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By N2H
Statistics from the UK’s only dedicated netbook comparison website show that people are already starting to research low cost mini-laptops as potential gifts during the second credit crunch Christmas.
As the UK struggles through another credit crunch Christmas and shoppers spend more time hunting out great value gifts it seems no great coincidence that computer manufacturers are focusing their attention on recession priced netbooks.
The netbook, an ultra-cheap mini-laptop designed to be used mainly to access the internet over wireless connections, has been seized on by shoppers as a great value present for 2009. Netbooks currently occupy 4 of the top 5 positions in the Amazon bestseller list in the computer category and according to Gartner their sales make up 8% of total computer sales. Netbooks start from as little as £130 and can do many of the things full sized laptops or desktops can do which makes them very attractive for cash-strapped consumers.
Source: www.prweb.com
Buy your netbooks @ http://amazon.co.uk
What is the main difference between the Intel Atom Z series processors used in the Acer Aspire One 751 and the Atom N series in the Acer Aspire One AOD250? Performance-wise, which is better?
The Z-series Atom processor are smaller chips built for Mobile Internet Devices, while the Atom N chips target the larger Netbook segment. The former uses less power and hence improve battery life, while the latter has marginally improved performance and cost less than the Z series processors.
So to answer your question, the Atom N CPU is slightly faster than the equivalent Z version. Since the Acer Aspire One 751 has a larger screen than the Aspire One AOD250, the energy savings using the Atom Z is unlikely to translate into better battery life. However, I would still pick the 751 over the Aspire AOD250 for its larger display and better keyboard.
Source cnet: http://asia.cnet.com
Related product from Amazon.co.uk
Acer’s dual-booting netbook, which will offer users both Windows XP and Google’s open-source Android platform, is tipped to arrive in August 2009. First announced back at Computex, the company had only suggested a Q3 release; contrary to initial expectations, Acer hedged their bets and decided to make Android the “quick-boot” option rather than the sole OS.
As a result, the as-yet unnamed netbook won’t necessarily be any cheaper than Acer’s existing Aspire One range. Many had hoped to escape the so-called “Windows tax”, believed to add around $25 to the cost of each netbook for an XP license. However the company had also confirmed that if demand for a solely-Android netbook is perceived, then they will consider developing such an option.
It’s unclear what the announcement of Google Chrome OS, an open-source platform for netbooks, will do to Acer’s plans. The company has already been named as one of Google’s hardware partners. As for Android netbooks, MSI and ASUS are tipped to be developing such devices but with no 2009 launch plans.
Source www.slashgear.com
The Elive team announced today yet another unstable release of their Elive Live CD Linux distribution, now at version 1.9.31. Being powered by Debian, Enlightenment E17 and Linux kernel 2.6.26.8, the new development version of Elive, brings many improvements and bug fixes in various areas. But, the good news is that, among other things, the team introduced full support for the Acer Aspire One netbook. Without further introduction, let’s take a closer look at the changes brought by Elive 1.9.31:
· Updated Linux kernel to version 2.6.26.8-elive-686 (revision 40);
· Added a new software that allows users to create USB bootable sticks with Elive;
· Added support for the Acer Aspire One netbook, even includes a tool to disable the fan in case you don’t need it;
· Updated the installer to better detect other installed operating systems and your custom Enlightenment themes, bar and wallpapers are now saved when reinstalling;
· Fixed various bugs in the installer. Also, the upgrade mode now works with a dedicated /home partition;
· Adobe’s Flash Player plugin was updated to version 10.0.22.87;
· The old XMMS was replaced by Audacious, as the default audio player;
· Re-added the Elive Essence, now with new features;
· Updated the console to support more languages, improved characters and smaller fonts;
· Fixed Russian language support.
Elive Linux sports a large number of applications, ranging from office and Internet-related apps, to games and entertainment. With Elive, you can watch movies, listen to your favorite songs or chat with friends. E17, the development version of the Enlightenment window manager that comes with Elive Unstable, is brought to you from CVS, and is updated on a regular basis through Elive’s testing repository. If you want to test Elive, it is recommended to use a computer with minimum 128 of RAM and a 300 MHz CPU.
Download Elive 1.9.31 from Softpedia. (beta)
Related product from Amazon.co.uk
Acer plans to launch a 15.6-inch 3D notebook, which the company jointly developed with Wistron, at the end of October 2009, according to Campbell Kan, vice president of Acer’s mobile computing business unit.
The notebook features built-in software which can convert regular 2D movies to 3D, and will also directly support 3D movies.
Currently, users still need to wear stereoscopic glasses for the 3D to be effective, however, Acer is developing a model without the need for glasses, although it still has quiet a few technological obstacles to overcome, Kan noted.
