Netbook Review Roundup 02/04/2009
April 2, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Netbook Choice’s roundup of netbook reviews from around the web on Thursday 2nd April 2009.
Acer Aspire One D150 @ GadgetMix
Asus Eee PC 1000HE @ vnunet.com
Quest For Netbook Nirvana: HP Mini 2140 @ Gizmodo Australia
Lenovo IdeaPad S10e @ What Laptop
Samsung NC20 @ Cnet
A Linux Netbook Done The Right Way: the Sylvania g Netbook Meso @ O’Reilly
Acer Aspire One 751 netbook previewed
April 1, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Whilst we are still waiting for official confirmation of the 11-6 inch Acer Aspire One 751, the elder sibling of the 10.1-inch 531 announced yesterday, PC World Norway has already previewed a pre-production model. Overall they were impressed with the stylish slim design, good-sized keyboard and great display. The main niggle they had was the fan noise, although this may be rectified from retail models. Read more
Slimline Acer Aspire One 531 netbook gets official
April 1, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Following on from Acer’s 10.1-inch Aspire One D250 netbook announced yesterday, another 10-inch from its stable has also been unveiled, the Aspire One 531. The Aspire One D250 appeared on both the Acer UK and Germany sites yesterday but was then removed later in the day. However, the Aspire One 531 is still listed on the Germany site for all to see. Looking through the specifications we are struggling to tell the difference between the two, it looks almost identical to the D250. Read more
Netbook Review Roundup 31/03/2009
March 31, 2009 at 10:50 pm
Netbook Choice’s roundup of netbook reviews from around the web on Tuesday 31st March 2009.
Acer Aspire One D150 @ PC Advisor
ASUS Eee PC 1000H/ Lenovo IdeaPad S10/ HP 2133 @ Cape Cod Times
Asus S101 @ The Sydney Morning Herald
HP Mini 2140: A Nice Netbook With SUSE Option @ Linux Planet
Lenovo IdeaPad S10 Hands On Review @ Digitpedia
Lenovo S10e review @ PC Advisor
Samsung NC20 @ Cnet UK
Rating: 9.0
The all-in-one Sony VAIO P review post @ UMPC Portal
Acer Aspire One D250 netbook announced, up for pre-order
March 31, 2009 at 9:36 pm
The Acer Aspire One D250 has been officially announced today, appearing on both the Acer UK and Acer Germany sites. Well that certainly was the case earlier today, it seems that the D250 product listing has now been removed from both sites – maybe Acer weren’t ready to go public? Luckily we sat on the Acer UK product page from this morning so we still have all of the juicy details at our disposal! Read more
First pictures of the elegant Acer Aspire One Pro surface
March 30, 2009 at 1:48 pm
As we revealed last week, Acer is to launch a new series of netbooks under the ‘Aspire One Pro’ name. As the name suggests, these netbooks will be targeted towards business users and ‘prosumers’. At that point we didn’t have any images as to what the new series would look like. We now do, thanks to Macles, and we have to say that it has some very elegant design cues. This includes chrome hinges as well as a carbon fibre bar all wrapped in a slimline form-factor. The ‘Aspire One Pro’ logo can also clearly be seen on the top-right of the screen display.
The pictures also seem to suggest that ‘Pro’ series will have a choice between Windows and Linux operating systems. The keyboard shows that instead of a Windows key towards the bottom left, there instead sits a ‘Home’ icon. These are normally found on units that run Linux. This seems strange to us, given the predominance of Windows systems that are normally targeted to business users.
The first netbooks to be launched under the new name are an 11.6-inch and 10-inch model. It is believed that the 11.6-inch netbook will be powered by a low-power 1.6GHz Z530 Intel Atom CPU and 1GB RAM and come with a 160GB hard-disk drive. It will weigh only 1.25kg (2.8lbs) and be just 1-inch thick. We don’t have any firm details on the specifications of the 10.2-inch Acer Aspire One Pro. Apparently both versions will be available in HDD and SDD configurations. Click through for more photos of the Aspire One Pro. Read more
3G Netbooks catch signals better than mobile phones
March 29, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Netbooks with integrated 3G modules are generally very quick to broadcast their own signals and offer good signal strength according to a recent study by ‘Connect’ magazine. It studied three netbooks for wireless data transfer and by far the fastest was the Acer Aspire One A150x 3G that has an in-built Qualcomm module. The Acer was even faster than 3G phones that have been available over the last two years. Even the Samsung NP- NC10 3G and LG X110 came out with above-average performance compared to the 3G mobile phones.
