Archos ChildPad is a great tablet for a great price. Still, it features 800x480 resolution on an 7" screen which can make some things for people a little bit inconvenient. Software guys from Archos have their own thinking about what is needed in a provided firmware(for example: the odd volume buttons in the taskbar, even on Arnova and Archos Elements models which have physical volume buttons). Another thing is the screen density on the 7" tablets - it is set to 120.

So, how do you set it correctly and what is the nicest value? I have been messing around with build.prop for a few hours and found that the screen density of 133,3 is actually the only one that works correctly. With all the others, you will get white lines on top of the screen or the Play Store will go nuts.

To make changes in build.prop, you will need root access, adb or a file explorer to locate the build.prop file. It is located in /system/build.prop. You need to locate the following line:

ro.sf.lcd_density=120

Change 120 to 133,3.

After a reboot, the changes will be visible. And here comes a small problem - the stock launcher will go nuts and will start crashing. And we don't need that. So: before you make changes in build.prop, you will need to get a home replacement. I am using Trebuchet launcher from CM9, because it is not heavy at all and it looks quite a lot like the stock one(but uses the screen surface more efficiently). There is also Apex(sort of improved Trebuchet) and Go Launcher. I am giving a link to the Trebuchet launcher I am using, there are multiple versions being available on the net.

http://www.arctablet.com/users/forum/Trebuchet.apk

In order to work correctly, it needs to be installed as a system apk. The easiest is to do it with adb - adb push C:\xxx\Trebuchet.apk /system/app/Trebuchet.apk and then reboot.

I didn't have time to take some screenshots for comparison(that's also the reason that this is not provided in a single firmware update file), so I took a few photos instead.

The upper ChildPad has screen density 120, the down one 133+Trebuchet launcher.

Like always, have fun. 😉