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Acer rolls Aspire 8940 notebook with Core i7

Acer Aspire 8940 has quad-core, GTS 250M

Acer chose a rare Monday evening launch for an update to its Aspire notebooks. Acting as the new flagship, the 8940 takes the lead from the 8935 and use the same 18.4-inch screen but with a much faster 1.6GHz Core i7 in place of the Core 2 Quad. It further brings considerably newer GeForce GTS 250M graphics to better drive the 1080p display and, as with other Acer updates, replaces Vista with Windows 7.

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Acer intros 5738DG notebook with TriDef 3D display

Device utilizes GeForce 3D Vision stereosopic tech

Acer has formally introduced its first Aspire One notebook with a 3D display, the 5738DG. The device offers the same basic specs as the company's 5738 notebook, but trades the multi-touch display for a TriDef 3D screen. The 1366x768 display measures 15.6 inches corner-to-corner, with 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium as the pre-installed operating system.

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Acer rolls $400 CULV notebook for US

Acer AS1410 brings CULV to Aspire line

Acer on Tuesday chose to grow its use of Intel's CULV processors beyond the Timeline series and in one of its first Aspire updates. The Aspire 1410 is one of the least expensive CULV systems of any kind and will reach $400 thanks to its use of a 1.2GHz, single-core Celeron. Picking the processor still gives the 11.6-inch system six hours of battery life, a one-inch thick chassis and a weight just under 3.1 pounds.

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Acer launches netbook that dual-boots Android

Aspire One D250 runs Android, Windows

Acer made a partial return to Linux for netbooks on Thursday by confirming a version of the Aspire One D250 with Android. The 10-inch netbook can use Google's OS to start up almost immediately and browse the web, check e-mail or perform other common tasks much faster than would be possible with Windows XP. It also gives access to many apps on Android Market that would be off-limits to PCs.

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Acer outs Aspire Z5610 desktop with multitouch display

Acer Aspire Z5610 desktop with multitouch screen

Acer today prepped for the upcoming release of the Aspire Z5610, its first all-in-one desktop with multi-touch input support. The system draws on Windows 7 for its extra touch features and has a relatively large 23-inch, 1080p display to work with. Processing power is basic and comes from a dual-core 2.6GHz Pentium, but the system brings both 4GB of RAM and relatively fast graphics from an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570.

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Acer outs touchscreen Aspire, dual-core Timeline notebooks

Acer intros Windows 7 touchscreen Aspire, more

Acer on Wednesday announced it will soon launch a number of new Windows 7 powered PCs, including its first multi-touch notebook, the 15.6-inch Aspire AS5738PG notebook. At the same time, Acer updated its Timeline series of Aspire notebooks with dual-core CULV processors and the new Microsoft OS.

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Gateway's CULV notebook shows in Canada

Gateway EC1803h in Canada

Canadians have been receiving an early North American look at the first 11.6-inch Acer and Gateway notebooks to use Intel's CULV platform thanks to a model that has been spotted this week by an Electronista tipster at Future Shop stores in the country. Known as the Gateway EC1803h, the PC seems to be a rebranding and mild respecification of the Acer Timeline 1810T (Aspire 1410 in the US) that isn't yet on sale in North America and shares much of its design language with Gateway's own LT3100. The new model shares the Aspire/Timeline's 1.4GHz Core 2 Solo and GMA 4500 graphics, and in its single trim level comes with 3GB of RAM and a 250GB hard drive as well as expected features like its 6-cell battery, HDMI output and 5-in-1 card reader.

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Acer AspireRevo nettop to get dual-core Atom, more

AspireRevo to go dual-core

Acer's AspireRevo nettop, notable for being the first PC to sports NVIDIA's ION platform, will be getting an upgrade soon, according to a Monday Fudzilla report. The single-core Atom CPU will be replaced in favor of a dual-core Atom, though clock speeds will remain the same, at 1.6GHz. At the same time, there will be double the RAM standard, at 4GB, and storage space will be bumped to 320GB from 250GB.

