If you’re looking to upgrade from XP or Vista on your netbook, or perhaps you already have, then here’s some great news for you. Some netbook makers have already updated the driver download pages to include Windows 7 drivers which should work better than Vista drivers you may be using instead. Most Asus netbooks now have drivers for Windows 7 from their support page.

Other companies have updated their support pages but, not all companies support many netbook models. There is support from Toshiba for the NB205, while Acer are providing Windows 7 drivers for the Aspire One 751 and AOP531h with AOD250 to follow. Dell are listing drivers for the Mini 10v and Mini 10 but not the Inspiron Mini 9 or 12. HP on the other hand have support for discontinued netbooks, such as the HP Mini 2140. They’ve also got support for the 110, 5101 and other models. Lenovo have also updated their support page to include manuals but, no drivers yet. This could change soon though.

via

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Windows 7 drivers added for netbooks

We recently reported that the dual booting netbook from Acer should be available to purchase from November. At the time we had no price for the netbook but, the machine is now up for pre-order on Amazon, with a retail price. The Acer Aspire One D250 is available to pre-order for a price of $349.99. No specific release date is listed.

The netbook will dual boot Android and Windows XP. A Windows 7 model should also be available with the release of a Windows 7 model in Japan.

via

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Acer Aspire D250 up for Preorder and priced

Acer’s dual booting netbook, the D250 is due to hit stores in November. Currently no price is known but, despite the fact that it will run Android doesn’t mean it will be cheaper than the current 10 inch netbook from Acer. For those unfamiliar with th D250, the netbook will ship with Android along with Windows XP largely due to the company not knowing how Android will be received amongst consumers. The D250 has already been previewed and the Windows OS worked as well as expected on a netbook but, the Android side of things could be improved, so hopefully it’ll be improved by release.

via

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Acer D250 arriving November

We’ve seen many companies bring out protective sleeves for netbooks, along with bags designed for netbooks. Other accessories considered as essentials include travel mice and external DVD readers, due to most software still needing, or being easier to install anyway, through a DVD. Installing a new OS on a netbook is also much easier if you’ve got an external DVD reader, rather than formatting a USB thumb drive in such a way that the netbook boots from the drive. With this is mind, Acer have created a bundle pack combining these items. The pack includes a protective sleeve which supports netbooks with up to an 11.6 inch display, a USB DVD-RW Drive along with a wireless mouse. It’s noted the USB DVD Drive is powered through USB, so unlike many other external DVD drives, there’s no need for a seperate power cable.

It’s available from several US stores, including TigerDirect and is most easily found by it’s model number “A180-1221″ (thanks Liliputing). Retail price is $100.

via

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Netbook accessory pack from Acer

The upcoming Ferrari One netbook by Acer will be launching in the UK October 22nd for a non Ferrari price of £400. While it’s still a bit more than most netbooks, it does feature an 11.6 inch display along with 2GB of RAM and a dual core AMD Athlon X2 L310 1.2GHz CPU. It also features an ATI Radeon graphics chip along with a 1366×768 resolution display.

TechRadar have grabbed some more photos of the Ferrari One which look stunning, which you can view below.

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Pictures of the Acer Ferrari One netbook

The netbook overall receives a verdict of disappointing and feels semi finished, most of which is attributed to Android. The Android Market has been removed from the OS along with the ability to block sideload software, making it a “closed OS”. On the other hand, Acer seem to have also reworked the OS so that it fits the larger screen on the D250, which is a 10 inch display. Windows XP however works as well as expected on the netbook.

via

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Android Acer Aspire One D250 previewed

Via LaptopMag

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Acer Aspire One 751 reviewed by LaptopMag

The Acer Aspire One 751 moves away from the usual netbook specs of just a few months ago and carries an Atom Z520 processor, Windows Vista, and a very slim and sexy exterior. It has so far proved to be much slimmer than any other netbook I have put against it (except perhaps the 1000HA). It is also quite light considering the size and the 11.6-inch screen really shows a noticeable difference in size compared to other models.


