There’s supposedly a 35,000 music track limit

- Wallpaper feature, using actual personal photos, doesn’t scale correctly for whatever the reason in either view

Conclusion

I had the 8gb prior (returned because I thought I could manage with the amount of storage but I needed the extra space) and for 250gb it is STILL a really light device in your hands. At about $349 you can’t beat this in terms of functionality & features. For the e-book reader and web surfer get the 8gb. For the media buff (ie video, music and pictures) get yourself the 250gb as I did.

I’ve owned this since January. I wanted an ereader that could handle moving pdf’s around, without the slowness or blinking. I enjoy a lot of out of copyright materials, basically older literature, travel narratives, etc. This tablet is great for that. Much lighter than the color nook (though, that’s not a bad option), does video, music, pictures, internet, a few games, word files that I’ve converted to pdf. I got the 70 because it’s lighter and put 16gigs microSd into the side slot (I wouldn’t recommend taking that in and out, as it’s tricky, use the cable to transfer files, it is much easier). I’ve also converted a lot of text files to pdf and using those has made it an even more responsive reader. For instance, I’ve downloaded Ulysses to a text file, printed it to micromedia flashpaper, so now it’s on my Archos as a pdf a few mbs large that I flip through it as fast as I could a desktop, or probably even the hardcover for that matter. The nice thing is that just sits in there, with the 50 or so other titles on my sd card. You might want to consider a file labeling system where the author’s last name comes first, then the title, that way scrolling through the list makes a bit more sense.

There is a lot of support out there with this product and with the patient googler, most anything is possible. I’ve got some backgammon, a nice pdf reader (which turns the words white and the background black, basically making eye fatigue a non-issue), weiqi, a phases of the moon thing-a-ma-bob. People make fun of me for buying a French product but they are nimwits who deserve the Jobs kool-aid they are doled out in the annually emperor’s new clothes style charades. It’s a sorry state when there are no tablets out there for a regular user who doesn’t want a dataplan or itoons or someother intrusive element. This country is just not as innovative when it comes to technology as it likes to think it is. I did like the wifi only Samsung Tablet when I played around with it at Staples a few months ago, but don’t regret purchasing this handsome little bugger at all.

It also makes for a decent music player. The speakers are more than adequate; if you are in a room with a few friends, shuffle up some mp3s and let it ride. My Uncle was piqued: “What’s that,” he said, “looks like an oversized iphone?”.

Also, the iPad is hugely over-rated. So heavy that you simply cannot hold it comfortably for long, so you are back to hunching over flat surfaces or buying a stand for it. It wasn’t any faster than the Archos either, especially loading or navigating webpages. Besides with a little motion of your finger you can easily increase the size of whatever you are looking at, so tablets the iPad size are just inane tomfoolery for the product toters. And the iphone, despite being a convenient phone/internet experience, is just too small. Touching some of the weblinks, you’ll accidently hit the one right next to it and boom you have to go back…the keyboard buttons closest to the edge, like the letter “P” never work either without tapping 5 or 6 times, even then it puts the letter “O” in or whatever, then you have to try and hit backspace, etc.,etc.,…I use dolphin browser on my Archos and it’s been a pleasing web experience.

This thing is great. For what you get and the money you pay, you can’t go wrong with this. I do have to agree with previous reviews, this is more for the person who ISN’T technologically retarded, but I’m an IT professional and have had no issues most people couldn’t figure out on their own. I get around 7-9 hours battery life and it plays flash. The major thing I wanted was flash. This does great. One thing it doesn’t have that you WILL want is the full marketplace. This is as easy as searching for “google marketplace .apk” and then clicking download. Most people shouldn’t have trouble with that. You’re also going to want a task manager/memory manager. These will keep the device running smooth, and this is also what gives you the 9 hours of battery life. Otherwise it might be a lot shorter…this is also where the technologically retarded person might run into problems. If you don’t like to tinker a little bit and just like the point and click like apple has, you’re probably better going with apple. The task manager I have shuts off my wifi when the device is asleep/locked and this is a major battery saver. The screen works great, everything is as fluid as can be expected on a multi platform OS, and I’ve had no problems with wifi and the device freezing like some people. I have the 250 Gb version and love it. 5 stars up and down.

