Archos 101 or Viewsonic G-Tab ?

[dman2275]

Hi everyone,

I was looking to pick up a tablet and could not decide between the Viewsonic G-Tab or the Archos 101. I definitely want a 10

 

[UBRocked]

Well, the Viewsonic G Tab has a Tegra2 processor...but was pulled off Staple's store shelves because of "manufacturer defect" so...I'd be a little hesitant to spend $400 for the G Tab.

 

[twospirits]

If its between those two, I would have to say the Archos.

TS

 

[UBRocked]

I saw you posted this in the viewsonic forum as well. It is always good to get feedback from both sides of the coin. Having said that, be careful to not put too much stock into what people offer up. People tend to defend the device they own.

My wife bought me the A70 for Xmas after listening to my tech ramblings. I told her I would not buy a Galaxy S tab or iPad because of the price point on both devices. The screen reviews on the Viewsonic G Tab turned me off and after hearing it got pulled from Staples...my recommendation for the Archos line feels more justified to me.

Is either device a first class device?...no, but I wouldn't pay the steep price tags for those devices in the first place. So my point is that I felt the Archos Gen8 devices were the best "bang for the buck" and now that I actually own one...I have not been disappointed.

My advice...Figure out what features are most important to you, what your price point is, and then go with your gut feeling. If you are having trouble deciding...give it a few months as you will undoubtedly see many more tabs in 2011.

 

[xmr405o]

I saw you posted this in the viewsonic forum as well. It is always good to get feedback from both sides of the coin. Having said that, be careful to not put too much stock into what people offer up. People tend to defend the device they own.

My wife bought me the A70 for Xmas after listening to my tech ramblings. I told her I would not buy a Galaxy S tab or iPad because of the price point on both devices. The screen reviews on the Viewsonic G Tab turned me off and after hearing it got pulled from Staples...my recommendation for the Archos line feels more justified to me.

Is either device a first class device?...no, but I wouldn't pay the steep price tags for those devices in the first place. So my point is that I felt the Archos Gen8 devices were the best "bang for the buck" and now that I actually own one...I have not been disappointed.

My advice...Figure out what features are most important to you, what your price point is, and then go with your gut feeling. If you are having trouble deciding...give it a few months as you will undoubtedly see many more tabs in 2011.

Thanks UB. That was very politically correct for u to say. I'm bias to the gtablet and I'm ignorant to the archos 70 and 101 since I don't have one. I'm sure if the archos 101 or 70 were available at retailers so I can check it out, I would have considered both along with the gtab.


So to the OP, listen to what UB said because ultimately it'll come down to your own preference.

 

[UBRocked]

Thanks UB. That was very politically correct for u to say. I'm bias to the gtablet and I'm ignorant to the archos 70 and 101 since I don't have one. I'm sure if the archos 101 or 70 were available at retailers so I can check it out, I would have considered both along with the gtab.


So to the OP, listen to what UB said because ultimately it'll come down to your own preference.

We all do it...Justify our expenditures by trying to "prove" they are the best devices. The last thing I want to do is recommend a product based solely on opinion and not hands on experience with multiple devices...and have the person regret their purchase. And I wasn't calling anyone out for what they posted (cause all comments seemed pretty reasonable to me for both devices). But I'm sure that people will chime in "this ones the best, the other one sucks" types of comments without really doing a fair comparison.

For example...I got the Coby Kyros tablets for my kids this Christmas. They are 9 and 6 yrs old so "top end" devices wasn't necessary. Kyros had Android 2.1, G-sensor, and could "run" Angry Birds based on video and written reviews on the internet. Well it may have better specs...but they are absolute JUNK devices. I exchanged them for Archos 7 Home Tablets which will not play Angry Birds at all (not that the Kyros played it very well...no text on the screen? Really?). The 7HT is limited by many factors like Android 1.5, no G-sensor, etc., but it is a much better device for overall stability, web browsing, music, video, battery life, etc. Even the resistive screen was much more responsive.

A guy at Best Buy tried to recommend the Huawei Ideos tablet but my price point wasn't $300...it was $200. There are many factors when choosing these devices. Too many apples to oranges comparisons that can and will be made.

 

[twospirits]

Not to get off topic, but if you download the Market.apk hack for the Archos, install it couldn't you then download Angry Birds and play it, or is there something else that Angry Birds needs for it to function on the Archos?

As for the topic at hand, this is true. I usually recommend folks to go try out the devices in hand first to get a feel if they like it or not. Only then can you truly get an idea if its the right choice. The issue here is that the Archos tablets are hard to find in retailers. Here in NYC I believe B&H and J&R do have them, but I can't confirm that.

Whatever device you choose, if the option of not trying them out in the stores is feasible, then get the one you feel is best. I do believe you have a certain amount of days to try them out. If it doesn't work out,, then return it.

