Archos 97 Carbon Announced on Thursday, the tablet is the first in a line of slates from the company’s entry-level Elements line. It runs Android 4.0, also known as Ice Cream Sandwich.
"We wanted to introduce a new series that not only combines affordability with a new slim design, but features the best that Google has to offer," says Henri Crohas, Archos Founder and CEO. "With the Elements series we have done just that. It’s the perfect balance of hardware, software optimization and content through the Google Play ecosystem."
The tablet comes pre-loaded with Office Suite Viewer –- for reading documents, but not editing them -- as well as a demo version of the World of Goo. Much like the Nexus 7, but unlike the comparably priced Kindle Fire, the 97 Carbon has full-access to the Google Play store for downloading additional apps.
The 97 Carbon will be available later this month for $249.99. The company also plans to bring a 7-inch and 8-inch tablet into the Elements line in the future, which would presumably be priced even lower.
We haven’t gotten our hands on the Archos 97 Carbon yet, so we can’t speak to the build or performance quality. It is, however, one of the least expensive large-screen tablets we’ve seen hit the market.
We were , which is $50 cheaper than the 97 Carbon, comes running the latest version of Android ( ), and comes with a $25 credit for the Google Play Store, which undercuts the price even further.
