It looks like Acer is getting ready to break the mold with its upcoming Acer Aspire One 532G netbook. Sure, it will look virtually identical to the standard Aspire One 532H which is already available. But the 532G will be one of the first 10 inch netbooks with NVIDIA ION graphics. Oh yeah, and we’re talking NVIDIA ION 2 here.

As far as I know, NVIDIA still hasn’t officially introduced the ION 2 platform, but with Acer putting out its press release for the Aspire One 532G, it seems likely that NVIDIA will make an announcement soon.

The Acer press release doesn’t specifically refer to the chipset as ION 2, but it does mention a “next-generation NVIDIA ION GPU with dedicated 512MB memory. NVIDIA’s current ION technology uses an Intel Atom processor and replaces Intel’s integrated graphics with an NVIDIA solution. That’s not possible on computers with Intel Atom Pine Trail chips like the Aspire One 532G, because the graphics and processor are on the same piece of silicone. Instead, ION 2 will pair the Atom N450 chip with a switchable graphics card that will let you watch 1080p HD video on the netbook.

There aren’t a lot of additional details about the Aspire One 532G, but I’m pretty sure it will have a 10.1 inch, 1366 x 768 HD display, since the press release mentions playback of 720p video on the display and 1080p through an HDMI output. Update: Blogeee reports the notebook will have a 1024 x 600 pixel display. But that’s based on a tip from a “source,” so let’s take it with a grain of salt for now.

Sascha from Netbook News.de apparently got his hands on a demo model briefly this morning, and he posted an image of the device manager to TwitPic. And Notebook Italia has a hands-on video of the laptop playing HD video. You can check it out after the break.

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Like a number of PC makers, Acer hasn’t officially announced any new netbooks with Intel Atom Pine Trail processors yet. But the folks at Netbook News.de tracked down some pictures of an upcoming model called the Acer Aspire One 532h. It has an Atom N450 processor, GMA 3150 graphics, and a high resolution 1280 x 720 pixel 10.1 inch display.

Aside from the new chipset and higher resolution display, the netbook looks a lot like Acer’s current offerings in this space. It will have 1GB of RAM, either a 160GB or 250GB hard drive, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, and run Windows 7 Starter Edition.

You can find more details at Laptopshop.nl and Passiontec.de.

Update: It looks like Acer has gone ahead and officially announced the Aspire One 532h.There’s no mention of that HD display, but that doesn’t rule it out as an optional component. The base model will sell for $299 with Windows 7 Starter and a 6 cell, 4400mAh battery. The netbook comes standard with a multitouch touchpad and 802.11b/g/n WiFi.

It will be available in blue, red, and silver and the Aspire One 532h weighs 2.76 pounds and measures 10.2″ x 7.3″ x 1″.

In case you miss out on the insane $150 Aspire One Office Max is going to offer on Black Friday, you can still score one for just under $200 at Target.

According to the leaked flyer, you’ll also receive a free neoprene sleeve for your new netbook. I’m not sure that makes the Target deal worth the extra $40, but at least it gives you a back-up option if you aren’t lucky enough to get your hands on one at the Max.

via CrunchGear

You know the holiday season is just around the corner when the Black Friday ads start to leak onto the web. Black Friday, for the uninitiated is the day after Thanksgiving. It’s often one of the busiest shopping days of the year, and it got its name, because it’s about the time when many retail stores are finally in “the black” for the fiscal year meaning they start turning a profit.

Anyway, one of the first ads to leak was for Office Max, and while the ad is no longer available online, the folks at Gizmodo documented all the important bits, including one of the best deals on a netbook I’ve seen. Office Max will reportedly have a 10.1 inch Acer Aspire One with 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, and Windows XP available in stores on Black Friday for $149.99.

It’s not clear whether this is an Acer Aspire One AOD150 or AOD250, but the store only seems to stock the AOD250 currently, and that is Acer’s flagship model at the moment. Either way I expect that for that price you’re going to get a netbook with a 3 cell battery rather than the higher capacity 6 cell battery option.OfficeMax currently charges $299.99 for the Acer Aspire One AOD250 with Windows XP and a 3 cell battery.

For $150, I’d almost expect to see these netbooks hanging out with the candy and bubble gum in the impulse buy area by the cash registers.

via Netbook Reports

Kuki is a Linux distribution based on Ubuntu, and designed to work with Acer Aspire One mini-laptops. Specifically, it should run on most Acer netbooks that were designed to run Linpus Linux Lite, which is a stripped down Linux distribution that may be appropriate for beginners, but which may seem a bit limiting to more advanced Linux users.

The last time I checked in on Kuki Linux, the project was still in its early stages. But this week saw the release of Kuki Linux 2.8.

The latest version is built on a specially configured version of the Linux 2.6.31-RC7 kernel with built in support for 3G drivers, fan control, the Intel video driver, and the Aspire One’s other hardware. The user interface is based on Xfce, which is a light weight Linux desktop environment that won’t use a ton of system resources or take up too much space on a netbook with a low resolution display.

Applications including the Midori web browser, Mplayer media player, Pidgin instant messenger, Claws mail, and Orage calendar.

You can install Kuki by downloading a disc image and using a USB CD burner, or by using unetbootin or usb-creator to copy the installation files to a USB flash drive.

For more information, check out the brief demo video after the break.

