Archos is selling 8-inch and 10-inch versions of its G9 tablet line, ranging from $299 to $469. The 1.5GHz models come with 250GB hard drives.
Consumer electronics maker Archos will begin selling two
new tablet computers based on Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) freshest Android "Honeycomb" operating system.
Archos will begin selling the 8-inch, 8GB, 80 G9 tablet
Sept. 20 for $299 from Archos.com. Amazon, Newegg and Tiger Direct, and other
resellers will begin selling the machine Sept. 30.
The device, powered by a 1GHz, dual-core Cortex A9 processor, runs Android 3.2. That's the new
Honeycomb build that has screen compatibility modes to more suitably run
Android Market smartphone applications on larger tablet displays.
October could be more noteworthy for Archos. The company will
sell a version of the 80 G9, as
well as a 10-inch model with a 1280-by-800 resolution, dubbed the 101
G9. Both machines are powered by a 1.5 GHz dual-core Cortex A9
processor running in an OMAP 4 chipset and will support 1080p
high-definition video.
The slates also have storage capacity up to 250GB,
courtesy of the Seagate Momentus Thin hard drives, in addition to 4GB of flash
storage. Archos said it designed these tablets "to limit spinning and to
keep the drive powered down when not in use, which will protect it when
on-the-go as well as preserve battery life."
The machines, for which
PCWorld
offers additional specs, are WiFi and 3G-enabled via 3G sticks. Archos
offers 3G sticks for $67 a pop, which will boost the cost of ownership
for some tablet buyers.
Speaking of costs, how much are those 1.5GHz chip tablets? Archos plans to suggest pricing of $329 for the Archos 80
G9 16GB model, or $369 for the device with the 250GB hard drive. The company is
calling for $399 for the Archos 10 G9 with 16GB, and $469 for the model with
the 250GB hard drive.
The low-cost tablets come at an interesting time in the
tablet market.
While the heavily discounted,
$100 HP TouchPad is on pace to sell 1 million units, the rest of the mobile
sector is waiting for
Amazon.com's Kindle Tablet, which reportedly has a 7-inch display with custom
Android build. Many analysts expect the Kindle Tablet to cost $300 or less,
fully $200 less than Apple's iPad 2.
Archos could find itself challenged trying to sell against those
giant rivals. However, the hard drive and removable 3G sticks could
provide some competitive differentiation.
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