Ilja Coolen \ ICSS

Disclaimer: Everything you read below is my own opinion and is based on my own personal experience. Your view or experience may differ. Facts are supported by public documentation published by Archos.

As an Android smart phone fan, I was really looking forward to my recently purchased Archos 10.1″ Android based internet tablet. I have found little to no blogs or experiences shared on the internet, so I kinda went in there blindly. Archos is a fairly well known company with quite the number of hand held media players in it’s portfolio. The 10.1″ tablet is not their first Android based device, so I reckon they have gained some experience in developing and supporting the Android devices.

One thing that is quite surprising is that their Android products are not connected with Google  at all. It is just a stand alone Android based device with no Google integration at all. The reason might be that Archos is not a member of the “Open Handset Alliance“. There is no Google Android Market and the Gmail, Google Calendar, Maps and the works are all missing. Archos has a market place of their own called “AppsLib“. Archos selects and tests Android apps themselves and places them in the Archos AppLib when they pass the Archos criteria. I expected the AppsLib to be very limited, but I was very wrong. The Archos AppLib is a decent app, working similar to the Android Market app. It has quite the number of apps available for installation. I did not count them, but I guess the Android Market has more apps. Nevertheless you will probably find most apps you are looking for. Contrary to the Android Market, the Archos AppsLib allows you to pay for your apps through PayPal. I have read somewhere that the Toshiba are taking the same approach with their Android Tablet, the “Folio 100″ although they are on the Open Handset Alliance manufacturers member list.

Package

The package is nothing spectacular. The tablet is decently wrapped in the normal protective foils and styrofoam protection. It has a chunky power adapter with a couple (three to be exact) of click-on wall plug adapters for the various different socket types in use. It ships with a USB-microUSB cable and some booklets with the standard legal notices and a small manual.

For me it lacks the mini-HDMI cable and a protective sleeve for the tablet. But since the pricing is very low compared to other Android tablets, this is understandable.

Specifications

Archos specifications:

Screen

The 10.1″ tablet and therefore so is the screen, is landscape oriented by default. Rotating the tablet will also rotate the screen orientation from landscape to portrait, in a full 360 degrees fashion. You can hold the tablet upside down to show a picture to a friend and he or she will be able to see the picture.
Quality wise I do have some remarks to make; When I saw the iPhone 3 for the first time, I thought its screen was awesome. But when I saw the screen of the HTC Desire (pre-HD and HD of course) or iPhone 4, I was astound by the screen quality and vivid colours of those new phones. The Archos tablet’s screen would fall in the iPhone 3 category. It’s a very decent screen, but we know there are way better screens out there. So, to continue the comparison with an Apple product, the Archos screen compares to an iPad screen like the iPhone 3 screen compares to an iPhone 4 screen.

The ratio of the screen is a bit different to what I am used to as well. It has an aspect ratio of 16:9 in stead of 4:3. As I said the default orientation is landscape.  When rotated to portrait orientation, the tablet stands fairly tall. While reading an ebook in portrait orientation, I found myself holding the tablet at the bottom end. Due to it’s height, it is leaning over to the back a bit and feeling quite heavy, putting strain on the wrists. You will need to support the tablet on your lap to relieve your wrists or read in landscape orientation.

The capacitive touch screen does do a good job though. It’s sensitive and accurate. The on-screen keyboard is easy to use, and like all Android based products, you are free to install add-ons or replacing keyboard apps.

Hardware wise, the tablet and screen feel robust and solid. It does not give me the impression it would torque and break easily. You should still handle these products with care of course. The back has two removable metal plate covers with (tiny) screws. I haven’t removed them because I do not (yet) want to void my warranty, but my best bet is they give you access to the battery for one. In the middle is a retractable metal deskstand which allows you to put the tablet in an upright position in landscape orientation on your desk or tray so you can watch your multimedia content.
Your neighbour in the train or air plane will not be able to watch it along with you. The viewing angle isn’t all that great. You will need to have the device directly in front of you to have the best viewing experience. Depending on your privacy wishes you will think this is a positive thing. But when showing your content to someone, this might just as well be a bad thing. I myself would not consider this a reason not to buy.

