	Archos MP3 Player

Archos 43 4.3-Inch 16 GB Internet Tablet with Android

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Archos 43 4.3-Inch 16 GB Internet Tablet with Android

(156 customer reviews)

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SY2846361

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Features

16 GB capacity for about 4,000 songs, 20,000 photos, or 20 hours of video; microSD slot for memory expansion
Up to 36 hours of audio, 10 hours of video, or 12 hours web surfing on a single charge
4.3-inch TFT LCD touchscreen with 480 x 854 (FWVGA) pixel resolution and 16 million colors
Support for MP3, WMA, WAV, AAC, OGG Vorbis, FLAC, AC3 audio formats
One-year limited warranty

Description

Experience HD video playback and full Android connectivity with the Archos 43 Internet Tablet. Thin, light, and strong, the Archos 43 showcases a 4.3-inch high resolution touchscreen with a built-in HD camcorder for exceptionally sharp video capture and playback. Featuring an HDMI-out port for full connectivity with HDTVs, OpenGL 3D graphic acceleration for the latest 3D games, and an Android 2.2 operating system completely open to programmers, this Wi-Fi and Bluetooth-enabled tablet puts the full power of a computer in the palm of your hand.

Product Details

Product Length:	5.3 inches
Product Width:	2.6 inches
Product Height:	0.4 inches
Product Weight:	0.29 pounds
Package Length:	6.77 inches
Package Width:	4.57 inches
Package Height:	1.73 inches
Package Weight:	0.62 pounds
Average Customer Rating:	based on 156 reviews

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review: 3.5

( 156 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

147 of 154 found the following review helpful:

Video demo and review of Archos 43 Internet Tablet Nov 13, 2010 By Gadgetman
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R341MBBQX5DLGY This is a video demo and testing of the Archos 43 - 16 GB Internet Tablet. Overall, I am very happy with its improvements over the Archos 5 IT. I have also changed the rating to a 5 stars after updating the OS to Android 2.2 with the Adobe Flash 10 player installed. This gadget rocks !

12/21/10 update

- I have been using this gadget on a daily basis since my original post for checking emails and surfing the web for news in the morning while still lying lazy on my bed. So far so good and it has replaced my iPhone for such use as it is lighter and has a wider display for full web-site surfing. The only issue I have is the short battery life which I have to circumvent by disabling the Wifi when not in use.

Overall feel and handling

The unit is extremely light and fits easily in a shirt pocket. It is much more portable than the Archos 5 IT and even the i-Phone. The single-touch resistive screen works quite nice also. I also noticed that the camera has a small clear plaster cover on it which should be removed for better recording.

OS and applications

12/01/10 Update

- Updated OS to Android 2.2 ! This gadget is a lot more stable and works faster after the update. We would need to reinstall the latest Google Marketplace app from the Archos fans site as the previous version does not work with Android 2.2. The Adobe Flash 10 player would also needed to be installed (from the Google Market place) in order to view flash videos from the websites.

Archos 5 used to have an application called Thinkfree office installed which allowed us to view PDF, excel, and word document. I am not able to find this same application on the Archos 43. However, this application and the Adobe viewer could be downloaded from the Google Markletplace. Do some research on the Archosfans website and you would be able to get the instructions on installing the Marketplace app.

Video and display

The display is very nice and sharp. In the demo video, I also showed a side-by-side comparison between an i-Phone and the Archos 43. The display area for the Archos 43 is 32% larger than an iPhone. Whereas the Archos 5 IT has a 65% larger display area over the iPhone with its 4.8" screen. Even though the display area is not much larger than the iPhone, the viewing experience is notably different. The video camera recording is of average quality. It does OK in well lighted area but the video is pretty grainy under poor lighting conditions. I also found some issues with the Amazon's Kindle viewer. The right side text was chopped off by the menu bar.

Sound

The external speaker is much better than the Archos 5 IT and produced much more sound in comparison.

WiFi and internet connection

There are major improvements in the Wifi connection as I experienced no trouble connecting the WiFi to my home wireless network. This was the most annoying problem I had with the Archos 5 IT.