With many mobile operators now offering netbooks as part of subsidised data packages, there will come a point that most netbooks will have the ability to access the internet in our view. Whether that means 3G modules will be included in most models from the start or we start to see the adoption of ARM based netbooks that are always connected to a 3G network, this can only be a good thing, giving more choice to consumers.
Nine and Ten-inch Acer Aspire One Netbooks compared
March 29, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Good news for those of you who have been trying to decide between an 8.9-inch and 10.1-inch Acer Aspire One netbook. Portable Monkey has posted a thorough run-through of the main differences between the two netbooks including lots of comparison photos between the two. Both systems were tested with a 3-cell battery (he didn’t have access to a 6-cell battery) and came with similar specifications (1GB RAM, 160GB HDD, WiFi 802.11g and Windows XP Home).
Overall both netbooks were found to have very bright glossy displays, with the 10-inch mode slightly easier on the eyes. The 9-inch model was very loud in use and could distinctly be heard in the next room whilst the 10-inch model was super quiet. The 9-incher also had the worst speakers that they had experienced on a netbook, maybe something to do with the hard-drive failures being seen when playing certain songs? However, the 10-inch model lost brownie points for using the same keyboard as used in the 9-inch one.
Battery life on the 3-cell battery was 2 hours and 3 hours on the 9/10-inch models respectively, strange that the 10-inch model is significantly more power efficient. You should expect around 6 hours from the 4400mAh 6-cell battery. Click through for a full summary on the key comparison points. Read more
U2 song whacks Acer Aspire One netbook hard drives
March 28, 2009 at 5:54 pm
We’re not entirely sure how serious to take this, but apparently Acer’s hugely popular 8.9-inch Aspire One netbook will trash the hard drive if you play music through it too loudly according to some users on HardwareCult. One of the tracks it has taken a particular dislike to is U2’s Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me, which several users have been able to replicate the problem with.
Ultimately, the drive will undergo “complete catastrophic failure, talking with it all the user’s data“, according to Tigre Marino who made the original claim. The result is “read errors, ATAPI errors on the system log, and even logging Raw Read Errors on the hard drive’s SMART health monitoring system.”
“You’ll see, after some seconds, the hard drive LED will get stuck and the machine could freeze or get a BSOD. Lower the volume or plug in some headphones and the problem magically disappears,” Tigre said.
It’s unknown what causes the problem. Is excessive vibration to blame? Does the video emit a frequency that causes part of the HDD to resonate? Is it simply electrical or magnetic interference? Others have suggested that when the speakers are on full, the HDD received insufficient power. All of the users that reported this were running XP rather than Linux and had hard-disk drives rather than solid-state drives. For those that dare to try it themselves, the U2 video can be found here.
Netbook Review Roundup 25/03/2009
March 25, 2009 at 11:16 pm
Netbook Choice’s roundup of netbook reviews from around the web on Wednesday 25th March 2009.
Asus Eee PC 1000HE @ IT Pro
Rating: 5 Stars (out of 6)
Dell Inspiron Mini 1210 @ Cnet Australia
Rating: 7.3
HP Mini 1000 Mi Edition @ Cnet Asia
Rating: 7.8
HP Mini 2140, the ‘Mobile Professional’ @ Datamation
Rating: N/A
Samsung NC20 @ iGizmo
Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)
Pimp My Netbook Gone Wrong
March 25, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Acer is from today sponsoring a month long netbook decoration event in Tokyo, Japan to promote the brand to women bloggers. To kick off the event, Acer hosted the event with the help of some models along with some very girly-pimped Acer Aspire One netbooks. One of them, Shibuya Girl, is the star of a Japanese magazine “Ageha”, famous for pimping everything she owns.
