Acer has shown off a new netbook at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week, and NotebookItalia (in Italian) has just posted the first images and details of the latest netbook from Acer. We don’t know what will be powering the Acer Aspire One D257 yet, but we do know that the netbook has a new design.

To start, the Aspire D257 has a new look on the lid with, what we are calling, a water drop design. The Acer stylised “O” in One is the center of ripples that radiate outward as if you had let a drop of water fall on the device. While it’s easy to overdo the graphics on a notebook lid, the press shots make this look nice without being too flashy.

In addition to the new design on the lid, NotebookItalia, points us to the actual design changes on the D527 that users will notice when they get to see one in person. Most noticeably, the corners and lines are all softer and rounder than we have seen in the past. Additionally there is a new touchpad with a scroll bar to the right and a single mouse button across the bottom visible in the pictures.

NotebookItalia doesn’t have any details for the European release or specifications and pricing, and unfortunately we don’t know if this model will make it to the States, but it is likely that the design changes will eventually arrive on other Acer netbooks here in the states as newer models come out.

Acer Aspire One D257 Launched at Mobile World Congress 2011 is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

The Acer Aspire One AO721 and Aspire One AO521 netbooks were updated today to include AMD Athlon II Neo K125 processors and ATI Radeon HD4225 graphics to provide netbook users with a portable device that also has some power to it.

The Acer Aspire One 721 is an 11.6″ netbook that offers a 16.9″ display with a 1366 x 768 resolution. It provides users with a full size keyboard, is less than an inch thick and weighs a little over 3 pounds. In addition to the Athlon II Neo processor it also has a 250GB hard drive and 2GB DDR3 RAM. The Acer Aspire One 721 runs Windows 7 Home Premium and claims up to six hours of battery life.

The Acer Aspire One 521 is a 10.1″ AMD powered netbook that is under an inch thick and wights around 2.75 pounds. The Acer Aspire One 521 comes with a 160GB hard drive and 1 GB DDR3 Ram. It runs Windows 7 Starter and claims up to six hours of battery life.

Both of these notebooks will be avialable in the U.S. by the end of October. The Acer Aspire One 721 retails for $429 and the Acer Aspire One 521 retails for $349. It appears that some stores are already stocking them.

Acer Aspire One AO721 and AO521 Netbooks Updated is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

Acer announced the Acer Aspire One AOD255 netbook today alongside several other Acer Aspire upgrades. The AOD255 is a dual-core netbook powered by an Intel Atom N550 processor and has a claimed battery life of up to 8 hours of battery life.

The Aspire One AOD255 has a 10.1″ LEd backlit screen, 93% standard size keyboard is an inch thick and weighs in at a little over 2.5 pounds. The AOD255 also has a built in webcam, 250GB hard drive 1GB of DDR3 RAM and is available in four colors. The netbook comes with Windows 7 Starter as well as Office Starter 2010 which provides access to basic document editing out of the box.

The Acer Aspire One AOD255 will be available widely later this month for $329.99 and is currently on Amazon.com for $279. A single core Intel Atom N45o model will start at $269.99.

Acer Aspire One AOD255 Specifications:

• 10.1-inch CrystalBrite LED-backlit display (1024 x 600)
• Windows 7 Starter
• Microsoft Office Starter 2010
• Integrated Intel graphics
• 1GB of DDR3 memory
• 250GB hard drive
• 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi
• Ethernet
• 1.3-megapixel HD webcam
• Built-in microphone
• 93%-sized keyboard
• Battery life: Up to eight hours

Acer Aspire One AOD255 Dual Core Netbook w/ 8 Hour Battery Announced is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

Make Magazine has made a video showing how to install a Pixel Qi display in an Acer Aspire One netbook. At $275 a kit, check out the video below to see whether or not you could handle this do-it-yourself modification.