Batteries

Charge time is much better than the Archos 5 IT. Took about 2-3 hours for a full charge. It lasts for about 2-3 hours of constant uses. If we leave the Wifi on, it seems to drain the battery charge rather rapidly. I did another benchmark testing by playing only video with the external speaker at 50% volume. It ran for a good 6-7 hours on a full charge.

It uses a standard micro-USB cable for connection to the PC.

Overall, I am quite pleased with this gadget particularly its light weight and larger screen size than my iPhone.

66 of 68 found the following review helpful:

Thank you sir, may I have another? Jan 23, 2011 By Sparrow Dayton
There's a little pain before the reward, but it's worth it!

My Archos 43 was a Christmas gift that my parents chose from my Amazon Wish List. Of course with the supply problems, I didn't actually get it until January 22nd. (It was ordered in November.)

I'll be using it to replace my 8 year old and failing Palm Tungsten C PDA.

You won't need my decades of engineering and programming background to make your Archos work, but you will have a glitch or two during the updating and software installation process. Just hang in there!

Out of the very well packaged box came my Archos, a USB cable, ear buds and the paperwork. My first impression of the unit was the solid construction. It doesn't feel cheap and flimsy like so many products do now days. Turning the unit on, I found the battery at 60% charge. Following the manufacturers instructions, I let the unit charge for several hours to top off the battery.

Once charged, the unit took me through a very simple set-up routine that only took a few minutes to complete. My Archos connected right away to my home wireless network, and indeed I can use my Archos 43 everywhere on my hobby farm. I've been over 200 feet from my router and still had very good reception.

First things first - Let your unit go out and find the updated firmware and install it. The download took about 5 minutes. After the Archos reboots with Froyo, the real fun starts.

After initial setup, select the "Market" icon and download the Arctools widget (which is called: com.arctablet.arctools.apk) and install it on your machine. This will give you the official Android marketplace and allow you to download the Adobe Flash 10.1 driver. This was important to me, as my pad will be used to monitor a 24hr ustream channel that I run.

Note: I had to do this process twice before Marketplace would work. The first install seemed fine but Marketplace wouldn't launch. Uninstalling and reinstalling Arctools did the trick.

Next of course, you'll want to add any other cool software that you fancy. I track satellites, keep ham radio logs and read Kindle books on my new Archos (to name a few.)

I'm not crazy about the audio player interface, however there are many others to choose from in the Marketplace so no worries on that. Sound quality is very good (to my over 50 ears) and video playback is smooth with the audio in sync. I run the very old Windows 2000 operating system, as well as Ubuntu 10.10 and both systems see the Archos 43 just fine. Dragging and dropping audio, video and picture files into the device is a breeze.

I've also been able to stream movies and audio directly from my 4tb networked file server. Of course this will eat your batteries pretty quick. Best to just watch video directly from the Archos with wifi turned off.

If you're up to it, download the Eclipse compiler and Android software development kit and start writing some of your own apps. It's not that hard and there's nothing like writing your own software.

After using my Archos for 24 hours, I can truthfully say that I would, and probably will buy another. My wife and adult son are already asking for one of their own.

-----------------------------------
Two Month Follow-up

I've had my Archos 43 for a couple of months now. I still love it.

Battery life is great and I've had almost no trouble with it. Every once in awhile, an app will cause a complete freeze (App's fault, not the Archos) but holding the power button for 10 seconds will force a reboot and all is well again.

The Google Marketplace patch works great, though I've found some apps that are marked not compatible with the Archos actually are. I'll get the appp directly from the author and side load it and it'll work just fine.

Would I buy another one? YES and I will soon!

-----------------------------------

3 month update

I bought another one, but the reason stinks. I got fumble-fingered and dropped my Archos. Of course, like buttered toast, it fell screen side down onto a piece of angle iron in my metal shop and destroyed the screen. Needless to say, I went right to Amazon and got another one, as I've become so attached to it I can't live without it!

I'll check into having my broken one fixed, as the display itself is fine and it boots up fine. I'll give it to my wife when it's fixed...

