Acer Brings Aspire one Netbook to U.S.

Acer has announced it's bringing its Atom-powered Aspire one subnotebook to the United States, with prices starting at $379.

Acer has announced the U.S. availability of its Atom-powered Aspire one subnotebook c—or, as Acer would describe it, a mobile Internet device (MID). The Aspire one is designed to provide an affordable, simple—and very compact—solution for email, Web browsing, online communication, and media. Prices for the subnotebook range from $379 to $449, and the notebooks are available with either WIndows XP or Linpus Linux Lite.

“Our Acer Aspire one is [..] an excellent introductory device for both students and others to browse the Internet and take advantage of online research, social networking, streaming video and video conferencing,” said Acer America product marketing director Sumit Agnihotry, in a statement. “We’re pleased to make this exciting product available to customers in the U.S. with several new models.”

The Aspire one features an 8.9-inch 1,024 by 768 LCD display, pushes bits with a 533 MHz Intel Atom N270 processor, and offers an integrated Webcam for VoIP and video conferencing, along with both a 5-in-1 memory card reader and an additional SD slot for loading up media and other data. The Aspire one also sports stereo speakers, 100Base-T Ethernet, 3 USB 2.0 ports, and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi wireless networking. Aspire ones sporting Linux also offer a “simple, intuitive” task-centric interface that categorizes pre-installed software by function and presents them in four areas of the screen—Connect, Work, Fun, and Files. The systems weigh just 2.17 pounds and measure 9.8 by 6.7 by 1.14 inches.

Acer is offering three versions of the Aspire one in the U.S. market. The $379 Aspire one AOA110-1722 sports 512 MB of RAM, 8 GB of flash-based storage, and runs Linpus LInux Lite; the $399 Aspire one AOA150-1570 offers 1 GB of memory, runs a 120 GB internal hard drive, and offers Windows XP, while the $449 shifts back to Linpus Linux Lite and 8 GB of flash-based storage, but adds a six-cell battery that can offer up to seven hours of battery life. The Aspire ones are available now from Acer-authorized resellers; they’re available in saphire blue or seashell white.