Archos 10s is now available –but without a 6-cell option

The absence of a 6-cell battery could make the unit suffer in the mobility front

 The main essences of a netbook are portability and mobility. Given a choice of only one, which one will you pick? Tough right? Not every netbook has great battery life, but it’s absolutely desirable and wanted. Asus, Toshiba, Samsung, Acer, MSI, HP, and other computer makers are regularly putting out machines that can run for 6 hours or longer. Some netbooks can even run for as long as 10 hours like the Timeline series, 1000HE etc.  on one charge.

You either use it in the lowest overall configuration, or put a high-capacity battery – there’s no 3^rd option. While these 6-cells or larger batteries sometimes stick out very uncomfortably, but these batteries can run for about twice as long as the smaller, lighter 3 cell batteries that ship with some netbooks.

As a consumer, it’s tough to strike a balance between the both – having a 3-cell battery to sacrifice mobility for portability and looks; or a higher-capacity battery to run it day-long at the cost of a piece one or two hundred grams heavier. But ultimately, it’s always nice to have a choice between a lower capacity battery that sits flush with the netbook and provides 2-4 hours of battery life and a potentially ugly battery that will double the run time. Archos thinks otherwise - offering the Archos Mini 10s with only a 3 cell battery. There is no 6 cell option – as reported by Blogee.

It has its own good points though - sticking with the 3 cell battery helps keep the size and weight down, while allowing Archos to sell the netbook for a lower price. But for power users, a 6 cell option would be missed. They will have to be content till a third-party higher-capacity battery lends on the corner shop.