Are you ready for a £200 Android tablet with enough space for 50 hours of high-definition movies? Then step right this way and meet the Archos G9 tablets, two tablets packing Android 3.1 Honeycomb and a fistful of features that range from the impressive to the just plain weird.
There are two G9 models. The 8-inch Archos 80 G9 is the smaller of the two and sports a 4:3, 1,024x768-pixel screen. That makes it a competitor to the Samsung Galaxy Tab in your jacket pocket.
The 10-inch Archos 101 G9 is the bigger brother, facing off with the likes of the Apple iPad in your bag. It boasts a 16:9, 1,280x800-pixel screen.
Both models are powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core OMAP 4 processor from Texas Instruments.
The two tablets offer 1080p playback of high-definition video. There's an HDMI output to take films stored on the tablet and play them on your hi-def TV.
You'll fit plenty of films in there, too. Both models pack a whopping 250GB of storage, which blows all other tablets out of the water. Films, photos and files are all stashed away on a 250GB Seagate hard drive inside the slate.
Yes, a hard drive, like the one in your computer. The problem with a hard drive is that it has moving parts and is much less hardy than flash memory, as found in most tablets. Those tablets have less storage, but if you drop them you don't need to worry about losing all your data. Drop a G9 and you risk not just a smashed screen but also the loss of 250GB-worth of media and memories.
Both tablets connect to the Internet by Wi-Fi, but unlike most other tablets there's no 3G model. Instead, Archos has come up with what it calls a "unique 3G-ready solution". The tablets have a USB slot, and Archos is selling a separate 3G dongle specially designed for the G9 slates. The dongle works on a pay as you go basis and costs £50.
We don't yet know whether you'll be able to tether your G9 to your phone and avoid using the dongle altogether, but at least it means no messing around with a SIM card in your tablet.
Archos reckons the dongle method saves you from the agonising decision of choosing between 3G or Wi-Fi when you first buy the tablet. This way you can buy the tablet, and upgrading to 3G at a later date simply means grabbing the dongle rather than having to buy a whole new tablet. On the other hand, it sounds a bit like selling you a car with no engine to save you from the dilemma of deciding between petrol or diesel -- and then selling you a jerry can on your way out.
Archos reckons the dongle method is cheaper than a tablet with an expensive 3G module built-in, and whether that's true or not, the G9s certainly are cheap. The 8-inch 80 G9 will set you back £200, and the 10-inch 101 G9 just £250. Even with the £50 dongle on top, that's still a very attractive price tag compared to the likes of the 8-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab or 10-inch iPad.
The Archos G9 tablets go on sale in September. We'll be getting our hands on them before that, so keep it CNET UK for all the news, reviews and previews. Do you think budget price, massive memory and 3G donglage make the G9s a winning pair, or are they too weird to live? Drop your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.
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Comments 10
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ace9988 24 June, 2011 12:18
how did they fit a "spinny go round" (i like calling them that) hard-drive which are usually quite thick into the tablets, must be a real achievement if they can keep it relatively thin compared to lets say the original ipad
ace9988 24 June, 2011 12:38
i forgot to add that it does come with flash memory for obvious reasons, but for the price what they offer if very good, is there no flaw in this??
Dean Shepherd 24 June, 2011 12:43
@ ace9988
they most likely used a custom laptop harddrive, as they are pretty damn thin and considering that the archos has a usb port then its not going to be super ipad thin like..
@Cnet
"On the other hand, it sounds a bit like selling you a car with no engine to save you from the dilemma of deciding between petrol or diesel -- and then selling you a jerry can on your way out."
that is a really poor comparison, I mean it has wifi built in, so it DOES have connectivity, just not always connected everywhere....which is what SOME people want, they don't want the extra hassle of spending more for net use and given that many wifi hotspots in say Mcdonalds or starbucks (in UK) are free to like BT customers or something then its perfect for those guys.
