Yesterday’s news that Acer had cut the price of the Aspire One NetBook line by $50 was seen by some as a shocker. I think Acer was feeling the heat of Dell’s supposed $299 price tag. Dell was rumored to announce one of the NetBook world’s worst kept secrets yesterday but hasn’t yet. (Side note: in a way that makes sense. The first of the week is usually the normal time to announce new products.)

But back on topic, The New York Times Bits Blog picked up on the price cut news and is running a post that says we might see prices as low as $249 by the holidays, with $299 being a norm. The post quotes Envisioneering research director Richard Doherty with the speculation.

Anyone who has been following the NetBook scene will understand that the nascent market is really just beginning and that we’ve seen more announcements than you can count. On one hand, it would be a fascinating development if the prices all settled in around the same low price point as that would force the manufacturers to look elsewhere for differentiators between their respective models. On the other hand, with prices at impulse buy levels, the key might become who can get these small devices into potential customers hands the quickest through sales channels.

New GBM Team member, Truc Bui, is revving up to produce some great content here for GottaBeMobile.com (not to put any pressure on or anything) and I’m excited to see what he comes up with. I’m especially excited to see his Back To School InkShows. Want to know what he’s thinking? Give a listen to GBM Podcast #57 and you’ll get a sneak preview. We also talk about a range of other topics as well, including EverNote, Truc’s initial impressions of the HP tx2051 (can it give you a headache?), what we’re thinking might come out of IDF, HP’s new 2730p Tablet PC, and why I returned the Acer Aspire One, among other topics.

• Download GBMPodcast #57 here. (44.6MB 48.45 minutes)
• Minimalist Mobile Computing
• Returning the Acer Aspire One
• HP’s new 2730P Tablet PC
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All GottaBeMobile.com InkShows and Podcasts are sponsored by TechSmith.

Well, my wife has been working with the Acer Aspire One for a week. It looks like it is getting returned. Three issues comprise the reasoning here.

• She loves the keyboard but hates the mouse buttons that are on either side of the trackpad. “It drives me nuts” is the quote there.
• She’s not a fan of smudges and this case is a smudge magnet.
• I think we got a lemon with the network card. This morning she tried to connect but couldn’t. She went to the Network settings icon but could not get any response by clicking on it. After shutting down, pulling the battery, and then trying to hook up with a LAN cable, I’m sure the network card is bad. That’s not really an issue as I’m sure I could simply exchange the device for another one. Thinking it might be a software fault, I thought I would try a system restore. But, unlike the Asus Eee, it appears you need to hook up an optical drive to restore the OS from a disk. The Asus takes a little more than a heartbeat to restore the system from on on board restore. Having to hook up an optical drive isn’t an optimal solution for these devices in my opinion. I may be wrong here, but I can find no way to restore this system except from an optical drive.

Her reaction to the failure of the network card is an interesting one that I think OEMs bringing these devices to market should take to heart. After explaining to her that sometimes things do go wrong and some computers come with faults, especially in the early releases of new devices she said, “That’s ridiculous. If they can’t make it work, what’s the point? I can’t believe you and your geek buddies put up with that kind of thing.” That’s actually a paraphrase as I’ve edited her reaction for family friendly reading.

Ah, well, off to Circuit City we go.

tnkgrl just keeps on modding and, as she promised, she’s put up a post about swapping out the SSD for a 60GB 1.8” PATA drive. Check out the pictures and her process on tnkgrl Mobile and stay tuned for modding session number 3 when she promises to show off how to add internal 3G. If you didn’t catch part I, here’s a link to that.

Good friend Kevin Tofel is offering a good hypothesis in his thinking about the land of NetBooks (or whatever you want to call them.) Simply put Kevin thinks that the hoops a typical out-of-the-box user has to jump through to install additional applications other than what is included by the OEM might be a big differentiator when it comes to sorting out which NetBook(s) might become popular with users. I think he’s right.

I haven’t had as much hands on time with the Acer Aspire One as Kevin has. My wife won’t let it go and our schedules are at cross purposes these days as we have two shows running in two different theatres. But, Kevin’s point is a real one for users such as my wife. While she can unbox the device, get connected and create some documents, what happens when she (or any other user) wants to add an application to the device?

I’m guessing this is going to be a boon for Microsoft once general knowledge of this starts getting around as folks will opt for the more familiar XP options. I’m also guessing that perhaps this might be some hidden subtext in Intel’s Paul Otellini’s recent comments that “you’re dealing with something that most of us wouldn't want to use.”