Performance

The Archos tablet is very responsive but shows an occasional lag. Especially when installing apps. I’ve had several occasions where I was installing not more then two apps at a time, and I had to wait for the device to finish installing. It did not respond to swiping the screen at all. The problem could be that the internal memory is slow (unconfirmed). I don’t think it is a processing power issue. Everyting I have been able to do within an app, felt responsive and worked quite well.

Currently, the tablet runs Android 2.1, and 2.2 (Froyo) is announced for release in November.

Multimedia

Multimedia capabilities sourced from the Archos website.

• Audio Playback¹ • MP3 CBR & VBR
  • WMA, WMA-Pro 5.1
  • WAV (PCM/ADPCM)
  • AAC, AAC+ 5.1³
  • OGG Vorbis
  • FLAC
  With optional software plug-ins (downloadable on www.archos.com):⁴
  • AC3 5.1
  -
• Video Playback¹ • MPEG-4² HD (up to 720p, 30 fps@6Mbps)
  • MPEG-4² (ASP@L5 AVI, up to DVD resolution, 30 fps@8Mbps)
  • H.264 HD (HP@L3.1 up to 720p, 30 fps@5Mbps)
  • WMV9/VC1 (AP up to 720p 30 fps@10Mbps)
  • M-JPEG (Motion JPEG Video) in VGA resolutionWith optional plug-in (downloadable on www.archos.com):⁴
  • Cinema: MPEG-2 (up to DVD resolution MP/D1, 30 fps@10 Mbps)
  With the above codecs, the device can play video files with the following extensions: AVI, MP4, MKV, MOV, WMV, MPG, PS, TS, VOB, FLV, RM, RMVB, ASF, 3GP

1/ Certain bitrates, resolutions, and/or file variations may not be compatible.
2/ MPEG-4 ASP@L5 AVI (MPEG-4: ISO standard by Moving Picture Experts Group; AVI: audio/video file container by Microsoft) without GMC and Quarter pixel.
3/ Does not read AAC protected files.
4/ Will require additional €15,- through purchase options at the Archos store. (UPDATE)

The device supports a range of common codecs and is able to play 1280 x 720 video on the mini-HDMI out. A number of apps come pre-installed that offer a very nice multimedia experience. The Archos also comes with a DLNA/uPnP client to play video and audio content from your DLNA/uPnP enabled media server. The Archos even has a SMB client on board that lets you connect to your CIFS shares (in case you have any).

