Archos 501870 Gen9 10.1 inch Tablet (RAM 512MB, Memory 8GB, Android 3.2) - upgradeable to Android 4.0 / Ice Cream Sandwich

Fantastic piece of kit but remember, this is not an iPad. It does exactly what it says it does and fast enough to really enjoy using it. Internet access is fast and page flipping really good. Applications are as good, and plenty of freebies available from games to serious apps. Create your own apps by using "Apps Inventor" available separately. The case is OK given the price and this is a gift or personal pressie to seriously consider. FAB

I have an iPad, an Asus Transformer, a Hannspad, an Advent Vega, a 7inch witstech and a archos.

I have to say that by far the Archos is the best value for money

The iPad may be slicker, but mainly that is due to the software

The transformer more polished

but the Archos is still better value

There is a slight rippling on the screen, when you push hard from behind, although I have heard that this has been fixed.

I have ordered but not yet tried the 3G integral stick, which is genius!

I love that you can charge it via USB

It also has a great screen and good battery life, not as much as the 10 inchers, but close enough, a good 7 hours.

my only gripe to not give it 5 stars is that one of the few areas where it is let down is the lack of encryption - it is an omission from the standard honeycomb....possibly as the unit does get a little hot with continuos use, not too hot to handle, but you notice. I guess that the lack of a decent heat sink, might cause it issues with the hour that it takes to encrypt a tablet....

I now also (because of work) have an Ainol novo 7 elf - they are now the best value tablet on the web, but I have not got a 3g dongle to work yet....

I purchased this item about 4 weeks ago, and from an hardware point of view it is rather good.
Display is nice and bright, really good battery life and doesn't feel too plasticky.

I use it for browsing, watching movies, reading books and video calling abroad.

Skype works OK, but Google talk video calls have in my opinion the best quality on this device.

8 gig internal memory is adequate for my purposeand it can be extended using the mini SD card on the side, but it really sticks out too much and it can be easily knocked out by mistake...I would reccomend using it only then needed and then remove it and keep in a safe place!

I also purchased a little cable adaptor from the micro USB to female USB and it is something I would really reccomend, so far I connected sucesssfully USB memory sticks, keyboards and mice with no problems.

I had a few quirks so far, derived by software glitches....
As soon as I bought it I could hear but not see any flash streaming video, I emailed technical support at archeos and desire an email saying we will reply in 2 business days, I still have heard nothing in a month.
Maybe by chance but since then a new firmware update fixed that.
Shortly after that there has been a new version .78 I believe that introduced a nasty bug: when screen goes in stand by it can't be resumed.. only way is just to reset the tablet!
I re-initialized the tablet twice to ensure that was not caused by some rogue app, but the issue is still there so far...
I sent another email to customer support and to be honest I'm not holding my breath..I looked into calling them but interesting enough they only have a 25 pence per minute number.. I'm not sure this is a normal custom in the tablet world but it seems rather cheeky.

QUICK UPDATE:
the bug has a really trivial workaround: the lock only occurs if you have the screen at the lowest possible brightness level (that is how I like to read my books), it's just a matter to put it slightly brighter.

I would point out that this information has been gathered by the excellent ArchosFans.com forum, to date I received no communication from Archos tech support.

The tablet is still brilliant hardware IMHO, shame for the support.