Good luck and post back what you decide on or got.

TS out

 

[UBRocked]

Not to get off topic, but if you download the Market.apk hack for the Archos, install it couldn't you then download Angry Birds and play it, or is there something else that Angry Birds needs for it to function on the Archos?

Well, I actually haven't tried to run Angry Birds on the Archos 7 Home Tablet. I just read posts that it could not be played. I'll install the .apk tonight and see what happens. I don't know if it is due to having Android 1.5 but I've read that it does not have enough app storage space to actually install the game. I'll report back and see what I can find.

Either way, I can say with 100% conviction that the Home Tablet is NOT a device to buy for gaming. Most 2nd rate, free games on the market play incredibly slow (if at all). I keep telling my son to "stop whining and play your DS if you want to play a game"

However, the Archos 70 Internet Tablet plays Angry Birds beautifully. Racing games work well and I've experienced no lag even running 800MHz.

I think they should have named the devices differently so there was less confusion on which device is newer and better.

 

[twospirits]

Woops, I thought you were saying that it didn't work on the Archos 70 Internet tablet, I did not know you were referring to the Home Tablet. So yeah it may not work on that one.

TS

 

[UBRocked]

Haha! Sorry, I shouldn't have used the Archos Home Tablet in that example. I just felt like it illustrated my point of someone else's opinion causing me to make a bad purchase.

Which proves your point of trying the devices out for yourself if you can. If I hadn't played with the Droid X and the Fascinate in the stores...I probably would have bought the X and wouldn't be as content as I am with the Fascinate. I found that the Fascinate is a better device for me. Someone could argue that the Droid X is a better device...but that's only someone's opinion and is not a "universal truth".

But back to the Archos vs. Viewsonic G-Tab question...both are pretty scarce in Ohio stores too so trying them out for yourself may involve some trial and error (i.e. purchases and returns) if you can't find live demos to play with

 

[Sam Voss]

Once again, I get a great earful from UBRocked about the Archos Tab's. I actually just stumbled a crossed the G-tab and was curious about it, then I see this had the last post by you and figured, there, I'll know whether or not to pick it up, and I'd like to thank you tons for once again explaining why I'm better off buying the Archos 101 tab, it makes me wonder, do you work for Archos?

 

[UBRocked]

Once again, I get a great earful from UBRocked about the Archos Tab's. I actually just stumbled a crossed the G-tab and was curious about it, then I see this had the last post by you and figured, there, I'll know whether or not to pick it up, and I'd like to thank you tons for once again explaining why I'm better off buying the Archos 101 tab, it makes me wonder, do you work for Archos?

Haha! I'm everywhere LOL.

No, pretty sure Archos isn't paying me. If they were, I would have consulted with them to not do a "bait and switch" when it comes to the video codecs REQUIRED to play AC3 audio files.

Seriously, you have to pay $30 for a codec to play anything with AC3 audio...BUT that's not the bad part...

The Archos website doesn't make that very clear before you buy your tablet. In fact, they don't mention a thing about having to pay for anything extra and here are the tech specs from their website:

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 resolution

With optional plug-in (downloadable on www.archos.com):
. 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

What does optional mean? Let's check out their website to see if this will cost us anything...

https://store.archos.com/plugins.php

You have to enter a product key that can be found inside the software? Once you do enter your product key (meaning you already bought the device) you see that the codec costs $30.

I understand that Archos has to pay licensing fees to Dolby but you can't pass along a hidden cost of playing HD videos.

On top of that, the codec was actually INCLUDED with the 2.1 build. So early adopters of the tablet had features out of the box that were taken away with a software update! Oh and if you are in the US...you have to pay less for the same codec than you do if you are in Europe! That's bad business any way you slice it. Incorporate the cost of the codec into the device or be more upfront with the additional AC3 licensing fee.

So...no, I'm not paid by Archos, but I do like their overall business concept and direction minus a screw-up here or there.

But having bad viewing angles on a Tablet like the Viewsonic G-Tablet...that's pretty much a deal breaker for me. Couple that with the awful overlay Viewsonic put on top of Android. That Tegra2 processor just isn't a big enough carrot to dangle in front of me personally (especially considering the $100 price advantage that Archos has over Viewsonic). Some people would disagree with me and that's great...I like debate. So long as people understand it is only my opinion.

Sam, as an inspiring developer, you have to consider things like "Do I need to develop apps that are specifically geared to the Tegra 2 chip?" There are going to be MANY devices in 2011 with that dual-core processor so that is something you should consider. Remember, your use of a tablet (development) and my use of a tablet (media centric device) are very different.

 

[Sam Voss]

Haha, but when purchasing a tablet, I don't want to go into it looking at it from the developers point of view because I will obviouslly use it as any other user would, expecially when using it to read pdfs. So, ipurchasing the Archos 101 now, do I still hhave to get that codec? and if so, can I do everything I want (ie music/movies) without getting the codec?

