While I was writing the previous article about the Archos A5 I checked up on prices for the Archos 5G, the current 3G-capable Archos 5 model based on the OMAP platform. In France, SFR are offering it for 449 Euros which is the price it launched at but if you look around a bit, there are some almost unbelievable offers out there.
In the UK, Amazon offer the 5G for 281 Euros. A steal!
In Germany, Amazon offer the 5G for 277 Euros. A deal!
If you look on some price comparison sites in Germany though, you’ll find the 5G selling for 199 Euros which, if you ask me, is sale of the frickin’ century! It’s not as fast as an Intel MID or an iPhone 3GS for browsing but it’s close so if you’re looking for a MID with video and audio as it’s core feature, this is as good as it gets. Here’s a video from our friend Charbax.
You might want to wait until the Android version launches tomorrow of course but make sure you keep one eye on the 5G too because at these prices, it’s great value.
I haven’t checked 5G prices in other countries. Let us know if you find a good price in your area.
September 14th, 2009 at 9:58 am
New article: Archos 5G Tablet. HSDPA, 30GB storage for 199 Euros. http://cli.gs/PA4YA
September 14th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Avoid Archos like the plague .. their build quality is poor and their customer service is worse .. I kid you not .. check out my broken Archos 5 which I used for a total of 12 hours
look the battery is so swollen it’s bust out of the case (breaking the LCD in the process)
[s617.photobucket.com]
6 months down the line I’m no closer to getting it sorted
Avoid Archos keep your sanity
Charbax Reply:
September 14th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
I’ve been using mine every day for a year now, it works just fine. I never had a problem with my JBMM20 (since 2002), Gmini400 (since 2004), PMA400 (since 2005), 504 (since 2006), 604 WiFi (since 2006), 605 WiFi (since 2007) and Archos 2 (since 3 months ago) neither.
TokyoRob Reply:
September 14th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Well thank god you didn’t have to use their Customer service !!!
effi Reply:
February 22nd, 2010 at 12:26 pm
Had the same issue with my Archos 605 WiFi
Battery was swollen few days before end of warrenty
they have replaced the unit with new one and gave me 3 months addional warrenty
after few more months the battery is swollen again but now i have no warrenty
bottom line: bad quality procuct and even worse support
a decent company would have acknowledge their bad product line and provide
alternative for free
never going to buy Archos products again
September 14th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Archos 5 (60GB) is $199 at Amazon.com for the US market. No HSDPA built-in only WiFi, yet Amazingly affordable..
Considering the official price for the ipod touch (64GB) is $399, this is half the price right there for the same capacity, 2x more screen size, 2.5x more screen resolution, all codecs supported, HDMI output and more..
September 14th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Chippy it’s great value until is breaks .. then your in customer service hell
Also after 10 months of release they seem to give up on updating the F/W
Here’s the link to my broken archos photo as the above one is broken
http://s617.photobucket.com/albums/tt256/Brokenarchos/?track=share_email_album_view_click
Charbax Reply:
September 14th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
In those pictures, it looks like you have been using it heavily for months, don’t know why you are saying you used it for only 12 hours. Also, it looks like you could have dropped the Archos on a concrete floor or something, no company would replace a device for free for user error like dropping it or banging it against something.
Though, if you are sure the reason is weird battery explosion, then that can happen with any Lithium-Ion battery based device, though usually with crappy battery build qualities, I don’t think Archos is using crappy batteries.
Anyways, if it’s not your fault, and that you are sure about it, simply log-in on Archos.com using your serial number (+ info about where you purchased etc) to automatically request an RMA number through their website or something and Archos should replace your unit within 2 weeks. No need to talk to any customer support on the phone.
Walking around forums or blogs to proclaim that people should avoid Archos like the plague is BS. I’ve never seen pictures of broken Archos devices like these, and if it’s truely an exploded battery, and not your fault (you didn’t drop it, you didn’t bang it against something, you didn’t put it somewhere too hot or too cold, no electrostatic/liquid, shakes whatever, then you could probably be the first such unlocky Archos user for this generation. I saw once a picture of an exploded AV300 or something in some newspapers a few years ago.
Just for info, there are dozens of exploding iphones every day with exploding iphone batteries and shattered iphone screens, you can do a blog search.
TokyoRob Reply:
September 14th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Charbax,
And all my stuff is very well cared for and I buy leather cases for all my Media players .. as you can see it’s still got the factory screen protector that came with it.. the chrome has been removed because the battery has ruptured and it’s disolved it
I’m happy for anyone take a look and confirm that !!!
One reasons that it was used so little was that I bought a Archos 7 at the same time and I like the large screen better ..
Btw it didn’t explode the Li-ion cell just expanded over a course of 2-3 days First the LCD was washed out and the HD stopped working .. then the case split and the battery leaked
This fault is mostly due to the Li-ion being overcharged and the charge board is inside the archos
I really don’t care about apple I just want my archos repaired I did even ask for your help but your reply was to post on your forum..
