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Archos 5 Android Tablet - I went up a hill and promptly fell off a mountain

The idea of a large tablet device is nothing new to me because I used to have a small 5" touch screen pc running windows XP home. For playing back videos it was okay but pretty useless as an internet tablet because it needed a usb wifi or 3g dongle to provide any connectivty.

I now have 2 android phones a HTC Magic and Hero. I really like android and feel its potential can grow beyond a phone either to a desktop or notebook computer. When I saw the Archos tablet I was interested because there was finally a large screen android device.

QVC had a deal on recently to try the tablet and return if not happy. Normally I am not bothered by such deals but as I was interested I took advantage of the offer.

Whilst waiting I looked online for reviews or any kind of hacking. Now some might say that this where my issue started but please read on. Gareth over at mobiletech addicts also got an archos where you can read his experience here. There is also the podcast here where you can hear his experience. Whilst Gareth didn't hack the tablet he did find it unstable with thr stock android.

Because the tablet isn't a google approved device you are automatically locked out of the applications marketplace and a google experience. However through following this simple guide.

Whilst this really opened up the device because I could install more applications and really experience the internet the onscreen keyboard was bad so had to be replaced. The device was very quick at multitasking and switching between applications. But you couldn't access paid applications so although applications like roadsyns could install, work and provide an exchange experience you couldn't buy them through the application marketplace and dataviz never responded to my email requesting assistance. Push email, contact and calendar sync are all a reality.

Reading pdfs in full screen and ebooks using fbreader would mean I no longer need my ebook reader. This coupled with the media player and dvr facility make this device a great convergence possibility. Lastly the large satnav screen with traffic updates it was all looking great.

Then it crashed, constant reboots and then I had to wipe it. The wipe removed all of my media. In the end I packed the device up and sent it back for a refund.

I have been here too many times in the past, recognised the same issues again and promptly walked away.

In summary its a great device with potential and really shows what an android tablet could do. But, archos need to iron out the bugs, get official google experience onto the device and bolt on a 3g modem.

Then it will be a killer device.
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