TAG | Aspire One: the netbook Eee PC killer from Acer? |
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| by Alex Zaharov-Reutt | |
| Friday, 04 July 2008 | |
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Page 2 of 3 The XP version was originally going to only come with an 80GB hard drive, and that’s what the press release originally indicated, but Acer have since advised of the change to 120GB. Featured Whitepaper
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This is important because the 3-cell battery promises around 3 hours of battery life, while the 6-cell boost that to an ‘up to’ figure of seven hours. Although there’s no absolutely confirmed pricing as yet, Acer advise me that the 6-cell should sell for approximately AUD $100. Henry Lee, Senior Product Manager Acer Oceanic Region talks up the netbook category, saying: "Being productive while on the move, staying entertained and being able to connect and communicate with others is of great importance to our youth market. "What Acer has designed is a Netbook that can be used as a mobile device, where features such as being small, fashionable, lightweight and having instant online access is paramount," said Lee. Andrew McLean, Intel Australia's National Sales Manager is also upbeat about the potential of the netbook category so well trailblazed by the Asus Eee PC, saying: "Netbooks are compact mobile devices that children, first-time internet users, and people who desire an extra PC can use for basic internet content consumption applications such as listening to music, photo viewing, e-mailing and web surfing." So, what about the keyboard? Well, Acer says the Aspire One has keyboard keys that are 85% the size of standard keys. This compares with the HP MiniNote 2133 which has a keyboard that is 92% the size of standard keys, something Wikipedia claims is the same for the upcoming Asus Eee PC 1000 series. Now I can’t find an exact percentage size for the keys on the Asus Eee PC 701/900/901 series notebooks, but Acer tell me the keyboard on the Aspire One is bigger than the keys on the Asus Eee PCs. For some people this will be important, although the even larger keys on the Asus Eee 1000 and HP MiniNote will be more important to some. That said I can touch type on the Asus Eee PC 701/900/901 series, it just takes a bit of time to get used to, and if the Acer’s keys are bigger, then so much the better for users and the Aspire One. There’s also the issue of the mouse trackpad. Like the HP MiniNote 2133, the left and right mouse buttons are on either side of the trackpad – not underneath the trackpad as is normally the case with notebook computers. While not a deal breaker by any means, it’s something else you’ll need to get used to if you buy this particular model. In addition, unlike the Asus Eee PC 900 and 901 series, the Acer Aspire’s trackpad offers no “multi-touch” features to enlarge or shrink images or text on screen in particular applications, although that’s not exactly a deal breaker or maker at this stage of the game either. While October will see the Linux and XP versions of the Aspire One come with a six-cell battery, which in itself is a potential reason to wait as it will give you double the battery life at no additional cost, October should also see the introduction of an optional 3.5G module to give wireless data access almost anywhere you can get a mobile phone signal. The module won’t be free and there is no cost estimation as yet, but it will negate the need for a separate USB wireless modem to hang from the computer, thus making it ever more of a connected device. More detailed specifications are on page 3, please read on. |
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