Archos 9 Internet Tablet Dropping October 22nd

Archos have confirmed that their Archos 9 Internet Tablet will go on sale come October 22nd, with pricing starting from $499.  Speaking at the IDF 2009 conference this week, the company surprised many who had expected the 9-inch touchscreen slate to retail for several hundred dollars more than that.

That launch date puts the Archos 9 right at the release of Windows 7, and it will be a good opportunity to see how relatively low-powered processors – the Archos 9 uses an Intel Atom Z510 1.1GHz chip, with 1GB of RAM and a 60GB hard-drive – cope with the final release of the new OS.  Other specs include a 1,024 x 600 resistive touchscreen, battery rated for around 4hrs runtime, and a mere 800g weight.  We went hands-on with the Archos 9 at the recent Archos 5 Android Internet Tablet launch; check out our first impressions here.