Although Acer announced that they will be launching an Android based netbook, the lack of excitements among users is making them took a turn to dual-boot. Still, Acer Aspire One with the infamous Android operating system is out. You can still use Windows XP, but you can boot Google’s Android OS if you are looking for a more comfortable and open source mobile platform especially when it comes to browsing the internet or adding applications to support its functions.
The new version of Aspire One D250 will use Intel Atom N280 at 1.66 GHz as its main brain with the support of 1 GB DDR2 RAM. It is known to be powerful enough even for running Windows Vista with modest visuals. The 10.1” WSVGA is no different than non-Android D250 models, but it is more than enough to display high resolution desktop at razor sharp color depth. You will also enjoy the built in Intel GMA 950 graphics processor; although it is not the best available on the market today, its performance is way above average. Netbooks are designed for office and mediocre computing anyway, so you wouldn’t expect too much graphical or 3D power from its chosen graphics processor. You wouldn’t have to worry about storage though, because the 160 GB SATA hard disk should be more than enough to store your files.
Acer Netbook with Android Pre-Installed
Other than several main components described above, Acer also adds Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g support as well as Bluetooth 2.1 module. Webcam, stereo speakers, three USB 2.0 ports, and of course a 6-cell battery will make this netbook a complete package for mobile computing.
The Android-equipped D250 is available in red, black, blue, and white with its retail price starts at $349.99. People are expecting to see the price being a lot lower, but with Acer choosing to put Windows XP installed as well there is no surprise that the price is not much different than previous models of Aspire One D250.
The launch of this netbook also confirms Acer’s decision not to produce netbooks with Chrome OS. Several Chinese manufacturers will be launching netbooks with Chrome OS later this year, but big manufacturers such as Acer, Lenovo, and even MSI are confirming that they are not yet interested in developing and launching Chrome-based netbooks in the near future.
Ankur Jain is a Software Engineer in Test Automation. After a 5 years stint with Accenture and Oracle, he started his eLearning company. A long-time blogger and proud owner of the "Learn" series of websites. 