Connectivity

• Wifi
  Wifi works like you would expect from any modern appliance. Nothing new or bad here.
  -
• Power connector
  The Archos tablet has a separate power adapter which connects with the old-fashioned pin-like power connector. I would have expected the tablet to charge using the USB connector like most devices do nowadays. The USB connectors however, will not enable you to charge the tablet. Therefore you will always have to drag along the chunky power-cord and wall-plug. Very disappointing.
  -
• mini-HDMI
  The Archos tablet has a mini-HDMI port which allows you to connect you tablet to you TV set. A mini-HDMI cable is not something everybody has laying around at home I think. It would be very complimentary if they would have added a mini-HDMI to normal-HDMI cable in the package. I have no such cable, so I have not been able to test the device on my TV set. I myself see no real usage for this option, because I have my home media players all set up. For someone who has no home media players it could be a nice feature. I doubt the tablet has the horsepower to play HD (ready) content on a TV set. I hope to prove myself wrong once I have a mini-HDMI cable to test this.
  -
• micro USB
  Used for connecting slave USB devices. It can power and charge my phone, but you cannot charge the tablet with any USB connection.  [update] You can also connect your tablet to another computer and use the tablet as an external storage device. You can transfer your multimedia content to the tablet that way. I forgot to put this in the original post, but updated it here because this usage is kind of obvious. Dumb of me to forget about it. [/update] Had no other purpose of using it so far.
  -
• Normal size USB host port
  Using the USB host port you can connect more external storage, a keyboard or mouse. I have been using my Android phone as an external disk drive to the tablet for tests. I have tested a keyboard, and it worked absolutely fine. I have tested two bluetooth keyboards but was unable to detect them with bluetooth. Might be my own lack of bluetooth knowledge I have also connected a mouse to the USB port, and presto, a mouse pointer appeared on the screen. Very funny to see a mouse pointer on a (multi)touch screen. What was remarkable though was the fact the mouse clicks did not work on the 4 default home keys at the right hand side of the screen.
  As for USB storage, the tablet is unable to read NTFS filesystems on an USB stick. FAT formatted USB sticks worked fine and were detected as external storage.
  -
• Micro SD card slot
  The Archos 10.1″ tablet  comes in two models. A 8GB model and a 16GB model. Due to shipment problems with th 16GB tablets, I have ordered an 8GB model. I would use the microSD slot to expand the capacity if needed. The microSD slot supports all recent high capacity microSD cards. I have tested my 32GB card, and it could read from and write to the card like expected.

This tablet has no 3G on board, nor does it have a GPS. All which is not something I was requiring for my tablet. I am very satisfied with the tablet with the current connectivity options. If I would require network connection while on the road, I could use USB-Phone tethering or Bluetooth PAN networking. For both these methods, a wizard helps you configure the tablet.

A third option is enabling a Wifi Access Point on your smartphone if it supports it. I have tested this on my Android 2.2 based HTC Desire phone, and this works perfectly. With these three connectivity options, I can use the data plan I have on my phone instead of having to subscribe to yet another 3G data plan.

Battery life

I have no experience with other tablets and their battery life so I can hardly compare it to competing tablets. I have charged the Archos tablet on a Friday evening, and myself and my family members have been playing with the device quite a lot over the weekend. I recharged it Sunday night because I wanted to do some field testing on my way to and from work on Monday. There was still 40% capacity remaining. I guess this is not to bad at all. Like I said, if I would like to charge the device while away from home, I would need to bring along the chunky wall plug. The Archos does not charge on USB connection.

Google Integration

Like mentioned in the intro, there is no Google integration on the Archos tablet at all. You cannot use the Android Market place, nor all the popular Google apps. Archos has alternatives for all the common apps, and email accounts are based on POP3 or IMAP.

There is quite an easy method of enabling the Google integration yourself, but neither Google nor Archos will support this. If you decide to download and install this “fix” you are on your own. If you want, lookup “gApps4Archos.apk” using your favorite search engine. I have installed the apk and rebooted the device. Afterwards I had most Google apps on the Archos device, and the Market place at my fingertips. I was able to install from both the AppsLib and the Market Place. The automatic synchronisation of my Google accounts (Mail, Calendar, Contacts) worked, but wasn’t as frequent as I expected it to be. Turns out, that when I switch off the devices screen, background tasks are also paused. When I think about it, I think this is not really bad for a tablet, the way I use it. You might have a very different opinion.
I did find it inconvenient when I (test-) imported several ebooks into the pre-installed application Aldiko. Importing paused when the screen switched of automatically.

Pricing and shipping

I paid €299,- for the 8GB model without shipping. Archos shipped using FedEx and the package was delivered the next (business) day. Including shipping I paid €313,- so that is a fair price. The 16GB model is €50,- more.

If you compare this price to the other tablets out there like the Apple iPad or the Samsung Galaxy S tablet, it is quite cheap. Will it compete with the iPad or Samsung Galaxy tablet? I think not by quality, but if the buyer is not as demanding as I am and is willing to live with the quirks  described before, it could. There is quite definitely an audience for this tablet, but it will be a different audience as the one for the iPad. But that is nothing new.

