Crave

Acer Aspire One AO532h

(Credit: Acer)

Acer has unveiled the latest entry to its hot Aspire One Netbook line--this one powered by Intel's new N450 Atom processor.

The newly-launched Acer Aspire One AO532h, driven by Intel's next-gen N450 chip, is designed to offer better performance and longer battery life than older Netbooks. Acer claims the new machine can last up to 8 hours with the standard 6-cell Li-ion (4400 mAh) battery or 10 hours with a high-density 6-cell (5600 mAh) battery.

The N450 processor frees up space by integrating the graphics processor onto the CPU, so Netbooks can be smaller and thinner. The Aspire One AO532h comes in just under an inch thick and weighs a bit over 2.5 pounds while sporting a 10.1-inch screen, according to Acer's specs.

The new Netbook comes with 1GB of DDR2 RAM, a 160GB SATA hard drive, a 10/100 Ethernet port, 802.11b/g/Draft-N Wi-Fi, a media card reader, and a Webcam. Acer also includes a multi-gesture touch pad that lets you use glide, pinch, and swirl your fingers to more easily move around the screen. The keyboard is 93 percent standard size, according to Acer, so it should be less cramped than many other Netbook keyboards.

Like most Netbooks, ... Read More

Outside branding on laptops is relatively rare, with occasional appearances by World of Warcraft or MLB baseball teams turning up in paint jobs, but little in the way of overall product design. A rare exception can be found in the race-car-themed laptops put out by Asus (Lamborghini) and Acer (Ferrari).

These product lines were typically slightly jazzed-up versions of standard laptops, but with inflated price tags and occasionally, branded accessories such as mousepads and cases.

The new Ferrari One 200 from Acer follows this trend, taking a basic 11-inch Netbook shell and decking it out in official Ferrari red, with the automaker's iconic horse logo. The internal components have also gotten a bit of an upgrade, with a dual-core AMD processor and 4GB of RAM giving us a lot more horsepower than a typical Atom-powered Netbook.

Of course, all this comes at a price, and at $599, we'd be tempted to just jump into a thin 13-inch Intel ULV model, such as the 13-inch Toshiba T135. At the right price, we'd be tempted to make this 11-inch Netbook-plus our go-to travel system, but as is, it's a tough sell beyond Ferrari fans only.

Acer S100

(Credit: FCC)

The highlight at the Federal Communications Commission is the Google Android-powered Acer S100 that appears to be destined for AT&T. Because the FCC has to certify every phone sold in the United States, not to mention test its SAR rating, the agency's online database offers a lot of sneak peeks to those who dig. And to save you the trouble, Crave has combed through the database for you. Here are a selection of filings from the past week on new and upcoming cell phones. Click through to read the full report.

Acer S100
Kyocera S2300
LG LN240
LG VX5600
Motorola
Motorola
Nokia (RM-482)
Pantech P2000
Pantech UM815
Samsung GT-B5722C
Samsung GT-E1086L
Samsung GT-S3650W
Samsung GT-S5150
Samsung SGH-A867
Samsung SGH-T939
ZTE X990

We began our look into holiday retail desktops in the beginning of November, reviewing a total of 16 systems that ranged in price from $199 to $1,199. Five weeks later, we have our top picks. This is also the end of a year spent focusing heavily on desktops available at brick-and-mortar retail outlets, and we think we learned something.

Gateway's DX4822-01 is our favorite budget desktop available at retail this holiday.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

Budget pick

Desktops in our budget category ranged from the $199 Acer Aspire Revo 1600 to the $510 Gateway DX4822-01. We always advocate spending as much as your budget can handle for the purposes of longevity, so we weren't surprised when we found we liked the aforementioned Gateway best of the six desktops in this group for its speed and large 1TB hard drive.

Just in time to round out your holiday shopping season, we've consulted the Web traffic oracles and compiled a list of the most popular laptops of 2009.

Based on which system reviews CNET readers clicked on most often, this list shows what's on the minds of laptop shoppers -- and the emphasis is clearly on value over all else.

We've got six Netbooks in the top 10, including the Asus Eee PC 1005HA, which we've held up as a classic example of a Netbook done right. Apple, and 13-inch laptops in general, are also well-represented. Interestingly, while five major PC brands are represented, there are a few big names missing in action, including Gateway, Lenovo, and Toshiba.

To see what the most popular laptops of 2009 were, based on reader interest, click through to the slideshow below.

Top 10 most popular laptops of 2009 (photos)

Our list of 10 most popular desktops follows the same rules as the lists from the other product categories. Because it's based on click volume, the desktops listed skew toward those that have been around longer, as well as those that received the most promotion (such as spending time on our list of Editor's Top Desktops).

You'll find a few reviews on the list from 2008, some of which are still lingering in stock at various online retailers. We advise you not to buy those old systems, as they've all been updated since we posted their reviews.

Our slideshow below breaks the most popular desktops down in order from most to least popular. We've provided a few other numbers after the jump.

