Mobile Technology

Archos updates Windows 7 tablet – The Archos 9

Archos updates Windows 7 tablet – The Archos 9
Archos has given its Windows 7 tablet PC a bit of a performance upgrade - now coming with a better processor and SSD storage
Archos has given its Windows 7 tablet PC a bit of a performance upgrade - now coming with a better processor and SSD storage
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The Archos 9 Windows 7 tablet computer is just 0.66-inch thick, and now benefits from SSD storage and a higher performance processor
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The Archos 9 Windows 7 tablet computer is just 0.66-inch thick, and now benefits from SSD storage and a higher performance processor
Archos has given its Windows 7 tablet PC a bit of a performance upgrade - now coming with a better processor and SSD storage
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Archos has given its Windows 7 tablet PC a bit of a performance upgrade - now coming with a better processor and SSD storage
The Archos 9 Windows 7 tablet computer
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The Archos 9 Windows 7 tablet computer
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Archos media players have long been a favorite of mine, offering ease of use and excellent video/audio quality. In 2009, the French consumer electronics company was first to market with a Windows 7 tablet computer and has now announced a new improved version of the Archos 9 PC Tablet. Unfortunately the upgraded version still has a resistive touchscreen and only gets Windows 7 Starter Edition, but there is better storage in the shape of a Solid State Drive (SSD) and a more powerful Atom processor.

The new 10.07 x 5.27 x 0.66-inch (256 x 134 x 17 mm) Archos 9 weighs just over 28 ounces (800g) and has a 16:9 aspect, LED backlit, 1024 x 600 resolution, 8.9-inch touchscreen display capable of full 1080p high definition video playback. Sound is provided by a pair of stereo speakers or via the 3.5mm headphone jack. Flanking the screen is an optical trackpoint (right) and left and right mouse buttons, a forward-facing 1.3 megapixel webcam and virtual keyboard activation button (left).

Archos has given the new tablet an upgraded Intel Atom Z515 1.2GHz processor with integrated Intel graphics, supported by a gigabyte of onboard system memory and a 32GB SSD. The company has supplemented the choice of operating system with the Lotus Symphony office productivity suite, has pre-installed Skype, and loaded in vTuner for internet radio and television and Deezer for online music.

As with other Archos devices, the tablet has an integrated, two position kick-stand which can be set for multimedia playback or for typing/browsing. There's USB and Ethernet connectivity, Bluetooth 2.0 and 802.11b/g WiFi, and the Lithium Polymer battery is said to be good for five hours between charges.

The improved Archos 9 is priced at US$429.99.

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3 comments
3 comments
Ed
Hmm, keep the price where it\'s at, add a capacitive screen and up the camera resolution and it may just be a contender...As it is, it\'s merely a \"meh\"
Tom Phoghat Sobieski
The resistive screen is a deal breaker. I had a Archos 7 home when it first came out and it sucked rhino.
Ty Buchanan
As usual, it never fails to amaze me how retailers hold out for prices that everyone knows are too high when access to internet prices is widespread.