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Gateway readying QX2800 nettop

Gateway QX2800 Ion nettop

A listing on Taiwanese site PCADV has revealed that Gateway will soon release its QX2800 nettop PC, which is a near clone of Acer's Ion-powered nettop, the Acer AspireRevo. The main differences involve the Gateway's dual-core 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU rather than Acer's single-core Atom. Also, Gateway opted to use a larger capacity 500GB hard drive, doubling the Acer's 250GB drive.

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AT&T adds Acer, Dell, Lenovo 3G netbooks

ATT Mini 10 and Lenovo S10

AT&T on Monday grew its netbook lineup to include two 3G versions of common netbooks. Its version of Acer's Aspire One, Dell's Inspiron Mini 10 and Lenovo's IdeaPad S10 will all have built-in 3G modems for online use anywhere in a coverage area as well as free access to AT&T's Wi-Fi hotspots. The three have similar 10-inch displays, 1GB of memory, 160GB hard drives, Windows XP and multi-touch trackpads.

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Acer's 11.6-inch Timeline CULV notebook leaked

Acer 11.6-inch Timeline

Backing up an earlier rumor, the existence of Acer's 11.6-inch Timeline 1810T notebook is all but confirmed thanks to some leaked images. The chassis is shared with the Aspire One 751h, including its 11.6-inch, 1366x768 resolution screen. Other components include a 1.4GHz Core 2 Solo SU3500 and an integrated GMA 4500 graphics chipset that gives it enough power to decode HD video. Using a GS45 Express mainboard also provides headroom for up to 4GB of RAM.

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Acer redesigns three Aspire desktop PC lines

Acer redesigns Aspire PCs

Acer on Friday announced it has redesigned its Acer Aspire M5, M3 and X3 Series of consumer desktops, including the high-end Aspire M5800 with its brushed metal chassis, the value-oriented Aspire M3800 and the small form factor Acer Aspire X3810. The Aspire M5800 sports a silver chassis that matches the keyboard, speakers and mouse, with all featuring chrome and dark gray accents. The card reader, audio jacks and USB ports are on behind a hinged door on the front of the chassis.

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Acer rolls $750 Blu-ray notebook, more

Acer Aspire 5536 and 7735Z

Acer on Monday added three 16:9 ratio notebooks to its media-centric Gemstone Blue designs that all focus on price over raw performance. The 15.6-inch, LED-backlit Aspire 5739G is the fastest of the trio with a 2.1GHz Core 2 Duo, 4GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, an 8X Blu-ray drive and a GeForce GT 130M for video. It comes with a multi-touch trackpad and ships at the end of June for a particularly low $750, making it the least expensive new Blu-ray notebook today.

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Acer to put out 11.6in Timeline, axe Aspire One?

Acer 11 6in Timeline Rumor

Acer could be introducing a smaller Timeline that may ultimately kill the high end of its netbooks, a rumor from Taiwan's PC industry indicates. An 11.6-inch version of the Timeline is purportedly tapped for July and, DigiTimes says, will create pressure in the category. To avoid a conflict with the same-size Aspire One 751h netbook, Acer is believed to be either cutting the price of the 751h or else phasing it out entirely.

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Acer prepping 3D notebook for October

Acer Preps 3D Notebook

Acer's mobile computing VP Campbell Kan today said his company is developing a notebook with a 3D display for late October. The first model should have a 15.6-inch screen and will both recognize 3D movies natively as well as convert typical movies to a pseudo-3D format. Whether or not it will support 3D games isn't mentioned, but Kan tells DigiTimes it will initially require stereoscopic glasses like most existing displays.

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Acer announces it will use Moblin Linux in PCs

Acer bringing Moblin Linux

At a press conference at Computex in Taiwan on Wednesday, PC maker Acer announced it will soon offer the Moblin Linux operating system in its products. This will include Aspire One nettop PCs and regular notebook and desktop PCs. Several Moblin-powered Aspire One netbooks are currently being shown at Computex, along with netbooks from other manufacturers, albeit there was more than one version of Moblin. The Linux-based operating system was developed by Intel to get the most out of the Atom CPU used in ultra-portable netbook PCs.