Most popular desktops of 2009 (photos)

The world's second-largest PC maker has designs on being the first to offer a Chrome OS Netbook.

Acer Chairman J.T. Wang said in an interview with Digitimes that he's "confident" his company will be first out of the gate with Google's open-source operating system pre-installed.

Chrome OS will be coming to Netbooks next year. Acer says it will be first.

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET)

The earliest it would be available is mid-2010, according to Digitimes' unnamed sources.

Acer was just one of several hardware makers previously announced to be working with Google on implementing Chrome OS, along with Asus, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, and Toshiba. Dell, which hasn't committed to it fully yet, has released an experimental version of Chrome OS based on the source code that will work on the Dell Mini 10v Netbook, though it's not an official product.

Though Wang didn't offer details or specifications for Acer's Chrome OS Netbook, the guys behind Chrome OS have already let on what they're expecting.

At the OS's first public demonstration last month, Google said its vision includes slightly larger keyboards and screens than what's currently available, x86 or ARM processors, solid-state drives, and 802.11(n) Wi-Fi chips.

This Aspire One Netbook sports a roomy 11.6-inch screen.

(Credit: Buy.com)

Quick note before I dive into today's deal: Because so many items sell out so quickly these days, I'm adding a "backup deal" to each post. Seems only logical, right? You'll find it at the bottom.

But don't skip ahead just yet. For the next 7 seconds or so (I'm guessing), Buy.com has the refurbished Acer Aspire One AO751H-1948 Netbook for $249.99 shipped.

What's the big deal? The big screen: whereas most Netbooks in this price range sport a 10-inch LCD, this One packs a 12-incher. (Actually, an 11.6-incher; in the computer biz they round up.)

Needless to say, that makes for a much more comfortable computing experience, in part thanks to the higher screen resolution (1,366x768 pixels). The 10-inch Netbook I use is livable, but definitely cramped.

The rest of the specs offer no surprises: an Intel Z520 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, and Windows XP Home.

The battery's a three-cell, so don't expect more than 3 to 4 hours of runtime. Also, because this is a refurb, the warranty expires at the 90-day mark. These aren't showstoppers in my opinion, just limitations worth considering.

Also, while CNET hasn't reviewed this exact configuration, the almost identical AO751h-1545 scored 3.5 stars. The big ding: slow performance. (News flash: All Netbooks are slow.)

At least you don't have to pay sales tax (unless you live wherever Buy.com is located) or deal with rebates. Bottom line: this is a mighty sweet deal on a spacious, comfy Netbook.

Backup deal: From now until December 15, Digiarty Software is offering WinX HD Video Converter absolutely free (it's normally $39.99). This Windows app can convert nearly any video format (including high-def formats) to nearly any other video format.

Scott playing Left 4 Dead 2 on the Asus 3D laptop.

(Credit: Dan Ackerman/CNET)

Earlier this week, Asus unveiled a 15-inch laptop with Nvidia's 3D Vision technology built in. The $1,699 Asus G51J 3D has a 120Hz LCD panel, an Intel Core i7 CPU, and a high-end Nvidia GeForce GTX 260M GPU, and comes bundled with a pair of Nvidia's active glasses and the USB-powered IR emitter required to make the glasses work.

We've just had a chance to take the system for a test drive, and came away largely impressed with the results, especially compared with Acer's Aspire 5738DG, a 3D laptop that uses a pair of passive polarized glasses and a special screen coating to create a 3D effect.

That Acer model was unfortunately underpowered for gaming, especially with the added overhead of running its 3D software in the background. The Asus G51J, on the other hand, with a high-end processor and video card, seemed well-suited for mid-to-high-end gaming. Of course, it lacked dual SLI video cards and the 1,366x768 15-inch display is no match for some of the nicer 17-inch 1080p displays we've seen.

The Asus G51J with Nvidia's 3D glasses and IR emitter.

(Credit: Dan Ackerman/CNET)

While playing Left 4 Dead 2, the 3D effects appeared crisp and appealing, and didn't seem to distract from the speed of gameplay or the screen brightness. There appeared to be no real hardware burden in generating the 3D in terms of frame rate or graphics detail, either. On the other hand, the 15-inch screen is a little small as compared to a nice big gaming monitor, and that mitigated the overall immersion of the 3D effects.

The bigger problem is that 3D gaming is still a novelty. It's not actually needed to appreciate any game at this point, and it has an expensive and often clunky set-up for users to navigate through.

Many people haven't even seen 3D of the caliber that Nvidia is currently offering, and so they have no idea how smooth and crisp it is compared to the fuzzy double-vision experience of years past. What's particularly great about Asus' solution is that it's already integrated into a reasonably priced Core i7 gaming laptop, so the set-up and research into compatible hardware components is almost entirely eliminated.

This is an interesting trend to watch for in gaming laptops, and it should be included in more Core i7 laptops aimed at gamers, especially if Nvidia is serious about getting a larger adoption. We expect to see more 3D Vision capable laptops from major PC makers by early next year.