racoma.com.phJ. Angelo Racoma on technology, economics, writing, problogging, and getting things done

I picked up an HP 2133 Mini Note review unit last Friday and I’m test driving this little wonder. Well, I have mixed impressions, which mostly agree with other reviews online. I have issues with responsiveness, temperature, and battery life. I’m loving the almost-full-sized keyboard, the screen and the general look and feel of the anodized aluminum casing. It reminds me of the 12″ PowerBook of old, actually.

I’m running a series on koobten.com, so you might want to watch out for that these next few days. This will help me decide whether to ultimately make the jump and acquire one for myself, or stick with the Asus Eee (or perhaps go for other brands).

Acer is apparently anticipating huge demand for their upcoming Aspire One ultraportable (earlier announced). I’ve made a few calls and Acer said the Aspire One will hit the retail shops third week of July. It also seems there are already stocks in some shops here in Manila (like the Acer concept store in SM Megamall Cyberzone).

However, judging from what I’ve read on the TipidPC forums, it seems Acer is intent on moving slower-selling products along with the Aspire One, since they will only sell X number of Aspire One units with Y number of other models. This is from the point of view of retailers. So does this mean the Aspire One will come in limited stocks?

Also, reports say that the SSD version of the Aspire One is unbearably slow on Windows XP, which might be a deal breaker for most consumers, who are more Windows-savvy. For those of us who are into exploring, well, there are other options, like possibly Ubuntu (or some variant thereof).

Things are getting a bit more exciting for laptop / ultraportable aficionados (like someone I know). Let’s wait for the Dell E series to come this August!

Just when you thought the ultraportable market is already saturated with the entry of the HP Mini Note and the MSI Wind, here comes Acer with its Aspire One. This had been announced earlier this year, but it has come as a pleasant (or not) surprise to me that Acer has launched it locally at a starting price of PhP 18,800.

Correction: I had earlier written “Asus” instead of “Acer. Sorry for the confusion.

Inquirer has a feature.

The new Acer notebook is positioned to attract users wanting a portable and light notebook that is also Internet ready. It runs on the Linpus Linux Lite operating system.

The new Aspire One notebook, which was launched with a host of the company’s latest products in Manila, will cost P18,800.

Jayvee posts some pictures on abuggedlife.com.

Believing in numerology, Acer folks reportedly wanted to launch the Aspire One at July 8th, 2008 at 8 p.m. (8, 8, 8).

That’s an attractive price for an Intel Atom powered machine! To me, the Asus Eee (900) had set the standard for what an ultraportable should be. I’m wondering with the low price if the Acer Aspire One would come out the winner!

I’m almost sold on the HP 2133, and I’ve actually been scouring stores for stocks these past few days. Never mind that I’ve been offered a hefty discount by a distributor contact–I have to wait for stocks to come. But now with other worthy alternatives, I don’t think I should rush into going for the Mini Note yet.

Enter the Acer Aspire One and the Asus Eee PC 901. Both don’t look as sexy as the HP Mini Note, but both run on Intel’s new Atom platform. That means better ultraportable mobility, in terms of low power consumption (and hence heat), and longer battery life.

That’s one gripe I usually hear about the HP Mini Note–that it runs on a VIA platform, rather than Intel. And it’s not even VIA Isaiah yet, which is supposedly at par with Intel Atom when it comes to ultraportable computing.

The Acer Aspire One looks attractive and is supposedly priced more reasonably than other ultraportables.

- Intel Atom @ 1.6Ghz
- 8.9″ LED-backlit 1024×600 screen,
- 512MB of RAM
- Linupus Lite OS
- 8GB of SSD.
- SD card reader (5-types)
- Four colours: sapphire blue, seashell white, golden brown and coral pink
- 248mmx170mmx29mm
- 3hrs (3-cell) and 6hrs (6-cell) battery options.
- Options: 1GB RAM, 80GB HDD. Windows XP

The Asus Eee PC 901, meanwhile, will be much like the 900, but with an Intel Atom processor, which should boost the battery life upwards of 7 hours.

Screen size: 8.9”
OS: Genuine Windows XP® Home / GNU Linux
Storage: SSD 12GB (Genuine Windows XP® Home) / SSD 20GB (Linux)
Processor: Intel Atom
Networking/connectivity: 802.11 n / Bluetooth
RAM: 1GB (DDR2)
WebCam: 1.3M Pixel
Audio: Dolby Sound Room Certified / Stereo speaker / Digital Array Mic
Battery: 6 Cells, 4.2 ~ 7.8 hrs*
Weight: 1.1 kg

Both are tempting options.