Archos 5,7,9 - Slate or Tablet PC - netbook - UMPC ???????????? Which

[thebigalphamale]

I purchased a Fujitsu u820 to use as a portable umpc and ebook/pdf/zino magazine reader and it only has a 5.6 inch screen. It was doable with my 20-20 superman vision, but was not optimal. I sold the u820 and since Ive played with my girlfriends 10 inch eee pc and its not bad as a reader, but a tablet of similar size would be much easier to use and hold im guessing.

Ive seen some good deals on the archos 7 as the archos 9 is coming out, but am not familiar with it at all as a ereader etc... ive looked into the fujitsu -1610 used and it may be an option. Im also interested in the asus t91 that may be avail soon with win 7, multi touch etc...

i would like to use it for light music, bluetooth, video, internet browsing, good battery life would be a plus, pdf reading, zino magazine reading, ebook reading

does anyone have an archos 5,7 or 9 that can chime in on what they are like

does anyone have a slate or tablet that they really like that can chime in...


im looking at buying used or refurbished...prob no more than 500-600 but if i could get away with much less

[pdurrant]

Well, you could wait for the mythical but much heralded Apple iTablet. The current rumour is that it's being readied for a launch in September, but I don't believe a word of it.

Hopefully someone will be along soon with opinions on existing tablets.

Oh - and welcome to Mobileread!

Originally Posted by thebigalphamale

I purchased a Fujitsu u820 to use as a portable umpc and ebook/pdf/zino magazine reader and it only has a 5.6 inch screen. It was doable with my 20-20 superman vision, but was not optimal. I sold the u820 and since Ive played with my girlfriends 10 inch eee pc and its not bad as a reader, but a tablet of similar size would be much easier to use and hold im guessing.

Ive seen some good deals on the archos 7 as the archos 9 is coming out, but am not familiar with it at all as a ereader etc... ive looked into the fujitsu -1610 used and it may be an option. Im also interested in the asus t91 that may be avail soon with win 7, multi touch etc...

i would like to use it for light music, bluetooth, video, internet browsing, good battery life would be a plus, pdf reading, zino magazine reading, ebook reading

does anyone have an archos 5,7 or 9 that can chime in on what they are like

does anyone have a slate or tablet that they really like that can chime in...


im looking at buying used or refurbished...prob no more than 500-600 but if i could get away with much less

[thebigalphamale]

ya ive heard about the apple tablet, but i dont believe it either... and it will be PRICEY for sure if and when it comes out.. so it will be outta my range... its just terrible that tablets, umpc's and such you cannot test out locally... thanks...really liking this forum...

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by thebigalphamale

ya ive heard about the apple tablet, but i dont believe it either... and it will be PRICEY for sure if and when it comes out.. so it will be outta my range... its just terrible that tablets, umpc's and such you cannot test out locally... thanks...really liking this forum...

Not quite what you mention, but I've got Samsung Q1 UMPC, 7" display.
I LOVE it as a mobile device when traveling. I read some ZINIO magazines on it. But I wouldn't use it for actual text for more than 30 minutes. Glare, weight of the reader, usability (for example going to the next page in a document), ...
For ebooks, I very much prefer eInk devices. My UMPC's battery lasts a maximum of roughly 3 to 4 hours, eInk readers easily can survive any train ride of 6 or 8 hours.
Usually I've got my UMPC with me for surfing, checking emails or taking my ebook library with me. But the actual reading happens on Sony 505, Kindle 2 or any of my other readers.
If I demonstrate eInk devices to friends and colleagues, usually they're quite impressed by the contrast and readability. You don't have to care about the viewing angle, the lighting conditions (can be in direct sunlight), the battery lasts "forever", they're all lightweight. And there a lots of clever combinations, for example Kindle and iPhone sharing the very same library whithout additional costs.

[thebigalphamale]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

Not quite what you mention, but I've got Samsung Q1 UMPC, 7" display.
I LOVE it as a mobile device when traveling. I read some ZINIO magazines on it. But I wouldn't use it for actual text for more than 30 minutes. Glare, weight of the reader, usability (for example going to the next page in a document), ...
For ebooks, I very much prefer eInk devices. My UMPC's battery lasts a maximum of roughly 3 to 4 hours, eInk readers easily can survive any train ride of 6 or 8 hours.
Usually I've got my UMPC with me for surfing, checking emails or taking my ebook library with me. But the actual reading happens on Sony 505, Kindle 2 or any of my other readers.
If I demonstrate eInk devices to friends and colleagues, usually they're quite impressed by the contrast and readability. You don't have to care about the viewing angle, the lighting conditions (can be in direct sunlight), the battery lasts "forever", they're all lightweight. And there a lots of clever combinations, for example Kindle and iPhone sharing the very same library whithout additional costs.

thanks for the input, however i dont want to carry 2 devices if i can get away with just one...add in a PDA phone and that makes 3... i looked at the q1 ultra and its predecessors (even watched vidoes on how to change the ram to 2gb after taking it completely apart) but i would like something that is a "ALL IN ONE" type of device... small, but large enough to read (my fujitsu was almost perfect but it came with vista (im not a vista hater as my laptop is tweaked with vista and is super fast) and i tried windows 7 on it (xp tablet lacked some drivers to get the full use of it) and it was limited to 1 gb ram and so it was kinda slow for regular tasks and the screen was 5.6 inches, but in tablet landscape mode pdfs and zino mags had the space on top and on sides so it took up even less of the screen and was alright to read with but not optimal..and only if you got great vision was it alright.... now im using my girlfriends 10 inch asus eee pc in landscape mode and its very light and readable..its battery life is easily 8-10 hours (my fujitsu was about this so very compareable with those eink readers)..and they just do more than those eink readers for comparable prices... i did look at the sony 505 /7 series, and researched a bunch of others online and the plastic logic is the only one i thought i would like...but they arent out yet and the irex is super expensive and doesnt do near as much as a umpc, portable tablet...

so i sold it and am looking for a new tablet, umpc tablet, archos, or netbook..

the archos 9 is coming out and it is going to have windows 7 and will be a nice slate to read with and do internet and media stuff..... so i think its between a 7, 8, 9, or 10 inch tablet or slate pc or the archos 9...

i just wish we could go locally and check them out... and see which one we would like...

[PhishStyx]

I have an Archos 705, and while it's ok, I find it very heavy to handle. I almost wish I hadn't bought it now. I really don't use it much.

[PoV]

I have an Archos 5. PDF's render nicely on it (wide, so you have to scroll the page). It's a little slow to navigate, but no worse than an eBook reader. Comics as JPG's or PNG's read well too (so long as they're single pages, since there's no zoom option). Only real down side is you don't get very good battery life doing anything where the screen has to stay on (Video, PDF's, Internet). It might last a little longer than an iPod touch (2-3 hours), but we're talking maybe an hour more.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by PhishStyx

I have an Archos 705, and while it's ok, I find it very heavy to handle. I almost wish I hadn't bought it now. I really don't use it much.

Yes, I was holding one of those the other day. I was looking for one as reader, but decided right then I wouldn't buy it. Way too heavy to read comfortably on.

[thebigalphamale]

Thanks for all you Archos replies...

I was watching a youtube video of the archos 9... it looks very promising... windows 7 operating system which will give it a huge bump in available ebook reading software options... plus the size... prob no scrolling with pdfs in landscape mode... i really wish i could get my hands on one of these to try out when the hit the market.. anyone know where to try out the archos line locally...???? at brick and mortar stores... best buy??? staples??? where.... im really leaning towards the archos 9, wonder what the battery life will be....