Archos 5 internet tablet review roundup

The Archos 5 internet tablet is now available for sale in all its different versions: Archos 5 32GB for $369, Archos 5 160GB for $389 and Archos 5 500GB for $499. You can also pick up the Archos DVR Station Dock for $89 which allows you record programs from your TV to your Archos 5 and stream web content from your tablet to your TV.

With the Archos 5 tablets now shipping the reviews and unboxing videos have begun rolling in. Here’s a review and unboxing roundup so you can find out if the Archos 5 internet tablet is for you.

The unboxing video of the 32GB SSD verion above is from UMPCPortal. Steve Chippy does a good job of going through the opening motions and the initial installs. The browsing element on the Archos 5 looks fantastic. Once set up, the 5 performed very quickly and smoothly when visiting websites and playing YouTube videos. While one might not be throwing away their iPod Touches it certainly is competition for those who want mobile internet capability.

Next up is Steve Chippy again along with guest where they recap the unboxing and overview as well as a question and answer session. It provides a lot of information that you’re looking for, but it’s also over an hour. Prepare thyself for viewing. They start reviewing the internet browser about 10 minutes into the stream if you’re not interested in unboxing and hardware overview.

If a written review is more your speed, check out Ubergizmo’s review on the 32GB SSD Archos 5 tablet. They also have a few shorter videos that showcase the browser, GPS, video, application store and photos. Here’s a summary of their conclusion:

Archos has done a very good job with the design of the Archos 5 Android Tablet and Android does a great job of making the platform stable and user-friendly. That said, Archos’ weak point is still its own software/services. Android pretty much solves the previous issue that Archos had: its proprietary OS. Many users were complaining that their OS was not stable, so things should get much better from now on with Android. Thanks to the larger display, the virtual keyboard yields a much lower typo rate than the iPhone. The PMP functions work great and the web experience is very good – if you don’t need in-browser Flash support.

I’m disappointed by the Archos App Store. It is extremely slow and at this time, I’d rather avoid going there altogether. If normal (smartphone) Android apps work, could Archos also leave the Android Market app in there? Right now, the regular Android Market place is out of reach.

The perceived responsiveness is mostly very good. The user interface is mostly snappy, but if there’s a background task going on (network waiting, video buffer flush, thumbnails creation/download) things can get slow an unresponsive. Going back to the home screen while playing a video is a good example.

The Archos 5 Android Tablet is a very interesting product and I wonder if it will spark a new category of larger touch device. So far, the most successful ones are in the 3.5″ category, but the larger screen makes the media experience much better – even if it makes the pocketable experience bulkier. What is the best compromise? Only time, and the market, will tell. At $250, the 8GB version seems to be a great entry price for a small Internet Tablet.

TechRadar has a brief review that still hits all the high-points again with the 32GB SSD tablet. They seemed to have a problem with price and thought that the DVR dock was a necessary element and should be included in the tablet price.

Finally, Wired has another good review write-up. They liked the thinness of the device, the speed of the processor and the extra capabilities the DVR station dock added to the tablet. They didn’t like the glitchiness of the custom OS, the lack of built-in mic (negating any chance of Skype or other VOIP services) and that the purchase of an additional dongle is necessary for 3G connection.

That should be enough for you to make up your mind on the Archos 5 Internet Tablet. We’ll update the article when more reviews of the 160GB and 500GB are available.