Acer Aspire AS1410 Brings More Power to Netbook Form Factor

Acer hopes folks who find netbooks don't pack enough punch will check out the upcoming AS1410 ultraportable: 11.6-inch screen, Intel Celeron CPU, and 2 GB of RAM for under $400.

There are some folks who like the idea of netbook computers—especially the price and form factor—but are dismayed by the lack of screen real estate and processor capability. Computer maker Acer is hoping to appeal to some of those user with its new Aspire 1410 ultraportable, featuring an 11.6-inch display, 2 GB of RAM, a 1.3 GHz Intel Celeron processor, and Windows 7 64-bit pre-installed.

“When it comes to selecting a notebook, [consumers] are increasingly concerned with size, weight and style. The AS1410 Series is small enough to be carried in a backpack or even a large purse but with enough power for spreadsheets and presentations,” said Acer America senior product manager Ray Sawall, in a statement. “Those in the market for a netbook should consider this notebook as an option, due to the step up in processing power.”

The Aspire As1410 is one inch thick and weighs just over three pounds. The unit is built around a 1.2 GHz Intel Celeron processor—which, yes, runs slower than a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor found in a typical netbook but outperforms it on most metrics. The Aspire 1410 packs an 11.6-inch 1,366 by 768-pixel display driven by Intel’s GMA 4500MHD integrated graphics processor, 2 GB of RAM, a 160 GB hard drive (a 250 GB option will be available), a multi-in-one digital media card reader, an integrated webcam, HDMI output, three USB 2.0 ports, a multi-gesture trackpad, and (of course) 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi and gigabit Ethernet. The Aspire 1410 lacks Bluetooth or an integrated optical drive, but makes up for it a bit in pricing: Acer plans to offer the 1410 starting at $399. It should be available at Acer’s retail partners in time for the end-of-year holiday buying season.