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Update: Now you can read my detailed review of the Acer Aspire 1410.

The Acer Aspire Timeline series of thin and light computers aren’t exactly netbooks. They have Intel CULV processors that use more energy and provide better performance than most Intel Atom based netbooks. But it’s never been the processor that defined the netbook, it’s the size and price. And most of the Timeline notebooks are 13 inches or larger. But there is one model I’ve been keeping my eye on: The Acer Aspire Timeline 1810T, which is expected to have an 11.6 inch display and a 1.4GHz Intel ULV SU3500 processor and GMA 4500MHD graphics.

Now it looks like Acer may be rebranding that model so that it’s not part of the Timeline series or the Acer Aspire One netbook series. Acer’s German site simply lists a model called the Acer Aspire 1410, which certainly looks a lot like the 1810T. And Netbook Choice spotted two US retailers taking pre-orders for the Aspire 1410 for between $465 and $475.

The laptop has also been spotted in the wild in China.

So let’s see. Is it priced under $500? Check. Does it weigh less than 3 pounds? Just barely. Sure, it’s got a screen larger than 10 inches, but there are plenty of so-called netbooks with 11.6 inch and 12 inch displays these days. And I’m guessing the Aspire 1410 will perform circles around them when it comes to graphics and CPU-intensive tasks. The only question I have left is what kind of battery life you’ll be able to squeeze out of the 6 ell, 4400mAh, 47.5WHr battery.

Oh, and if that wasn’t enough for you, it looks like there’s also going to be an Acer Aspire 1810TZ model, sporting a dual-core CULV processor.

Most netbooks with Intel Atom processors and integrated GMA950 graphics can handle 720p HD video. But try playing a 1080p clip and you’re in for a choppy, sluggish, battery-killing experience. Two companies have solutions for that. NVIDIA’s ION platform bundles the Atom processor with a higher performance GeForce 9400M graphics processor. Not only do you get better HD video performance, but you can also use an ION based system to play 3D video games.

Broadcom, on the other hand, offers a Crystal HD Enhanced Video Accelerator, which works in conjunction with the Atom/GMA950 graphics. The co-processor doesn’t use much energy, and HP offers it as a $30 upgrade to the HP Mini 110 netbook. But it’s not readily available as an option for any other netbook yet.

But the folks at Terracode managed to get their hands on a Broadcom video accelerator and they crammed it in an 8.9 inch Acer Aspire One netbook. The mini-laptop was also upgraded with a high performance solid state disk, which replaces the standard 160GB hard drive.

The Broadcom chip is designed to decode HD video up to 1080p in H.264, WMV9, MPEG-2, and a handful of other formats. It also supports Blu-Ray disc playback, assuming you’ve got a Blu-Ray player plugged into you netbook or nettop.

Terracode has posted detailed instructions for disassembling the Acer Aspire One and placing the Broadcom chip inside. The end result is a low power computer that can handle 1080p video playback with very little strain on the CPU. Right now, you’ll need the version of ArcSoft Total Media Theater that’s been optimized to take advantage of the Broadcom accelerator, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we see additional applications add support in the not too distant future. Terracode picked up the video accelerator for about $40 on eBay.

via SlashGear

If this JingWah Digital Fashion A10 looks familiar, that’s because it’s pretty much an exact clone of the original 8.9 inch Acer Aspire One netbook. You know, except for the “Fashion A10″ logo emblazoned on the netbook. Oh yeah, and the processor. While Aspire One netbooks sport Intel Atom processors, the Fashion A10 is powered by a VIA C7-M CPU.

The netbook has an 8.9 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel screen, 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive, and integrated WiFi. No word on how much it costs, but I doubt you’ll find this particular model outside of China anytime soon.

You can find more photos at Shanzhaiben.

via Cloned in China

Last week we told you about the aaSNES1, a hack which involved taking the guts of an Acer Aspire One netbook and pack them into a Super Nintendo case to create a unique and arguably unattractive but incredibly geeky desktop computer. Just to make things a bit more interesting, the folks behind this hack also gutted a Super Mario game cart and stuck a slot-loading DVD-RW drive in it.

The whole thing was still a work in progress last week, but now it’s finished and there’s video to prove it. Oh, and if you want an aaSNES1 of your own but don’t  feel like ripping apart a netbook and an outdated game system to build one yourself, you can bid on the original aaSNES1 on eBay. So far there are no bids, but there is a reserve price, so don’t expect this computer to go too cheap.

Update: The auction page has moved.

You can check out two videos of the aaSNES1 in action after the break.

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Acer has been shipping several new models of Aspire One laptops across the globe for a few weeks. But the company finally got around to adding product pages for its latest mini-notebooks to its US web site this week.

There’s now an official product page for the Acer Aspire One 751h, which is the first AspireOne to wear an 11.6 inch display. This netbook is available in a variety of configurations, but it looks like it comes standard with a 1366 x 768 pixel display and a 1.33GHz Intel Atom Z520 CPU. You get a choice of Windows XP or Vista. XP models come with 1GB of RAM and a160GB hard drive. If you opt for Vista, you can get 2GB of RAM and a 250GB hard drive.

Acer has also posted product pages for the Aspire One P531h “Pro” model” with a 10.1 inch display and the Aspire One D250 “Ultra-thin” netbook which we recently reviewed.

via Portable Monkey