Supermarket chain Asda is offering a low-cost tablet so folk on a shoestring can now pick up an 8in model for less than £100. The Archos Arnova 8 tablet is slightly behind the curve in tech-terms, running an outdated OS, Android 2.1 Éclair, on an 800 x 600 resistive touchscreen. Archos Arnova 8 The slate features built-in …

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Monday 18th July 2011 14:32 GMT @brykins

More bad news for Android

No access to the official Market, slow processor, rubbish screen, outdated OS. It's devices like these that people will try, hate, decide that it's Android that's the problem and then go on to Apple.

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1. Monday 18th July 2011 14:55 GMT Anonymous Coward
  
  Re: More bad news for Android
  
  The people who buy this will buy it for the price not features, they will not buy Apple.
  
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Monday 18th July 2011 14:55 GMT Fibbles

Can someone please explain...

... why they're using a resolution with a 4:3 aspect ratio on a widescreen panel?

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1. Monday 18th July 2011 15:18 GMT Arnold Lieberman
  
  Not widescreen
  
  The panel looks like 4:3 to me.
  
  I wish someone (other than Apple) would come out with a 4:3 panel with a decent resolution, say 1024x768 or 1280x960. Would make reading ebooks and other misc PDFs so much nicer. Make it 7" and it would be light enough to be held single-handed.
  
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  1. Monday 18th July 2011 16:29 GMT sabroni
    
    hp touchpad is that aspect ratio
    
    1024x768
    
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  2. Monday 18th July 2011 23:50 GMT Fibbles
    
    Re: Not Widescreen
    
    My mistake, i should have looked more carefully. The icons do look stretched though.
    
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2. Monday 18th July 2011 19:18 GMT Anonymous Coward
  
  Since when was an iPad not 4:3?!
  
  Therefore why should any other copycat not produce a 4:3 like Apple iPad?
  
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Monday 18th July 2011 14:55 GMT Anonymous Coward

Legwork, please

Can you root the device, install other stuff? Does the vendor support firmware updates? Is there a community doing so anyway?

Why not add value to the article and indicate whether the punters are buying "disposable" stuff or whether this kind of thing has a decent lifespan (outside of shiny circles, of course)?

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1. Monday 18th July 2011 15:04 GMT Gordon 10
  
  Alternatively
  
  If you are interesting in buying one why dont you do some legwork you lazy tosser.
  
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  1. Monday 18th July 2011 16:30 GMT sabroni
    
    ooh, get her!
    
    wrong side of bed this morning, mr. touchy?
    
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  2. Tuesday 19th July 2011 09:14 GMT Anonymous Coward
    
    @Gordon
    
    Yeeers... that's right.
    
    A website is reviewing/previewing/???/telling us about a new product on the shelves.
    
    Someone asks for more information.
    
    Idiot Gordon replies saying do it yourself idiot tosser.
    
    Something tells me Gordon is a grumpy arsehole this morning?
    
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Monday 18th July 2011 15:36 GMT David Webb

Or...

Or you can get a Kogan with Android 2.3, 1Ghz CPU, Capacitive screen etc for £125 or something (got mine for 80), battery life is crap however so going to have to figure out how to change the battery for something decent.

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Monday 18th July 2011 15:45 GMT CADmonkey

@ Gordon 10

At first I thought you were being a little harsh, but then 2 clicks from the article answered the first question, so fair comment.

The last question was plain bizarre. WTF is a 'shiny circle'? (I even did some legwork and came up empty)

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1. Monday 18th July 2011 17:12 GMT WonkoTheSane
  
  Shiny Circle?
  
  Group of people who like shiny things?
  
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  1. Monday 18th July 2011 22:50 GMT Dave Bell
    
    Another word from TV sci-fi?
    
    I think "shiny", in this context, can be traced back to the short-lived TV series Firefly. A piece of invented slang that found a real-world use, a sort of tech-oriented "cool".
    
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    1. Tuesday 19th July 2011 08:39 GMT Thuvia
      
      shiny
      
      Firefly inherited the term "shiny" from Joss Whedon's earlier show, Buffy The Vampire Slayer (who also referred to her stake as "Mr Pointy").
      
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2. Monday 18th July 2011 19:18 GMT Gordon 10
  
  If I had to guess
  
  I would say outside of shiney gadget circles.
  
  I seem to recall there is even a gadget website called shinyshiny or similar (I'm too lazy to do the legwork to check.)
  
  I like to think I'm harsh but fair. Plus the fact that the day isn't complete without gratuitous use of the word tosser.
  
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3. Tuesday 19th July 2011 08:39 GMT Return To Sender
  
  Shiny?
  
  Presumably shiny, as in cat-like ability to be distracted from the task in hand by the appearance of a new shiny object. As in, "I've got three seconds to decide which wire to cut to stop this bomb going --- ooh, shiny pliers! Yay, ni<BLAMMM>"....
  
  Rule #1 of shiny circle club - don't let the real world impinge on your pursuit of the latest and shiniest
  
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Monday 18th July 2011 15:45 GMT Anonymous Coward

Perfect for the kids!

Given the choice of giving this or a £500 iPad to a 6 year old to play with, I know which one I'll go for!

If you're still wondering why, you've obviously never seen the bizarre substances that kids manage to summon from the bowels of Hell and, using just their dainty little pinkies, proceed to smear all over the front of any given touch screen device!

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1. Monday 18th July 2011 19:18 GMT Anonymous Coward
  
  even if....
  
  even if I was dumb enough to spend the cash on a apple fondle slab, I doubt I would be dumb enough to let a 6 year old play with it....
  
  and it does say a lot about the apple fanbois, they would consider buying additional kit in the three figure range to protect the beloved fondle slab...
  
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