Acer Aspire One Netbook, now slightly cheaper
$329 of Netbook goodness.
The already inexpensive Acer Aspire One was one of our favorite Netbook-style laptops in our recent roundup ("Building the perfect Netbook"). It had a great design, a 9-inch screen, and Intel's Atom CPU, but we were less impressed with the paltry 512MB of RAM and middling battery life. But if you skipped Windows XP for the Linux version, you could get one for $379, making it a fairly good bargain, overall.
Acer seems to have heard our complaints, and while the company is not actually changing any of the hardware, it is dropping the prices on the different configurations in the line, making it an even better deal. It probably doesn't hurt that there's been a marked increase in competition in this relatively small category lately, and that's even before Dell and Lenovo get into the game.
The new prices and configurations are as follows:
Intel Atom/Linux/512MB RAM/8GB SSD/3-cell battery: $329
Intel Atom/Windows XP/1GB RAM/80GB HDD/3-cell battery: $349
Intel Atom/Windows XP/1GB RAM/160GB HDD/6-cell battery: $399
New York native Dan Ackerman, a former radio DJ turned journalist, has written about technology and music for publications including Spin, Blender, The Hollywood Reporter, and USA Today. He hosts the weekly Digital City podcast and the New York edition of Editors' Office Hours. Dan's new album, Tales Out of Night School, is available now. E-mail Dan. 
I've had my eye on the Aspire One for a while now but have been biding my time, watching and waiting for new models, more competition, etc. With technology, you're always buying in too late, but I'd rather buy in too late and get a good deal rather than try to buy in early and get screwed.
Processor
Intel Atom(TM)
Processor Speed
1.6GHz
Display Type
WSVGA widescreen display with 1024 x 600 resolution
Screen Size
8.9"
System Bus
533MHz
Cache Memory
512KB on die Level 2
System Memory (RAM)
1GB
Hard Drive Size
120GB
While I already have a notebook I may get this as a second as I have gift cert for BB that covers half the cost at $350. This would make a nice, very portable, little linux box and would be an easy install as long a I can PXE boot it from ethernet. If anyone has one and know if you can PXE boot this machine that would be very helpful.
From what I have heard the Atom is very power efficient as well and the Intel graphics would more than suffice to run Compiz-Fusion
I wondered at first where I could buy one but thought I would google it rather than post as a guise about my personal politics. Besides, since I have contributed to both MoveOn and the EFF, it's clear that I either must hate America or have actually read a Chomsky book or two. :)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115496
- by cher0676 December 9, 2008 7:14 AM PST
- Can anyone tell me where I can buy the 6 cell battery and how much? I just bought the 3 cell Acer Aspire AOA150-1570 for my husband for Christmas and I want to buy the 6 cell battery as an additional gift. By the way, anyone looking to purchase this unit can get an amazing deal from Staples. Not only do they offer a $50 Visa gift card rebate, but there's a rebate for a free HP printer. Check it out.
- Like this Reply to this comment
-
(17 Comments)http://www.staples.com/office/supplies/p1__248007_Business_Supplies_10051_SEARCH