I researched internet tablets for too long, confused by comments of people comparing everything to the IPAD. I am a systems programmer, photographer, graphics designer, musician, and preacher. This tablet takes care of all of my needs perfectly. I’m satisfied with it. I chose the 7″ over the 10.1 because I carry it around. For me he 10.1″ is like carrying a notebook instead of a notepad. I’m 58 years old and can see and read it without glasses.

Don’t compare a droidpad to an ipad. They are not the same. Different hardware, operating systems, and applications. It’s like comparing my F150 to my wife’s Jetta. They both get you from point A to point B, but one is a full size truck and the other is a compact car. You cannot compare the ride, space or horsepower to each other.

If you are looking for a great internet tablet that does what it says it will do, then the A70 is fantastic and doesn’t require deep pockets to own one. The WIFI is good in public places especially at home with DSL. When I want blazing speed, I wait until I get to work where the WIFI is connected to a T1.

My point is, compare Droid to Droid and MAC to MAC. Just make sure it does what you want it to do and not what others think that it should.

OK, so I got this tablet. And was so ridiculously excited it isn’t funny.
The first week was a nightmare. I was inches from sending it back. (PLEASE keep reading though)

The app library it comes with (appslib) sucks, and crashed most times I tried to use it. I got rid of that, and installed the regular Android market.

Then I was having a problem with my tablet rebooting, alot, whenever it wanted to. Asked Archos what to do and they instructed me to force it to install the newer firmware (and they gave instructions how to do so). Did that and it has been perfect ever since.

It is great for games, including Angry birds. Movies are great on it, music too. E-books are great. Web browsing is great. Email is great. The wifi it has is better than my HP laptop. The screen is a true touch screen (your finger), you don’t need a stylus or to tap it with your nails. The camera works well enough for me anyways (As good as my Android phone). The gravity sensor is great, no matter which way you turn it, the screen flips. A few apps I like won’t work, but I think the app itself requires a cellular signal, not just wifi for some reason (Slacker Radio). The leg, although I thought it wouldn’t work, did and it’s not topply or anything. The screen does glare in sunlight, but so does any Android touchscreen I have seen. Transferring files from PC to it is super easy.

WELL worth the money, especially in comparison to say, the Motorola XOOM that is at least 2x the price and less storage. I would do it again, even with the hiccups in the beginning.
Comment on here if you have a question and I will do my best to answer

I have been very happy with the product.

The biggest reason I chose this tablet over many others was the drive size at 250gb.
I now can carry every single song in my collection with me in the car and not worry about someone sitting on CDs.

The interface is convenient and easy to understand.
There are also more apps available for this than I can relate.

My only thought for others to beware on:
The accessories sold as chargers need to be paid close attention. Many of them say they are chargers for the Archos 70 internet tablet ( 250gb ) but watch out!
The tablet requires a 2 amp input. Most of the chargers ( for car, cigarette lighter type )out there are aiming at iPads and they only use 1 amprather than the 2A required. ALSO…despite what is said in many places..there IS NO USB CHARGING FEATURE. Be clear, people sell them and say they work, they do not. It’s back to that 2amp throughput they require to charge and the Archos USB is notset up for it.

Other than these issues, I really like mine.

About the Archos 70 250gb HD model — I understand that many people are wary of the 250gb internal HD, and this is perfectly understandable, for I was as well. First of all, no one can deny the fact that an internal hard drive is going to use more power than the flash based models. Secondly, once again there’s no denying that the HD based model is going to be significantly heavier, and that means harder to hold in one hand for an extended period of time. Thirdly, one must be concerned about banging or bumping the tablet around for fear of damaging the drive, moreso than the flash based units.

Yes, these are all valid concerns and they are very real. Yes the drive is power hungry. Yes the tablet makes my hand and arm ache if I hold it too long in one hand. And yes I am much more careful about banging or bumping the tablet around when using, storing, or transporting it. However, I would like to say some good things about the unit:

1. The HD only runs so often, for example when downloading an app or a file, or when accessing files on the drive. I watched several Netflix movies without the HD turning on once (You can feel the unit vibrating slightly and hear a faint purr when the HD is running). As far as web surfing, I’m not sure what the unit’s policy is for using the HD. There have definitely been periods when I can surf w/o the drive running, but there have also been times when it seems to activate for short periods while I’m browsing.

