Archos 5 Internet Tablet hands-on, Phone Tablet announced

 

Meanwhile, we’ve had hands-on with the Internet Tablet. Archos like a bit of convergence, and this device is incredibly multi-talented. Naturally, for an Archos, it is a formidable AV device: music, movies and photos all more than catered for on its 4.8in 800×480-pixel screen.

It can also stream 720p video from your PC. Archos also announced a new music download partner, called Mewbox. It is powered by music download brand 7digital. We were not able to try the service at the launch, but will have a full report on what is a daring attempt to take on the likes of Amazon and iTunes.

 

Having Android built-in, along with Wi-Fi or the ability to tether the Tablet to a 3.5G mobile, makes it a net-browsing, emailing, social networking lothario.

Regrettably, the launch event was held in a hotel dungeon, with limited Wi-Fi access and mobile networks, but on the occasions we got a signal, it semed to be rendering pages pretty well, and the big on-screen keyboard was easy to use. The Tablet will also come with sat-nav built-in, and has a microphone, so you can use it as a VOIP phone.

At home, though, is where convergence fans can really get stuck in. Buy the optional HDMI dock, remote control and Bluetooth keyboard and you can connect the Internet Tablet to your TV and use it as a kind of media PC. The device will output its Android OS and videos at up to 720p on your TV, so you can use it to surf the web, email or kick back and watch movies.

The Tablet will come in solid-state capacities from 8GB to 64GB, and hard drive capacities up to a whopping 500GB. We hefted a 32GB version, which was slim and light feeling. The 500GB version will presumably be much larger. The 8GB version will be £200, rising to £350 for the 500GB. Look out for a full hands-on in our video section, and take a look at the hands-on pics below.