Does this tablet live up to my expectations? Well, not exactly, but I have to be honest. For said price you should expect exactly what the Archos tablet offers. From a price perspective, Archos definitely offers a good product.

When not to buy

I couldn’t possibly tell when or why you should buy this tablet, but I can tell when you should not buy it based on my experience so far. You have to make your own decision of course. Make it based on budget and requirements. Use this review to determine whether or not the shortcomings are showstoppers for you.

You should not buy the Archos 10.1″ Internet tablet when;

• An immaculate screen quality is a requirement. If you think the iPhone 3 had a good screen and you are satisfied with it, you’d not feel cheated out of your money.
• Need 3G/UMTS and you do not want to use your phone with tethering.
• Do not want to drag along a chunky wall plug for charging.
• Need full Google integration with support from Google (Android) and the tablet vendor.

If you feel you have anything to add or comment about, please feel free to do so.

About a week ago I finally got my home NAS device, a “QNAP TS 439 II Pro“.

I have been postponing this purchase for years now since I had my own home brew Linux server acting as a NAS station. I only decided to phase out the Linux server in favour for the small NAS box because after 10 years always-on usage, my Linux server began to have some stability issues.

For me the new NAS device had to be able to support all features I was using on my Linux server. More features were nice, but not required.

• Replicate personal data on regular intervals, like digital photos and scanned documents.
• Replicate backups from my website and database (along with the website of a couple of friends) to the NAS box.
• Serve multimedia content using uPnP/DLNA to the media players in my house. Transcoding not required.
• Download podcasts on regular intervals.
• Download other content like TV shows and or movies.
• Serve as a surveillance station for a webcam or maybe even two eventually.
• Have fairly good performance.

Like Synology, QNAP has several models that support all of these features. Maybe not all of them out-of-the-box, but they can all be implemented in some way. Besides what I wanted it to support, the QNAP has a bunch more features you can use. I went for the QNAP based on various posts I read on the web and features the do offer. In the end I do not think it would have made much difference. Pricing is however somewhat higher for the Synology boxes with 4 or more drives (as far as I have been able to investigate).

Unboxing:

The QNAP came in a nice cardboard box with sufficient soft protection to make sure your box can sit in your cabinet or on your desk without dents or scratches. Like most other products, there is nothing wrong with the packaging. When you order your gear at a webshop, make sure you check a couple of reviews on that shop to make sure they send their orders in decent and discrete packaging.
I tend to order at the same webshop most of the time, because I know them and am very satisfied with their services. I know it sometimes can be somewhat cheaper, but that is not my most important criteria.

Within the box, there is also a smaller box with the power and network cables. Yes more than one network cable, as this QNAP model has a dual 1GbE interface. Also you will find a small plastic wrapping with the necessary screws to secure your hard drives in the brackets. For those who care to use it, there is also a CDrom with all the user documentation you need. In my case, these mostly end up in the bin.

External appearance:

From the outside the box has a decent and firm look. The surrounding cover is made up out of brushed aluminium and seems to have a clear coating over the metal. I guess it helps keeping the box clear of smudges. At the front is a small but very bright blue LCD panel indicating the IP address and status. After running a few minutes this display dims and only a couple of subtle LED’s are lit to indicate activity and system status.

The front cover is clearly a plastic cover and it also feels that way. This to me kind of seems disappointing in comparison to the side and top covers. The drive brackets are also made of plastic but have a metal cage to place either a 2.5″ HDD or 3.5″ HDD in.

The option of a 2.5″ or 3.5″ contributes to user flexibility but also has the SMB market in mind. I myself will be quite satisfied with the slower but larger capacity drives, but some businesses or high end users might have more need for faster or “greener” 2.5″ drives. It’s up to you, QNAP offers the possibility to go either way.

Be on the lookout for some follow up posts.