I was looking for a budget tablet and came across the Archos 7 G3 tablet. It has an Allwinner A10 (Sun4i) processor just like many of the generic Chinese ones, but you don't have to order it from China as it is available for retail in the U.S. The model I purchased was the 4GB version, which was $99 from HHGreg.
Here are the specs from the Arnova site:
http://arnovatech.com/products/g3/arn_7/specs.html?country=us&lang=en
Capacity Flash memory: 8 GB*
Expandable via micro SDHC Slot Operating system ANDROID 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Processor
1 GHz RAM
1 GB Display characteristics
7 inch - Capacitive Screen 16 million colors
800 x 480 screen resolution Video Playback
H.264 up to 1080p resolution 30 fps
MPEG-42 30 fps
With the above codecs, the device can play video files with the following extensions: .avi .mp4 ,mkv, .mov, and .flv
Audio Playback
MP3, WAV, APE, OGG, FLAC
Photo viewer
JPEG, BMP, GIF, PNG Interfaces
Micro USB slave 2.0: Mass Storage Class (MSC)
Micro SD slot (SDHC compatible) Up to 32 GB
Mini HDMI output Communication protocols
WiFi
Miscellaneous
Front camera
Built-in speaker
Microphone
G-sensor
Power source
Internal: Lithium Polymer battery
USB Power Adapter
Dimensions & weight
193 mm x 118 mm x 13 mm 300 g Compatibility
Microsoft® Windows® 7, Vista, XP, or higher, Mac OS or Linux in mass storage mode Computer Interface
USB 2.0 interface Package includes ARNOVA 7 G3, USB cable, USB Power adapter, Quick Start Guide (QSG)
And for some benchmarks. I included my Samsung Galaxy Tab 2.0 for comparison. Just remember that the G3 has a single core processor while the Tab 2 has a dual core processor.
SunSpider JavaScript Benchmark 0.9.1
Galaxy Tab 2 - 2070.5
Archos 7 G3 - 10682.2
RightWare BrowserMark
Galaxy Tab 2 - 86876
Archos 7 G3 - 24614
GL Benchmark 2.1.5
GLBenchmark 2.1.5 Egypt
Galaxy Tab 2.0 - 27 FPS
Archos 7 G3 - 21 FPS
GLBenchmark 2.1.5 Pro - Offsccreen
Galaxy Tab 2.0 - 44 FPS
Archos 7 G3 - 45 FPS
GLBenchmark 2.1.5 Egypt - Standard
Galaxy Tab 2.0 - 26 FPS
Archos 7 G3 - 37 FPS
GLBenchmark 2.1.5 Pro Standard
Galaxy Tab 2.0 - 33 FPS
Archos 7 G3 - 58 FPS
Unfortunately, there is no Google Play Store, just some generic app downloaders, but I had saved the APKs from my Galaxy Tab 2 and installed them onto the Archos 7 G3. However, there are some games, such as Angry Birds that were available for download via the generic app downloaders.
Netflix - Seems to drop some frames but keeps the audio synchronized at Standard Definition. Watching some Star Trek TOS, the Enterprise would stutter a bit while orbiting around a planet with the G3, but was smooth on the Tab .
Plex - I use Plex to play my DIVX videos. With the Tab 2, I can turn off Transcoding, so my CPU utilization on the PC acting as the server is 0%, but the G3 required transcoding, which will run a dual core processor to 100% CPU utilization. Oddly enough, the same videos play fine with hardware acceleration on the G3 tablet directly.
Daroon Player - I use it to watch some MMS streaming TV stations. The G3 plays well and doesn't have to buffer quite so often like the Tab 2 does.
Angry Birds - Both played the game just fine.
Web Browser - Web browsing was decent on both tablets.
YouTube - Just like Netflix, the G3 seems like there are some dropped frame rates at Standard Definition. The Tab 2 played the videos without any problems.
The display - The Tab 2 definitely beats the G3 out in this department. Looking at thumbnails on Plex, I could make out words on the Tab 2, but the G3 wasn't quite so clear. It almost reminds me of looking at a monitor with a privacy screen on it. At a distance, however, the picture did look better.
As for battery life, I don't use it long enough away from the charger to truly tell.
For $99, it definitely beats tablets such as the Coby 7012, which was based on the archaic Telechips ARM 11 processor. It's a decent cheap starter tablet, but the lack of the Google Play store would mean someone more savy with tablets would need to add the APKs if they wanted to use it for things such as Netflix. It's also functional enough that it's one I'd be willing to take on a trip, so in case it gets lost or stolen, I wouldn't be so upset if it was my Tab 2. Or it could be one to give to the kids to play with and not have to spend a lot.
