Archos 101 Cobalt

When introduced to the Archos 101 Cobalt tablet, our immediate impression is that the device itself is lacking in overall features and technical capability. The first thing you notice when looking at the important specifications is the lack of storage space on offer. Seemingly, Archos dropped the ball here when they decided to only include a very minimal amount of 8GB of storage space. Perhaps this was merely done to keep the price low.

Maybe a wiser choice would have been for Archos to follow Acer’s example and lower the resolution instead. An extra SDcard can be added to expand the amount of memory though. That said, the display is rich, colourful and makes using the tablet enjoyable. A HDMI interface allows connection to a HDTV for amazing playback on larger screens.

What we don’t like is the lack of access to the Android market that is missing on this model. Otherwise, the performance is fairly good. A dual core processor at 1.2 GHz offers adequate speed and power, at very affordable price. The 5000 maH polymer battery lasts well for up to 10 hours so you can get plenty of use from the tablet before recharging.

The Archos 101 Cobalt handles well and responds smoothly to actions, 1GB of memory keeps several apps open and responsive but avoid having to many open because performance will suffer or the tablet may even lock up. The visual design feels more like a GPS unit for navigating than an actual tablet computer. It does have a swivel stand which is very useful, so feel free to grab some apps from the limited selection and use it in your car also.