Here is one possible way I can see this playing out. Not only could this situation be a differentiator between different NetBooks, but it could become a key differentiator between NetBooks and the more traditional Notebook. The inclusion of XP on NetBooks could certainly mitigate that, but I can see a marketing argument being made that if you want to easily install your own apps like you can on a desktop it will cost you a little more. That would be an interesting upsell. That said, if the recent predictions of 50 million units on the market in 2012 are to be believed, I would assume that all kinds of things will be different if we are to see those kinds of numbers become real. Ease of use would certainly be one of them.

Well, I haven’t seen the Acer Aspire One since my wife unboxed it as she’s using it constantly but I doubt she’ll go as far as tnkrl who is already deep into modding Acer’s NetBook (or whatever you want to call them.)

If you want to see how to pop the Aspire One open and add a BlueTooth Module and upgrade the RAM, check out tnkgrl Mobile for pictures and video. She promises more to come, so for those of you who just drool over these sort of naked innards pics enjoy.

Well as I posted on Saturday I did pick up an Acer Aspire One Netbook or whatever you want to call them) at Circuit City, and I finally managed to convince my lovely wife, Thomasin, to take some time after her busy performance schedule this weekend to shoot an unboxing and first look InkShow, which we did last night.

Thomasin has been using the Asus Eee PC for quite some time and also checked out the HP Mini-Note so I thought she would be an excellent candidate to give the Aspire One a go. Besides her fresh look at these kind of devices are not only a treat, but reveal more than we have a geek look at them. She’ll be working with the Aspire One  this week and we’ll report back on how she feels it stacks up after that. But for now, enjoy this unboxing and first look, along with a few comparisons to the Asus Eee PC.

• Download the high res version of this GBM InkShow. (301MB, 39.33 Minutes)
• Check out the GBM InkShow review of the HP 2133 Mini-Note.
• Check out the GBM InkShow of Thomasin and the Asus Eee PC.

Well, as promised, on my dinner break between shows at Wayside Theatre I headed back to Circuit City and I did manage to purchase an Acer Aspire One Netbook (or whatever you want to call them.) Price was $379. I haven’t opened it up yet as I’m hoping my lovely wife Thomasin will be in the mood for an unboxing when she gets home from her show tonight. (If you’ve been keeping score you know we’re running two shows in two different theatres at the moment.)

Intriguingly when I went into the store there were still no Aspires to be seen on the shelves. When I asked the manager about this he said they had them in the back. I asked why they weren’t on the shelves and his answer was that they were too small to fit under the laptop locks that keep folks from stealing. So, I guess when it comes to small devices like Netbooks, the big boxes are either going to need to retool their displays or consumers won’t get much opportunity to put their hands on one before a purchase. Of course in my mind that means that is a less than satisfactory way to market something where the size and weight are key components.

Ah, well. We’ll see if we can’t get that unboxing InkShow up soon.

Kevin Tofel reports on jkOnTheRun that Acer’s Aspire 1 Netbook (or whatever you want to call them) is now on the shelves at Circuit City. At least in some places. Kevin saw it advertised in the weekly newspaper flyer from Circuit City.

I headed over to our local CC on my way to the theatre today and alas, no luck finding it on the shelves, although it is listed for purchase and pickup on the web. I find that curious. I’ll head back later today on my dinner break to see if I can talk to someone about it.

So, if any GBM readers happen to stop in to Circuit City looking for Mad Magazines this weekend, let us know if your local Circuit City is carrying Acer’s latest ultra-portable.

Eeepcnews.de is featuring a video look at the Acer Aspire One Netbook from Computex Taipei.

Notable items:

• The model featured is running Linpus Linux Lite and features an easy mode similar to the Eee PC.  The easy mode is split into four areas: Connect, Fun, Work, and Files.
• Boots in around 23 seconds.  The official site says it is ready to go in 15 seconds.
• Uses the new 1.6mhz Intel Atom Processor (as expected).
• The trackpad has split keys on the left and right sides (similar to HP Mininote).

Acer has also updated the official Aspire One site.  Check out the new colors and learn more about how this little buddy can simplify your life.

There has been a recent push for the small UMPC/ULCPC/MID/Netbook/Mini-whatever-the-catch-phrase-of-the-day-is devices to include some implementation of 3G connectivity. Joining Asus's eee Pc and Fujitsu's U810 (and the others who started life with WWAN), Acer's Aspire One is also getting its own 3G connection. I know that with the Fujitsu U810 as well as the T2010 with WWAN capabilities, users are locked in to AT&T's network. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not as you are not only locked in to a specific carrier with these devices, you are also locked to the device. If the UMPC is the only computer you have with 3G connectivity, it will be the only computer you can access the web with, unless, of course, you have another way of getting wireless data. What would you rather have, a small USB or ExpressCard 3G modem or would you rather each device have its own dedicated modem? I wonder if the integration of WWAN into these supposedly low-cost devices is one of the reasons being given for their seemingly high price. What are your thoughts and comments on these small netbooks having WWAN built-in?

