Netbook for children.

The boom in new Netbook calling players on the plan: Now also tried the Archos company, previously better known for noble Media Player on the market for mini-computers. The French are relying on a niche approach - and advertise with design, price and compatibility for children.

 

The French company Archos is without question one of the pioneers in the multimedia device developers. Years before Apple and Co. threw the company MP3 player, and later multimedia devices on the market, the standards set. Machine such as the Jukebox 6000 (on the market in 2000, 350 grams heavy, 6 GB of storage) which would be what was then the iPod: when the boom of MP3 players began, the French had the nose very far forward - and are now just a producer of many.

It was definitely a hands Archos innovation and the occupation of niches. Current mobile multimedia devices by the manufacturer are also car navigators and digital video recorders. His Internet Surftablettchen makes Archos has a fairly inexpensive docking station to the living-room media server and recorders. Part of the offer is extended since the Archos Media Club, a virtual video store, over which the need arises spontaneously movies from the network load, which is then easily on the flat-screen TV land. With such ideas, which ultimately far more coherent, more flexible and more comfortable than many expensive sold media server, Archos has priced its products in the upper midfield established.

Much of it is now also in the latest product of the French, which may represent a risk: How many other Archos has the boom of the Netbook will be captivated, it also once on the truly hard-fought market of mobile mini-computer to try.

Although generally sell like sliced bread, it is not so simple. The narrowly defined specifications Netbook ensure that the products are technically largely correspond to the standard adopted today a Netbook Intel Atom processor with 1.6 GHz clock speed, a 10-inch display, 1 GB of RAM and Windows XP installed on a 160 GB hard drive. Also the Archos 10, the first Netbook of the manufacturer, is no exception.

One must be different

Like many other new players on the market takes about Archos true that its unique features must be defined differently: Who now Netbook this definition brings to the market needs a niche. There are several ways to Archos but only partially responsible for:

Energy: The Netbook of the first generation to suffer all the shortcomings condition - after 1.5 to 2 hours is the juice from them. Newer models use 6-cell battery, the four to nine hours to keep. The Archos 10 shows it with a 3-cell battery (2.5 hours, according to the manufacturer, the test 1.75 hours) and 6-cell battery (5 hours duration)

Interfaces and communication: To the usual Wi-Fi comes in the second generation of Netbook against some juicy extras, the UMTS connection. Archos renounces it, but unfortunately also to a HDMI interface, which some providers now offer (Asus starts at just Nettops, Dell in the next month). This limits the possibility for the Netbook as media server - what naheläge if the connection to the Archos Media Club consider

Price: Here Archos had made in advance, accurate to score points, "massive pressure" (corporate PR) on the market. Then came CES and CeBIT, and suddenly the prices were no longer low. Archos responded consistently and lowered it at the same time as the first product release. The 3-cell battery model cost now 329, the 6-cell model 349 Euro. This is competitive, though not exceptional. Well that's why the more powerful device than current special offer from 318 euros to have the 3-cell device, many dealers do not

Design: Hand on heart, a laptop is a laptop. You can give it different colors, the screen matt or blogsig make it thicker or thinner to make, cheaper or more expensive-looking materials construction. Archos also invented the wheel is not new, but presents a solid looking device with a pleasant rounded edges, which affects quality and presentable. The display is comfortable and sufficiently bright matt A real weakness, however, is the keyboard: The fall is not greater than that of an 8-inch device and is responsible for typing longer texts simply not suitable. This allows many competitors (eg Asus, Medion, MSI, Samsung or LG) is significantly better

Software: The "soft" because of the variable equipment are the preinstalled programs - and this requires the Archos 10 absolutely not to hide. Like most manufacturers Archos continues to Windows XP instead of Linux, and takes the opportunity to expand the hardware (Microsoft Netbook manufacturers committed to the above specifications). For an XP Netbook is the Archos but well equipped photo, internet radio and TV software is one of them, Skype, an office suite of Lotus, virus scanners, and access to streaming music service Deezer and the Archos Media Club. Above all, however, a niche occupied by cleverly Archos: The computer is shipped with a program that filters Internet content and the user with a time budget confronted - the Archos 10 is a "Children's Netbook".

Exactly that was originally also the finder of those mini-computers, the company Asus, advertised on the first promotional pictures of the EEEPC are always children or young women, the small machine. So beginners should Netbook computers or laptops for remote IT.