Full Archos 9 Specifications and further reading.
A/V features.
Unlike Archos media devices, the Archos 9 comes with standard Windows 7 media support. H.264, Divx, MPEG-2 and WMV appear to be supported out of the box and there’s full flash support if you need that for online videos. (see performance notes below.) We think the media player applications is good enough for most people but if you have a personal windows favorite, you will have no problems installing it.
As mentioned above, speaker quality is good but there’s no digital output. If you’re looking for a home cinema component you’d be better off with the Archos 5 and the docking station with remote control.
A/V performance.
In a recorded live testing session we took a number of formats and checked out the performance. Unfortunately the results were not that impressive with the standard benchmark YouTube videos failing to play smoothly in anything but low-quality embedded versions. DivX and WMV support appears to work well up to a point but higher bitrates can cause problems. Our benchmark ‘Coral Reef Adventures’ WMVHD file didn’t play well at all. This is a video we see almost 100% success-rate with on netbooks. H.264 at 720p / 2Mbps works well (and looks great) but higher bitrates will start causing dropouts.
We saw no real evidence that the video decoding hardware was taking the strain from the CPU.
This is a Windows device and there are many thousands of iterations programs and codecs that can be used on the platform. In theory the platform is capable of much more than we have seen in our tests but as the Archos 9 appears to be targeted at the consumer, we feel it should be working to it’s full capability out of the box.
Windows Performance.
Regular tasks on Windows worked slowly and in benchmark tests we saw some very poor hard disk, memory and CPU scores that indicate that the Archos 9 is truly half of a netbook. Firefox regularly took over 10 seconds to start up and the login process on Windows 7 needs a minute or two before it has settled down and allows the user a judder-free run of the UI.
Combining a slow, single-threading CPU with the HDD, 1GB RAM and Windows 7 looks like a poor choice on paper and in reality, the story isn’t much different. Web Browsing with a maximum of two or three tabs (or a Flash blocker) is all you can expect although single-tab page loads are quite fast. Office apps will run on the device and the 60GB drive gives plenty of space for installing programs (although don’t expect anything near 60GB. Due to partitioning and a rescue partition, you’ve got less than half of that to play with.)
Windows 7 Experience Index.
Processor: 1.3
Memory: 1.9
Graphics: 2.9
Gaming Graphics: 2.3
Primary Hard Disk: 4.1
CrystalMark Tests.
CrystalMark is a free application and available here.
11562 is not good. Netbooks are normally around the 20K mark. A ultra mobile PC with the 1.3Ghz CPU and a fast SSD can also reach over 20K.
Web Performance test.
Timed uncached pages over a local hotspot. First figure is time to start scrolling around text. Second figure is total page load time. Flash enabled.
- Carrypad.com 7/10
- Google News 3/3
- CNN.com 5/9
- Facebook.com 2/3
- uk,yahoo.com 5/6
- Techmeme.com 4/10
- Engadget.com 5/15
Results are good for a sub 1KG device.
RT @umpcportal: New article: Archos 9 Review. http://bit.ly/5k5Gt6
RT @umpcportal: New article: Archos 9 Review. http://bit.ly/5k5Gt6
“”Call us lazy but taking one hand off a device to touch the screen while sofa-surfing is not ideal.””
Well, I would not call this lazy: Thats the only right way for stress free (effortless) sofa-surfing. My future tablet needs to have this additional “optical mouse” feature, otherwise its a deal breaker.
Well done Chippy. I Like the review. Its a shame the system that looks so good can only fall flat when it comes to simple things that its made for. I was considering the Archos 9 as a replacement for my Samsung Q1UP But after reading your review I must say “NO WAY!” (lol) Very good review.
"What we’ve got here is a PC tablet that fails to push boundaries in mobility, entertainment or productivity." http://bit.ly/4VB8NV
The Archos 9 "should serve as a wake-up call to everyone getting excited about consumer tablets." http://bit.ly/7rPKrk
Cool! RT @LorenHeiny: The Archos 9 "should serve as a wake-up call to everyone getting excited about consumer tablets." http://bit.ly/7rPKrk
I am still not clear about whether GMA 500 has hardware video decode or not and if it does whether you need special video playing software to take advantage of it. From your review, it would appear hardware decode doesn’t work, at least not on the Archos 9.
For me the Archos 9 had could been a big hit in the Tablet Scene. But they made some mistakes.
Thanks for the Review and the Videos and Live Show you made. Was fun and good information.
Phew, thank you for this review. I was really worried that I’d want to get rid of my x70 and get one of these. however, after seeing this it sounds like the X70 is a better device…
Great review. Funny enough I’m waiting for a T91MT to land on my lap, guess Amazon gotta have a Christmas too hehe. Hope they hurry, can’t wait to see what I spent 500 bucks on. I got some cool stuff going on in my VS2010 for the tablet and can’t wait to test it.
You guys have the Merriest Christmas, a Happy New Year and make sure you rest, ’cause I’m dieing to see your coverage of the CES. I’m sure you’ll make bang my head against the wall for not waiting a few more months. And I don’t expect less.
How if the SSD version with W7? Will it be better performance or at least similar compare to viliv X70EX?
This comment system sucks. I just lost some text to an automatic page refresh.
Dont use automatic page refresh then ;-)
Funny how you blame Intel for bad performance and Microsoft for lacking software.
Archos 9 is cheaper than Viliv X70, with a larger screen, newer software.
