Acer Aspire One AOD257 is a $250 Dual-Core Netbook [Acer Starts Selling Incredibly Cheap Netbooks; Will Inexpensive Netbooks Eat Into Chromebook Sales?]

Posted on TFTS by J. Angelo Racoma on Wednesday, 29. June 2011 under: PCs, Notebooks, Netbooks & Tablets

Acer is reportedly reducing shipments of new notebook and netbook models, in the light of slow product movement. It seems the company wants to move its products faster by pricing them competitively.

The Acer Aspire One AOD257 is a 10.1-inch netbook powered by a dual-core Intel Atom N570 running at 1.66 GHz. The netbook comes with 1 GB RAM and a 250 GB hard drive. The graphics system is driven by Intel GMA 3150 integrated graphics running at 1024×600 pixels (the usual default for netbooks this size). Other features are as follows:

LED backlit screen
Stereo speakers
0.3 megapixel webcam
3 x USB 2.0 ports
Multi-card reader
Wi-Fi
VGA output
Windows 7 starter

The only downside to this inexpensive netbook is the battery life, as it comes with a 3-cell battery delivering up to 4 hours on a single charge. Acer says a 6-cell option is coming soon, but that will drive the price up to about $300. The Acer Aspire One AOD257 retails for $270, but you can find a better deal from Amazon at $250. The AOD257 comes in black and red, and will come in blue in the future.

At this price, the Acer Aspire One AOD257 is cheaper than similar offerings from other brands, like the Asus 1015PX, which retails for $100 more. But as Acer is already selling its AC700 Chromebook, will cheap netbooks eat into potential Chromebook sales?