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Pixel Qi demos hybrid LCD, e-paper display

Pixel Qi Demos 3 in 1 LCD

Pixel Qi late yesterday demonstrated its unique 3-in-1 hybrid display, known as the 3qi. The technology works as a traditional, backlit LCD but can switch its backlight off and convert to an e-paper mode. Besides saving battery life, the switch renders the display more readable in bright light. A third mode keeps the display in LCD mode but puts in monochrome to save energy.

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Acer brings easyStore Home Server to US

Acer Aspire easyStore

Acer on Thursday contributed its own more frugal entry into the home server space within the US through the Aspire easyStore Home Server AH340. Similar to HP's MediaSmart LX195, the easyStore runs on a 1.6GHz Atom to manage traffic to and from the server without the cost overhead of other processors. Acer's larger design, however, affords it four 3.5-inch drive bays that can take as much as 8TB of storage if completely filled.

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Acer brings Aspire One 751h, D250 to US

Acer Aspire One 751h in US

Acer today expanded the Aspire One line in the US to include its two newest netbooks. The 751h, previewed last month, is Acer's largest-ever netbook with a 11.6-inch, 1364x768 display and a full-size keyboard. It uses Intel's newer 1.22GHz Atom Z520 to emphasize power efficiency: its 6-cell battery pack is estimated to last for 8 hours.

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Acer Aspire One 571 supports 720p, Vmedia

Acer Aspire One 571

A new version of Acer's Aspire One netbook has emerged, according to reports. Dubbed the 571, the machine is said to be based on the chassis of a D150 or D250, also using most of the same internal specifications. Its 10.1-inch display is said to have been upgraded to support 1280x720, though, in a 16:9 widescreen ratio. Aiding the encoding and decoding of HD and H.264 video is a Quartics coprocessor.

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AT&T to sell 3G-capable 10-inch Acer Aspire One

ATT Acer 10in 3G Netbooks

AT&T is about to expand its netbook tie-ins to include the 10-inch Acer Aspire One, according to a leaked memo. A source passing on the note to BGR says that at least Costco will be selling a version of the portable with 3G ready to be used with AT&T's network. Other details are unclear, but the systems are likely to have some of their cost subsidized and also to sell at AT&T stores.

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Acer brings slim 3935, 8935 notebooks Stateside

Acer 3935 and 8935 for US

Acer on Wednesday updated its Aspire notebooks for the US with more details of the 3935 and 8935 models destined for the country. The 3935 is Acer's most direct competition for the unibody MacBook and measures just 1 inch thick while weighing less than 4.2 pounds. It also centers on a 13.3-inch, LED-backlit screen but has a 16:9 ratio, 1366x768 resolution and a bronze-colored aluminum skin. Also partly influenced by Apple are a chiclet-style keyboard and a multi-touch trackpad for scrolling and zooming.

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Acer intros three new Aspire notebooks

Acer Aspire notebooks

At the same time as it announced the Aspire One 11.6-inch netbook on Tuesday, Acer also said it would soon release the 13.3-inch Acer Aspire 3935 notebook, the 15.6-inch Aspire 5935 and 18.4-inch Aspire 8935. The ultra-portable 3935 will be less than one-inch thick and available only in a golden brown color. To make typing easier and more comfortable, Acer gives the Aspire 3935 the same larger "chiclet" keyboard as the Timeline, along with touch-sensitive shortcut keys. Like in the Aspire One and Timeline, the 3935 has a multi-touch trackpad for pinch and other gestures.

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Slim Acer Aspire One passes FCC testing

Slim Aspire One at FCC

A slimmed-down version of Acer's Aspire One netbook was spotted late last month, and now the FCC has passed the netbook through its testing, according to a filing. While the netbook remains unnamed, some FCC documentation is referring to it as the Acer Aspire One 530, though this could just be referring to a possible use of Intel's 1.6GHz Atom Z530 CPU instead of the usual N270 or N280 as it goes against Acer's usual naming conventions.

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ASUS planning higher-end Eee PC Shell netbook?

ASUS Eee PC Shell Leak

The Taiwan-area newspaper Commercial Times claims today that ASUS is in the middle of developing a netbook that would be even higher end than the existing S101. Nicknamed the Eee PC Shell, the 10-inch system would have some form of "higher specification" than the current designer model and would be simultaneously more portable as well as longer-lasting than the existing mini notebook. Target pricing for the Shell would reportedly hover between the equivalents of $486 and $571, or about $100 to $150 more than a typical 10-inch system.