The $275 Pixel Qi DIY display kit is an innovative new product that allows you to swap out your old 10.1-inch netbook screen for a dual-mode display with a low-power, outdoor readable mode. The regular mode is similar to any other notebook display, but when switch to the alternative mode, the display resembles that of an E-Book reader such as the Amazon Kindle. This non-backlit display mode aims to alleviate eye strain by providing a near black and white picture for better contrast, which also makes it easy to view in direct sunlight.

Seeing as it is $275 for a kit, and that you will void your netbook’s warranty by replacing the current screen with a Pixel Qi display, you need to make sure you are able to stomach the challenge. Below is a video of the process, shown on an Acer Aspire One netbook, to give you a better idea of the steps that are involved. If the process looks a little to complicated for you, or you are just worried about voiding your warranty, you may want to consider waiting for netbook to be released with a Pixel Qi display installed by the manufacturer. However, there is no word on any future netbooks that will have this feature integrated, so you may be waiting quite a while. It only takes Make Magazine 10 minutes to install the Pixel Qi display, so it should be do-able for most users who have patience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd6RfNaU_vc&feature=player_embedded

The Pixel Qi DIY display upgrade kit is now shipping for $275.

Via Liliputing

Installing a Pixel Qi Display in an Acer Aspire One Netbook is a post by Carter Sprunger from Notebooks.com.

Gateway introduced a new addition to the LT netbook series. The LT32 netbook features an 11.6-inch screen and an AMD Athlon II Neo processor.

Following the release of the smaller Gateway LT23, the LT32 packs a little bit more power and memory with added screen real estate. However, it forfeits the fashion focused design of the LT23.

Gateway LT32 Specs

• 11.6-inch display (136×768 resolution)
• 1.7GHz AMD Athlon II Neo K125 processor
• 2GB of DDR3 RAM
• ATI Radeon HD 4225 with 384MB VRAM
• 802.11b/g/n WiFi
• HDMI out
• 5-in-one card reader
• Multi-touch capable touchpad
• 6-cell battery for up to 5.5 hours of battery life

The LT32 has almost the exact same specs as that of the Acer Aspire One 721. The main difference is that the LT32 claims a longer battery life, by over two hours. They both start at about the same price.

The Gateway LT32 starts at $449 and is available now.

Via LaptopMagazine

Gateway LT32 Compact Netbook Announced is a post by Carter Sprunger from Notebooks.com.

Acer is updating its one of its netbooks. That seems like an oft repeated phrase around here, but this one is special because of  the processor.

Very much like their previously released D260 with the in-your-face branding, the Acer Aspire One D255 adds a new dual-core Atom N550 processor running at 1.5GHz. That’s right, the update has a lower model number for some reason. Of course these numbers  mean very little.

According to Netbooks Review, the Acer Aspire One D255 is the first netbook with the new processor. Another difference between this model and the D260 is finish; there are no “chrome elements and glass splitter like ‘flake’ design,” says Macles, the original source.

The result of the new processor (previously only found in desktop and nettop models) is faster performance on multi-threaded applications, but potentially slower performance on software that doesn’t take use of the dual-core. This is because the processor has a slower clock speed in order to give it two cores.

Two slower cores are faster than a single faster core, if a program knows there are two cores. It it doesn’t, it will only use one of the cores at a slower clock speed, thus pulling down the performance. Also, the Atom processor doesn’t have turbo boost, a feature that lets the processor go into a computer version of overdrive when serious processor intensive tasks are being performed, like photo and video processing. Of course this is not a problem for just this Atom processor, but all Atom processors. We may never see the feature in the Atom design since Intel has to cut corners somewhere to give us these lower priced processors.