We knew Acer was planning to get into the ultra-portable, ultra-low cost pc wars and it looks like they’ve taken price point as their battle ground. Introducing the Acer Aspire One, running Intel’s Atom with all the usual features, Acer is announcing a price point of $379. Acer is also offering a range of colors beyond the current black and white that we see predominantly now.

Keep in mind that Acer knows how to ship notebooks (they are second only to HP) so it looks like they are staking out their turf and going to be ultra-competitive in this ultra-portable, ultra-low cost market.

Engadget has gotten their hands on Acer’s Aspire One and has more pictures.

Via News.com

Yesterday it was Michael Dell himself unveiling a brief glimpse of Dell’s mini-notebook. Today we get to see some pics of Acer’s Aspire entry into the ultra-portable class, called the Aspire One. No real specs yet, and word is we’ll probably see more info on this at Computex.

Via UMPCPortal

Looks like Acer is also catching ULCPC fever and is planning on rolling out a few mobile minded devices for the second half of 2008. According to DigjTimes, Acer will be debuting both a 8.9 inch screen model (the Aspire) and a 12.1 inch screen model (the Slim Gemstone Aspire) with a top price of $450. The report also mentions that Asus is looking at 12.1 inch screens. The chart below from DigiTimes shows some interesting comparisons.

Via CrunchGear 

Apparently the Chinese newspaper Commercial Times has reported that Acer will follow in ASUS' footsteps and release a small system with 8"-9" screen, sometime in late Q1 or early Q2. Of course, this is about the same time that the rumored Eee update will be made available.

Acer will outsource the production of its low-cost notebooks to Wistron, while purchasing LCD panels from AU Optronics (AUO), which will produce 8- and 9-inch panels at its fifth-generation (G5) production lines for both Acer and Asustek, the paper indicated.

This is good news. Wistron generally has pretty good quality control, so I would expect that system produced there should be worth the money, particularly if these hit the same $300-$400 price point that the ASUS Eee enjoys. It also looks like the Acer and ASUS units will share the same screens. This will help drive down costs and make it easier to get replacements in the event the screen breaks.

via Engadget, DigiTimes

Somehow you just knew this story wasn’t over. Several weeks ago, Acer agreed to acquire Gateway to the tune of $710 million. Quite a few folks thought that was a low price. Now it seems that Gateway stockholders are also questioning the valuation and the acquisiton and two different lawsuits have been filed by stockholders, claiming that Gateway didn’t take stockholder interests into account when the price was agreed upon.

Via Daily Tech

Part of being in a community is getting together with readers, listeners, watchers and friends, so in a couple of weeks, we're doing just that - GottaBeMobile.com reader meetup.  In this Podcast, Warner, no, I mean Rob - well it really is Warner (you'll figure it out when you listen...) talk about the fun times in store for everybody in Colorado Springs at the meet-up.  Should be nice to see all the GBM Team members, well everybody that can make it but Hugo, since he'll still be on vacation - he's a little far anyway's...  Speaking of Hugo, he's been found and sent some answers to Rob, we discuss the Shift a little more during this Podcast, but the most important hardware related discussion on the show is about Acer buying out Gateway. 

Interesting stuff. Acer acquires Gateway for $710 Million. Interestingly enough Gateway also has a right of first refusal to purchase Packard Bell. So, Acer could in essence end up owning both Gateway and Packard Bell. Like others I wonder what this all means for mobile users. In looking at some of the information on the deal from Gateway’s site (here’s the link) this came up on one of the slides. Note the UMPC.

Engadget is reporting that Acer will acquire Gateway (assuming all the regulatory approvals go forward) with the deal set to close somewhere towards the end of this year. Acer is the number 3 PC maker globally and Gateway is number 3 in the US. This will be interesting to follow from a Tablet PC perspective given that we haven’t heard much from Acer there in quite some time.

Here’s a link to the press release.

Laptop Magazine has published a roundup of what they offer as the Best and Worst notebook designs of the modern era. Intriguingly, their number design is the Acer TravelMate C100, one of the first convertible Tablet PCs.

Have a look at the article and let us know what you think.

Hat Tip to jkkmobile.