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Archos has been selling low cost tablets under its Arnova brand name for the past few years, and this year the company started introducing its 3rd generation products. In April the Arnova 9 G3 and Arnova 10b G3 were the first to launch in the US.
Now Archos has updated the Arnova website to list 9 different Gen3 tablets. We’ve seen details for many of them before, but now it looks like they’re all expected to launch soon (with the exception of the models that are already available for purchase).
All of the tablets feature Android 4.0, 1 GHz ARM Cortex-A8 processors and 1GB of RAM. Some of the tablets have very similar features, but offer different case designs.
Here’s a quick run-down of the new tablets:
- Arnova 10b G3: 10.1 inch, 1024 x 600px capacitive display
- Arnova 9 G3: 9.7 inch, 1024 x 768 pixel capacitive display
- Arnova 8 G3: 8 inch, 800 x 600 pixel capacitive display
- Arnova 8c G3: 8 inch, 800 x 600 pixel capacitive display (thinner, lighter)
- Arnova 7 G3: 7 inch, 800 x 480 pixel capactive display (lightest 7 inch model)
- Arnova 7b G3: 7 inch, 800 x 480 pixel capacitive display
- Arnova 7d G3: 7 inch, 800 x 480 pixel capacitive display
- Arnova 7f G3: 7 inch, 800 x 480 pixel capacitive display
- Arnova ChildPad: 7 inch, 800 x 480 pixel resistive display
There are no prices for these tablets on the Arnova website, but the least expensive of the new Arnova G3 tablets is available for as little as $100.
Well, for Cortex-A8 based machines, you cannot really ask much more than $100.
The 7 G2 was a fantastic little tablet – picked one up for my dad last Christmas. Â The G3 has more RAM, is slightly smaller, 70 grams lighter, and has Android 4.0 instead of 2.3. Â Would be a nice little secondary toy for web, media, games, etc.
My biggest complaint is that it doesn’t seem to have the kickstand (JR says it does, Arnova’s website and pictures don’t seem to agree). Â The stand is a very useful component on my Archos 48 and the Arnova 7G2.
Another question – who was the drooling idiot who decided to put a resistive touchscreen on the ChildPad? Â Pretty much every kid who would receive one has played on a parent’s or sibling’s iOS or Android device with a capacitive screen. When the cheaper 7G3 has a capacitive screen, why wouldn’t I just buy one of those for my kindergartener instead of the ChildPad?
I know you can’t expect a lot for $100, but I’d be interested in seeing a review of the Arnova 7 G3 sometime. Might make a great little tablet for someone who just uses it for the odd app or two.