28 of 29 found the following review helpful:

Few tweaks and It's perfect Feb 11, 2011 By Lucas M. Fix "Above Average young Adult"
I freaking love this device but to make it really shine there are a few things you should do...

At first I was disappointed by the resistive touch screen. It was always giving me incorrect key passes and I couldn't figure out why. I had been using the plastic cover it came with for about two weeks and I finally took it off. I was a bit worried that I would scratch the screen but so far I have had no problems and as an added bonus when I took the screen protector off the screen became much more responsive and accurate with key passes. So... (TAKE THE SCREEN PROTECTOR OFF) If you have never used a capacitive touch screen before it will take some time to get used to it especially people with larger fingers (no offense) also as a note I suggest you recalibrate the screen after you take the protective cover off.

Suggestions to improve your android experience:
-First get arctools in appslib so you can get access to the android market + If you want to have the most apps to choose from follow these steps (the android market will sometimes not see the device as compatible with certain apps)
MARKET FIX:
This will get you most missing apps from the market, except some "protect market apps" like NYTimes.
Setting-->Manage Applications-->All-->Market (Clear Cache then 'Force Stop' -- DO NOT clear data)
Setting-->Manage Applications-->All-->Google Services Framework (Clear data then 'Force Stop')
REBOOT That is it...

-(VERY IMPORTANT)The stock launcher it comes with is rather bloated and slow and it will give you hang time every time the home or app screen loads- Fix this with the LauncherPro App(free)- There are only three home screens (so choose apps and widgets wisely) but you can also customize the sticky buttons which is a plus.

-Get rid of any unused apps (many have settings to turn on at certain times which eats battery and CPU speed)

-Under settings- Power management- Set to overdrive ...you may not need to do this depending on what you use it for (I play online racing games so I usually keep it on) It really doesn't effect your battery usage that much.

Tangent Suggestions:
-Download Gtunes Music app and GamBoid Lite app (I just love these apps and they are free... nuff said)

-If you are someone who wants to text people but texting bills are to expensive or your parents will not allow it... ie: me ...might I suggest google voice. You do need to have a Gmail account! If you do, then you can set up your own number and text people (over wifi connection) and it's completely FREE!!! (Your number shows up as an actual number on their phone not some email address or server name) if you are really tech savvy you can set up a VOIP and make and receive calls too.

-***If you have a wall charger adapter with a Usb slot, maybe from your old Ipod, I used one from my broken Kodak Easyshare camera, feel free to use it to charge your device. You may want to check the label for variable voltage (It may say something like "switching adapter" or "100-240V") Just use the Usb cord the archos came with to connect to the adapter. Now it only takes a couple hours at most for my archos to charge.

-Consider buying a blue tooth gps receiver and pairing it with your archos to turn it into an effective GPS

That is all I can think of at the moment... but I'm sure there is more that I've missed. Feel free to ask questions.

44 of 51 found the following review helpful:

Decent but with some serious issues. Feb 05, 2011 By George Bush
For a long time, I was so excited about getting this device and spent countless hours searching for a place to purchase it as soon as possible. I eventually found it maybe a week before amazon had it available on Simplyelectronics.net. I had read many reviews about the Archos 43 and it looked great for me. When it arrived, i was very pleased. The device comes with a thin plastic film that protected my screen for about week until it fell off.

Well first of all the problems, the resistive screen is absolutely awful. I have a lot of problems scrolling and typing is almost completely impossible without a stylus. And it isn't a calibration issue because I have calibrated the screen about 5 times. If this was a phone with this bad of a touch screen, it would be back in the box in a heartbeat. My tiny Samsung mythic has a better touch screen and is more user friendly than this device. I can get better accuracy if i use my fingernail but it isn't perfect and I always fear I am going to scratch the screen.

Secondly, the interface is buggy. For example, when trying to scroll through my home screens, the screen will sometimes be empty of all my apps and they won't come back for a few seconds. Similar issues also happen with most other interfaces on the device. Sometimes it will take 4 or 5 seconds an app to even launch from the home screen.

