Archos 101 G9 (10.1-inch)

The good: The Archos 101 G9 (8GB) runs 1080p video smoothly and has a good-quality screen, and its kickstand is a useful addition.
The bad: The tablet is too large for what it offers and has awkward button placement. Also, its single camera had poor recording quality.
The bottom line: The Archos 101 G9 (8GB) delivers a complete Honeycomb experience, but its rough design, low-quality camera, and awkward button placement make it feel rushed to market.

The tablet business is pretty cutthroat (just ask Hewlett-Packard), and with the release of the Amazon Kindle Fire just weeks away, it's only going to get scarier out there for would-be iPad competitors.
The timing of a tablet release is crucial, but does rushing a tablet to market to beat the wave of upcoming competition do more harm than good?

Design
The Archos 101 G9 has a medium-gray plastic chassis and its 1.44-pound body feels relatively thin, and about as heavy as most 10-inchers. When we held the tablet, a couple of edges on the bottom side got our attention. Also on the bottom are two small handles, ostensibly used to pry the chassis open. Although they don't stick out as much as they did on the Archos 80 G9, not only do they muddy the aesthetic quality of the chassis somewhat, but they can also be distracting when holding the tablet.