Archos seems to have realized that there is a huge group of people that want affordable tablets that look good and work well. This is how the Archos 97 Carbon seems to have been born. It's a 10-inch tablet, so it's not really a competitor to the Nexus 7. It has the same aspect ratio as the iPad (4:3), same resolution as the iPad 2, 1024×768, it runs Android 4.0, and it costs only $250.

Not everything about it is perfect, though. The processor is only a single-core 1 GHz CPU, which means browsing performance and overall performance will not be the best, although it shouldn't be terrible either. I expect the interface to work well with Android 4.0, and if they upgrade it to Android 4.1 it should work even better.

The Archos 97 Carbon also has 16 GB of storage and 1 GB of RAM, so it matches the similarly priced Nexus 7. MicroSD support is there as well, so that's another advantage it has over the Nexus 7. There's no mention of what type of GPU the Archos has, but they claim it decodes 1080p video, so you shouldn't experience any problems when watching media.

It also comes with a HDMI-out port and a full USB port, which once again increases the connectivity options over the Nexus 7. There are two cameras as well, and, although I wouldn't expect high quality, they should get the job done.

Archos is currently running a deal giving a $20 discount to the buyers of the Elements series tablets, which includes the Archos 97 Carbon tablet, so if you hurry, you might be ale to get it for only $230.