Next, the build. The build on this device is one of the things that I really dislike about it. It does feel fairly nice in your hand (Well as nice as a 4.3 inch screen can be). However the back cover really bothers me. If you tap on the back, there is a hollow sound and the metal is extremely thin and scratches easily. Also, the front and back pieces of the case are not secured together completely. There is a gap between them and can be pushed inward a significant amount. I eventually used electrical tape to secure the two pieces together and the tape looks better than the original back cover since it scratches and smudges so easily. The kick stand on the device is a good idea in theory but in actuality, it is very flimsy and seems very easy to snap off. For this reason, I seldom use the kickstand. The camera is positioned in a very awkward position, in the bottom left corner (looking at it from the back side). I understand the reasoning for the , but it is odd to use it like that. It was meant to be used while holding it sideways, and the interface does not change to be used in portrait mode.

The music player is actually fairly good. The audio quality is great and it is easy to navigate through songs and is just as easy with videos.

The app market on the device out of the box, Appslib is terrible but can easily be replaced by the android market in about 15 minutes.

Web browsing was very nice. The browser is very quick and works great. However, no pinch to zoom is disappointing.

Another plus is the picture viewer. All of my photos look very good on this high resolution screen. Also, the 3D effect in the gallery (the pre-installed picture viewer) is a very nice touch.

I also really like the battery life. Even browsing the web for a long time or watching videos, it will last at least a full day. When you are just listening to music, it will last practically forever. I checked the battery monitor and after hours of music, only 2% of the total battery usage since unplugged was taken by music. It takes more battery to keep the device idle than to play music. But one thing that I don't like is the long charging time. It takes maybe 7 or 8 hours from dead to full charge.

Overall, this is a good alternative to an ipod touch especially if you're an apple hater like me.

13 of 13 found the following review helpful:

At least there's no smartphone contract! Jul 05, 2011 By Tsaimurai
I do not use my cell phone very often. On my pay-as-you-go terms, I'm basically paying $8 per month. I use on average 2 texts per day. Maybe use 1-2 minutes talking on the phone per week. Why I would sign up for a smart phone plan and start paying like $50 per month is beyond me. I ain't that important or popular yet.

But for someone addicted to the internet, and in need of quick drug references in the clinic and checking up on emails, this is perfect for me. A single payment of $170ish versus 24+ months of cell phone bills giving me minutes I don't need, texts I won't use and stingy data plans at obscene rates made this the logical choice for my needs. Besides, smartphone carriers and their services are a joke in the U.S. So **** em.

Coming out of the box, you have to charge it before it'll turn on. Don't panic like I did and think that it's dead. Just let it charge first. Make a sandwich. Eat it. Watch TV. It's like watching a pot of water boil, so be patient.

You'll probably want to look for the ArcTools app to free yourself from the somewhat limited AppsLib that Archos has pre-installed on it. ArcTools will let you install Google Apps such as Gmail, Calendar, etc. and enable you to access the full Android Market, just like a real phone. Of course, this is not a phone and has no GPS capability, nor does it have 3G or 4G connectivity. This is, after all, an internet tablet. Takes wifi signals only, but where I live, there are plenty of wifi signals available. I... should probably get an antivirus of some sort. Someday. But yeah, I used AppsLib to find ArcTools to get the Android Marketplace, which I then use to get all my other apps, since there's just so much more available than on the AppsLib.

The screen itself is single-touch-capable and resistive. This means that you can't do the neat iTouch/iPhone squeeze in/zoom out action, but you just double tap instead and can keep double-tapping to zoom in or touch the zoom +/- icons that show up on screen. And you can't do anything that requires two fingers touching the screen at the same time. The iPhone/iTouch things are capacitative, meaning that it takes the electrical properties of your skin to detect where you are pushing. The Archos is resistive, meaning that it is detecting the pressure that you are applying to the screen to localize where it is being pushed. It's rather sensitive, so it's not like you're going to be scraping the hell out of the screen to scroll through an article.

The screen is rather bright, and has nice, vibrant colors. The lowest brightness setting is plenty for indoors. Kinda have to crank it up a notch when outside. There's a nice, quick icon to push on a widget to quickly go through lowest, medium, and brightest on the screen brightness settings.

