Acer Aspire One gets Athlon II Neo and new Atoms

Acer upgraded its entire Aspire One lineup for the US today to take advantage of newer processors. The 10.1-inch AO521 and 11.6-inch AO721 together are Acer's first netbooks with AMD processors and use a 1.7GHz Athlon II Neo instead of the usual Atom chip. For either system, the greatest leap is graphics: either uses a Radeon HD 4225 integrated chipset that can handle HD video and other tasks usually off-limits for Intel netbooks.

Either should be about under an inch thick and less than 2.8 pounds even for the larger model. OS and memory primarily dictate the differences outside of screen sizes, as the AO521 is limited to 1GB of RAM and Windows 7 Starter where the AO721's 2GB of RAM lets it run Windows 7 Home Premium. Either has up to 250GB of disk space and an HDMI video output.

Two 10.1-inch Atom-based models are still joining the group. The AOD260 is characterized as a slim, designer model with a patterned look and a just over 2.4-pound weight. It carries the 1.66GHz Atom N450 from the start of the year, but its RAM and hard drive specs haven't been detailed for the US release.

The AO533 advances to the newer 1.83GHz Atom N475 in exchange for a heavier 2.8-pound weight. It has just 1GB of RAM and a 250GB hard drive but should last eight hours on a charge.

Of the range, the AMD-running netbooks are due first and ship today at prices of $350 for the AOD521 and $430 for the AOD721. Later in the month, the Intel systems will be ready at $298 for the AOD260 and $330 for the AOD533.

AO521 and AO721







AOD260 and AO533

By Electronista Staff