What a hectic few hours! I’ve had DHL at the door with the Archos 5 Mini Dock, a tweet from Pocketables alerting me that the new firmware is available and the whole lot has been captured in a video. I’ll say no more than this:
- Mini-dock = Bargain!
- YouTube HD on TV = Fantastic!
- IR RF keyboard and mouse = Total TV laziness.
- Mini keyboard and mouse = Mini ‘Web’ PC under 500gm and 300 Euro!
It looks like some hard drives with no external power won’t work but I tested a few USB SD-card adaptors and it worked fine. Questions remain over 3G sticks.
As for the firmware, there are a lot of improvements. Check the updates page for details.
More information about the Archos 5 Internet Tablet here.
Update: TV interference is purely due to trying to record a CRT. For a better look at TV-out put using an HDMI dock, Check out Charbax’s video here.
Help your UMPCPortal! Buy the Archos 5 Mini-Dock through our affiliates.
- ARCHOS Mini Dock für ARCHOS 5 / 5g und ARCHOS 7
- Archos Germany ordering page for 8GB (not in stock – see selection boxes on page.)
- ARCHOS Mini Dock for ARCHOS 5 & ARCHOS 7
- Mini Dock at Amazon US (Not available at present)
Here's the article/video on the Archos 5 Mini Dock with youtube HD demo on TV. http://bit.ly/1nmT2T
RT @chippy: Here's the article/video on the Archos 5 Mini Dock with youtube HD demo on TV. http://bit.ly/1nmT2T
Neat! — RT @chippy Here's the article/video on the Archos 5 Mini Dock with youtube HD demo on TV. http://bit.ly/1nmT2T
The hyperlinks doesn’t work
Mini-Dock at Amazon Germany
Mini-Dock at Amazon UK
Maybe I’m stupid, but I don’t understand how it can be under 300 euro, if 32Gb version costs 300 euro itself? Or is somewhere 8Gb version available?
THere is an 8GB version for 229 Euro in Germany (Not in stock at the moment) I’ve updated links above. Thanks for feedback.
I know, i look regularly at this page, but i’ve never seen 8Gb in stock. And on archos.com there is not even such option
http://www.archos.com/store/index.html?country=fr&lang=fr
i think i should buy 32Gb version
IR Keyboard and mouse? Does the dock allow this or are you using a USB solution?
Good to see another update. Archos are always doing lots of updates early on and then it trickles off with lots of things unsolved.
The nice thing about this is that it seems to have started at a point much closer to where the old 5 left off, rather than where it started. So that maybe when the updates slow we’ll have a much more stable system that the old 5 (in fact, for what I do it probably is already more stable…!)
See pic here for RF keyboard and mouse. (My error on ‘IR’)
http://twitpic.com/pv40v
Hey chippy you know if archos 5 android will play 720p mkv file? thanks
I’m no expert but i’ve had 720p mkvs playing and that was before they upgraded the software. Archos have been focusing heavily on this support. See archosfans.com for lots of related threads in their forums.
I have the full docking station, and is pretty cool with the keyboard and connected via hdmi to my 720p LCD tv. Also, you can use a bluetooth keyboard and mouse and works really well.
the 16G version cost $299
16Gb version or what?
Steve, have you tested one of Youtube’s new 1080p hd videos? I have the impression much of their hd content will soon be 1080p. It seems too much to hope that the Archos will be able to play it smoothly…but of course I’m hoping anyway.
The Archos 5 won’t be able to play these unfortunately.
You’d need a clear 4-8mbps stream too!
TO be honest i’d rather see a well-made 720p at 2mbps than a compressed 1080p with artifacts at 4mbps. Somehow I always think 1080p should be perfect otherwise its not worth watching. Just my opinion tho.
Too bad, but no surprise. I’m very ignorant when it comes to video formats, shells, bitrates, etc. (can anyone direct me to a good current tutorial?) but at this point I’m hoping sites like youtube and hulu will continue to offer 720p as an option. If not…I guess we’ll be waiting for the new generation of Tegra and cortex processors.
By the way–is there any kind of windows app that treats youtube hd content the way the Archos 5 Android does (opening videos outside of the browser)? I was thinking such a method might allow watching youtube hd on a q1u without having to capture it and play it in km player. From the browser, of course, it’s unwatchable on the q1u (and pretty terrible even on the q1up).
Archos 5 Mini-Video/USB Dock and Firmware 1.3 http://www.umpcportal.com/2009/11/archos-5-mini-videousb-dock-and-firmware-1-3/
What I would like to know is if anyone is thinking of hacking Maemo 5 onto the Archos 5 current version and the old. Their both superscalar chips… Maybe dual boot solution? Would be good seeing as meamo is truly open and android is well, google…!
I’ve heard of people that are hacking the Archos, yes, but the big problem, always, is getting drivers for wifi, bt, gps, touch, etc etc.
Hey Chippy,
I did the firmware update today and, just as with your experience, YouTube started working again, including HD videos. But a couple hours later, things fell apart. Now, whenever I click on a YouTube video (standard quality or HD), a opo-up comes up asking if I want to use Archos Media Center or Movies to play the file. If I choose Archos Media Center, it loads the file but then comes up with a message: “Cannot play file! File is damaged or incomplete!” I’ve tried dozens of videos and the same things happens. If I choose “Movies”, they play, but they look like complete junk — horrible quality.
I’m really wanting to like the Archos 5 — and when it’s working, I really love it — but these video issues are getting ridiculous. (And just so you’ll know it’s not just me, someone posted on the ArchosFans forum tonight with the exact same issue. Any ideas?
Disregard my above post. Got it sorted. (Had to uncheck “Desktop user agent” in the browser settings).
So you love the Archos again? ;-)
It’s like a crazy fun but stressful relationship. You’ll remember good and bad times but you certainly will never forget the Archos 5!
Yeah, I love it for now. And other than the youTube thing, I’ve had few problems with mine (it rarely crashes). I really do love the form factor and I actually like the browser. For me, the re-flowing text alone makes it easier to use than the iPhone. Also great as an ebook reader. I’m sure things will continue to evolve, but as of now, this is a great internet/media tablet with a fantastic form factor.
Does anyone know if the new ereader for android works for the archos 5?
Ereader for Android works on the Archos 5IT
waiting for delivery of the 500gb version. Anyone tried hooking up a 3g dongle to their archos? works?
I cannot get ‘any’ reader to work on my archos 7IT (With Hardrive, Without Android), have read every post out there ad downloaded every imaginable application, have now run out of ideas, I keep returning to this page (….a cry for help!) – anyone had any success?, and if so how? (please how….!) Pdf on archos is driving me mad.
Hello,
You mentioned that the keyboard layout is not corret, but only standart us keyboard. I have the same problem, just connected a german layout keyboard, and it rocks, except the wrong/ness. Have you found a way to change it to your layout?
I am happy to have found this site. Keep up the excellent postings.
Can i adjust the dvr station to display fullscreen via HDMI port? currently it has a black border around one inch. Can i resize it and occupy the whole screen?
when im watching movies it turns to fullscreen without border, but sometimes the border appears and destroy the movies by having cut borders. im watching compatible movie formats and bitrates.
any suggestions?