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Asus set a target of 5 million units of its Eee PC netbook to be sold this year, which they appear to be reaching.  The only problem is that shipments of the Acer Aspire One are creeping towards its ambitious target of 6 million sales, 20% more than the Eee PC.

The title of “best selling netbook” is one that Asus will be incredibly reluctant to give up as it was mainly them who came up with the netbook idea, and it has been through them that the craze has spread.  However the numbers do not lie, Asus only shipped 1.7 million in the third quarter while Acer managed 2.4 million, and advantage they intend to continue into the fourth quarter with predicted sales to exceed this quarter.

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We all have them.  Old gadgets and gizmos tucked away that we don’t use anymore, but for some reason…we just can’t find it in our heart to toss them.  For some, it might be that we don’t want to “clutter the environment,“ for others, “but I paid freakin’ HOW MUCH for that five years ago?!“  And for others still, well, we don’t even know why it’s still shoved it the closet or drawer.  Well, you might be heartened to know that Radio Shack is now providing a way for you to get some cash for those old tech goodies.  Well, not cash exactly, but the next best thing.  Gift cards for more tech goodies.

Launched just yesterday, Radio Shack is now offering a “trade-in policy“ for your old stuff.  It’s pretty much what it sounds like.  You give them your stuff, and you get a gift card for their store for a specified trade-in amount for your item.  They obviously don’t take every single item from every manufacturer from the dawn of time, but there is a pretty broad range on their trade-in site.

Keep reading to find out what a laptop is worth to Radio Shack.

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You know that WiMAX over in Baltimore?  The one you have to buy an external device to connect to?  Now there’s another option, two options actually.  Acer has announced two laptops that can connect to the XOHM WiMAX in Baltimore. 

The notebooks.com article seems to hint that they will only be available to those in Baltimore.  Though since they are being sold on NewEgg and TigerDirect, it would make sense anyone could buy them.  The WiMAX presumably would only be useful in the cities that have WiMAX, or at least those that have WiMAX from XOHM.

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I guess with all the available options for netbooks, you have to stand out in some way. Acer has decided to make their attempt by lowering the price of the Aspire One just in time for the back-to-school shopping rush.

The price drops are pretty nice and are offering quite a bit of savings. The Windows XP based model has been lowered from $399 down to $349 and the Linpus Lite based model has been lowered from $379 down to just $329. Of course, considering the Aspire One has already gotten quite a few good reviews, this just makes it a little more appealing.

Via [SlashGear]

• Dell quietly adds artwork options to the Mini 9, Mini 12 lineup, also adds pink, red
• Asus unveils the brushed-metal Eee PC 1002HA
• Same old same old nebooks again

Acer has announced that the Aspire One netbook is now officially available here in the US. Set to compete in the already overflowing market with the likes of the Eee PC from Asus, the HP Mini-Note and the upcoming Dell E mini.

The Aspire One will be available initially in sapphire blue or seashell white with a golden brown and diamond black model coming later this year. The notebook will be available in a few models, the AOA110-1722, AOA150-1570 and the AOA110-1566 which will retail for $379, $399 and $449 respectively.

All the models of the Aspire One will feature an 8.9-inch display with a 1024 x 600 resolution, 1.60GHz Intel Atom Processor N270 processor, Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950, built-in webcam, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g, built-in card reader, 3 USB ports and an Ethernet port.

The AOA110-1722 will come with an 8GB SSD, 512MB of RAM, a 3-cell battery and running Linpus Linux Lite. The AOA150-1570 will offer a 120GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, a 3-cell battery and running Windows XP Home. The high-end model, the AOA110-1566 features an 8GB SSD, 1GB of RAM, ships with a 6-cell battery and is running Linpus Linux Lite.

The Aspire One, which is currently available can be found directly from Acer and also at Best Buy, Circuit City and CDW.

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Acer has just announced the newest desktop model in their mini PC lineup, the Aspire X1200. While it may not be the most powerful of PC’s on the market today, it does have a few things going for it. The Aspire X1200 has a small overall size measuring in at just 10.6 x 4 x 14.4-inches and it also has more ports that you would probably need.

