HEXUS.community members are on the fence when it comes to subnotebook devices, but there's been a fair amount of anticipation for Acer's Aspire One, following our exclusive hands-on from COMPUTEX '08.
That very device is to become available in a multitude of flavours later this month, and Play.com now has them up for pre-order.
According to Play.com's online store, Acer's Aspire One will be available in blue or white and is due for release on July 25th, with prices starting at £229.99.
If Play.com's details are correct, £229.99 will get you an 8.9in netbook powered by Intel's 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor and 512MiB of RAM. The device will run a Linux operating system, and be available with a choice of 8GiB NAND Flash or 120GiB HDD. Though, we're not so sure about the 120GiB HDD - we're certain that's a Play.com error as our sources indicate an 80GiB drive.
Users preferring Windows XP will be paying a slight premium. XP models with 512MiB of RAM are priced at £279.99 and 1GiB of RAM will raise the price to £299.99. Though, that still puts the price £30 below the similar-spec Wind notebook from MSI.
Though Play.com is taking pre-orders, we expected Acer's low-end 8GiB flash-based Aspire One to retail at a slightly lower £219.99. HEXUS is in touch with Acer to help clear up any confusion over the various Aspire One models, and HEXUS.channel will be providing a complete breakdown of pricing and availability later today.
*Update* HEXUS.channel now has details on confirmed pricing, click here for details.
Useful links
Play.com: pre-order Acer Aspire One
Related reading
MSI Wind notebook: is it the Eee-beater we've been waiting for?
Hands-on with the Acer Aspire One: an ASUS Eee PC-beater?