Not many people know that ARCHOS was the first company every to launch a PMP, even before the Video iPod from Apple or Zen from Creative followed by a gazillion portable video players were launched in the market. Now you know

Based on our comparison, we awarded ARCHOS the winner in PMP products back then. This post will specifically talk about ARCHOS Internet Media Tablets and its features.

ARCHOS offers 3 different products in this segment.

1. ARCHOS 5
2. ARCHOS 7 and 
3. ARCHOS 5g

There is not much of a difference between ARCHOS 5 and ARCHOS 7 other than the screen size and the storage space, the features offered by both these PMP’s are the same.

ARCHOS 5g takes these gadgets a step ahead by offering 3.5g network capabilities which makes it preferable over ARCHOS 5 or ARCHOS 7. ARCHOS 5g is not released yet, but is said to hit the stands pretty soon.

Personally I wouldn’t buy an ARCHOS 7 because of its size, 7 inches, unless I want a mammoth storage space offered by ARCHOS 7, 160 and 320GB’s. Because when it comes to gadgets which are made to be used on the go, the smaller the better.

Internet portable devices are known to shrink the websites and web pages making then unreadable unless you zoom in. ARCHOS Internet Media Tablets seem to address that issue by rendering all websites and web pages in 800×480 pixels.

Though you have the option of zooming in and out, you just wouldn’t feel the need to do it.

“There is only One Internet” with that caption in mind ARCHOS tries to make internet on mobile as good as internet on PCs. ARCHOS Internet Media Tablets come with Adobe Flash Player 9 and Opera web browser to make browsing an effort less experience on the go.

Sharp high resolution screen, effortless navigation through the web just like your PC makes it a must buy. Also, the full email application lets you read, write and reply to emails, download and send attachments and also lets you manage your contacts.

ARCHOS Internet Media Tablets uses ARM® Cortex™ processor, making it the first mobile device to incorporate this processor. When compared to any Internet capable mobile device ARCHOS is 4 times faster and definitely surfing on a handheld device has never been so fast.

Another change we have noticed is that the DVR compatible with ARCHOS Internet Media Tablets is much smaller and sleeker, along with other options it also offers a HDMI Out for viewing HiDef videos on TV.

In addition to the features offered by ARCHOS gadgets you can add more features like HD playback compatibility or Internet Radio compatibility by buying version compatible plugins for you device.

One of the areas we think ARCHOS is lacking is the products battery life. We have seen generations of ARCHOS being launched since a few years now and none of these gadgets offer a battery life over 4-5 hrs for video viewing. This is precisely where we think ARCHOS’s closest competitor COWON Q5W beats ARCHOS by offering 7 hours of continuous Video playback.

ARCHOS 5 is priced at $449.99 for 250 GB and ARCHOS 7 is priced at $550 for 320 GB. Price for ARCHOS 5g is not available yet, as the product is yet to be launched.