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Acer intros Atom-based home server PC

Acer intros Atom-based NAS

Acer Japan recently announced it will soon launch its network attached storage PC, the Aspire easyStore H340. The NAS uses Intel's 1.6GHz Atom CPU, along with 1GB of RAM and the 945GC Express mainboard. The PC runs Windows Home Server operating system and can share its multimedia content, including photos, videos and music with up to 10 connected PCs. The four-bay NAS is offered in two versions, with a 1TB drive or three 1TB drives preinstalled into it.

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Thin Acer Aspire One netbook suggests SSD, Linux

New Acer Aspire One images

With just images to go on, a new leak obtained by SlashGear shows a new variant of Acer's 10-inch Aspire One netbook. The images show a chassis thinner than that of the recently outed D150 which sported a 160GB hard drive, suggesting less necessary space; the return of the SD memory expansion slot also implies it will be used to bolster reduced storage inside. Before Acer moved to 10-inch netbooks from 8.9-inch versions, it used such a slot to bolster the limited storage capacity for its SSD-equipped Aspire Ones.

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Acer to release Linux-based Aspire One with SSD

Aspire One with Linux, SSD

Acer's recently announced 10-inch netbook, the Aspire One D150, will be offered with a solid state drive and a Linux-based operating system after all, according to a company ">conversation with ZDNet on Thursday. When the PC maker originally introduced the netbook, it said the only available operating system would be Windows XP and has so far only mentioned a 160GB rotating hard drive where the 8.9-inch model has had variants with Linux and SSDs since its introduction last year.

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Acer Aspire One 10-inch gets specs, Feb. launch

Acer Aspire One 10in Specs

Acer's Aspire One 10-inch netbook lineup will come soon will be kept simple, a French leak shows. The PC builder plans just three core models and will start off with a basic D150-0B model that comes with a current 1.6GHz Atom, 1GB of memory, a 160GB hard drive and a 3-cell battery; it will ship to France in February for €329 ($427).

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Acer makes 10-inch Aspire One netbook official

Acer Aspire 103 Official

Acer on Friday marked the UK launch of the 10-inch Aspire One, its first direct push into the larger netbook market. Aside from the larger but same-resolution (1024x600) display, the new model has a reworked visual design with a brushed metal palm rest and other slightly more upscale touches. The system also skews towards the high end of netbook specifications with options for 3G and WiMAX access and a 6-cell battery pack that Acer claims lasts for up to 7 hours on a charge.

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Acer's 10.1-inch Aspire to replace 8.9-inch netbook

Acer to replace Aspire

Computer and peripherals maker Acer is reportedly thinking of stopping shipments of its 8.9-inch Aspire netbook to make room for the soon-to-be-released 10.1-inch Aspire One 103 model. The 103 is due out in February, and while the timing of the 8.9-inch netbook's phase-out was not definitively announced, it is due to happen sometime in the second quarter of the year.

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Next-gen Atom due in spring; Acer 10in soon

Atom N280 Due in Spring

Intel is prepping a new Atom processor whose platform will be significantly faster than any existing model, a new roadmap shows. The Atom N280 chip will only be slightly faster at 1.66GHz versus the N270's 1.6GHz but will jump the system bus from 533MHz to 667MHz, giving the chip more headroom for data. It should also introduce a much more modern integrated graphics chipset, the GN40, that brings the 3D and video features of modern Centrino 2-based notebooks to very small portables.

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Apple slips 0.5% in PC share over summer

iSuppli on Q3 Notebooks

Despite a major shift from desktops towards notebooks in the summer, Apple slid slid significantly in its worldwide market share over the period, according to a new iSuppli study. The MacBook creator lost exactly a half percentage point of influence and dropped from 3.7 percent of the market in the spring to 3.2 percent the following season, leaving it at seventh place. Most incumbents were stable and saw HP lead world market share with 18.8 percent, or 14.9 million PCs; Dell claimed 13.9 percent, while Acer, Lenovo and Toshiba managed 12.2 percent, 7.5 percent and 4.6 percent each.

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Radio Shack makes $100 Acer 3G netbook official

Acer 3G Netbook Official

As hinted at in a leaked flyer, Radio Shack tonight rolled out a special version of the Acer Aspire One with built-in 3G data. The all-black model holds a built-in HSPA modem that lets it connect to AT&T's network for Internet access when Wi-Fi isn't an option. The system itself sites at the higher end of Acer's spectrum with 1GB of memory and a 160GB hard drive bolstering the by-now standard 1.6GHz Atom chip and Windows XP Home.

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Ad leak shows subsidized 3G Acer Aspire One for $100

Subsidized Aspire

A leaked Radio Shack holiday ad shows the Acer Aspire One priced at $100 when combined with a $60 or higher two-year AT&T data plan. The promotion represents a unique subsidization strategy for netbooks, drawing from a technique long-established in the mobile handset market. The Aspire One features an Intel Atom processor, Windows XP Home, 1GB memory, 160GB hard drive, 802.11b/g wireless and integrated 3G components for connection to cellular networks.

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Acer iMac rival, 10in netbook details slip

Acer AIO and 10in Netbook

Acer will kick off the new year with both an all-in-one desktop and a larger netbook, tips sent to TGDaily would indicate. Corroborating some previous mentions, the alleged information has Acer producing an all-in-one system that would compete against both Apple's de facto leader of the category, the iMac, as well as ASUS' new Eee Top, which brings the basic concepts of a system like the iMac to nettops with very low-power Atom processors and prices at or near $500.

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Apple gear ranks high in Amazon Black Friday sales

Fortune on Apple & Amazon

Various Apple products dominated Amazon's bestsellers in electronics during Black Friday, Forbes reports. The morning of the sales event, the iPod touch was the top-selling item, though it was displaced to fourth place by Sunday. Three of the top 10 electronics items are said to have been Apple gear, however, and Kaufman analyst Shaw Wu notes that the lead times for Touches lengthened dramatically, shifting from one to two days to as much as five weeks.

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Acer intros first Xohm-friendly notebooks

Acer intros WiMAX laptops

Acer on Wednesday announced the launch of its first notebooks that support Sprint's 4G Xohm WiMAX network, which officially debuted just over a week ago in Baltimore. The Acer Aspire 4930-6862 and Aspire 6930-6771 are identical in pricing and specs, with the exception of the latter’s 1366x768 16-inch LCD over the former’s 1280x800 14.1-inch display. The pair will use Intel’s combined WiMAX/Wi-Fi module, which is part of the Intel WiMAX/Wi-Fi Link 5050 Series. Either new notebook will also use the same 2GHz Core 2 Duo processor and 3GB of RAM, with graphics processing handled by the onboard Intel GMA 4500MHD.

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Acer brings Predator gaming rig to US

Acer Predator in US

Along with its new displays, Acer today marked the US release of the Aspire Predator, the company's first dedicated gaming PC. The copper orange tower is designed for access with a sliding front bay cover, front ports and a tool-free hard drive cage accessible from the outside; it also comes with built-in liquid cooling and three PCI Express X16 slots (plus one X8) to support multi-card graphics.

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Acer to expand Aspire one line, add Gateway netbook

Acer to intro netbooks

Acer President and CEO Gianfranco Lanci indicated at the company’s global conference held in Budapest, Hungary that Acer will launch more netbooks to join its Aspire one range, as per a Friday report. The company, which bought PC maker Gateway last year, will also launch a Gateway-branded netbook, Lanci indicated. While details on either are not known, it is possible the new Aspire ones will have a screen larger than the current offering’s 8.9-inch screen.

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MS pushed to keep XP for more netbooks

MS Lifts XP Netbook Limits

Microsoft has backed off some of its restrictions on Windows XP to allow netbooks with larger hard drives to support the older operating system, according to claims from companies in the business. Although the Redmond, Washington-based software firm has so far insisted that systems with hard drives larger than 80GB carry Windows Vista in a bid to drive companies to the newer operating system, it has now allegedly doubled that limit to 160GB, expanding the types of PCs that qualify for the older software.

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Samsung intros fast SSDs for mini PCs, handhelds

Samsung Mini SSDs

Samsung this morning backed up its SATA II SSDs with a new variety specifically designed for handhelds, netbooks, and other very small and low-cost devices. The technology uses the same multi-level cell storage that keeps the cost for storage down in a larger 128GB drive but is just 30 percent of the size of a 2.5-inch disk while simultaneously outperforming the normally slow drives in the category: a top-spec 32GB drive reportedly rivals desktop hard drives with 90MB per second sequential reads and writing at 70MB per second.

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Acer drops Aspire one to $329

Acer Aspire one Price Cut

Heating up the increasingly crowded field for netbooks, Acer today dropped the price of the Aspire one down from $379 to $329. The change makes the 8.9-inch portable one of the least expensive for its features with a 1.6GHz Atom, 512MB of memory, an 8GB flash drive, and Linux. Costs have also been dropped for higher-end models: the mid-range with 1GB of memory, 120GB of hard drive space and Windows XP receives a cut from its original $399 down to $349.

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VIA quits mainboard chipset industry

VIA Quits Mainboard Chips

VIA has formally quit the business of manufacturing chipsets for third parties, the company tells Custom PC. The semiconductor company has decided against continuing to make chipsets to support AMD and Intel processors and will instead focus on its own processors and their accompanying platforms, such as Pico-ITX (shown) or full reference platforms like the OpenBook. The move is characterized as the end of a long shift away from building for AMD and Intel as they produce more of their work in-house.

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HP readies cheaper Mini-Note

HP Smaller Mini-Note

HP is developing a lower-cost version of its Mini-Note portable, the company has admitted this week. The company's Australian Market Development head Jerel Chong says there will be a "lower cost" device similar to the current model (known as the 2133) but which "won’t be as durable" as the existing system and is primarily meant for retail, where the Mini-Note is generally unavailable and would often compete against lower-priced offering such as ASUS' base Eee PC models or the Acer Aspire one.

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Sony rumored entering netbook field in fall

Sony Netbook Rumored

Sony is nearing production of its rumored netbook and has already chosen a parts supplier, according to a report by the Taiwan-area newspaper Economic Daily News. Well-known electronics assembler Foxconn is said to have been tapped for making individual components in a very small Sony system being built now that the company and other Japanese manufacturers are less worried that the category will cannibalize their regular notebook sales.

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Dell E due in August for $299?

Dell E Due August for 299

The upcoming Dell E mini notebook may finaly make its appearance next month and may be one of the least expensive, claim alleged insiders. The 8.9-inch portable will have the same 1.6GHz Atom processor, Linux, and flag storage storage of many similar devices but will purportedly sell in August for just $299, or $80 less than the Acer Aspire One that has held the price crown in the class for just a matter of weeks.

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Acer intros breadbox-sized X1200 desktop

Acer Aspire X1200

Acer today gave the US a rare miniature addition to its Aspire desktop lineup. The X1200 is just over a foot long at its largest measurement but fits in desktop components and expansion that would normally be impractical in its size. Up to a 2.6GHz Athlon 64 X2 is complemented by a GeForce 8200 for integrated graphics as well as a PCI Express 2.0 slot that allows dedicated video or other peripherals. Every system also fits 4GB of memory.

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ASUS prepping Eee PC 904 and 905?

ASUS Eee PC 904 Rumor

ASUS is developing a new Eee PC that would offer the comfort of its larger 10-inch models at the cost of the 8.9-inch models, according to reports from supply channels. The Eee PC 904 and 905 would have the same 8.9-inch display as the 901 notebook but with the enclosure of the 1001, giving it a larger keyboard without necessarily changing the price. Battery life and storage may also go up with the larger case but are reportedly uncertain.

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NVIDIA rolls out GeForce 9M mobile graphics

NVIDIA GeForce 9M

NVIDIA on Tuesday officially unveiled the next major upgrade to its notebook graphics lineup. The GeForce 9M series is built on a new, multi-core graphics engine that the electronics designer claims is as much as 40 percent faster than earlier 8M chipsets. Video encoding is up to five times faster, the company claims. The new design is also home to the first mobile chipsets with Hybrid SLI; notebooks can switch off the dedicated video and revert to integrated graphics to save power while on battery or when running less demanding tasks.

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