There are a handful of netbooks, including the ASUS Eee PC 1000HE and the Samsung N110, that don’t have to be accompanied by their power cords for a day trip, because their standard six-cell laptop batteries provide over five hours of battery life on a single charge. And it is that type of netbook that should be standard in this crowded market. But it isn’t.
Many netbook manufacturers, including Dell, HP, and Lenovo, seem reluctant to ship devices with extended batteries, saddling users with 3-cell systems that last just over two hours. Currently, Dell only offers its Mini 9 and 10 with a 4-cell TravelMate battery 2200 . HP does offer an upgrade to a 6-cell for $79, but most models come standard with a 3-cell battery.
By far the most significant products are the three new thin and light Acer Aspire Timelines, punched out in 13.3in, 14.1in and 15.6in versions. These are the units, along with the new netbooks, that will determine if Acer has an OK year in a recession or a great year.
For Acer 2700 battery is still growing, in shipments and revenues, against the backdrop of PC market decline, The company attributes this to strong positions in notebooks, netbooks, a multi-brand approach reaching more market segments, and lower operational costs than rivals - which means it can still profits on lower prices. Acer claimed 40 per cent of the netbook market in 2008 (which totalled more than 10 million units) And it is gunning to maintain this share in 2009, when the market is expected to see 20m-25m unit shipments.
Acer did some mighty tweaking here. JT Wang, Acer chairman and CEO, calls it an engineering feat and one that would take at least six months for competitors to catch up with. “We have the ability to create a difference,” he said.
Wang explained that technically speaking, if you want to add more power to your TravelMate 230 battery, you add more to its weight and size. But instead of adding, Acer reduced it further in size.
Acer's Smart Handheld Business Group leader Aymar de Lencquesaing said in a television interview recently, "We have not made any formal announcement of an Android- based device, although it's likely that we'll have one in 2009. We intend to have devices that will take advantage of multiple platforms."
Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis for NPD Group, says some Acer products are similar in concept to Asus' offerings. He believes Acer can shake up the market regardless, given its corporate heft and strong brand. "Acer wasn't the first manufacturer to come out with a netbook TravelMate 2350 battery, but it was the first major one, and look at the success it's had," he notes.
This is where things get a little tricky. If you finish and it won't boot, then go back and double-check this section carefully. Now - you have options that depend on what kind of disk you've got.
If you have a traditional mechanical hard drive then you can pick between installing Ubuntu alongside your existing operating system or replacing it. If you'd like to do the former, then pick the first option in the list - install alongside an existing operating system, then click forward and skip straight to the next section, ignoring all the stuff about filesystems below.
