RSSAcer increases netbook size with new Aspire One
By Tim Conneally | Published May 18, 2009, 11:10 AM
![11.6" Acer Aspire One](http://images.betanews.com/media/3290.jpg "11.6" Acer Aspire One")
Acer unveiled its second-generation netbook products today, which include the 11.6" Aspire One 751h, a unit that goes for the bigger overall footprint but with a marginally slimmer profile.
Besides its 11.6" LCD screen (1364 x 768, 16:9), the Acer Aspire One 751h is equipped with a 1.22 GHz Intel Atom Z520, 1 GB SDRAM, and a 160 GB 5400RPM SATA hard drive. Not a lot has changed since the last generation, It comes installed with Windows XP Home SP3, has a multi-card reader, and supports 802.11b/g wireless. The suggested baseline retail price is even the same as the last generation: $349.99, or $379.99 with a six-cell battery.
What makes this line unique among Acer's netbooks and more like its competitors is its multi-touch gestural trackpad, and its two-inch growth in overall size. Netbook innovator Asus recently took the same tack with its "Seashell" Eee PC, which slimmed down its traditional Eee PC netbook, and equipping it with a multi-touchpad.
The Aspire line debuted in the Summer of 2008 with a uniform chassis size of 9.8" x 6.7" x 1.14" and a weight of 2.17 pounds, the 751h increased the One's surface area by 22% and now comes in at 11.18" x 7.79" x 1" and 2.75 pounds. The company says it's the first of its netbooks to come equipped with a full-sized keyboard.
Acer, Asus, HP, MSI, and Dell are the top five companies in netbook market share according to DisplaySearch, and Acer has recently held a substantial lead over HP, MSI, and Dell.
It's for sale now but you can't find it anywhere...
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|If it's not availbale, it's not really "for sale", is it? ;)
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|With a thinner look/feel and a full sized keyboard I hope its better than the Mac Air... but for now I like my smaller aspire one keyboard. I just get frustrated when the system and keyboard start to mess up and misfire keys and key combinations. I would definitely notice this on the hot running demos at Circuit City where the up key would go down and the left arrow key would go right. While typing text would start to be highlighted at random and positioning would jump around.
In theory I like the Mac Air, but when using one in the Apple store I wasn't impressed. So I don't know about the bigger and slimmer netbooks. I would like to see more of the idea where the screen can be detached and used as a tablet. Another idea while coming up with a bigger netbook is to have a multiple monitor scheme maybe with optional left and right flaps... wingman monitors that could take the place of things like the taskbar and the addressing and tabs and should so that there is just a reserved reading area and another for controls like in a car... okay so I getting carried away. But I am bit uneasy about these larger screen netbooks because I like the smaller sizes and smaller weight... the idea of portability. I like notebook paper, but legal size is too big and awkward for me... so I hope that doesn't become the case with the Aspire One.
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|funny,
netbooks were designed to be small and to get smaller.
acer's biggy size netbook is nothing more than a stripped down notebook.
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|So true.
People fail to realize that you can get "laptops" with 12.1" screen size. 11.6" is not that much different. Hell, even the resolution is reaching the 12.1" point (11.6" = 1364x768, 12.1" = 1280x800 or 768). The problem with 12.1" laptops is that the price is well above netbooks. I'm looking on NewEgg and a decent core2duo 12.1" laptop is over $1000.
I'm going to guess that there is a market of people out there who would be willing to sacrifice the performance in favor of getting a XP loaded mini-LAPTOP that is capable of doing rudimentary tasks such as internet, email, word processing.
I think you make a 13.3" LAPTOP with an Atom processor, 1-2GB of ram, 80-160GB hard drive, etc. etc., and I think you got a winner.
When I was at best buy just browsing for a new laptop for my sister I spoke to this school teacher and all she wanted was something portable that was cheap and capable of doing the rudimentary tasks mentioned above. She was leaning towards this HP laptop which was $650 with a very outdated dual core processor (dual core celeron? who knows...). She was enamored by the netbooks because of their portability and battery life, but screen size was an issue. I dont think anyone can expect people in their 40's and 50's to be able to read the text on a 9-10" screen.
I think you put the specs of a netbook in the chassis of a laptop, thus creating a super cheap laptop capable of doing rudimentary tasks and I think you can make some money.
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|"its traditional Eee PC netbook, and equipping it with a multi-touchpad."
At least my 901 has multi touch for quite some time. It could be a unique accidental install at the Asus factory but more likely is that your typical friendly netbook user just happily accepts it without getting stains on their pants while proclaiming their allegiance, such as fans of a certain other gadget manufacturer.
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