At the moment I’m waiting for the china office to issue a RMA and that was last Thursday so I’m not holding my breath
B4U8 Reply:
September 15th, 2009 at 1:08 am
TokyoRob
What a mess. I’m sure you appreciate knowing that iphone batteries explode as an added info to your problem…NOT. Methinks Charbax is trying to pin this calamity on the user rather than see it for what it is…poor qc. Implying that you have misrepresented your case is simply wrong. A search of the Archosfans forum will turn up many problems that potential buyers should be aware of before buying, and that applies to any company not just Archos. I’m not saying that Archos is any worse than any other company, just that you’d think they would pay special attention to such bad workmanship. And that people should stop making excuses for bad customer service from Archos.
Tokyorob Reply:
September 15th, 2009 at 2:06 am
@B4U8
Thanks I appreciate the comments
I fully understand that computer equipment does fail and infact I make my living from that as a systems engineer
But what separates the good company’s from the bad one is how they react then you need support .. Archos seem to like to give you the runaround and hopes that you will go away
Last email I got was :-
I am with the U.S support team, however I will pass this information to the correct department that can help you.
And then nothing …. he must have fowarded it to /dev/null department
And now that the Android 5 is released you can expect no extra F/W for the old Archos 5 or 7 since they drop them like hot potatoes as soon as a new ones released
To give Charbax his due and say that he doesn’t delete stuff off his forum that he doesn’t approve of .. unlike some fruit named computer company !!
September 14th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
I love my Archos 5G. And the prices are certainly good value for a device with 3G capability.
But I do echo everybody except Charbax’s feelings about Archos. If yours works then you are fine, but if you have problems they are a nightmare to deal with.
Also, whilst I use my 5G a lot, it crashes a lot too. Not so much on media, but if you are using anything internet based be prepared for a few system resets and firmware updates (read features/bug fixes that should have been sorted before release) do dry up too quickly.
September 14th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
I bought an Archos 5 60GB shortly after it was released but sold it shortly afterwards. My use for it was mainly for internet browsing & watching vids. For the few weeks I had it it worked fine but the Flash support of the browser was laughable.
Build quality seemed good aswell. Never had to deal with their CS so can’t comment on that.
But the Amazon deal is too good to pass. I think I’ll order one.
Charbax Reply:
September 14th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Flash support is whatever Adobe supports on ARM processors, since Flash is a proprietary format (and I won’t tell you about my thoughts on Flash being crappy and purposefully limited on anything other than Wintel), so far Adobe has done a shitty job making their proprietary flash compatible with anything else than Wintel.
Though Adobe is officially promising full Flash 10 support on ARM Cortex A8 at some point soon, I don’t know, maybe they will announce the precise availability tomorrow..
September 14th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
Just ordered one for 180 UK pounds. Can’t argue with that
Chippy Reply:
September 14th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
180 pounds! For a 3G?
Kam Reply:
September 14th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
Followed your Amazon.co.uk link & there was a seller selling at that price.
September 14th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
Are these just media players or can you install a OS on them like the 9″? Great price for a media player!
Chippy Reply:
September 14th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
These are relatively ‘closed’ devices. Video, Audio, RSS, web, ebooks, and a number of add-on features like navigation, remote tv, streaming radio. You can’t install other operating systems on them. (easily)
September 14th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Several people on the Archos forums have had issues with the batteries swelling up – and bad service from Archos. There’s someone on the Archos 605 forum who in the last week posted in confusion about his swelling Archos. Other members advised him to put it in a safe (non-flammable) place in case the battery blows up.
Archos must have used cheap batteries in the 605 generation in any case – because a lot more people have complained that if you leave it docked and charging, the battery capacity will reduce to negligible within a year. Within a few months, mine went from 4 hours of playback to 3.
I’ve had 3 Archos’ – the 420, 504 and 605. I’ve had problems with all of them – and customer service is as bad as reported. But if you’re aware of the risks and only buy an Archos by what it can currently do – you’ll be happy. I got my 605 as a bargain for under $90.
By the way – these are just media players and you can not install an OS on them. Also – if you buy a hard drive version, you will be unable to replace or repair the hard drive because Archos locks the serial number to the unit.
September 14th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
Both myself and my brother own the older-generation 604 Wifi devices.
I too experienced rapidly decreasing battery stamina from a few months after purchase.
My brother bought his identical 604 shortly after I bought mine, and his original battery has expired completely. Neither of us used them a great deal.
However, the one thing that will prevent me from EVER buying another Archos PMP is their insistence on the sale of ‘Plugins’, and the intentional crippling of their hardware.