Spec wise the Aspire X1200 series PC’s run Windows Vista Premium 64 with SP1 and all include 4GB DDR2 RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8200 on-board graphics, a double-layer 16x SuperMulti drive and a 14-in-1 card reader. They all also include nine total USB ports, with five on the back and four on the front, an HDMI port as well as Firewire and audio jacks on the front.

The U1520A is powered by a AMD Athlon X2 Dual Core 4850e processor, the U1510A has the AMD Athlon X2 Dual Core 5000+ processor and the B1581A has a AMD Athlon X2 Dual Core 4850e processor. In addition the B1581A also includes a 22-inch widescreen display.

Pricing for the Aspire X1200 series is as follows, the U1520A retails for $449.99, the U1510A retails for $459.99 and the B1581A retails for $699.99. The U1520A and the U1510A are currently available, while the B1581A will be available beginning July 13.

Keep reading for the full press release.

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Remember that awesome looking Acer Aspire Gemstone notebook we covered last March? Well, that baby finally arrived in Acer authorized resellers and retailers all over the US. If you already forgot about it, let us give you a little refresh, the Gemstone Blue boasts of 18.4 (Aspire 8920)  and 16-inch (Aspire 6920) LCD displays with fully functional HD cinematic features. If you’re seriously considering getting The Aspire Gemstone Blue 8290 which retails for $1,299 or the 6920 which retails for $849, here’s a brief recap of their features.

Both notebooks boast of an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T9500, Mobile Intel PM965 Express chipset, up to 320GB hard drive, integrated Blu-ray disc drive or 8x DVD Super Multi double-layer drive, 6-in-1 card reader, Express Card/54 slot, HDMI port with HDCP support, WLAN, Bluetooth and integrated webcam. For graphics, the 8920 gets a NVIDIA GeForce 9650M GS or NVIDIA GeForce 9500M GS, while the 6920 gets a NVIDIA GeForce 9500M GS.

Read [Business Wire]

• Asus unveils the brushed-metal Eee PC 1002HA
• Dell quietly adds artwork options to the Mini 9, Mini 12 lineup, also adds pink, red
• HP introduces the TouchSmart TX2 laptop

Several reports indicate that Acer is planning to release laptops specifically targeted at the low cost market. The upcoming Aspire and Slim Gemstone Aspire are sized at 8.9-inch and 12.1-inch respectively and are expected to be released in May or June. The 12.1-inch model seems to be of particular interest to me as it has a bigger screen compared to the Asus Eee PC 900. If pricing and other features of the Slim Gemstone Aspire are the same or better then Acer will definitely offer some competition against Asus.

These new notebooks will both be sporting the new Intel Atom processor, which is also going to be implemented in Eee PC’s, which are expected to launch this June. The operating system used will be either Linux or Windows XP. Customers will also have the option to select either a standard hard drive or SSD storage. Pricing is expected to be between $300 and $450, whereas the Eee PC 900 is expected to retail for around $600.

Via [electronista]

• Asus unveils the brushed-metal Eee PC 1002HA
• Asus gets official with the Eee Top all-in-one PC
• Asus rumored to launch Eee Top all-in-one PC tomorrow, beginning at $499

I can’t help but be awed by the svelte beauty of Acer’s latest laptop baby, the Gemstone Blue, aka Acer Aspire 6920, and while reading its technical specifications and features, I can’t help but wonder whether Acer has created a mobile computing machine or a mobile multimedia entertainment product? The Aspire 6920 breaks away from the laptop norm and moves towards the direction of the latest media consoles.

From it’s 16-inch full HD 1920 x 1080 Cine Crystal TFT LCD to its DDR2 667MHz memory, you can easily ascertain that Acer is actually launching a portable multimedia machine rather than a business computing laptop. It has a touch-sensitive CineDash Media control which is said to respond quickly to the lightest contact. This is certainly one feature that users would definitely find useful, as traditional laptops tend to have slow-responding controls.

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