Now onto the dual core: shouldn't I make apps built for single core instead so that its still backward compatable? If when designing I create an app that works fast on a dual core, doesn't that leave the possibility that it will be slower on tablets only running one proccesor?

Its like when developing any application ,I have to have someone with an unrooted/stock kernel phone to test thee speeds of the app because my benchmark is 1100, almost 2x Droid A855 stock, and that's one of the fasttest phones.

Also, if u have any power of persuasion on whether forum sections are added/changed, check out my post in Developers 101, I think that's a much needed change

 

[UBRocked]

Haha, but when purchasing a tablet, I don't want to go into it looking at it from the developers point of view because I will obviouslly use it as any other user would, expecially when using it to read pdfs. So, ipurchasing the Archos 101 now, do I still hhave to get that codec? and if so, can I do everything I want (ie music/movies) without getting the codec?

Now onto the dual core: shouldn't I make apps built for single core instead so that its still backward compatable? If when designing I create an app that works fast on a dual core, doesn't that leave the possibility that it will be slower on tablets only running one proccesor?

Its like when developing any application ,I have to have someone with an unrooted/stock kernel phone to test thee speeds of the app because my benchmark is 1100, almost 2x Droid A855 stock, and that's one of the fasttest phones.

Also, if u have any power of persuasion on whether forum sections are added/changed, check out my post in Developers 101, I think that's a much needed change

Well, as I have no hands on time with the G-tab, I'll describe the performance of the Archos 70 tablet to what you have now. I rocked the D1 for over a year and I can tell you that while they have similar specs (minus the processor speed) the Archos 70 is much smoother than the D1 across the board. @ 1.2 GHz, the Droid topped out at about 1700 on Quadrant. The Archos 70 clocked to 1.2 Ghz (with temp root and custom kernel) hit 2020 on Quadrant last night.

So what you get is a bigger version of the D1 with better performance. It's basically stock Android once you add the Market apps back on the device and running ADW, the device is smooth (with some lag at times when first waking the device from standby).

G-Tab probably has better benchmarks because of the Tegra2 chip and 512MB of RAM. Now, looking around the internet for videos on the G-Tab, I was surprised to see pinch-to-zoom look jittery. XDA has more devs working on the G-Tab so you can already hook it up with custom ROMs where the Archos 70 is still waiting for permanent root.

People have claimed that flash runs really well on the G-tab and it is not so great on the A70...but still usable. Flash games from Adobe Showcase have worked well for me but flash videos in the browser do not play well things take forever to load if your browser doesn't crash. I'm thinking that the 256 MB or RAM just doesn't quite cut it for flash.

Just some observations

 

[Sam Voss]

Haha, okay okay, you sold me on the Archos already hmm, I want to take a look at roms and see what's all in them.. I figure small steps and maybe I can understand some things and maybe play around with roms when I'm bored with making my apps haha

 

[UBRocked]

Haha, okay okay, you sold me on the Archos already hmm, I want to take a look at roms and see what's all in them.. I figure small steps and maybe I can understand some things and maybe play around with roms when I'm bored with making my apps haha

No ROMs for the Archos 70 yet. The G-Tab does have ROMs already...not the Archos.

And I don't think I answered your question about the codec. You won't be able to play HD movies that use AC3 but I have other HD videos that play fine without the plugin. If you are watching DVD quality video (for the most part...that is what I use) you won't have a problem. If it is a problem, the fix is $30 but at least you know that up front

 

[Sam Voss]

Haha, I'm sorry I was a bit confusing there, I ment like droid roms haha, and sounds good

 

[xmr405o]

I have to chime in here. I tried to wait so I can post in the gtablet forum but this thread is where the party is.

Disclaimer- I'm not trying to say that the gtablet is better than the archos 101. I think they both have pros and cons that match them up pretty well with each other.

The two comparisons I've seen from the threads in the Archos subforum and Gtablet subforum compare the A70 to the Gtablet. One is a 7 inch and the latter is 10 inch. The screen sizes do make a difference in overall look of the display. As far as I've heard, the viewing angles and display between the 101 and gtablet are about the same. A slight edge to the Archos 101 in regards to viewing angles.

The first time I saw his thread, I noticed the OP had an OG Droid which I find helpful when recommending the gtablet especially if he's familiar with flashing roms. I admit, the gtablet is mediocre at best out of the box. However, I've had a custom rom loaded on my gtablet from day 1 and I've been totally impressed. I was so impressed that my minimum requirement for my next tablet would be a 1ghz Tegra 2 and above CPU.