Here are the specs from the Arnova site:
http://arnovatech.com/products/g3/arn_7/specs.html?country=us&lang=en
Capacity Flash memory: 8 GB*
Expandable via micro SDHC Slot Operating system ANDROID 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Processor
1 GHz RAM
1 GB Display characteristics
7 inch - Capacitive Screen 16 million colors
800 x 480 screen resolution Video Playback
H.264 up to 1080p resolution 30 fps
MPEG-42 30 fps
With the above codecs, the device can play video files with the following extensions: .avi .mp4 ,mkv, .mov, and .flv
Audio Playback
MP3, WAV, APE, OGG, FLAC
Photo viewer
JPEG, BMP, GIF, PNG Interfaces
Micro USB slave 2.0: Mass Storage Class (MSC)
Micro SD slot (SDHC compatible) Up to 32 GB
Mini HDMI output Communication protocols
WiFi
Miscellaneous
Front camera
Built-in speaker
Microphone
G-sensor
Power source
Internal: Lithium Polymer battery
USB Power Adapter
Dimensions & weight
193 mm x 118 mm x 13 mm 300 g Compatibility
Microsoft® Windows® 7, Vista, XP, or higher, Mac OS or Linux in mass storage mode Computer Interface
USB 2.0 interface Package includes ARNOVA 7 G3, USB cable, USB Power adapter, Quick Start Guide (QSG)
And for some benchmarks. I included my Samsung Galaxy Tab 2.0 for comparison. Just remember that the G3 has a single core processor while the Tab 2 has a dual core processor.
SunSpider JavaScript Benchmark 0.9.1
Galaxy Tab 2 - 2070.5
Archos 7 G3 - 10682.2
RightWare BrowserMark
Galaxy Tab 2 - 86876
Archos 7 G3 - 24614
GL Benchmark 2.1.5
GLBenchmark 2.1.5 Egypt
Galaxy Tab 2.0 - 27 FPS
Archos 7 G3 - 21 FPS
GLBenchmark 2.1.5 Pro - Offsccreen
Galaxy Tab 2.0 - 44 FPS
Archos 7 G3 - 45 FPS
GLBenchmark 2.1.5 Egypt - Standard
Galaxy Tab 2.0 - 26 FPS
Archos 7 G3 - 37 FPS
GLBenchmark 2.1.5 Pro Standard
Galaxy Tab 2.0 - 33 FPS
Archos 7 G3 - 58 FPS
Unfortunately, there is no Google Play Store, just some generic app downloaders, but I had saved the APKs from my Galaxy Tab 2 and installed them onto the Archos 7 G3. However, there are some games, such as Angry Birds that were available for download via the generic app downloaders.
Netflix - Seems to drop some frames but keeps the audio synchronized at Standard Definition. Watching some Star Trek TOS, the Enterprise would stutter a bit while orbiting around a planet with the G3, but was smooth on the Tab .
Plex - I use Plex to play my DIVX videos. With the Tab 2, I can turn off Transcoding, so my CPU utilization on the PC acting as the server is 0%, but the G3 required transcoding, which will run a dual core processor to 100% CPU utilization. Oddly enough, the same videos play fine with hardware acceleration on the G3 tablet directly.
Daroon Player - I use it to watch some MMS streaming TV stations. The G3 plays well and doesn't have to buffer quite so often like the Tab 2 does.
Angry Birds - Both played the game just fine.
Web Browser - Web browsing was decent on both tablets.
YouTube - Just like Netflix, the G3 seems like there are some dropped frame rates at Standard Definition. The Tab 2 played the videos without any problems.
The display - The Tab 2 definitely beats the G3 out in this department. Looking at thumbnails on Plex, I could make out words on the Tab 2, but the G3 wasn't quite so clear. It almost reminds me of looking at a monitor with a privacy screen on it. At a distance, however, the picture did look better.
As for battery life, I don't use it long enough away from the charger to truly tell.
For $99, it definitely beats tablets such as the Coby 7012, which was based on the archaic Telechips ARM 11 processor. It's a decent cheap starter tablet, but the lack of the Google Play store would mean someone more savy with tablets would need to add the APKs if they wanted to use it for things such as Netflix. It's also functional enough that it's one I'd be willing to take on a trip, so in case it gets lost or stolen, I wouldn't be so upset if it was my Tab 2. Or it could be one to give to the kids to play with and not have to spend a lot.
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