Aspire

Acer plans to unveil its first home server for the U.S. market on Thursday, called the Acer Aspire easyStore Home Server.

The server is intended for home use as well as small businesses that have a need for networking multiple PCs. The easyStore will run Microsoft Windows Home Server. It enables users to access files, including photos, videos, and documents on any other computer connected to the network, and creates an image-based backup of each PC daily.

The home sever is an 8x7x7 inch shiny black box, powered by Intel's Atom processor 230 and 2GB of DDR2 memory. There is a 1TB hard drive as well as three bays for swappable hard drives. Together, the easyStore can hold up to 7TB of data. There are also five USB ports, one eSATA port, and a Gigabit Ethernet port. The total price is $399.

Acer follows HP into the consumer home server market. Palo Alto, Calif.-based HP recently refreshed its MediaSmart server, and Acer's server has very similar specifications, including running Windows Home Server. … Read more

We've already seen them previewed with the rest of Acer's upcoming lineup back in April, but the official release of the next generation of Aspire One Netbooks is finally here. Most notable is the inclusion of a new, bigger 11.6-inch model, the Aspire One AO751h; also new is a revamped 10.1-inch system, the Aspire One AOD250. (Confidential to Acer: we're available as product naming consultants for the low, low price of free).

Both new Netbooks are thinner than Acer's previous models, and the 11-inch AO751h has a full-size keyboard, along with a 16:9 … Read more

Intel's mainstay Netbook chip is finding a home in desktops, underscored by recent announcements from Hewlett-Packard and Acer.

On Wednesday, details emerged of HP's MediaSmart Server LX195, a home server packing a 1.6GHz Atom 230 processor that's priced at $400 with 1GB of memory and a 640GB hard disk drive. To date, HP has been using Intel Celeron and Advanced Micro Devices' Sempron processors. (Note: update adds Intel Celeron.)

Earlier this month, Acer rolled out the Acer AspireRevo, a small, slick box that augments the Atom with an Nvidia Ion chipset to boost graphics performance. This … Read more

More specs:

Acer also announced the anti-Aspire 3935-6504: the 18.4-inch Aspire 8935G.… Read more

Remember those first 7-inch Asus Eee PCs advertised with kids tapping on chicklet keyboards? Well, Intel apparently wants us to return to those Netbook glory days.

In short, Netbooks are not for adults, according to Anand Chandrasekher, Intel senior vice president and general manager of the Ultra Mobility Group, speaking during a keynote speech at the Intel Developer Forum in Beijing, streamed on Intel's Web site.

"There are things that you would do on a notebook you wouldn't dream of doing on a Netbook...For a kid, a Netbook is fantastic, as an adult you probably want a notebook. So, there are very simple ways of positioning and thinking about it."

(Hmm...what about all those big people with Netbooks? I guess it's time to trade it in for a grown-up computer.)

Now, contrast this with what Stu Pann, vice president in Intel's sales and marketing group, said back in November of last year at a Raymond James IT Supply Chain Conference.

"We originally thought Netbooks would be for emerging markets and younger kids, and there is some of that. It turns out the bulk of the Netbooks sold today are in Western Europe, North America, and for people who just want to grab and go with a notebook," Pann said.

And Pann added: "If you've ever used a Netbook and used a 10-inch screen size--it's fine for an hour. It's not something you're going to use day in and day out." … Read more

If you feel the 10.1-inch Aspire One AOD150 (pictured) is too stingy with screen estate, and the 12.1-inch Dell Inspiron Mini 12 just too darn big, you'll probably want to wait for this. Blog site macles suggests that an 11.6-inch version of the Acer Netbook, Acer Aspire One Pro 731, is in the works. If this is true, it means Netbooks will start invading another niche market currently populated by only the Vaio TT series.

This new model targets the prosumer and business user, which is similar to the positioning of the HP Mini 2140. Besides … Read more

With all the buzz about Amazon's new Kindle 2, you'd think this revamped e-book reader was the most advanced piece of technology this side of designer babies. After all, for $359, you get a color screen, Wi-Fi and full-function Web browsing, video playback, 60GB of storage, and a reasonably usable keyboard.

Oh wait, you don't get any of that stuff. No, that's what $350 can get you if invested in even a low-end Netbook, such as the new 10-inch Acer Aspire One. Not only is there a wide range of PC software available for buying and displaying e-books (and tons of free content as well), when you're done with all that highbrow readin', pop open a Web browser and rot your brain with some Hulu videos.

Unlike the closed-loop system on the Kindle (it generally only works with e-books from Amazon, and Amazon e-books only work on the Kindle and the related iPhone app -- although there are some Kindle conversion tools out there, and Amazon will convert your personal docs for Kindle use at 10-cents a pop), at least you have a variety of different software and content provider options with my proposed $350 Kindle alternative.

We'll be the first to admit, none of these options are as seamless or easy to use as the Kindle (especially with its always-on wireless digital download store), and companies like Microsoft and Adobe aren't exactly known for building great software user experiences.

We tried installing and using a couple of e-book reading software packages on our Acer Aspire One, with mixed, but not wholly unsatisfactory results. First up was Microsoft Reader, which uses .lit files, available from several online e-book retailers (although not Amazon). Originally released in 2000, the software has a dated, inelegant interface, but displayed our e-book files cleanly. Like the Kindle, Microsoft Reader also has a built-in text-to-speech feature, although the results are just as robotic. … Read more

On this week's installment of the Digital City podcast, we discuss Acer's new ultra-cheap Netbook, share tales from the recent New York Comic Con, and how Lara Croft is getting sold to the makers of the Final Fantasy games.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Despite owning a huge chunk of the growing Netbook market, the popular Acer Aspire One has been saddled with a 9-inch screen, rather than the bigger 10-inch type we prefer. At long last, Acer now has a 10-inch model, the Aspire One AOD150.

Even better, it's keeping the starting price at $349, which is about $50-$100 cheaper than similarly configured systems from other PC makers. Netbooks were originally intended as cheap, no-frills travel machines, and the new Aspire One fits that bill well, but there are also plenty of slightly more expensive options that add polish.

Read the … Read more