UB, if you weren't so satisfied with your A70 or you were still looking for a tablet...I would have totally recommended the gtablet to you especially when they were on sale. I think you've tried every single D1 ROM that I know of. haha. Flashing a custom ROM on the gtablet would have been second nature to you. You would have seen how awesome the T2 processor with 512mb of RAM. It's evident when browsing with flash videos and playing games on emulators. Also , I believe pinch to zoom is up to par with the Ipad. Maybe the video you saw had a guy using an old camcorder and the speed of the pinch to zooming of the gtablet made it look jittery. haha. jk.

I know the Gtablet took some hits with regular consumers but as for the custom rom installers and dev community it still earns high marks.

 

[Sam Voss]

Thanks for your post, that was very extensive, but the only thing holding me back is my wallet.. sounds awesome though

 

[UBRocked]

Hey xmr, thanks for the info.

I didn't buy my Archos...it was a Xmas gift from my wife but she specifically bought it cause she had heard me give it praises for it being a great value. Truth be told, I probably would have held out until next spring to see what else comes down the line.

I'm not partial to the Archos for any other reason than it being a high value device that can perform well at most tasks. Would I want a Tegra2 chip and 512 MB of RAM vs. an ARM chip with 256MB of RAM? You bet!

I was having trouble justifying $300 for a tablet let alone more. I was close to pulling the trigger on a wits device (or other Chinese tablet) but i knew that would probably end up as a headache.

With what i know about the Archos tabs along with my impressions of the the G-Tab...I would have a tough time deciding on which one to buy if they were both the same price. But if there is a $100 dollar difference...that makes it a no brainer for me. Here's why...

- I've got an upgrade stashed away for a 2011 superphone! My Fascinate is a temporary device to hold me over. The tablet is a distant second to my phone.

- I was looking at a device to do what I'm doing right now...sitting on the couch chillin with the family and responding to messages that would be too long for me to want to do on my phone. 3.7" - 4.3" aren't big enough to keep my laptop in my bag. I got tired of watching movies on my Droid when I fly. A 7" tablet is ideal for me but...

- Well...I'm cheap!

So like i said...it's all about overall value for me. Would I have enjoyed the G-Tab? I'm sure i would have been just fine with it. I'm not saying its a bad device...just not the best value device IMO. Glad to see so much support for the value brand devices cause I doubt I'll ever pony up $500 or more for a tablet that I don't "need". It does make screen size requirements for my next phone more flexible. If I'm in need to grab a bigger device...I've got a tab for that

 

[Sam Voss]

Wow, I can't even look away without an incredible post by you, but I'm with ya, I don't think I could justify that much more for a tablet that's not a huge difference, because I just don't have the income for the 400 (I believe) for the G tab, so in my case, the Archos 101 had the upper hand due to price, but its great to have an all around view of both products

 

[dman2275]

Thank you very much for all the posts in this thread.

I am leaning towards the G-Tab but my main concern now is finding one for a good deal. To be honest, I am using it like UBR (mainly on the couch rather than my 17" Gateway beast of a laptop) mostly. I will also use it on the road in the car to surf the web and maybe watch movies. I don't feel like paying full retail for the tab.

I have reservations about buying one on eBay but that seems to be where the deals are. Sears is the only retail store selling them locally and personally, I think their customer service is terrible.

I guess I will check out some on-line sites. Just found it at electronics express on sale for $364.72 with free shipping.

Thanks again for the great input guys.

 

[xmr405o]

Lol, I don't think you're cheap...frugal is a better word. I guess this is what we mean when we say it's really up to the OP to decide based on their own desires. We all have our own specifications that we want in a tablet. I thought the gtablet was the best bang for my buck because of the longevity factor seeing that it was a sub $400 with a next gen cpu with a 10in screen. Then I saw the dev support when I was researching the tablet and that's when I pulled the trigger. I still have my droid 1 and its only because of the dev support. Well that's me being frugal...haha.
I figured if I'm gonna buy a tablet now might as well have a tablet that has the best chances of getting honeycomb. If I learned anything with my time here, its if we got good devs supporting a device anything is possible.

 

[Hajile_Ibushi]

Haha! I'm everywhere LOL.

No, pretty sure Archos isn't paying me. If they were, I would have consulted with them to not do a "bait and switch" when it comes to the video codecs REQUIRED to play AC3 audio files.

Seriously, you have to pay $30 for a codec to play anything with AC3 audio...BUT that's not the bad part...

The Archos website doesn't make that very clear before you buy your tablet. In fact, they don't mention a thing about having to pay for anything extra and here are the tech specs from their website:

Just to point out. The archos does still play AC3's. It just seems to ignore it if it's ripped straight off a DVD or has the copyright flag set.

No problems playing both tracks on this one


I'm also waiting for a "super-tablet" that's probably gonna come out next summer. Until then, it makes no sense for me to pay for a premium tablet right now.

 

[SlvrScoobie]

wow - seems like even though it got pulled for defects - the Gtab might have been the way to go
Wonder if I could sell my Archos and jump ship - get my Root on!