Since the Aspire One 751 is equipped with a fairly larger screen, Acer was able to put in an even larger keyboard than usual, with wider keys and a lot of travel and tactile feedback. I even feel like this netbook’s keyboard has been the best that I have ever used. Its keys are comfortable to type with, and the increased width really helps a lot for touch-typists such as myself.

Key placement has not been a problem at all, and there are still indicator lights just above the keyboard for added convenience. After using keyboards on both 9-inch and 10-inch netbooks for quite some time, the difference of this 11.6-incher’s keyboard is really noticeable in terms of usage.

Acer has equipped the Aspire One 751 with a wide multi-touch trackpad that has a single left/right click button. I used to not care about this feature (multi-touch) at all but after learning how it actually works and what it does, I’ve found that it actually is, in some ways, better than using a mouse. The fact that the trackpad on the Aspire One 751 really helps. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about the one-button clicker. In usage, it feels like I’m making things hard for myself. Perhaps, one will be able to get used to it after time.

Apart from the fact that it is larger, the Acer Aspire One 751’s 11.6-inch screen seems to bear the same characteristics as the screens found in all other previous Acer netbook models. It is a glossy screen, so inherently it is quite problematic to use outside or anywhere with a lot of ambient light. Otherwise, it is a fine screen with lots of brightness and color.

The jump from 10-inch to 11.6-inch is even bigger, and the resolution is bumped to 1366 x 768 pixels. While it only really offers an inch and a half more screen real estate, the resolution helps make things even better.

Ports-wise, it offers the usual, 3 USB ports, mic/headphone jack, built-in card reader, etc. Its main difference when it comes to this aspect of being a netbook is basically its slimmer profile. It is a lot slimmer than many other comparable netbooks before it, and that’s saying something. Even with its 6-cell battery, it is not quite as heavy as other netbooks I’ve been able to hold in my hand.

And speaking of the battery, Acer claims that the Aspire One 751 can reach up to 8 hours of computing easy. This, of course, really depends on how you use the netbook and what you use it for, but we’ll see how it really performs in real life tests once we finish setting it up for a review. As far as performance goes, it works OK. Not really blazing fast, but I didn’t notice any noticeable slowdowns in a unit equipped with 2GB of RAM and the aforementioned Atom Z520 processor (clocked at 1.33GHz). We’ll be prepping up a full review of this netbook to be published soon, but for now take another look at it in the gallery below.

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Acer Aspire One 751 hands-on

At the back, the VESA-mounted Acer AspireRevo doesn’t look so bad. It just sits there, quietly. The annoyance here, it seems, is that the age-old problem of cable management. It’s a mess that just might be enough to drive some people insane. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to keep the AspireRevo nettop under a desk with its diminutive size, so I don’t think having regular-length desktop cables makes any sense at all. But then again, that’s just me, and maybe some of the prospective AspireRevo nettop users are accustomed to seeing spaghetti rolling around the back of their monitors.

Here we see where the spaghetti cables are coming from: the VGA-out as it connects to the monitor, and USB ports for the USB keyboard and mouse. If you think that’s messy, remember that the AspireRevo also has an HDMI port, and Ethernet jack, which means that this side of the nettop is only going to get more crowded. As long as you are in front of the monitor, though, this shouldn’t bother you.

A closer look at the ports of the Acer AspireRevo shows us just where exactly which port goes. There’s also a security lock slot placed at the bottom corner, for those times when you don’t want to mount the nettop on the back of a monitor and just want to have it sitting around above your desk.

These are the bundled accessories that will come with every Acer AspireRevo when it comes out in the market. A USB keyboard, USB mouse, and USB speakers. They are white, and to be honest, look like toys. I know the AspireRevo is supposed to be small, much like a toy that you would just set aside and all, but the appearance of these accessories are totally going in the wrong direction. Upon usage, I’ve found that they really live up to their appearances. That said, it shouldn’t be hard to find a replacement keyboard and mouse combo plus a set of speakers that will match your taste.

So far, the Acer AspireRevo seems to be able to deliver on its promises. Watch out for our full review in a couple of weeks to see our final verdict on Atom + Ion on a nettop. For now, check out a few more photos in our gallery below.

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Acer AspireRevo hands-on

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.

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Acer Aspire One D250 live pics and first impressions