acer
Sony Netbook (Vaio W)
July 8, 2009
What’s this? Another Sony netbook? If you can remember back to CES 2009 you may recall the Sony ‘Netbook’ Vaio P Series which appeared to be Sony’s answer to the netbook due to its size, specs and general time of arrival but was horrendously expensive and thus probably deserved its official label of ‘Portable PC’ rather than the one of ‘Sony netbook‘ that the public gave it. So it seemed that was all they were going to give us, but finally they have released their proper take on the netbook phenomenon….
New Medion Netbook – A Next Generation Netbook?
July 8, 2009
Whereas Medion have decided to be a little bolder and have labelled their new creation as a “next generation” netbook. Pretty promising, but does it actually live up to that label?
In short – not really! With the exception of the fact that it has an 11.6 inch 1366 x 768 HD screen and ATI Radeon TM Xpress 1250 graphics (and of HDMI out), and the AMD Sempron 210U the Mini E1312 is very much like what we’ve already seen.
Continue reading »Acer Android-Based Smartphone and Netbook Announced
June 4, 2009
Last month we had a good look at the HTC Magic, and although it was a decent phone in its own right the most noticeable thing about it was the fact that it was the first phone (after the poor T-mobile G1) to use the open source and much admired Android operating system.
However not wanting to feel left behind Acer have finally got round to officially announcing what most of us have suspected for a while – that they will be releasing an Android base in Q4 2009. But not only that – they’ve also said that they will be releasing an Android netbook in Q3 2009. After their much anticipated but arguably lack-lustre entrance into the smartphone market earlier this year Acer really needed to make a name for itself within the market, and this is definitely one way to do it!
Continue reading »Acer Enters Smartphone Market
February 2, 2009
The Smartphone market is big, and as those of you who have read our reviews on the top smartphone offerings will know it is very competitive with pretty much all of the big mobile names laying claim to their own. But it is not often that a company that has not previously ventured into the phone market goes straight to the top but that is exactly what Acer are going to do.
On the back of their netbook success (particularly with the Acer Aspire One) they are moving into the slightly smaller mobile computing market and anticipation is high as this promises to be exiting. We can only assume that it will aim to compete with the top guns (such as the iPhone or HTC Touch HD) but whether it will have a touch screen, a QWERTY keyboard or a stylish design we just don’t know.
Continue reading »Acer 10″ Netbook Announced
January 27, 2009
I am a big fan of netbooks: I love the way they combine portability with a machine that you can actually do things on without being bulky or fiddly (almost a compromise between a smartphone and a laptop). However during the last 6 months I have grown increasingly frustrated with the amount of netbooks being released by big names that have been so generic it is untrue.
But if you are going to look at netbooks you will see there are a few that immediately stand out: the Acer Aspire One, the Samsung NC10 and Asus’ N10 and numerous Eee PCs. They all occupy well defined rungs in the price ladder (roughly £200, £300, £450 [and everything in between for the Eee PCs] although obviously different models result in a large range). But Acer, who have so far been flushed with success, are hoping to displace the NC10 from this list.
Continue reading »Sony Netbook (Vaio P Series)
January 18, 2009
As you may have read already, netbooks are a big thing and they are attracting some of the biggest names. However Sony have been conspicuous by their absence and there has been much talk as to what is going on behind the walls of Sony HQ, most of it under the assumption that they are planning a venture into the packed netbook market.
So come CES 2009 many people were very excited at the prospect of a Sony Netbook and as they crammed round the stall they got a view of something very interesting. The Sony Vaio P-series, a product which follows the successful line of Vaio products renowned for their quality, and the letter P almost definitely standing for portable. But why the confusion? Well read on!
Continue reading »Acer Aspire One Netbook Review
November 16, 2008
I’ve always been a big fan of good things in small packages. I remember spending almost a month’s pay on the Toshiba Libretto 70CT. Known as a sub-notebook, it was about the size of a VHS cassette although slightly slimmer, but it weighed a lot more. It ran Windows 98 on a Pentium 120Mhz CPU, had a 1.2GB hard disk, and although it was no PC hot-rod (even back then) it was damn-good at what it was designed for, which brings me to the Acer Aspire One.
The Acer Aspire One (referred to hereafter as simply the “Aspire”) comes in several different versions. The version I bought (and because it’s so cheap, the only version I’d advise anyone to go for) is, like all Aspires, based around the 1.6Ghz Intel Atom CPU. This version has 1GB of RAM, a 120GB SATA HDD, Wireless G and cabled 10/100 Ethernet, 3x USB2.0 ports, 1x analogue VGA port, 1x SDHC slot and 1X SDHC/MSPRO/XD card reader and an integrated wed-cam. Phew, can’t complain about the connectivity then! I bought this from Currys in October 2008 for £260.
Continue reading »
