Archos announces new series of budget tablets

Archos has introduced a new 9.7″ tablet. The 97 Carbon is the first tablet in the new Archos Elements series. The manufacturer is also announcing smaller tablets in the same series at the same time.

The 9.7″ tablet has an ARM Cortex A8 clocked at 1GHz, contains 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage capacity. The storage capacity can be expanded by a further 32GB via a micro SDHC slot. The tablet also has a USB 2.0 port.

The device weighs 618 grams and is 11.5 mm thick. It is therefore 2.1 mm thicker than the third-generation iPad. The capacitive screen is based on an IPS panel and can register up to five touches simultaneously, while the resolution is 1024×768 pixels. The camera on the front has a capacity of 0.3 megapixels, on the back it is 2 megapixels. The tablet will run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

The Elements series will consist of 7″, 8″ and 9.7″ entry-level models, with which Archos aims to launch a low-cost series of Android tablets. The 9.7″ version will be available from July 2012 with a suggested retail price of 249.99 euros.