Archos vs. Cambridge Sciences - which Tablet Manufacturing Brand is More Real?

Richard Fieldhouse (Update - 13 June 2013 from original - 31 August 2012)

Neither of these gadget makers really figures in the marketing war between the many big brand contenders for a piece of the mobile market niche, but both have singled themselves out from the crowd of "white box" manufacturers by offering a wide range of diffferent slates even before some of the more famous brands.

They have also both held good positions amongst Amazons top sellers over a significant period of time and with quite a broad range of products - different sizes, different features, keyboards and so on.

The process of gaining and losing popularity is rather cyclical and this year, t competition in the semi-branded zone from NATPC and A1CS nad LélikTec.

Archos also continues to hold quite a strong position at UK high street retailers (for instance at stores like PC World). The company, who are actually French, also have a significant track record, a recognised logo, a proper website, a call centre of sorts and several other product groups (like MP3 players and a recently added line in mobile phones).

Equivalent Models from Archos, Cambridge Science and Alternatives

Type	Big Brand	Archos Model	Cambridge Sciences	White-box Alternative
10"	Apple iPad 4	Archos 101 Titanium	Quad Core 16GB StarPAD 10	Ployer Momo20 Quad Core or 10" Flytouch Superpad 7
9-10" with keyboard cover	Asus Transformer TF300T	Gen10 101 XS Turbo with magnetic coverboard	16GB StarPAD 9 with keyboard case	Choose from many separate keyboards
7-8"	Kindle Fire HD or Apple iPad Mini	Archos 80 Titanium	StarPAD 7	NATPC M009S RTB ULTIMATE
9-10" High Definition	Apple iPad 4	Titanium 97 HD	None	Onda V972 Quad Core
11" plus	Asus Vivo TF810C with Windows 8	Cominig Soon	None	None

Cambridge Sciences have been improving on these counts. They have an office in Weybridge, Surrey, a premium rate phone number, and a logo - a kind of digital version of the Conservative Party's oak tree.

Since this page was last updated, they now also have a UK website, but their independent presence on the high street is not so impressive - and they still don't really figure in the press.

Does it matter? It probably does matter a bit. A company like this does not vouch for their products to quitethe same extent. They are less likely to offer software upgrades or to be prepared to enter into lengthy discussions as to whether or not your product is faulty.

But at the right price, perhaps this kind of issue is not that important.