Gadgetory

hey I'm Megan flirtin for cnet here with a review of the archos smart home starter pack it includes this android tablet to mini cameras to weather tags and to movement tags you can place the accessories around your house and pair it to the tablet using bluetooth you can also program the accessories to say if this door opens then take a picture or record video and you can also opt to receive emails or push notifications when an activity event occurs so let me start with the good stuff the setup was pretty straightforward pairing it to the tablet was very simple and the performance was pretty good too I never lost connection between the devices and the tablet and I got an alert every time an event took place my main concern is with the execution of this whole package the archos tablet is really the hub of the whole system then it claims to function like a regular Android tablet which it does in terms of software it has all the components you can check your email browse the Internet listen to music all of that but it has this odd stand in the back there taking a basic archos android tablet and giving it all of these smart home features and the execution just feels really really clunky and confusing because the whole point of a tablet is its mobility right so you can take it from room to room maybe even take it on a trip with you but using this tablet as the core component that has to stay at home and really can't leave your side table or your coffee table is really confusing so I just wish that archos would offer these accessories separately for a more entry-level option that makes a little bit more sense that way you can use the Android app on your tablet or phone and access everything the way you can now just without this odd stationary tablet another thing I don't like is that the app has two different connection options one if you're on your home Wi-Fi where the tablet is located and another if you're on a remote connection so if you're heading out for the day and want to monitor what's going on in your house on the app you have to go through a completely different connect process than you would when you're at home and that just really over complicates things thanks for watching this review of the archos smart home starter pack I'm Megan willerton for CNN