Archos 5
The basics
With its built-in capabilities, your Internet Media Tablet becomes the ultimate way to surf the web. The amazingly sharp and high-resolution screen lets you navigate effortlessly through the web just like you would on a PC. Browsing becomes almost seamless with the ARM Cortex processor and the Adobe Flash 9 video support. Surfing on a handheld device has never been so fast and smooth. The full email application lets you read, write, download and send attachments, and manage your contacts.
The good
Like a delicious gadget chameleon the Archos 5 has so many skins, it’s hard to tell what it does best. It plays back nearly all flavours of video, audio and photo files, it’s a Wi-Fi web browser, an email reader and (with accessories) a digital video recorder, a satnav and an extreme sports camcorder. It performs all these functions admirably well, with the aid of a bright 4.8-inch touchscreen and a 250GB hard drive that can hold 300 movies, 145,000 songs or millions of photos. The Opera browser loads websites (including Flash) in seconds, and you’ll get a decent seven hours of video playback from a single charge. Watch out for a 3G version coming soon.
The bad
As Archos loads on heavyweight features, the pounds pile on, too. The Archos 5 weighs 300g and is over twice the size of an iPhone, making it about as pocket-friendly as a steam iron. The touchscreen interface isn’t as intuitive as Apple’s, either.
The bottom line
Bigger and smarter than a phone, but smaller and faster than a netbook, the Archos 5 is perfect for anyone who has a hard drive full of media and a long, dull commute to endure.
User comments (10)
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alkady28 August 2009
ARCHOS ROCK
Report as inappropriateShawsypaul05 November 2009
Got both Archos 5 and Ipod touch and the Archos comes into it's own with internet access. Archos is also a fantastic movie player and dependant on size of the memory holds hundreds of hours of programmes when recorded via the add on DVR. Ipod much better for games and music but the Archos is a fantastic mini media player and mini PC. It is bulky but not as much as paople make out and this gadget is a must IMO.
Report as inappropriateHalz198528 November 2009
This really is a great peice of kit. Videos look lovely on the 4.8" screen however to get the most from the sound i'd suggest getting a decent set of headphones. Using my sennheiser headphones i found that the sound was a lot better than that from my girlfriends ipod (tested using the same headphones). If you get one of these you wont regret it After an hour or two of playing around with it you'll start to love it as much as I do. I just wish archos wouldn't charge so much for all the different add-ons you can get.
Report as inappropriateDan Coleman01 January 2010
Due to my primary wish of taking my home cinema with me on trips away I purchased the Archos 7 due to the larger screen. I was not happy at having to purchase a software upgrade to play MP4's but it did play avi out of the box extremely well. As for the sound, on disaster movies the built in speakers can be a little tinny due to the lack of base but once you have plugged in some decent quality headphones the issues drift away & out comes the popcorn. Maybe the next development will require 3d glasses?
Report as inappropriatenat21 January 2010
it is very good when it atcherly works my one has broken once after 5 mounths and after getting it back from archos it has already broken again
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b.gorringe02 September 2010
excellant reports and programs
Report as inappropriatetaylor05 November 2010
does it have flash so you can play online games?
Report as inappropriatematt03 March 2011
when is the 3g version comming out?
Report as inappropriateSteve01 July 2011
I am writting this on my Archos 5 IT 160GB. It is a great device, plays HD vids and I have my entire CD collection on it. Fits in pocket if needed. Only down falls are: no flash on web browser (and can't see that coming out for the 5) and sat nav looses signal a lot, apparently due to proximety to the hard drive . Over all though 9/10 :-)
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