Written by dgoldring on Friday, July 3, 2009

Archos 9 Announced, Coming Soon


Archos announced yesterday the upcoming arrival of their latest MID device, the Archos 9.  Sporting an 8.9 inch screen, the new arrival significantly expands upon the Archos line of media players.  In fact, it would be inaccurate to call this device, which runs the Windows 7 Operating System, a portable media player at all.  Archos really seems to have taken its devices to a whole new level with this one.  

Now, I am not sure how this will all work with no keyboard.  Archos seems to believe that this is another evolutionary step in its system, stating the virtual keyboard is the next best innovation in Netbooks.  Now,  I am not a fan of soft input panels or virtual keyboards on my mobile devices, so this is something I am eager to put to the test when I hopefully get the opportunity to check this on out in the fall.  Keep reading for some information I stole from the press release.

Technical Specifications:


Processor

Intel ATOM Z515 1.2 GHz

Video Chipset

Integrated US15W

Operating System

Microsoft Windows 7

System Memory

1GB (DDR2 400/533)

Display

8.9’’ touch screen – 16 millions of colors

Screen resolution

1024 x 600 pixels

Capacity

Up to 120GB, 1.8” HDD

Communication

- Ethernet 10/100
- WiFi: PCI-E interface, 2 Antennas, Support IEEE 802.11b/g

- Bluetooth 2.1

- Optional 3.5G HSUPA – Huawei EM750M 7.2Mbts module

Audio

- Audio card : Realtek ALC269

- 2 stereo speakers

- Built-in Microphone

Mouse

- Optical Finger Navigation System

- Right and Left click buttons

Front and side ports

- USB 2.0 High Speed

- Audio/headphone output

Additional ports via an optional dock:

- 2 USB 2.0 High Speed

- Ethernet 10/100

- External microphone input

- Audio/headphone output

- VGA output

Power source

• Internal: Removable lithium Polymer battery

• External: Power adapter/charger

Battery life

TBC

Web cam

Built-in 1.3MP camera

Dimensions

10.07’’x5.27’’x0.62’’ / 256mmx134mmx16mm

Weight

Less than 28.2 ounces / 800 grams

Package includes

ARCHOS 9 Tablet PC, battery, Power charger, Quick Start Guide

Included Software:


TYPE

NAME

DESCRIPTION

Antivirus/

Antispyware

BitDefender Antivirus 2009[i]

Provides advanced proactive protection against viruses, spyware, phishing attacks and identity theft, without slowing down your PC.

Parental Control

Parental Filter

Filter dangerous websites, select the duration that your children spend on the computer and many more control functions.

Complete office software solution

Microsoft Office Home and Student 20072 (NEW)

Easily create and edit all your documents, spreadsheets and presentations.

Audio/Video conferencing

Skype™

Make free audio and video calls from your computer to people anywhere in the world.

Photo editing

Xnview

Picture viewing and editing

Web TV and radio player

vTuner

Access to over 11.000 radio and TV stations broadcasting over the Internet.

Email manager & Chat

Windows Live™ New

Manage all your email accounts and chat instantly.

Video creation

Windows Movie Maker New

Create, edit and share your own films in a few clicks

Games Demos

Gameloft New

Hours of entertainment with 5 demo games from Gameloft

The Archos 9 is expected to drop in September.  Final pricing has not been set, but expect it to be in the $500 price range.  Check out the Archos website for more information.  And keep watching this space for our review.

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Darkcorner
Jul 3, 2009

Wow, seems awesome !

Thanks for the update.


John D. Sheridan
Jul 3, 2009

It is interesting that we have had netbook-sized machines (and smaller) for years, but only recently are they coming into favor. A friend showed me his Palmax PD1000 years ago, and it was awesome, for it’s day. Windows 98 running on a Cyrix processor. At work I ran across a old Hitachi HPW-200EC running Windows CE 3.0 and had an 8″ 640×240 screen, CF card slot, external VGA port. There were so many other devices that pre-dated our netbooks. But I think one of the things that has made the form-factor feasable is widespread WiFi. (Faster processors, GHz as opposed to MHz hasn’t hurt either) The PD100 and HPW-200EC had a built-in modem as their only way to communicate. My friend did use his to check email, but it was problematic. WiFi on the Palmax would have been awesome.

The Archos 9 is more of a netbook than a PMP, IMHO.


dgoldring
Jul 3, 2009

John, I agree. This is def. closer to a netbook, or really more of a MID than a PMP. I am very excited to give it a try.

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