Acer has offered a line of mini-laptops with low power Intel Atom processors under its Acer Aspire One brand since 2008. But for the first time the company is introducing a new model which offers higher-performance processors.
The Acer Aspire One 756 is a notebook with an 11.6 inch display, and a choice of an Intel Celeron 877, Intel Pentium 967, or Intel Pentium 987 CPU.
While Celeron and Pentium chips aren’t exactly top-of-the-line processors, they can generally run circles around most Atom processors. Historically these chips have consumed more power than Atom processors, but the CPU isn’t the only component in a PC that takes it toll on battery life… and I’ve seen plenty of ultrabooks with Core i5 processors that get better battery life than Atom-powered netbooks.
The Aspire One 756 has Intel HD graphics, a 1366 x 768 pixel display, up to 4GB of RAM, up to 500GB of storage, and 802.11b/g/n WiFi.
It will be available soon in blac, blue, red, or silver colors.
The laptop measures 11.2″ x 8″ x 0.8″ and weighs 3 pounds with a 4 cell battery.
Unfortunately there’s no word on the pricing or release date yet.
Update 6/28/2012: The laptop has started shipping, and it looks like prices range from $330 and $380.
via Geeky Gadgets, Pocket Lint, and Notebook Italia
I bought this one at Costco and I’m impressed with its performance. However, I’m afreaid I’ll have to return it because of its short battery life. My previous model 722 lasted 8 hours, this one lasts only 4 !! I fly across Atlantic twice a year, so this is a deal breaker for me.
If someone tries Ubuntu, Fedora, or BT R2 (Ubuntu 10.04) , on this little guy, please let me know how it performs and if there are any hardware peculiarities.
Thanks.
You can buy the lower 2 CPU models at newegg now, and the
Celeron with 500GB HD at Costco. Remember Costco gives you 90 days to return,
and a 2 year warranty. Here is a newegg link: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100017489&IsNodeId=1&Description=aspire%20one&bop=And&CompareItemList=-1|34-215-387^34-215-387-TS%2C34-215-388^34-215-388-TS
This now available at the Costco’s in Maryland for $349.99.
Specs:
CPU Intel Dual Core 877
RAM 4GB DDR3 (Max of 8GB)
HDD 500GB 5400 RPM – Could replace with SSD or 7200 RPM for better perf.
Intel HM70 Chipset
how bad is that intel chip? I mean should it run like basic film editing programs or would it be a problem? Also they say 250 mins battery – is that realistic or just advertising? thanks for any insight.
Not sure where you live, robo, but Costco has a 90 day return policy and they give a 2 year warranty. If you don’t like it, just return it. I have no experience running film editing programs, but I have heard that they are VERY resource intensive. If this is true, then a netbook is the exact wrong computer for you. The small screen could be a disadvantage as well.
In terms of the battery, I don’t own this model, but my Acer Asprie One 751h has great battery life, but it is a bit too weak on the CPU side for my current uses.
If you want a really long battery life, change your Windows (I assume that is your OS) theme to Black High Contrast. It uses less lighting, and turn your brightness down. For my Aspire One, I also added a bigger battery that gives me 9 hours of power. Here is a link to the battery. Only $20 https://www.amazon.com/Extended-Capacity-Laptop-Battery-Aspire/dp/B001RBXV20/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340992075&sr=8-1&keywords=aspire+one+battery
Not sure where you live, robo, but Costco has a 90 day
return policy and they give a 2 year warranty. If you don’t like it, just
return it. I have no experience running film editing programs, but I have heard
that they are VERY resource intensive. If this is true, then a netbook is the
exact wrong computer for you. The small screen could be a disadvantage as well.
In terms of the battery, I don’t own this model, but my Acer Asprie One 751h
has great battery life, but it is a bit too weak on the CPU side for my current
uses.
If you want a really long battery life, change your Windows (I assume that is
your OS) theme to Black High Contrast. It uses less lighting, and turn your
brightness down. For my Aspire One, I also added a bigger battery that gives me
9 hours of power. Here is a link to the battery. Only $20 https://www.amazon.com/Extended-Capacity-Laptop-Battery-Aspire/dp/B001RBXV20/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340992075&sr=8-1&keywords=aspire+one+battery
Ugh… I composed the reply, above, in Word, and it looked like crap. Then, I tried to edit it, and it came up as a double post. 🙁
Sorry to all for the mess.
Ugh! Bad CPUs with even worse graphics!
It amazes me that anyone buys this sort of disposable computer.
Not everyone is an engineer, designer or a film maker… Are you?
Because if you aren’t, and you surf the web, watch HD movies (streaming or not), use Office…
This is plenty enough.
You just succumb to the sirens of marketing telling you than you need the last Ivy Bridge computer et $1000 and up for your computer to work and do these tasks.
Maybe you should be the one checking on how you use your computer and compare it with its cpu power and the price you pay for it.
I am an IT engineer and I use my AO751h everyday. I don’t need an energy hog when I am on the road or in the server farm. If I need power, I just remote into one of my servers. This will be great along with my extended battery, which currently gives me 9 hours before my next recharge.
Chiclet keyboard = Do Not Want
How does the Pentium 987 (I assume it’s the best one) compare to the Core 2 Duo SU9400 of the Acer 1810t? Been looking for another 11.6 incher that doesn’t have huge bezels. That footprint sounds pretty good to me.
They haven’t been benchmarked yet but they are based on Sandy Bridge. So benefit from the modern 32nm FAB and architectural improvements. Though they will also be rather stripped down compared to Sandy Bridge but that’ll be offset by a much lower price.
Not bad at all.
Finally a good, yet cheap, cpu in a netbook.
I would have liked an AMD or Nvidia gpu, but hey, for the price I’m guessing they’re gonna be sold (450/500 max), it sounds like a good deal.
Just waiting to see the display they chose (matte, I hope), the weight with a 6 cells battery and the final price of course.
Also, don’t forget that the first ‘ultrabooks’ with AMD Trinity chips are around the corner.
Some life has finally been breathed in the netbook/small laptops market.
These aren’t considered netbooks, there’s more categorizing a netbook than just system size.
Rather they’re more netbook alternatives with near netbook pricing but offering ULV level performance between what netbooks offer and regular laptops.
Some may offer these with discrete graphic card for better graphical performance as well, but of course for a higher price point.
While Trinity should compete well with Intels Mid Range offerings, but won’t be as low priced as these Celeron based systems and it’ll fall to AMD’s Fusion E-Series to compete at that range.