If you thought the netbook market was already flooded, Intel’s recently-launched ‘Pine Trail’ platform means you can expect another new batch to come through. We’ve already seen Asus’ take on Pine Trail with the Eee PC 1005PE – reviewed here. Now we have Acer’s Aspire One 532h.
Acer’s Aspire One 532: ‘Pine Trail’ pioneer?
Like the 1005PE, Acer’s 532h is powered by Intel’s 1.66GHz Atom N450 processor. This is joined by 1GB of DDR 2 memory and integrated GMA3150 graphics – as with all Pine Trail netbooks, the graphics and memory controllers are both housed on the CPU. Intel claims this results in enhanced battery life and improved performance.
The 532h is an attractive piece of kit. Its glossy lid – silver, blue and red are the colour options – might be a prone to a few smudge marks, but it looks striking and features smooth, curved edges. Read the rest of this entry »
Review Installing a second operating system on a PC is nothing new. Plenty of manufacturers have done so before, building a slimline Linux distro into their machines to provide a much more rapid start-up than Windows can manage: full access to the internet within seconds of pressing on power key.
Acer’s Aspire with Android: fast start for Google, slower boot to Microsoft
What sets Acer apart is its choice of secondary OS: Google’s Android, an operating system usually found in smartphones, but here pressed into service the way Asus has used SplashTop, Sony has used XMB and Dell has used Latitude On.
All of these services play second fiddle to Windows, and Acer’s Android offering is no different. Right from the outset, Android is junior partner to the Microsoft OS. Switch the machine on – it’s an Aspire One 10in D250 netbook, almost exactly like the one we reviewed here – and alongside the regular invitation to enter the Bios setup screen by pressing F2, you have the chance “to enter Windows OS” by pressing F9.
You have to be quick, though. If you’re too slow, or you keep your mitts off the keyboard, the familiar Google ‘droid appears, cheekily peering up at you from the bottom right corner of the screen. Within seconds – 18.9, to be precise – you’re facing the Android UI. Read the rest of this entry »
Review Acer made a significant impact on the netbook market last year with its hugely popular Aspire One A110. It recently released a selection of new netbooks in its Aspire One range, and the D250 we have here is bizarrely similar to the D150, which was only launched a couple of months ago.
Acer’s Aspire One D250: only an inch thick
It might not be a catwalk queen, but the D250 looks attractive enough and benefits from a well-built chassis that doesn’t creak under pressure. Four colour options are available: white, black, red and blue, and on our white review model each hinge features a small green bit of plastic on the side. Whether this is tacky or tasteful is up for debate, but we rather like it.
We’re keener on the D250′s girth – lack of it, rather. It’s only an inch high. That’s not as thin as Asus’ svelte Eee PC 1008HA – but makes it much nicer than the D150 and lots of other, chunky netbooks. Read the rest of this entry »
Review The new Acer Aspire One 751 has a screen that measures 11.6in on the diagonal with a resolution of 1366 x 768 and that’s mighty big for a netbook. As it happens, we were told a few months back that Intel has strict rules about the sale of Atom N-series processors to avoid cannibalising the sales of Core 2 and Centrino products.
Acer Aspire One 751: a netbook with a notebook screen resolution
One of those rules, we were told, is a ban on using the N270 or N280 in products with a screen size of more than ten inches. Clearly, the Aspire One 751 blows that line into the weeds so we have to accept that the screen size isn’t much use for defining whether a mobile device is a netbook or a notebook. Read the rest of this entry »
