News

  • Home > News

        Acer debuts 11.6-inch netbook

        Jonathan Angel | Date: May 18, 2009 | Comments: 1


        Acer added to its range of netbooks with a new model sporting an 11.6-inch screen (left), plus a 10.1-inch model that's smaller and lighter than its previous such device. The company's also reportedly preparing a netbook that will play HD movies from a miniaturized optical drive.



        (Click here for a larger view of the 11.6-inch Acer Aspire AO751h)


        Acer's Aspire One
        (Click image for further information)
        Acer has apparently surfed the netbook wave like no other vendor. For example, according to a study released by DisplaySearch last December, the company had a 35 percent share of the netbook market in the third quarter of 2008. And, unlike second-ranked Asus, which has fielded a bevy of its Eee PC netbooks, Acer apparently achieved this all with one model, the original, 8.9-inch Aspire One (right).

        In February of this year, however, Acer announced a "second-generation" Aspire One, the AOD150, which included a 10.1-inch display, still with 1024 x 600 resolution, and a larger, six-cell battery. (Subsequently, the AOD150 was picked by Microsoft's Windows Embedded Software Architect Mike Hall as his netbook of choice.) And early last month, the company held a New York Press event where it displayed a flotilla of netbooks to be sold under the Acer, eMachines, Gateway, and Packard Bell brands, including the Gateway LT30, which appeared to be the first netbook featuring an 11.6-inch screen.

        That 11.6-inch device has now been announced as the Aspire One A0751h, pictured at the top of our story. According to Acer, the netbook features an LED-backlit screen with 1364 x 768 resolution, a full-size keyboard, and a six-cell battery claimed to last for up to eight hours. Instead of the usual Intel Atom N270, the A0751h is powered by Intel's Z520, along with the SCH US15W "Poulsbo" companion chip, which means that the device clocks at just 1.2GHz, but presumably also accounts for some of that extended battery life.

        Features and specifications listed by Acer for the Aspire One A0751h include:
        • Processor -- Intel Atom Z520 clocked at 1.2GHz
        • Memory -- 1GB of DDR2 RAM, expandable to 2GB
        • Display -- 11.6-inch screen, with 1364 x 768 pixel resolution
        • Camera -- Webcam (resolution not specified)
        • Storage -- 160GB SATA II hard disk drive (5400rpm)
        • Networking:
          • LAN -- 10/100 Ethernet n/s, but presumed
          • WLAN -- 802.11b/g
        • Other I/O:
          • 3 x USB
          • VGA n/s, but presumed
          • Audio -- mic in, headphone/line out
        • Expansion:
          • Memory card reader (SD/MMC/Memory Card formats)
        • Battery -- Six-cell, 5200mAh
        • Dimensions -- 11.18 x 7.79 x 1 inches
        • Weight -- 2.75 pounds
        Also announced today was the Aspire One AOD250 pictured at right, an evolutionary product that matches the earlier AOD150 spec for spec, except for being smaller and lighter. Where the AOD150 measures 10.2 x 8.0 x 1.31 inches and weighs 2.95 pounds, the AOD250 measures 10.17 x 7.24 x 1 inches and weighs 2.75 pounds. The device has a three-cell, 2600mAh battery, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard disk drive, and the usual Atom N270 CPU.

        Features and specifications listed by Acer for the Aspire One AOD250 include:
        • Processor -- Intel Atom N270 clocked at 1.6GHz
        • Memory -- 1GB of DDR2 RAM
        • Display -- 10.1-inch screen, with 1024 x 600 resolution
        • Camera -- Webcam (resolution not specified)
        • Storage -- 160GB SATA II hard disk drive (5400rpm)
        • Networking:
          • LAN -- 10/100 Ethernet (n/s, but presumed)
          • WLAN -- 802.11b/g
        • Other I/O:
          • 3 x USB
          • VGA (n/s, but presumed)
          • Audio -- mic in, headphone/line out
        • Expansion:
          • Memory card reader (SD/MMC/Memory Card formats)
        • Battery -- Three-cell, 2600mAh
        • Dimensions -- 10.17 x 7.24 x 1 inches
        • Weight -- 2.75 pounds
        Finally, Acer is apparently preparing yet another Aspire One -- will they be changing their model name to "Aspire One Dozen"? -- that will include a tiny optical disk drive. According to various reports, the Aspire One 571, pictured below, offers a slot to the left of its palm rest that accepts 36mm Vmedia cartridges. Featuring blue laser optical technology, these read-only devices store full-length movies at 576p resolution.


        Acer's Aspire One 571 will include a miniature blue laser optical drive

        It's said the Aspire One 571's Atom N280 processor will receive some video decoding assistance on the Aspire One 571, thanks to a Quartics Q1721 multimedia coprocessor. This device can perform full 1080p encoding and decoding in real-time, according to Quartics.

        Further information

        According to Acer, the Aspire A0751h and D250 are available now, list-priced at approximately $380 and $300, respectively.

        Meanwhile, no pricing or availability information for the Aspire One 571 has been released, but further information may be found on the Slashgear website, here.


        Related stories: