Acer's New 11.6' Netbook: Most Practical Netbook Yet

Is it just me, or does it seem strange that netbooks are getting bigger? The slim, lightweight, and reasonably powerful sub-10" laptops that have captured the hearts of penny-pinching Americans mired in a recession are steadily growing outwards from their 7" and 8.9" roots.

HP started the trend with the release of its 10.2" HP Mini 1010 last year. Boasting a 92% full size keyboard, the Mini matched smaller netbooks in power while adding a much-needed punch of size and style.

Unfortunately, the Mini costs just under $500 in most places, making it a runner-up to the cheaper Acer Aspire One lineup of netbooks. Acer has carved the biggest share of the netbook market on the back of its 8.9" edition, but in recent months has also decided to bulk up.

Acer Aspire One AO751h Features

Early this year Acer unveiled its own 10.1" version of the netbook, and now it's getting fans of portability even more excited with the Aspire One AO751h, an 11.6" system.

Acer's new offering boasts a full sized keyboard, effectively bumping competitor HP off the road on that count. It's also got a 16:9 LED display, much better than the mediocre resolutions offered by rivals. Acer America's VP of product management Sumit Agnihotry believes the new style will bring even more people into the netbook market.

"We predict that the larger display and keyboard will be a game-changer for mobile consumers looking to take it to the next level with the ultimate mobile device," he said. (Source: cnet.com)

A Bigger, Faster, Longer-Lasting Netbook

The device is also slightly faster, using a 1.22 GHz processor. The standard RAM and hard drive options remain mostly unchanged, at 1 GB RAM and 160 GB HDD respectively. However, there's a 6-cell battery in this one, trumping the battery lives of most 3-cell competitors.

Acer currently holds an impressive 30.5 per cent slice of the netbook pie, shipping 1.8 million of the tiny notebooks in the first quarter of 2009 alone. With a suggested retail price of $379.99, this new machine could help improve those already lofty numbers. (Source: informationweek.com)