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.
There's no shortage of video-to-iPhone converters on the market, but these two freeware contenders do a more-than-decent job of making individual files iPhone-ready. Don't expect much interface gloss or batch conversion with either. However, both apps quickly produce workable iPhone videos without much fuss.
Free Video to iPhone Converter tells it like it is. The rough 'n' ready app takes up minimal screen space and memory. Browsing for links and converting quickly is easy, since there aren't too many additional tabs or buttons where you can get lost. There is, however, a useful function for trimming videos before converting them.
Videora is a larger and busier, app by Red Kawa. On the plus side, Videora lets you format videos for iPhones and three flavors of iPods, including the iPod Touch. You can also browse for and convert YouTube videos online. Videora's multiple tabs and settings let you control advanced encoding and conversion details; it can also pop the finished product straight into iTunes (download,) which can in turn autosync to your iPhone.
Step-by-step prompting (which you can step down or turn off) is useful for walking you through the process, but the double-pane interface adds confusion and superfluous steps for an essentially simple program. The end product was just as good as Free Video to iPhone Converter, but took far more clicks and doesn't have the added advantage of trimming a clip. Dragging a file to the iTunes library is hardly a hardship, though Videora's autoload feature is still a convenient perk.
I currently prefer Free Video to iPhone Converter myself, though Videora will appeal to those further up the power user scale.
Most mobile users like their converted videos like they like their phones: light, fast, and easy to get.
MediaCell Video Converter is a sweet app that achieves the former and shines with the latter. The program's ease at converting from a range of file types to your specific cell phone or PDA helped the program become the single most downloaded video product at CNET Download.com.
Check out MediaCell Video Converter in the video below, and don't forget to watch other informative First Look videos on a slew of users' favorite apps.
Plug it in and convert videos
Yeah, there's still no video standard among portable devices. But ADS Tech is trying to help us all out with the Instant Video To-Go ($79.95), the first "self-contained, hardware-based video-content conversion solution for consumers." In English, that translates to a small device that converts video content for your iPod, PSP, and so on. It connects to any PC via the integrated USB 2.0 plug and can crush a 100-minute (roughly 2GB) MPEG-2 or VOB file down into a manageable QVGA H.264 video in a mere 20 minutes. Eliminate overnight encoding jobs for less than 80 bucks!
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