Marks and Spencer launches its own netbook

 

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Posted on 18 Dec 2009 at 12:33

Marks and Spencer is the latest high street brand to jump on the netbook bandwagon, with the launch of the 10.2in MSNB-2009. The MSNB-2009 follows the standard netbook specification, with an Intel Atom N270 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard disk and a 1,024x600 resolution display. It comes with wireless networking, but it only supports the older 802.11b/g standard and doesn't include Bluetooth support. Elonex claims a battery life of over six hours.

With an integrated Intel graphics chipset the MSNB-2009 is not likely to handle HD video content, and it doesn't have HDMI or S/PDIF digital outputs, so it's not suitable for multimedia enthusiasts. It looks like Elonex has used the entire width of the case for the keyboard, which seems to have reasonably large keys. The touchpad looks comfortably large, but the see-saw button mechanism looks stiff.

With high street retailers now launching their own branded netbooks, it looks as though the design has truly become a mass-market commodity. The essential design is the same across all brands however, with the only real distinguishing features being the quality of the touchpad and keyboard, the quality of the screen, and battery life. While a claimed battery life of over six hours is good, it isn't as impressive as the eight to nine hours that Samsung's N120 and NC10 netbooks can achieve, both of which are available for the same price as the MSNB-2009.

Most recent netbooks have shipped with the Starter Edition of Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows 7, but Marks and Spencer has chosen to go with the older Windows XP software. An Elonex spokesman speculated that M&S had decided on the more familiar operating system based on the retailer's relatively conservative customer demographic.