Being the Archos 43, it has pretty good screen real estate with its 4.3" screen. The iPhone is like 3.5" or something. The Archos 32 has 3.2" screen. The Archos 28 has a 2.8" screen. I personally do not have needle-like spider fingers, but if you do, or if you have kids, you might be fine with an $80 2.8" screen. My sausage fingers and near-sightedness demand a larger screen to touch and look upon, respectively. Plus, the next-largest screen size would be the older-generation Archos 5, with a 5" screen and gas-powered engine. But after that, then you're looking at Nook-sized, or Samsung Galaxy tablet-sized, or iPad-sized tablets. MY POCKETS ARE NOT THAT BIG. If I wanted to look at something that big, I'D USE MY LAPTOP. Just saying.

But even with the luxurious 4.3" screen, my sausage fingers have difficulty typing some things sometimes. This doesn't seem to have autocorrect, depriving me of hilarious moments of miscommunication, and bestowing infuriating gibberidj imxtead. I guess I should file my fingernails to a point or only use my pinkies, the least-sausage-like of my fingers. Or maybe find an app for autocorrecting things.

Unlike the Archos 32 and 28, the Archos 43 actually has speakers. Granted, they're not that great, so superaudiophiles should just instead use their $500 headphones through the headphone jack to experience sound worthy of stimulating their snooty ossicles. But hey, iPhone speakers aint that great either. So whatev.

It also has a microphone. It's not too bad. It just increases my self-awareness about how horrible my voice sounds.

The battery is pretty good. I haven't had it run out on me yet, considering that I charge it overnight every night or every other night. It can get kinda hot when charging or running on high brightness settings. But it's a battery. I hold no illusions that a hot battery is beneath my consideration. But maybe I should. I don't know. I'm not a tech wizard. Nor am I rich enough to hold it next to an iPhone and let them discharge simultaneously to see how they compare. iTouch is probably better. But I can't have iTunes on my computer for some odd reason. And there are other reasons why I prefer this over an Apple product.

Its wifi antenna might be a little weak. Either that, or wifi signals around me are always either 1, 2, or zero bars. I dunno, I don't have an iTouch to hold in my other hand as I run in the opposite direction of a wireless router to gauge their sensitivity to wifi signals. iPhone's probably better. I just use it as an excuse to get back to work or walk around, holding my tablet up in front of me. It can take pretty much all the current wifi security things, like WPA2 and whatnot, so that's nice, unlike the DS lite. I swear, Nintendo and its wifi-security. Still in the stone ages.

A nice perk of this is that it takes microSD cards and uses non-proprietary USB 2.0 cables to connect to computers. Apple products can't say the same thing. My Archos has an 8GB HD. I could just as easily put in a microSD card to increase its memory by however much I want. Apple products can't do that kind of convenient thing. Also, it can take a micro-B USB cable that you can get anywhere for super cheap, as opposed to a special cable from the Apple Store. Apple may have excellent, excellent products at a rather high price, but at least when I buy my things, I can do things to them considering that it's my property that I purchased. What SD card and standard USB cable-production companies have done to wrong Apple, I do not know.

The Archos itself is decently fast. It can freeze at times, and it can take a little while to get things going, but you can go through the System Monitor on the 2nd page of the screen to cease other programs from running and occupying memory space. Also, you can hold the power button for like, 10 seconds for it to restart. It's not perfect, but what is? I can't say that I have much experience with an iPhone or iTouch and how fast they run. But it's probably smoother.

Its camera is not very good. It works. It can take pictures. It can take video. But it's not like it's much better than an average cell phone camera. At least it works. No flash for the camera either.

But again, if you're looking for an economical method to have smart-phone-like stuff without paying for an actual smart phone and getting smart phone service, this is a really nice deal. If this dies on me or wrongs me horribly, I'll be sure to update. But as of now, it is my own. My love. My precious.

UPDATE: Yep, still works. Kinda sluggish, in comparison to iPhones and iTouches and whatnot. But still works decently.

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