The other specs for the D255 include the following:

• Intel Atom N550 Dual-core Processor running at 1.5GHz
• 10.1-inch screen
• 1025×600 resolution
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3150
• 1GB of Ram
• UP to 250 GB Hard Drive
• Multi-card reader supporting MMC, SD, Memory Stick, xD
• Acer Crystal Eye Webcam with 1280×1024 resolution
• Multi-gesture touchpad
• VGA port
• Ethernet
• 802.11 b/g/n wireless
• 3 USB 2.0 ports
• Headphone/speaker/line-out and Mic in ports
• Choice between 6-cell batter for up to 8 hours or a 3-cell for up to 4 hours of battery life
• Windows 7 Starter or XP Home Editions

There is no word on pricing or availability at this time.

Acer Aspire One D255 with Dual Core Atom Processor is a post by Kevin Purcell from Notebooks.com.

Acer announced three interesting new units all with small form factors but each packing some individuality.

Acer Aspire One 533

First up, the Acer Aspire One 533 is a 10.1 inch netbook. Sounds kind of h0-hum so far. Some of these specs we’ve seen before. A 1.66GHz Intel Atom N455 Processor is average. 1024×600 resolution is okay. A 250 GB hard drive? We’ve seen that before. It also has Wi-Fi and a 3G option. The netbook is portable or it wouldn’t be a netbook. It gives you up to 10 hours of battery life and has some nice color options including black, red, and white.

But, while not earth shattering there are a few nice options that make this slightly more than average. If you want, you can get a higher resolution display at 1280×720 offering and HD display and a HDMI port to connect to an external HD display. Also there is a faster processor with a 1.83GHz Intel Atom N470. And this one comes with Bluetooth 3.o instead of the typical 2.1. 3.0 is a faster protocol than the typical 2.1.

For a netbook, the 533 offers a little extra when compared to the rest. No official word on pricing and available according to the report at Liliputing.

Acer Aspire One 753

For their second act, Acer has the Aspire One 753 coming out too. This one has an 11.6-inch display and also has HD capability at 1366×768 resolution powered by Intel graphics and 128 MB of dedicated graphics memory and DX10 support. It too has HDMI out. This offers a nicer movie watching experience, either on the system or connected to another display. And with DX10 support you might be able to do a little gaming.

The 753 will be powered by an Intel Celeron U3400 ULV processor and 4GB of DDR3 memory. Throw in a roomy 640GB hard drive and Wi-Fi plus the option to add Bluetooth and a 3G radio.

Acer Aspire One D260

Finally, Acer is announcing the Acer Aspire One D260. The hardware specs are average for a netbook. You get a 10.1-inch screen with a 1024×600 resolution and integrated Intel GMA 3150 graphics. The processor is an Intel Atom N450 running at 1.66GHz or an optional N455. There is also 1GB of memory and 250 GB of hard drive space. Wi-Fi is included and there is an option to add Bluetooth 3.0.

But here is where the D260 stops being a middling device. It is going to come with an option to have Google Android OS installed in a dual-boot environment alongside Windows 7. They did this before with the AO D250 last year, but that is a nice differentiating feature.

Acer Launches Aspire One 533, 753 and D260 Netbooks is a post by Kevin Purcell from Notebooks.com.

If you own a netbook, then you likely have one with an Intel Atom processor. It may not be the only processor available in a netbook, but Intel is dominant in the form factor.

AMD hopes to put a dent in Intel’s domination by introducing the AMD HD Netbook Platform at the Netbook Summit in San Francisco. The new netbook platform …

…enables netbooks that actually deliver on their promise: real portability, affordability, usability and long battery life. Not to mention outstanding performance. (Nigel Dessau, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at AMD from a blog post)

AMD corporate vice president and Client Division CTO, Joe Macri delivered the address introducing the platform at the summit.

Up till now AMD believed netbooks were not viable as satisfying mobile computers. Dessau supports this view by highlighting the percentage of netbooks that are returned and the poor satisfaction surveys of users of netbooks. He stated that buyers were drawn in by the price but then felt like they did not get what they were hoping for an acceptable level of performance for a low price.

