In my previous post, I wrote an overview of the Archos 7 Internet media tablet. In this post I’ll take a closer look at the tablet’s Web browsing and internet media features.
WiFi
All of the Archos 7’s Internet features work over WiFi. Setting up the connection was easy and the connection was reliable.
Web Browsing
When you register the Archos 7 and do a software update, it gives you a free copy of the Opera Web browser. This version of Opera supports tabbed browsing and has limited Flash support (more on that later). It does a pretty good job of displaying simple Web pages. Pages with complex programming a problem for this version of Opera. Google Maps, for example, is totally non-functional. This is a shame because it puts much of the Web off-limits. (Google offers an HTML version of maps which does work on the device, but it’s not a great experience.)
Overall, the Web browsing is okay, but hardly a replacement for browsing on a laptop or desktop computer. The larger screen makes it better than browsing on a mobile phone, though.
Flash Support
Archos claims the Archos 7 can display Flash content, but my results have been mixed. It plays some videos but not others, and when the videos do play the process is slow and prone to crashing. Web site content in Flash appears on some sites but not others. On some sites, when the Flash content displays, it does not appear as intended (displaying in greyscale, for example, rather than in color). I assume this has to do with the version of Flash used on the site. Overall, Flash support is a disappointment.
NOTE: The Archos Web site now offers an updated browser and claims it supports Flash 9 content. I’ll install this update and post my results.
Update: Looks like I already have the latest browser.
Internet Radio
The Archos comes with vTuner software for playing Web radio. It offers a very robust directory of terrestrial and internet-only radio stations. It also has a directory of podcasts where you can download-on-demand an audio file for playback. This process works quite well and is relatively fast. I was pleased with the assortment stations and the variety of formats.
Internet TV
The Archos also has a directory of free Internet TV. Most of it isn’t worth watching. You can download video podcasts, but Archos makes you purchase a $20 H.264 codec to play them. I have not done this, so I can’t comment on the process. I have, though, downloaded video podcasts from C|Net and Revision3, then side-loaded them using DoubleTwist (which after a recent upgrade now supports podcasts and video podcasts) and they work just fine — DoubleTwist even converts them to a compatible MP4 format.
Bottom-Line: I found the Archos 7’s internet media features nice, but not stellar.
Next, we’ll look at where the Archos7 really shines — playing digital media files.
