Amazon Kindle fire vs. Archos 70IT

As I have posted before, I already have the Archos 7" Internet Tablet, and while it does a really good job of watching movies, it is pretty limited beyond that. I probably should have came back to update this blog earlier, but the reality is, I just do not get as much enjoyment, and therefore use, out of the Archos 7" tablet that I expected.  Although it can play Angry Birds and a few other simple games, the web browsing experience and general feel of the operating system is slow, laggy and unresponsive.  I feel, that with every update from Archos, it gets worse, even after doing a complete wipe and install and formatting the device the the recommended partition types (all stuff I should not have to deal with).  I have since moved on to the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, after making a really hard decision between it, the Xoom and the iPad2. And although the Samsung is a way more capable device (especially with gaming), I can't help but occasionally miss the form factor of the 7" tablet.  That being said, I am not willing to shell out another $350 for a Galaxy Tab 7.  I will continue to make due with my Archos for traveling purposes.

That being said, Amazon recently announced the kindle fire.  At only $199, it is a really compelling price point, even approaching impulse buying or Christmas gift buying territory.  It comes in $100 less than the original Archos price, and even beats the current sale price on Amazon.  So how do the Archos 70 Internet Tablet and Kindle fire compare?

Unfortunately, I don't have a Kindle fire handy to test one out, so I will rely solely on specs (which never tell the whole truth).
Dimensionally:

The reported dimensions of the Archos 70 IT are:

• 7.91” tall x 4.49” wide x .43 thick at 11 oz

and the Amazon Kindle fire:

• 7.5" x 4.7" x .45" thick at 14.6 ounces

Winner: Tie with a slight edge to the Archos.  Keep in mind, the Samsung Tab 10.1" model is only 5 ounces heavier than the Kindle.

Processor:
Archos: 1 Ghz ARM Single Core
Kindle fire: Texas Instruments Dual Core
Winner: Kindle fire

Camera:
Archos:  front facing low resolution camera
Kindle fire: none
Winner: Archos 70

Operating System:
Archos: Relatively stock Android 2.2 Froyo
Kindle fire: Android 2.3 Gingerbread with heavy customization
Winner: Purely a guess, but I think the Kindle fire is going to win this hands down, especially with a dual core processor pushing things behind the scenes.

Battery:
Archos: Based off of real experience, I am lucky to get about 3.5 hours of video time
Kindle fire: Claims 7.5 hours.  (based on prior experience with the standard Kindle, vs Amazon's claims, I would say that they are probably going to be pretty accurate)
Winner: Another guess, but I think the Kindle fire will win with battery life.

Expandability:
Archos: MicroSD slot
Kindle fire: none, but has cloud storage
Winner: Archos, I just don't see "cloud storage" as counting, since you can do it already with various apps or ftp anyhow with other devices, and you are completely dependent on having internet available, (not good for flyers).

Gyroscope:
Archos: Yes
Amazon Kindle fire: No
Winner: Archos

GPS:
Archos: No
Kindle fire: No 
Winner: Tie

Verdict:
If this were simply up to specs, I would say this is a very close battle with the Archos possibly taking the win.  However, my experience with the Archos is that it is a bit too laggy for the everyday user, and that the non-modified Android 2.2 interface is just not a pleasant experience on a tablet of any size.   As a technical person who likes to mod gadgets, I think the kindle fire has more potential, if and when it gets rooted, but the Archos already has a year's worth of hackery behind it.  As a gift to a non-technical person, I think the choice would definitely be the Amazon Kindle fire.







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