Acer Aspire One D255 with dual-core Atom hits at $330

It was only a matter of time before Acer let out the pricing / availability details on its dual-core Atom netbook, and as we could have predicted, the Taiwanese company’s smacked an extremely enticing pricetag on this one. Ringing up at an aggressive $329.99, the 2.2-pound D255 looks almost identical to the D260 — yes, even those with the worst of cataracts could tell it’s an Aspire One from afar — but in terms of specs it’s got that notable difference of a brand new dual-core Atom N550 processor. But not to worry, even though it’s now the cheapest dual-core netbook around, it’s still got the netbook standards — including 1GB of RAM, 250GB hard drive and six-cell battery. The single-core version will go for $269.99, but we do have to say that shelling out that additional $50 for that extra core does buy you slightly faster performance (see our HP Mini 5103 review for some Atom N550 performance results). Sounds mighty tempting to us, but it still doesn’t make us forget about that Chrome OS netbook Acer’s been promising.

Acer Aspire One 532G, finally a worthy Netbook for HD freaks

Introduced way back in February 2010 but yet available, the Acer Aspire One 523G made quite an impression at Computex 2010. Powered by an Intel Atom N450 @ 1.66GHz, our Notebooks runs on NVIDIA’s Ion 2 platform with 512MB of VRAM and compatible with DX10 as well as using Nvidia’s New optimus automatic switching technology, giving you once needed the power to watch Full HD Video and once you are just surfing the web, enough juice to get up to 10h of battery life.

Acer Aspire One 752 Announced in Japan

Early last month, the Acer Aspire One 752 was announced. The model number suggests it’s the successor to the Acer Aspire 751 and in reality it’s nothing more than an Acer Aspire 1410 and pictures below show it looks identical as well.

Today, it has turned up in Japan where it will go on sale on the 23rd of April this month. Looking at the specs it shares the same dual core Intel Celeron SU2300 processor, GMA 4500MHD graphics, 2GB RAM, 11.6” 1366 x 768 display, Gigabit LAN, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit and what seems to be the same battery (rated at 7 hours) * These specs vary from country to country

The only difference (that I can see) is the 752 has a larger HDD – 320GB vs 250GB. Very confusing model indeed. It’s priced at 59,800 yen ($642), available in black and white and goes on sale on the 23th April.

Acer Aspire One 521 netbook to featue AMD processor

AMD is reportedly preparing to launch a new 10.1 inch netbook that chucks the Intel Atom chipset for an AMD chip. Macles reports that the Acer Aspire One 521 will have a 1.2GHz AMD V105 single core processor.

The V105 is part of AMD’s Nile lineup, and it has 512KB of L2 cache, support for DDR3 memory, and a total power draw of 9 watts, which makes it pretty efficient for an AMD chip. What we won’t know until someone gets a chance to run some benchmarks is how the AMD V105 compares to an Intel Atom chip when it comes to performance.

The Aspire One 521 will also reportedly have ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4225 graphics and the AMD M880G chipset. As you can probably guess from the fact that the graphics processor has HD in the name, the netbook should be capable of HD video playback and it even has an HDMI output. I wouldn’t expect NVIDIA ION-quality 3D graphics performance here, but it seems like 720p and maybe even 1080p HD video support should be on the table.

According to Macles, the netbook will have optional Bluetooth 3 support and a compact charger with changeable plus. The battery is supposed to be good for up to 7 hours.

Asus and Acer ION-powered netbooks listed in France

Seen at CeBIT 2010 in early March, the Asus Eee PC 1201PN and Acer Aspire One 532G netbooks equipped with Nvidia’s next-gen ION graphics solution (which is a GT218 GPU), has begun to appear in European stores, but only on pre-order.

The cheapest of the two models, the Aspire One 532G, features a 10.1-inch (1024×600) LED-backlit screen, a 1.66 GHz Atom N450 CPU, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, GMA 3150 integrated graphics and an 8-core Nvidia ION GPU, 10/100 Ethernet, WiFi, and a 6-cell battery and for up to 8 hours of operation. Acer’s netbook costs 369 Euro, is pre-loaded with Windows 7 Starter, and is expected to ship on May 14.

As for the Eee PC 1201PN, this one costs 499 Euro and boasts a 12.1-inch (1366×768) screen, a 1.66 GHz Atom, 2GB of RAM, a 320GB HDD, a 16-core ION GPU, Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi, a 6-cell battery, plus Windows 7 Home Premium. Asus’ machine is set to ship on May 1st.

Acer Aspire One D260 Android Netbook in the Works

While Acer was showing off some of their larger TimelineX series notebooks in the UK today, they let slip some info about a new netbook in the works. This new netbook will be called the Acer Aspire One D260 and it will have Android on board. Like the previous D250 Android netbook it’ll be dual booted with Windows and Android.

This new netbook will be getting a redesigned chassis. Hopefully it won’t just be 532H with Android but a totally new design.

That is all the info there is currently on this new Android netbook. In other news Acer’s Google Chome netbook is slated for a possible Q3 / Q4 Christmas launch at the end of this year.. just in time for when Google Chrome OS officially lanches. Surprise…

Acer Aspire One D260 to dual boot Google Android, Windows 7

Acer is reportedly working on another netbook that dual boots Windows and Google Android. Electric Pig reports that the new model will be dubbed the Acer Aspire One D260, which seems to imply that it will be a modest update from the dual-boot D250 model released last year.

There’s no information on the processor or other specs. Apparently the new model will have a redesigned chassis. The company also plans to launch a netbook running Google Chrome OS later this year — after Google makes the operating system available.

Acer Aspire One 532h Gets 3G in Japan

The Acer Aspire One 532h has been out for a while now.. I’ve been meaning to pick one up for review but I am still waiting for a particular something.. I’ll tell you in a moment.

A new model has just shown up in Japan.. no, no matte display model or high resolution display model but one sporting built-in 3G via NTT Docomo’s FOMA service. It’ll go on sale on April 16 at Docomo’s online shop priced at 50,000 yen ($535).

Specs are no different to the current available models: 10.1” 1024 x 600 display, Intel Atom N450 processor, 1GB RAM, 250GB HDD, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 0.3MP webcam, Windows 7 Starter and…. a 3-cell battery.

As soon as a 6-cell battery model becomes available I am snapping one up for review. Grrrr.