2. There are ways to save power. First of all, I have the screen brightness turned all the way down (yet the screen is still easy to see, even in ambient daylight). Secondly, with the latest firmware update (at this time Archos version 2.3.26, a version of Android 2.2.1 or Froyo), you can set the maximum CPU speed to Overdrive (100% or 1ghz), Optimal (80% or 800mhz), or Powersave, which I am spitballing is somewhere around 60 or 70 percent (Go to Settings -> About Device -> Power Management). Also, I use the free version of Advanced Task Killer to close any unnecessary apps that I suspect might put a heavy load on the CPU or which might activate the HD. And I use headphones when convenient instead of cranking up the tablet’s speakers.

3. Screen: Awsome. The capacitive touch-screen is super sensitive, responsive, and accurate. I’ve been typing this whole review on the A70 and very very rarely do I get a misfire. Of course I’m typing in landscape, and I can’t vouch for portrait typing because I do very little of that. Also, swiping and scrolling are a breeze. Rarely do I accidentally ‘click’ something that I didn’t mean to when trying to scroll or swipe. And the screen is as smooth as glass, which makes swiping and scrolling all the easier. Although I’ve heard complaints about it, I don’t find the reflectiveness of the screen a problem. Al contraire, I think it makes the tablet look professional and well built. Yes, it is a fingerprint magnet, but you can only see the prints on the screen if you tilt the tablet so far that the screen washes out or if you turn the unit off (The bezel, however, depending on the lighting, does at times show quite a bit of fingerprinting even when the screen is viewable). I’d also like to say that ‘clicking’ links, even when they are very small, is amazingly easy, and rarely do I ever ‘click’ a link above, below, or next to the one I aimed for (and I mean with my finger, not a stylus–which I don’t have for the A70 because I don’t need one). Although I’ve heard people complaining about the viewing angle of the 10 inch A101, the viewing angle on the A70 is quite generous, in my opinion. I can tilt the unit naybe 35 or 40 degrees before the screen really staets to wash out.

4. Some general observations: Processor is fast and responsive. Operating system is for all matters bug-free. Yes,the Android Market app is absent, however Archos has their own Android Market called the AppsLib, and besides there is a hacked app out there for All Archos generation 8 devices (28, 32, 43, 70, and 101) with Google Apps including the official Android Market app. Screen resolution (800×480) is, although arguably on the lower end of the spectrum, just fine. Never have I found myself either wishing the resolution was higher or even noticing that it isn’t. Everything looks absolutely fine on the A70′s screen. Front facing stereo speakers give as good sound as one could expect from a tablet’s native speakers. Forward facing webcam doesn’t make taking pictures or videos of anything but myself easy, however it does great at what it was designed to be–a forward facing webcam. Unit’s casing is in my opinion sturdy. Screen seems as solid as glass.

5. One last observation: I think my A43-16gb has 256mb or so of RAM and another 256mb or so of “system storage” (Correct me if I’m wrong). I believe the A70 that comes with 8gb of flash memory (rather than the 250gb HD) has the same setup as the A43. However, this unit (the A70-250gb), unlike ALL other Archos generation 8 devices, comes with a whopping 1.5gb or so of system storage (although it has the standard 256mb of RAM). The way I understand it, the system storage is where the apps are installed as well as the operating system files. So if I’m correct so far, you can put about 6 times the apps on this (the A70-250gb) as you can on any other Archos generation 8 device.

Last but not least, yes, there is no MicroSD slot (as with the A70-8gb) and no full size USB slot (as with the A101), but you can hook up most any USB storage device via the micro USB port give the right adapter. And, the real kicker: Two hundred and fifty gigabytes of internal storage!

Conclusion: The A70-250gb is a little heavier than the 8gb model, and it probably does go through a charge a little quicker, and you might not want to strap it to your belt when you go out for a jog, but it’s a fine tablet in my opinion. Archos, despite any bad press, is in my opinion a top-notch manufacturer when you consider their prices. Their operating system is solid as a rock, their processors are fast and efficient, and their tablets are the best value in town. The A70-250gb is no exception.

This item may not be able to challenge the IPAD or other more expensive tablets, but the on board 250 GB storage is without equal. Have that much storage is what sold me on this item. I am not expecting to write novels on this devise, but i bought this device with the expectation that it will provide me with entertainment. It is an awesome video and music player that runs android very smoothly, runs android apps very well, and can surf the web without too many issues. You must not expect an IPad type experience, but you can expect a great product at a great price. I really like this device for what it does.