Galaxy Tab or Archos 70. Best media player?

jeremyr62

I'm interested in these two but main interest is as media player for downloaded divx/xvid/mkv stuff. I'm drawn to the Archos 70 because of price and the Archos heritage as a media player company, but the Galaxy Tab is reported to have the better screen (better as in higher res and viewing angles), which is obviously very important bearing in mind my intended use. However, I also watch a lot of stuff with subtitles and while the Archos suppport for subs appears to be good (srt,idx+sub), I cannot find any review that mentions subtitle support in the Galaxy Tab.

So my questions, if anyone here knows, are 1) is the Tab significantly better than the Archos for downloaded video playback? 2) Are srt and idx+sub type subtitles supported on the Galaxy Tab?

Thanks

justsomebloke

well given that neither look like it will be officially able to run honeycomb I would spend as little as possible at the moment or wait till next week after CES as there should be a better indication as to when the newer crop of Honeycomb tablets will be coming out

mickoneill30

Joe the Santa wrote: »

well given that neither look like it will be officially able to run honeycomb I would spend as little as possible at the moment or wait till next week after CES as there should be a better indication as to when the newer crop of Honeycomb tablets will be coming out

That link you provided isn't an official announcement from Google and the headline ends in a question mark.

"the director of Enspert, a Korean consumer electronics company (which recently announced its own Android tablet), who claims that Honeycomb will require a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor. "

He could be right for all I know but that's not a Google source.

jeremyr62 wrote: »

So my questions, if anyone here knows, are 1) is the Tab significantly better than the Archos for downloaded video playback? 2) Are srt and idx+sub type subtitles supported on the Galaxy Tab?

I'd say that SRT would work on the Galaxy. it's an Android so you can just install an app that supports them.
http://www.rikez.com/?p=577

I use ArcMedia on my Desire HD and with the lower resolution on that and it looks great. Haven't tried subs. I'll have a look tonight if I have any.

PeakOutput

mickoneill30 wrote: »

That link you provided isn't an official announcement from Google and the headline ends in a question mark.

"the director of Enspert, a Korean consumer electronics company (which recently announced its own Android tablet), who claims that Honeycomb will require a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor. "

He could be right for all I know but that's not a Google source.

if you look at samsungs track record when it comes to pushing out updates and at what google said about the galaxy tab(ie we wont be supporting it at all) then you can assume it wont get honeycomb and more then likely there iwll be a new version of it with honeycomb

that dosnt mean its not a good tablet but it does decrease its value massively

dont know much about the archos 70 but from everything iv read, right now the best media player tab is the ipad by a long long way. that might change when vlc comes out for android in the next few weeks but i wouldnt be holding my breath

if it was my money my choices would be to wait for a honeycomb tab or buy an ipad

justsomebloke

mickoneill30 wrote: »

That link you provided isn't an official announcement from Google and the headline ends in a question mark.

and that is why I said it "looks like" and with most manufacturers holding back on releasing tablets till honeycomb I would be inclined to think the same myself

mickoneill30

PeakOutput wrote: »

if you look at samsungs track record when it comes to pushing out updates and at what google said about the galaxy tab(ie we wont be supporting it at all) then you can assume it wont get honeycomb and more then likely there iwll be a new version of it with honeycomb

That's a good point. 2.2 took ages to roll out to some Samsung phones.
Archos might not be so bad though. I think they rolled out 2.2 a week or two after the product was launched.

I'm not sure about the iPad being the best media player, this is an android forum after all

The option to plug an Tab or Archos into a HD port on a TV is a pretty handy media feature. It might be available on the iPad 2 when that comes out. That way Jobs can say he invented it :P

PeakOutput

mickoneill30 wrote: »

That's a good point. 2.2 took ages to roll out to some Samsung phones.
Archos might not be so bad though. I think they rolled out 2.2 a week or two after the product was launched.

I'm not sure about the iPad being the best media player, this is an android forum after all

The option to plug an Tab or Archos into a HD port on a TV is a pretty handy media feature. It might be available on the iPad 2 when that comes out. That way Jobs can say he invented it :P

dont get me wrong i love android i have a galaxy and i have never used the tab but from using the ipad and seeing what the android tablets are capable of right this minute i dont think they come close, i do think gingerbread will change that and they will probably overtake the ipad for functionality very quickly

jeremyr62

Dragging this back on topic, is the Ipad any good as a media player? Can it do subtitles? Can you drag and drop films without using Itunes? Last I heard it wan't much cop at this and the implementation of VLC wasn't up to much either. This is why I requested info on the Android tabs which AFAIK can at least be loaded with media easily and (Archos at least) can do most sub formats. I have no interest in the Ipad anyway as its screen is the wrong aspect ratio for films.

Ample Free ...?

With CES almost upon us there's little point in committing to the Archos or Galaxy Tab. The apparent arrival of dual core processors and Honeycomb will no doubt create some pretty good tablets. These will certainly support all major media formats and I'd be surprised if the issue of subtitles isn't addressed in some way or other.

Motorola certainly seem to be confident with this promo for CES.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quI2I8wLPdc

jeremyr62

Yes, ASUS have annouced some high spec tabs too. Not sure I need all that for what I want one for tho. Besides Power City have the Archos 70 for Euro219 which is not a lot of money for such a capable device. I could almost get three for the price of one Galaxy Tab. Mind made up I think..

PeakOutput

just before you do make the purchase, none of the 'in the know blogs' i read regularly rate any of the tablets besides the galaxy tab or the nook if your willing to root it but if you still decide to go for it definitely let us know how you get on

billyboy01

Well technically the Galaxy Tab is a better machine, but it costs three times the price, about 600quid. Where as the Archos 70 can be got here retail for 200 quid! I got an Archos 70, and it runs fine. But I only got it for instant on couch Internet web surfing with flash support!

jeremyr62

I'm the OP. Decided to wait a bit to see what happens re new CES tablets and Android 3.0. I also had a play with a Galaxy Tab in PC World. Was nice but screen didn't overly impress me. Was good but not euro569 good. I did spot the subtitles option in the OE video player menu but couldn't tell if it supports srt and idx/sub formats, but as others have posted, a third party player will probably cover this.