Three ‘pimped’ designs were shown and one of these looks quite monstrous to be honest, its lid has a couple of small teddy bears on it and some pink plastic roses. Is nobody thinking of the potential fire hazard!? The other two don’t look that bad in all honesty, covered in Swarovski crystals. A voting poll is currently underway at netbookcafe.jp where three winners will receive a netbook decoration kit (I’m not sure whether anyone would actually want one of these!) Check out a video of the wacky event after the break. Read more
Acer Aspire One touchscreen video tutorial
March 24, 2009 at 11:16 am
Following on from last week’s Asus 1000HE touchscreen video tutorial, another has emerged, this time for the Acer Aspire One. Once again, the tutorial was put together using a solderless Hoda Technology touchscreen kit and cost the modder, tarzanna75, $95 from ebay.
The tutorial encompasses three videos, the first covering disassembly, the second covering hardware installation and third covering driver installation and testing. The installation was relatively straight forward although she did have some problems with the screws. A good tip from the comments section is taking a photo of the device and then, once printed, taping each screw to the printout where the screw was removed.
You can find the Hoda Touchscreen kit on eBay for around $99 (with varying shipping costs) giving you everything from the touch panel, USB harnesses and all cabling, and even the stylus. You’ll also get three more internal USB ports for future hacks. Check out the three videos after the jump. Well worth a look for the more adventurous modders out there! Read more
Acer’s new netbook series named Aspire One Pro
March 23, 2009 at 4:10 pm
Acer is to name some of its upcoming netbooks under the Aspire One ‘Pro’ umbrella according to macles. As we revealed a few days ago, Acer is rumoured to have a 11.6-inch netbook on the cards along with a 10.1-inch model that was revealed earlier in the month. These two netbooks are expected to be known by the model numbers 731 and 531 respectively.
Acer has chosen the ‘Pro’ tag as it is thought that these netbooks will be targeted towards business users and ‘prosumers’, which is also likely to mean a higher price tag. No word on release date for either machine.
The Aspire One Pro 731 will have a 11.6-inch netbook powered by a low-power 1.6GHz Z530 Intel Atom CPU and 1GB RAM and come with a 160GB hard-disk drive. The new model will use the Intel Poulsbo chipset with GMA500 graphics core. Battery life of four hours is expected with the standard battery. It’s believed to weigh 1.25kg and measure 284 x 198 x 26 mm. The smaller 10.2-inch Acer Aspire One Pro 531 is apparently the same netbook that was pictured in recent FCC filings.
Acer Aspire One 11.6-inch netbook planned?
March 21, 2009 at 11:57 am
Acer is set to release the most advanced Aspire One yet, moving away from the 10.1-inch models currently in the series, with an 11.6-inch model according to macles. Up until now the Acer Aspire One netbook has only seen minor technical revisions, whereas this new model is expected to be a new generation of netbook/mini-notebook for Acer.
The design itself is very similar to previous models, however the 11.6-inch (1366 x 768) display with widescreen (16:9) aspect ratio has enabled Acer to stick a full-sized keyboard with flat keys into the netbook. Acer has also rung the changes underneath the hood too with the 11.6-inch netbook powered by a low-power 1.6GHz Z530 Intel Atom CPU, rather than the N270 Atom CPU. The net effect of this is an increased battery life of four hours with the standard battery and eight hours with the higher-capacity battery, despite the larger screen size over the 10.1-inch variants.
The new model will also use the Intel Poulsbo chipset with GMA500 graphics core, instead of the Intel 945GSE and GMA950 graphics core found in earlier models. Despite the confusing numbering for the graphics core, the GMA500 is more advanced and features H.264 hardware decoding along with other video codecs. The new platform has a TDP of just 4.3W compared to 11.8W highlighting how much difference the move will make to power efficiency. Macles has had a good track record of breaking news on upcoming Acer-netbook development so whilst we still await official confirmation, we wouldn’t be surprised if this was true. Check out some larger pictures of this new netbook after the break. Read more
TrustedReviews underwhelmed by Acer Aspire One D150
March 17, 2009 at 6:22 pm
TrustedReviews have reviewed the 10-inch Acer Aspire One D150. Despite the price and specifications being in line with its peer group (Samsung NC10, Asus 1000HE, MSI Wind), they found that the overall execution didn’t match up both in terms of design and ergonomics. Other models offer better battery life and ergonomics, especially in terms of their keyboards.
One of the main issues they had was that the keyboard was no different to its 8.9-inch cousin, not good enough for a 10-inch model. However on the positive side, they felt the screen was one of the best they had seen in a 10-inch netbook. Full list of key points after the break. Read more
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