Non Aspire One related, but important never the less:
The notebook will come equipped with Windows 7 and therefore Acer will not make an official announcement until Microsoft launches the OS, Kan added.
In addition to Windows and Android models, Acer is also working on its third-generation netbook, which will feature a similar concept as MIDs or smartbooks with strong network connectivity and convenience, and it targeting a launch in the second of third quarter of 2010, Kan noted.
Acer is planning to launch an 11.6-inch ultra-thin model, which is based on Intel’s CULV platform, in July according to Digitimes. The new model will fit in Acer’s Timeline series of ultra-thin notebooks and will be manufactured by Quanta.
We recently heard that Acer is looking to rein back shipments of its 11.6-inch Aspire One 751 (AO751h) netbook, following disappointing sales. The report goes on to say that Acer will either look to phase out the 751 or drop its price when the new 11.6-inch ultra-thin launches to clearly define the difference between both 11.6-inch offerings.
Specifications for this new 11.6-inch ultra-thin are unknown right now, although it looks like Acer has realised that one of the shortcomings of the Aspire One 751 was its 1.33GHz Z520 Atom CPU. The Timeline series of notebooks is based on Intel’s Celeron ULV platform and there is no reason why this new model wouldn’t support the same processor. At least with this platform, Acer would make the most out of its 1366 x 768 display by enabling smooth HD 720p content.
Source – www.netbookchoice.com
Related product from Amazon.co.uk
Acer, the world’s third biggest PC maker, on Tuesday said it would launch the world’s first notebook computer to run on Google’s Android operating system in the third quarter of this year.
The marriage of Taiwan-based Acer’s low-end Aspire One netbook with Google’s Android operating system, which was originally designed for mobile phones, highlights a continued blurring of the lines between smartphones and computers.
It also poses a challenge to Microsoft by offering an alternative to its Windows XP operating system, which dominates the netbook market with a roughly 80 per cent market share. Microsoft charges about $20 a computer for XP and $40-$45 for the newer Vista version of Windows, analysts say, while Google does not charge for its Android system.
While the price of Acer’s new notebook, which runs on both XP and Android operating systems, will not reflect the free Android operating system, it will be cheaper than the current Aspire One models, the company said. Acer declined to comment more specifically on its pricing strategy for the new product.
Sandy Lin, the software product manager at Acer who headed the project to bring Android to computers, said price “was not our main concern. We wanted to offer users the flexibility [of using both operating systems]”.
Jim Wong, president of IT products at Acer, said the main attraction of using the Android system was its fast start-up time. “No other operating system allows users to power up [the computer] in 18 seconds and power down in one second,” he said.
He added, however, that “we have to make sure the old choice [Windows] doesn’t disappear”.
Source - FT.com
Taiwanese Linux distributor Linpus Technologies plans to make a version of Moblin 2.0 available for download next week, a move timed to coincide with the annual Computex hardware exhibition in Taipei.
Linpus will show off a new version of its Linpus Linux Lite distribution based on Moblin 2.0 for the first time, including versions based on user interfaces designed by Linpus and Intel, the company said in a notice posted on its Web site.
Linpus Linux Lite will be one of the first distributions based on Moblin 2.0 to be released, it said.
Beta source code for Moblin 2.0 was released earlier this month and the new version of the operating system is tweaked to run on small, low-cost laptops called netbooks as well as handheld computers. Among the features offered with the operating system are the ability to boot up quickly and an improved user interface that allows users to easily update their status on a range of social networking sites, like Facebook.
The earlier version of Linpus Linux Lite was used with some versions of Acer’s popular Acer Aspire One netbook.
A lot of people are trying to get a bead on the market for netbooks and what it means for manufacturers and operating systems. According to one of the largest Taiwanese hardware companies, the netbook trend will grow more quickly than some Western analysts have predicted.
Global shipments for netbooks will reach 25m – 30m of the recession-priced laptops this year, Acer chairman J.T. Wang told Digitimes earlier this week. That jibes with Garner’s forecast of 21m.
Next year, though, Wang says IT spending will turn around, but buyers will still keep it cheap. That’s why Wang predicts the global netbook market will double to 50m. By comparison, Gartner did not project netbooks reaching that level until 2012.
Wang’s claim is also notable because it means that 1 in 4 laptops sold next year will be a netbook. In other words, many buyers – whether for home or business – don’t really need the extra power of a Core 2 Duo CPU, multiple gigabytes of RAM, a bigger screen, and ports for various accessories.
If he’s right, it means less income for hardware makers, and probably for Microsoft, which will have a hard time convincing buyers of $300 netbooks to pay extra to upgrade their version of Windows XP or Windows 7. Still, despite the lean margins, competition for netbook sales will be fierce – it is one of the few growth areas in the PC industry.
Source – www.computingsa.co.za