Really funny you demand SSD, Windows 7 Ultimate, HSDPA and more RAM. Those things cost money, so if you want them, pay for them. Archos could release a high-end $799 version of the tablet. I much prefer this basic version that they can launch towards $400 at the cheapest resellers.
Microsoft is proud to offer you a Windows 7 upgrade from Starter edition to Home Premium for $80. Give your money to Microsoft if that is what you want. Or wait for Microsoft to realize that Tablet features should be included in Starter edition tablets as well. I myself would not want to pay a $80 premium on the product for a Microsoft premium upgrade. I’d even enjoy it if Archos cut $50 on the device and provide it without any Microsoft software on it whatsoever. Chromium OS and Ubuntu dual-booting FTW. Though Intel would have to provide video acceleration for Linux.
Archos 9 pctablet:
Dimensions: 256 x 134 x 17 mm
Weight: 800 grams
Asus eeepc t91mt:
Dimensions: 226 x 165 x 25 mm
Weight: 953 grams
RT @chippy: RT @umpcportal: New article: Archos 9 Review. http://bit.ly/5k5Gt6
The next generation of Netbooks…
… now with FAIL !
:D
For h.264 hardware decoding with gma500 use http://nunnally.ahmygoddess.net/watching-h264-videos-using-dxva/
the tablet futures are disabled not because of W7 Starter, but because the touchscreen works as a PS2 device not a HID -can be fixed by a proper driver (viliv x70) but propably won’t be (i.e. S5)
my viliv x70 has a Z520 1,33 with HT so i presume Z510 will also have it despite lower clocks
First of all, happy Christmas everybody!
You mentioned that hibernate seems to be absent from the Win7 start edition (as you did in the live session). Funny thing is that it’s working here on my Archos 9 just fine :). Maybe I enabled it through some power mgmt setting, I not sure.
No matter what OS, all I care is will it be better if using the same SSD. You know although same hardware, it may comes up different performance due to different brand. All I knew is Viliv’s product got very good performance, but it’s too expensive. If Archos 9 has similar performance but with larger screen and cheaper price, I definitely go for Archos 9 (4 hours battery life is enough for me.)
Archos 9 Review. http://bit.ly/6VGBkt
#mobile
Archos 9 Review. http://bit.ly/6VGBkt
I’ve got the eviGroup Pad for me and a Archos 9 for my wife and my opinion is :
– Pad is better than Archos every time every where, but weight is more (990g) and battery life is less (about 2.5hrs).
– Customers service for Archos9 does’nt exits and its very fast for eviGroup. I send a email, i know that i have an answer within 2hours ! Very very impressive.
I send back the Archos 9 after 6 days of test and i purchase a second evi pad for January, really, the difference is real, we have a real tablet w/ evi, we have a gadget with archos.
I’m really interested in the EviPad, but the 2.5 hour battery life scares me a bit. What type of use have you been giving it. How is the screen brightness in full daylight?
Is this a unit that non-French speakers can use without a problem, i.e. also customer support? How is the handling of the pad while standing, can you hold it in one hand and type in the other without risking dropping the unit?
Where did you get your evi Group Pad from
I have been searching for a dealer
seems a total waste of money :( http://www.umpcportal.com/2009/12/archos-9-review/4/ #archos9 #fail
Full Archos9 review on umpcportal.com http://bit.ly/8xqd9C
I’ve had this for a couple of weeks now and I have to say that I ended up using it more than I thought I would… However it has two major flaws:
-it really needs a multi-touch screen as scrolling through a large web page is almost impossible without trying to hit the top and bottom buttons of the scroll bar which is not an easy fit without using a stylus
– the CPU is not powerful enough. For instance using skype for voice calls is a bit of a struggle…
Does anyone know if Samsung is going to continue making the Samsung Q1 Ultra Premium?
What woudl be the best replacement for that device.
Wow. To be honest there’s nothing in that category any more. A fujitsu P1630 is the nearest I can think of but only because it’s light and has a powerful CPU.
J&R just canceled my pre-order of the Archos 9 because, according to them, it was discontinued by the manufacturer. Does anyone know what’s going on?
I just got off the phone with Archos… apparently the reason I’ve been waiting so long is my order was cancelled too. The rep had no idea why. I had to re-order.
Nice review BTW, I think this product could still work for me. I’m a college student looking for something good for the classroom. My laptop is okay, but the battery life is not adequate, and plugs are scarce. I know I could get a netbook to fix the issue, but I’m also a fan of the Archos 9 form factor. This would be a lot better than a netbook in long car rides I would think, you could probably strap it to a headrest like the Archos 7.
I feel like Ubuntu might help the performance on this thing if you could figure out how to get all the right drivers for the webcam, touchscreen, mic, buttons, etc… Definitely helped on my laptop.
I’ve seen a spec sheet giving a product number for a version in White, and some sites even allow you to pre-order a white version… The Archos rep said “We will not be shipping a white version, there is only one color, black.”
Archos 9 Review. http://bit.ly/6VGBkt
Repent the end is near and 7 years will follow of me battleing the anti christ
A.K.A Mathhew Brember
BRING IT ON JESUS
‘olla mehicos
seniorita tells me that boritoes are tasty
TIS RUBBISH
SMELLS LIKE BACON TASTES LIKE IT TOO
BUT ITS A BREAKFEAST CEREAL
Archos 9 Review. http://bit.ly/6VGBkt
Archos 9 Review. http://bit.ly/6VGBkt
Archos 9 Review. http://bit.ly/6VGBkt
Archos 9 Review. http://bit.ly/6VGBkt