Archos 5 Internet Tablet With Android

Arriving in the mail today was the new Archos 5 Internet Media Tablet with Android. This is my first hands-on look at the newest update to the Archos Internet Media Tablet line of devices.

One key difference between this model and the previous model is the maximum storage, now at 500gb vs. 250gb for the latter.

The new device comes bundled with software, earbuds, and a micro-USB cable. This is a big plus over the proprietary USB cable of previous models.

The new Android interface replaces the home-grown Linux interface of the previous device. Some apps are pre-installed and more can be downloaded over the built-in Wifi connection from the Archos online store.

Compared to the previous model (top), the new model is a bit wider, although the screen is the same size. Thickness is roughly the same as well, although the new model is sporting double the storage capacity (500gb vs. 250gb). Proprietary USB cable port is still available on the new model, and it will charge the device, and sync files.

No Mac support: I use a Mac computer and their is currently no support for mounting the Archos so files can be transferred back and forth. Great. Fortunately, I also run Windows on my Mac, but now I have to copy files over to the Windows partition before I can get them on my Archos. Bleh! The previous Archos 5 mounted up just fine. The rumors say that this support will come later, but once again, Archos ships a product that is not fully ready for the marketplace. The previous Archos 5 shipped with no GPS cradle support and a non-working email client.

The back side of the device is a fingerprint magnet. They should have stuck with the black rubberized coating of the previous model that was great for resisting fingerprints and scratches.

I’ve just begun to play around with the device now and have not begun to examine all of its features. Video looks good, and I will be checking out the built in GPS feature. This should be interesting because now the GPS receiver is built into the device and no longer needs the optional cradle that I could never get to work with my original Archos 5.

So this is the Mac syncing solution I came up. I have VMware Fusion running Windows XP in a window on my Mac, and my Mac is running Snow Leopard. I have to copy the files from the Mac Movies Folder to some folder on the Windows side, and THEN to the Archos. What a friggin’ pain!

More weirdness: The Archos 5 has several settings for connecting to a computer via USB. One is as a mass storage device, another is as an Mobile Media Device (MTP). The weirdness is that the mass storage option didn’t work on both Windows XP and Mac. Windows saw it as a drive, but wanted to format it; Mac said the drive was unreadable and wanted to initialize it (note: the test with Windows XP was tried on a Windows XP only PC, not my Mac running Windows XP in VMware). Only the MTP setting worked, and only with Windows.

I’ll be adding more to this post as I get more time with the Archos 5, so stay tuned…

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