Daily deal – Acer Aspire One ultra portable notebook – $399

by Scott Carmichael on

My daily deal for today is a bit different from my other “hot” deals. The Acer Aspire One is an ultra portable notebook (the new name is “netbook”) and on the inside you’ll find an Intel Atom processor, 1GB of ram, a 120GB hard drive and Windows XP. On the outside, you get a nice 8.9″ display, a fairly spacious keyboard, a webcam and a memory card reader.

The deal itself isn’t extremely hot, but it is being sold at one of the only stores that actually has this new machine in stock, plus it is currently the best value for money of any Netbook on the market (in my personal opinion of course).

The Acer Aspire One (model AO-A150-1570) costs just $399, and while that may be more than some of the regular sized notebooks on the market, it does offer a great value for money compared to other ultra portables. If you are lucky enough to live anywhere near a Microcenter store, you can take a closer look at one in person, and buy one right away, or you can place an online order and the machine will ship in 1-3 business days.

If you plan to do some comparison shopping, be aware that there are two different versions of this computer; one is in stock at several other (online) stores, and costs $379, but it only has 512MB of memory and just 8GB of hard drive storage, plus it runs a special version of Linux instead of Windows XP. At just $20 more, you’ll understand why the version I am posting here is such a “hot” deal – until the next model Netbook comes along of course.

Daily deal – Asus Eee 900 ultra portable notebook for $379.99 (after $100 rebate)

by Scott Carmichael on

The daily deal for this sunny Sunday is perfect for anyone who likes to travel light.

This Asus Eee ultra portable notebook weighs just a tad over 2 pounds, and comes with 20GB of storage, 1GB of memory, a webcam, Wi-Fi and a battery capable of up to 3 hours runtime. The machine also has a memory card reader, making it easy to add some more storage, or for copying photos off your digital camera.

This new generation of ultra portable machines has created an entirely new way of traveling with your computer. No longer will you need to drag along a 6 pound behemoth, or have to settle for the tiny screen on your PDA. At 2 pounds, it’s the perfect size for working on your next flight, or for making Internet phone calls in your hotel room.

There are 2 things I need to point out though; this version of the Asus Eee PC does not run Windows. While this may be a blessing for many people, it could also be quite a surprise if you purchase it fully expecting to turn it on and see the desktop you are used to. It is possible to install Windows XP, but you’ll have to get your hands on an installation CD and an external CD/DVD drive. Asus provides a DVD in the box with all the drivers you need to turn the Eee into a Windows notebook. The Linux version installed on the Eee offers almost all the applications you could ever need, including the Mozilla Firefox browser, Thunderbird Email, Skype, various media players and an open source office package.

If you really need Windows XP, and don’t feel like messing around with an installation CD or drivers, you can purchase a version with XP installed for the same price, but the storage space drops from 20GB to just 12GB.

The other thing I need to point out, is that this notebook sells for $479.99 “out the door”, you won’t get the sweet $379.99 price until you submit a form for an Asus sponsored $100 rebate.

The rebate is valid from August 1st until August 31st, so you have some time to think it through. The vendor only charges sales tax in California, and shipping is free.

Asus Eee 900 with Linux (20GB storage)
Asus Eee 900 with Windows XP (12GB storage)