Archos debuts the 10-inch Arnova netbook

Archos has lately been making news for its range of portable PCs, especially the Android-powered tablets. We have news that Archos has now come up with its second product in the netbook category - the first being the Archos 10.

Named the Archos Arnova, the netbook is a weaker counterpart of the other netbook from the Archos stable-the Archos 10. Sporting an unusual 10.2-inch TFT display (you generally see 10.1-inch screens in the market) - the Arnova is powered by a lowly 533MHz ARM-based processor, and has only 128MB of RAM, 2GB of storage and uses the Windows CE 60 operating system. Also on offer are 802.11b/g WiFi, 3 USB ports, an Ethernet jack, and an SD card slot. A 2100mAh battery will provide power back-up to the device which reportedly weighs about 2.4 pounds.

As the Arnova is specked lower than the Archos 10, the device will be slotted as a budget netbook. And with a hardware configuration like this, the netbook would be best used for internet browsing and running very light applications like media players.

Currently on sale in the UK, the Arnova is retailing at £126.75 at Amazon UK, which roughly translates into $200 US. This, considering the package that the Arnova is, is quite a reasonable price. Talking of its availability in other countries, it is yet to be confirmed.

Does release of such a lowly configured gadget makes sense? I’m not sure as there are smartphones in the market twice as powerful as the Arnova. Targeting the budget-conscious users make sense when you compromise on the build quality and total features available, but a 533MHz processor and meager 128MB RAM do not make much statement – even at such a low price-bracket.  

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