We believed there were too many compromises for the user, particularly the visual experience. Given these shortcomings, it was clear that netbooks were going to have to evolve to survive as a category. (Dessau)

What has changed for AMD? One thing is size. The early netbooks were actually smaller than 10 inches. The tiny screen and keyboard made them unsatisfying. However, netbooks have grown in size with some now sporting 11-inch or bigger displays and full-size keyboards. It is also now possible to put powerful processors graphics chips into a small case without the heat and battery life issue of previous generations.

The result of this new evolution is an HD netbook platform that AMD hopes will not only give customers what they want but will help AMD compete in the netbook market.

Acer Aspire One 521

Acer is one of the first manufacturers to climb aboard the platform with the Acer Aspire 521, 721 and 1551 netbooks announced at Cannes last week. The 521 is a 10.1-inch netbook while the 721 and 1551 are both 11.6 inch models.

The 521 cannot technically be called an HD netbook, if HD stands for high definition. It only has a 1024×600 resolution display. It does have an AMD V105 single core processor though running at 1.2 GHz. But there is one report that says it struggles while playing HD content from YouTube. The German site, Notebook Journal, tested it and found that it could handle standard def at full screen and 720p content viewed in a window. But if you play a flash video at full screen it was not able to handle it smoothly. The report acknowledged that the problems may be user error, but until there are more tests of HD video on the netbook, one cannot be sure it will be able handle streaming HD video in full screen.

Acer put a dual-core AMD Athlon Neo K325 processor in the Acer Aspire One 721 and gave it an 11.6-inch screen. The resolution is 1366×768 making it a 720p compatible HD display. It also has a Radeon HD 4225 graphics processor with an HDMI out port.

With the Acer Aspire One 1551 you get an AMD Turion II Neo dual core processor. And it is also truly HD with its Radeon HD 4225 graphics powering the 11.6-inch display with 1366 x 768 resolution. It also has an HDMI port. The video below is of the Packard Bell dot.a netbook, which is a rebranded version of the Acer 1551 model.

AMD HD Netbooks Promise ‘No Compromise’ is a post by Kevin Purcell from Notebooks.com.

Another solid deal from the good people at Woot. Today you can pick up a refurbished Acer Aspire One AOD250 for $219 (+$5 shipping). Remember, this deal is only good until 11:59 PM central time today (that’s how Woot works)! Check out the important specs below:

• Windows 7 Starter
• Intel Atom N270 CPU @ 1.6GHz
• 10.1” screen @ 1024×600 resolution
• 1GB of RAM
• 160GB HDD
• WiFi B/G
• Your choice of color at checkout (black, blue, pink, purple, red, white)

For some more detail and images, head on over to Woot.com to see if this is the deal for you, and don’t forget that it could sell out before the deal itself ends!

Today Only: Acer Aspire One 10.1” Netbook for $219 is a post by Ben from Notebooks.com.

This is some relatively sad news. I wrote a while back about the value that Nvidia’s ION graphics system brings to netbooks and showed you how it can handle Blu-ray playback. Naturally, I’m pretty excited about for next generation of said graphics system, ION 2, to reach consumers. Unfortunately it looks like we’ll have to wait a little while longer.

Engadget is reporting that the upcoming 12” Asus Eee 1201PN, which is the companies first ION 2 netbook, will not be shipping in Europe or Asia until mid-may and won’t reach the US until June. The 10” Acer Aspire One 532G (also ION 2 equipped) netbook also won’t be out until early June, according to Engadget. The Eee 1201PN has me especially excited. Asus makes perhaps some of the nicest looking netbooks on the market, and if they can price it decently, an ION equipped Eee 1201 would be a great value for people who want the ability to play HD content but don’t want to spend the money on a high powered computer. Quite a shame that’ll we have to wait longer, but I guess we’ll see them in due time. Check out a video below to see how ION 2 handles HD playback with CPU usage only hovering around 8-10%!

Asus and Acer Nvidia ION 2 Netbooks Not Shipping Until Late May and Beyond is a post by Ben from Notebooks.com.