ARCHOS-101-G9Archos has just officially released a new line of tablet called Archos G9, with two models: the Archos 80 Go and the Archos 101 G9. This time the French company is pursuing an pure “power play” by featuring a fast 1.5Ghz Texas Instruments dual-core system on a chip, or SoC (the same chip than the Playbook probably) and 250GB of user storage – about 4 to 15 times the amount commonly found in modern tablets. The storage is a Seagate hard drive. Archos claims that The extra frequency allows its tablet to be 50% faster than competitors equipped with NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 such as the Motorola Xoom or the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

ARCHOS-G9-tabletsThe G9 series is powered by Android 3.1 (aka Honeycomb) will come in 8″ and 10″. The 8″ version jas a 1024×768 resolution, which is similar to the iPad. The 10″ one gets 1280×800, which is on par with other Android 3.x tablets. Screen quality aside, the G9 is definitely in the race, when it comes to the number of pixels.

ARCHOS-G9-3G-stickIt comes with WIFI, but Archo’s option for 3G is definitely… unorthodox: it’s a 3G Modem in the form of a USB stick. Yes, you heard that right. It might be big and ugly, but the good side is that it’s cheap: Archos can retail its tablets for $279 (8″ Archos G9) and $349 (10″ Archos G9), which is a far cry from the $499 that most WiFi-only competitors propose.

With a regular HDD and an over-clocked processor, Archos is clearly differentiating itself. The main question that remains is: what’s the battery life? A regular hard disk consumes much more power than Flash memory, and an 1.5Ghz chip can consume much more than a 1Ghz chip… Depending on the battery life, this could make the Archos a “home” tablet, instead of a “mobile” tablet. In any case, Archos has created a powerful tablet.

We’ll just have to test it for ourselves! In the meantime, here are the technical specifications, directly from Archos:

Tech Specs

Display characteristics • 8”: 1024 x 768

• 10.1”: 1280 x 800

Application Framework • Android
Processor • ARM dual-core CORTEX A9 OMAP4 1.5 GHz

• 3D OpenGL (ES 2.0)

Capacity • Flash Memory: 16 GB* + microSD Slot (SDHC compatible)

• HDD memory: 250 GB*

Video Playback1 • MPEG-4 HD (up to 1080p)

• MPEG-42 (ASP@L5 AVI, up to DVD resolution)

• H.264 HD (HP@L3.1 up to 1080p)

• WMV9/VC1 (AP up to 1080p)

With optional plug-in:

• Cinema: MPEG2 (up to DVD resolution MP/D1)

With the above codecs, the device can play video files with the following extensions: AVI, MP4, MOV, 3GP, MPG, PS, TS, VOB, MKV, FLV, RM, RMVB, ASF, WMV

Audio Playback1 • MP3

• WMA, WMA-Pro 5.1

• WAV (PCM/ADPCM)

• AAC3, AAC+ 5.13

• OGG Vorbis

• FLAC

With optional software plug-in:

• AC3 5.1

Photo viewer4 • JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF
Subtitles • .srt, .ssa, .smi, .sub formats supported
Webcam • 720p front camera with 720p encoding
Interfaces • USB slave: Mobile Transfer Protocol (MTP)

• USB host: Mass Storage Class (MSC) (Micro USB/USB Host cable sold separately)

• microSD (SDHC compatible)

• HDMI output6 (Mini HDMI / HDMI cable sold separately)

Communication protocols • WiFi (802.11 b/g/n)

• Bluetooth 2.1+ EDR

Miscellaneous • Built-in GPS

• Built-in speakers

• G-sensor

• Vibrator

• Compass

• Built-in kick stand

• Built-in Microphone

Power source • Internal: Lithium Polymer battery

• External: Power adapter/charger

Dimensions & weight • ARCHOS 80 G9 Flash series: 226 mm x 155.3 mm x 11.7 mm (8.90 x 6.11 x 0.46 inch) – 465g (17 oz)

• ARCHOS 80 G9 Hard Drive series: 226 mm x 155.3 mm x 14.7 mm (8.90 x 6.11 x 0.58 inch) – 599g (21.9 oz)

• ARCHOS 101 G9 Flash series: 276 mm x 167.3 mm x 12.6 mm (10.86 x 6.59 x 0.50 inch) – 649g (23.8 oz)

• ARCHOS 101 G9 Hard Drive series: 276 mm x 167.3 mm x 15.6 mm (10.86 x 6.59 x 0.61 inch) – 755g (27.7 oz)

Battery life • Music playback time7: up to 36 hrs

• Video playback time7: up to 7 hrs

• Internet navigation time 7: up to 10 hrs

Scalability7 • Device automatically downloads latest firmware updates when the WiFi connection is activated

• Updates can also be downloaded at www.archos.com

Minimum system requirements • Microsoft® Windows® 7, Vista, XP or higher

• Mac OS. X with Android Transfer Files application (not included)

• Linux with android MTP tool (not included)

• USB 2.0 interface

* 1GB = 1 billion bytes; actual formatted capacity is less.

1/ Certain bitrates, resolutions, and/or file variations may not be compatible.

2/ MPEG-4 ASP@L6 (MPEG-4: ISO standard by Moving Picture Experts Group) without GMC.

3/ Does not read AAC protected files.

4/ Certain resolutions and file sizes may not be compatible.

5/ Not all Google applications are available in all countries

6/ External video output disabled for Macrovision®-protected contents.

7/ Rechargeable batteries have a limited number of charge cycles and may eventually need to be replaced. Battery life and number of charge cycles vary by use and settings. Test run with low backlight.

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