As it is already available in Asia, I was able to sit down with a live unit of the Acer Aspire One D250 today to see how different it is from the model that it replaces. As you may already know, it serves to phase out Acer’s first 10-inch netbook, which was released not more than three months ago, the Acer Aspire One D150. What’s so special about the Aspire One D250 that Acer had to introduce it even though it’s essentially just the same model as the D150 but with a better processor and slimmer profile? We’ll have the answer to that shortly.


At 25.4mm thick, Acer Aspire One D250 is nearly a centimeter slimmer than the Aspire One D150. It sports a 10.1-inch screen, stereo speakers, built-in Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, optional 3G, 3 USB ports, audio in/out ports, VGA-out, 4-in-1 card reader, Ethernet jack, and 6-cell battery. It has exactly the same specs as the Aspire One D150 that, well, it has exactly the same specs as the Aspire One D150. Except for one thing: it uses Intel’s Atom N280 processor, which is slightly better than the N270 Atom chip that Aspire One D150’s are equipped with.

In terms of outer appearance, the Aspire One D250 is not only slimmer, but also smaller as Acer has managed to squeeze the body somewhat to make the netbook more compact. And the ports have been rearranged so that there’s a larger exhaust vent on the left side and there’s a more even distribution of space for these connectors.

The keyboard keys are arranged in exactly the same way, but the Aspire One D250’s appear smaller. But even though they are, typing felt ever so slightly better than on the Aspire One D150’s keyboard. Perhaps Acer made the keys a little more rigid, but I’m not exactly sure. One thing I know is that it felt just as, if not more comfortable than any of the previous Aspire One netbooks to type on in my short typing tests.

With the lid closed, it’s going to be very hard to distinguish the Acer Aspire One D250 from its predecessor. If you haven’t noticed it by now, they actually look almost exactly the same.

This obligatory unnecessary sticker shows some highlights of the Aspire One D250. It’s 3G-ready, but my test unit didn’t have a built-in 3G modem like many of the Aspire One D250 units that will be available in the market.

Here is a photo of the netbook’s right side, showing how the 2 USB ports have been moved further towards the center to give way to the 4-in-1 card reader that was moved from the left side to this one. The position of the power jack and security lock slot hasn’t been changed.

Meanwhile, on the left side, there’s a larger exhaust vent, and a slight rearrangement of ports. The audio in/out ports have been moved to the front, the Ethernet jack moved to the back, and the VGA port now resides in the middle. I haven’t opened up the netbook yet to see its innards but it components have definitely moved around inside as well since the Aspire One D150.

Looks-wise, I’m finding it hard to see how the Acer Aspire One D250 will be able to sway current owners of the D150 to “upgrade”, if that’s what Acer is trying to do here. The prospect of having an Intel Atom N280 processor might be tempting to some, though, but even then I’m still hardly convinced. Perhaps a review of the entire system is necessary to draw a solid conclusion about this netbook. As for now, I say it’s a welcome alternative, but not nearly enough to trade the old models in for.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 11th, 2009 at 9:50 pm and is filed under Netbook, acer, aspire one, competitor.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.