Out of the box, I quickly found that the 604 wouldn’t play the file formats I wanted it to. It turned out that Archos charge an additional £15 to ‘unlock’ support for certain video and audio formats – even though the hardware itself is capable of decoding these formats out of the box.
To actually get the advertised functionality of the 604, you have to pay an addition £30 in ‘plugins’.
What’s more, these plugins are non-transferable. If you upgrade to a newer model, you have to buy them all over again.
As far as I am aware, they are still doing this with the newer models.
Having just checked their site, it looks like you’ve got to pay an *additional* £65 to get the full advertised functionality of the 705, and £25 for the additional 5 series plugins.
I can’t believe that codec licensing fees alone can account for these additional costs.
September 14th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
Would this work with a Payg simcard that is usually used in a modem?
chippy Reply:
September 15th, 2009 at 9:22 am
yes. in europe any sim card should work.
September 15th, 2009 at 3:25 am
Anyone notice how TokyoRob posts the same useless response on EVERY single post relating to Archos??? It’s gotten quite old. WE GET IT! You had problems with Archos. Get over it. There are plenty of people who have had issues with them, as well as many people who haven’t had a single issue with their products or service. I’m sure by some convoluted logic, you think you’re helping, but you are simply making yourself seem desperate. Also, you have judged your experience based on last gen’s device, for all you know, this device will be vastly improved as far as battery goes and they may even bump up their customer support. Please just stop.
Beware Reply:
September 15th, 2009 at 3:31 am
Also, as far as codec purchasing and such is concerned, Archos as gotten steadily better in that regard. They used to be ridiculously expensive, but now it only costs an additional $25-$50 (depending on how deep you want your codec support). Build quality has also improved, so how about we wait and see what this device has to offer before bashing it, hm?
TokyoRob Reply:
September 15th, 2009 at 4:22 am
How do you know the build quality has improved … if you talking about Archos 5 last thing that I heard on the Archosfan forum .. that archos was replacing the very nice gloss screen with not so good matt ones
That made a lot of people unhappy.
As for the plug-in I wasn’t bothered about it I just bought what I needed so it was a non-issue in my books
Beware Reply:
September 15th, 2009 at 4:51 am
The build quality HAS improved. Whether or not the screen is glossy is not a matter of build quality. And a lot of people will agree that it makes a lot of sense for a touch screen only device to have a matte screen versus glossy as it is more fingerprint resilient. I’ve been following Archos products very closely (though never pulled the trigger due to the usually mediocre and/or unstable OS) and can most certainly say the build quality has improved as the devices have evolved.
TokyoRob Reply:
September 15th, 2009 at 3:47 am
So I have Archos 5 that been used for 12 hours and it’s broken and i can’t get it repaired So I should shut up and live with it .. ?!!!? WTF are you for real ???
As I said “I fully understand that computer equipment does fail” but Archos piss poor CS is really starting to grate ..
This failed in March I have been patient trying to keep it low key writing to the Sales/PR/RMA with no luck
It’s not the money I could buy another one with no problem but why should I let them get away with it ??
Oh and I will continue to post on every Blog post on UMPCPortal,Gizmondo etc
So LIVE WITH IT !!!
September 15th, 2009 at 4:16 am
I never once said you shouldn’t be upset, but stop polluting posts that have real information about a new device with your pointless, dribbling spam. Pissing and moaning won’t do a damn thing about. You have every right to be outraged, but stop trying to dump your issues on random blogs and such. It just makes you look desperate and a little pathetic. It’s also pretty rude to keep dumping this comment on blog posts that have the intention of delivering relevant information about new devices. People who are smart enough to be checking sites like this should be smart enough to do research and certainly are not going to take the word of some random person who literally spams every Archos post with the same exact reply. It’s just silly and useless.
B4U8 Reply:
September 15th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
BEWARE, you are being a jerk. What does it matter to you if TokyoRob posts all over the place. Perhaps he will prevent at least one person from buying something as flaky as an Archos or Apple or whatever. He certainly has a right to do this, just as Charbax has a right to dispute it. And as someone who has followed the Archosfans site, I can say for 100% that posts are deleted and censored. But again, it’s Charbax’s forum so he can do as he pleases, but unless this is your forum you don’t have the right to be rude or to request someone to shut up. The point is this is about the new Archos, not about y-o-u!
September 15th, 2009 at 11:06 am
Does anyone know if it is nessecery too purchase the 3g software as a plugin on these models as i object to having to buy plugins for my device, when it should be included in the box.
I am strongly considering one of these devices, but i am worried by the fact that previous Archos devices i have had have developed faults with the firmware.
How would you rate it against the iPhone 3g (original model).
September 15th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Not to mention BEWARE apparently is clueless about the topic of this thread. This thread is about the Archos 5 (previous generation) being on sale – the same as TokyoRob is talking about.
September 22nd, 2009 at 11:30 pm
Bid on one in ebay will have too wait and see on the outcome.