BUT on the other hand, with the fact it has a USB port and seperate USB dongle for 3G, that makes me wonder if that dongle is nothing more than a standard USB dongle, and thus in turn meaning that the archos tablet actually has USB-on-the-GO built in like the Samsung Galaxy S2 or the Nokia N8....which if thats the case, alot of people use mobile broadband anyway so there shouldn't be any reason why you cant just hook any other dongle up.
As to phone tethering, well im not sure how that works with 'on the go' as haven't really seen anyone test that, I mean why would you tether a 3G phone to a 3G phone? would seem pointless.....but I can't really see any reason why tethering a phone WOULDN'T work, if the archos responds to a dongle...I mean the two arent really different, whether its buy USB or WIFI really.
I would say that the archos could prove to be stiff competition, especially given its price and storage...the only problem is size....alot of people have been swayed by the whole "thinnest devices are MUCH better" and while that might be true of say phones, where we would like them to fit in our pockets....its not so for tablets...I mean a tablet is going to be going into a sleeve and into a bag, not pocket, so is their REALLY any need to be picky over how thin it is? I mean as long as it doesnt way the same weight as an old 90's laptop then your laughing .
I will say though, you mention price, screen size/ratio and storage....but what about anything else? camera, flash ability, ram, whether it has a dedicated GPU or anything else...or do you not know yet?
Anonymous 24 June, 2011 13:55
Archos already have a 250Gb hard-drive in the Archos 70 tablet so it's nothing new. The hard-drive adds 3mm in width.
As for saying that purchasing it without 3G is like buying a car without an engine?
C'mon Rich, work on your analogies!
Naryan 25 June, 2011 04:30
"On the other hand, it sounds a bit like selling you a car with no engine to save you from the dilemma of deciding between petrol or diesel."
...Uh no, no it's not like that CNET UK, although even though the only other thing apart from tech that you do is cars, I wouldn't have expected a more accurate comparison on here, especially seeing as you've also written "It boasts a 16:9, 1,280x800-pixel screen."
A 1280x800 screen is not a 16:9 screen, it's a 16:10 screen. 1280x720 is 16:9, it's called 720p. How does a tech site consistently make these kind of mistakes? It feels like there's at least one in every article sometimes...
Anonymous 26 June, 2011 00:11
The lack of 3G is no big deal, if you really want internet on the go, just enable the Wi-Fi hotspot function of any Android 2.2+ Handset, job done! No need for cabled tethering.
anonymous 26 June, 2011 17:52
Saying that selling a tablet without the 3G option is like selling a car without petrol is just an awful comparison. I can assume that many buyers of these tablets will have an Android 2.2 phone, so will have a the Wireless Hotspot option. This is what I do. My tablet doesn't have 3G so I just use my phones Wireless Hotspot with it's unlimited internet allowance. No need for 3G whatsoever.
Anonymous 28 June, 2011 19:02
Hi - is there confirmation on the price for the 10.1/250gb version as from the above it reads at GBP250 but elsewhere it's listed as GBP399?
Cheers!
AJ
Anonymous 11 August, 2011 16:33
Hi,
They also come with 32Gb flash drive (for the same prices) if you're worried about dropping it.
anonymous 7 September, 2011 00:14
"On the other hand, it sounds a bit like selling you a car with no engine to save you from the dilemma of deciding between petrol or diesel -- and then selling you a jerry can on your way out."
What absolute rubbish. If you want a strained metaphor, how about
"On the other hand, it's a bit like selling you a car with a petrol engine but offering you a half price autogas conversion, so you can mix and match running on petrol or autogas."
The 3G dongle idea is absolutely genius. Instead of having to pay £100 extra for your tablet when you buy it, you get to add 3G functionality any time later for the cost of a 3G dongle and unlike adding an ordinary dongle to another tablet, it sits snugly in a slot inside of the tablet!
You can even share the same 3G dongle and data plan with your laptop. Why have two expensive data plans when you can have one?