The 0.63-inch thin Archos 9 feels pretty sturdy, but one major complaint is that it feels heavy. Archos says it only weighs 1.2 pounds, but something about the balance is wrong, because it felt heavier than that in my hands. The hardware is pretty simple—a 9-inch resistive touchscreen (no multitouch) with a few surrounding physical buttons.

There is a Ctrl+Alt+Delete button and a keyboard trigger on the right, the latter which quickly launches Win 7's finger-friendly keyboard. (Archos will also market a USB keyboard along with a case.) If you don't like using your finger on the screen, there is a tiny optical trackpad on the right and two mouse buttons on the left side. The touchscreen is pretty responsive, and there is a stylus on the back, so I don't see the need to really reach for the bitty mouse. I've always found optical trackpad annoying as hell.

The Archos 9 comes with Windows 7 Starter (remember that means no wallpaper changing or Aero) and its 1.2GHz Intel Atom Z515 processor and 1GB of RAM run it well. Watching a 720p Windows Media clip was decent, and when I fired up Wi-Fi and launched a browser, I was able to watch some streaming Hulu videos.

It only has 60GB of storage space, which could get cramped if you plan on keeping loads of video on it but doesn't seem like a deal breaker to me. My biggest worry is battery life. It has a 4-cell battery (which is actually swappable) but I am guessing it won't get more than 3 hours of juice.

I'll withhold final judgment until the full review. I am in search of a tablet like this for sitting back on the couch and surfing. The Archos could be it—though $500 is a bit much—but I've also still got my fingers crossed for a thinner and lighter Apple one.

Crave got a little hands-on with the svelte Atom-powered Archos9, and without even thinking about it, published their post calling it a fairly accurate capacitive touchscreen. That makes us happy: Tablets, especially a little guy like this 9-incher, need as accurate tracking as they can muster. Archos's previous "tablets," the Archos 5 and 7, used mushy resistive touchscreens that worked okay but are firmly last-gen right now, and we're excited to see a slick capacitive interface with the highly-touchable Windows 7 OS.

Yet in Archos's press release for the Archos9, they list the screen as resistive. Now we trust Crave, and we believe that they (like the rest of us) can tell the difference with each finger press. So what's the story here? Crave doesn't seem to have any idea; all the documentation says resistive, but it certainly didn't feel that way to them. This may seem like nitpicking, but it might be a dealbreaker for us. Handwriting recognition is far worse with resistive screens, they can only pick up one signal at a time (so multitouch is out), and the screens themselves are often much muddier or washed-out looking than capacitive.

So help us out, Archos. We want to like this thing, we really do, but we'd like to know what we're dealing with first. Anyway, full presser below. [Crave]

ARCHOS REDEFINES MOBILE COMPUTING WITH ITS TABLET PC

New Ultra-Thin and Ultra-Fast ARCHOS 9 PCtablet Delivers Full PC Computing, Video Conferencing and Access to Media on a Full Touch Screen Handheld Device.

DENVER, CO – July 2, 200Your browser may not support display of this image. 9 ARCHOS is leading the innovation charge in the MiniPC market with the introduction of the ARCHOS 9 PCtablet. This new PCtablet combines the performance of a high-end PC with breathtaking design, excellent ergonomics and an astonishing touch interface. It gives PC users an entirely new way to work, stay connected and enjoy the Web and digital media on an ultra-thin and extremely fast full touch-screen tablet.

The ARCHOS 9 PCtablet is the ultra portable PC; extremely thin, just 0.63", and ultra lightweight, less than 22.29 oz. The ARCHOS 9 pushes the boundaries of style and function.

With a full touch-sensitive 9" screen, users can enjoy a comfortable computing experience. The resistive screen allows emails and documents to be composed easily via a built-in virtual keyboard. The innovative optical trackball and buttons allows easy navigation on screen, and provides an uncompromised PC experience.

The ARCHOS 9 features the new Z515 Intel® processor, Microsoft Windows 7® Operating system and an integrated multimedia platform that uses WiFi 802.11b/g connection and Bluetooth 2.1 for extremely fast computing anywhere, anytime.

Additional software includes Microsoft Office®, Web TV & Radio, video conference, antivirus, parental control, photos and movies edition applications and more.

The ARCHOS 9 PCtablet will be available this fall, 2009.

The most important piece of the Archos 9's hardware—its 9-inch resistive touchscreen—works quite well here. (It's on smaller screens where the difference between resistive and capacitive screen starts to stand out, but that's another story.) The rest of the hardware, barring the alarmingly creaky "kickstand," looks solid and attractive, especially considering the $650 price point. (No US release date yet, sadly).

Windows 7, as we know, is fairly well suited to touchscreens, though on this particular device I think the simple addition of smooth touch scrolling for IE would do wonders.

Sidenote: take a good look at this form factor, because it's more or less what the mythical "Apple Tablet" is said to look like. I'm torn: on the one hand, I'd love to play with one, and it could be nice browsing device for the sofa; on the other, I could see getting tired of holding my hands up to the screen all the time, since it's too big to thumb. Just sayin'! [ArchosFans]

Unlike its predecessors, which are basic touchscreen internet media tablets, the Archos9 is a touch tablet that can run a full computer OS. It also features a built-in webcam, 120GB hard drive, full touch support, an external mic, streo speakers, and a toggled-on optical trackpad and an on-screen keyboard, and will be available in Europe this October—around the same time as Windows 7's release—for €450 ($635).

Not far behind the quiet April release of the Archos 2, the Archos 3 has made an appearance on Archo's web site. Looking slim and shiny, the Archos 3 is an 8GB MP3 player, which touts a 3-inch color touchscreen, 14 hours of battery life, and supports photo, audio and video playback, voice recording and more. There is no word on pricing and availability as of now. [Archos via CNet and UMPC]