Yes, you heard it right; Acer and Asus have halted the release of any new netbooks until sometimes mid of August 2010, reliable sources report. Some background knowledge — both Asus and Acer are recognized and well respected brand names in the laptop and netbook industry, thanks to the many products and netbook models they have constantly supplied to their potential consumers without fail. This way, consumers have always felt that they are getting the best and latest netbook in the market, even if it is a simple upgrade of a previous version already in the market.

This marketing ploy has hugely awarded both companies as currently they are the leading netbook dealers globally and are a household name whenever netbooks are mentioned. That aside, despite this well known fact, the companies have decided to halt on new releases. This move is likely because of the fact that the Intel is planning to release a new product in the market – the Atom N550 dual core processor, which is slated for release sometimes in the third quarter of this year.

It is in light of this that Acer and Asus needs some time off to liquidate excess inventory and create room for future netbooks which will be powered by the N550 processor, meaning the performance of netbooks would be better and faster. Despite this positive attribute of a fast processor which means task will be completed easily unlike with the predecessor processors, it is to be noted that the upgrade will also see an upgrade in the cost of the netbooks that will be carrying the new N550 dual core processor.

It is however projected that the cost increase will not be very significant meaning that the current netbooks from Asus and Acer with slower processors will be difficult to sell, no wonder the window period of about a month for stock clearance. Further, it doesn’t make any sense for the companies to continue manufacturing any netbooks that would be hard to market and sell and are waiting for the release of the processor. It is only a matter of wait and see as we hold our breathes that the new netbooks powered by the new processor will be affordable to the average citizen.

Less than one month since the Acer Aspire one D260 was rolled out at Computex, it looks like the company is not yet fully contented with the products already out, hence the follow-up with the Acer Aspire One D255. Apparently, this netbook is almost identical to its predecessor the D260 in terms of internal features and specs such as Wi-FI, 6-Cell battery, Bluetooth, and up to 250GB of hard disk space.

Notable alterations are some negligible design tweaks that dropped the chrome accents and fleck paint options noted on the D260. Not to worry though as the impossible to Miss Aspire one logo on the lid of the netbook is still very present. This upcoming model is getting lots of internet buzz as it will be the first of Acer’s products to be powered by the Intel Dual Core Atom N550 processor, so you should expect some better performance.

Even though the market has seen dual core Atom processors previously, in nettops such as the ASRock ION330, this processor is the first to be designed specially with netbooks in mind. Note however that the clock speed on this processor is a little lower than its predecessor, at 1.5GHz. Even though it is effective in most cases as it has two cores instead of one, performance is bound to suffer significantly if an application doesn’t make use of the two cores i.e. a CPU exhaustive single threaded application like Adobe Flash within the browser.

Still on point, as with all other Atom processors, this N550 processor fully supports hyper-threading meaning that Windows will note you have 4CPUs even though you don’t have them physically. Even so, the hyper-threading ought to give you a significant boost when multitasking.

Apart from the notable CPU change, it is still very early to report whether the Acer Aspire one D255 will outshine the other best netbooks in the market currently, but your guess is as good as mine, we have to wait and see. Unfortunately, no word is out yet regarding its pricing nor its availability but be sure to check this page regularly because once the information is out, you will be the first to know!

Acer has a habit of sneaking some netbooks in the market but this 11.6 inch capacitive touchscreen netbook doesn’t deserve to be hidden. The Acer Aspire 1825PTZ convertible tablet seems to be a replacement of the 1820PTZ, which was about to hit the market just about this time but never materialized. The Acer Aspire 1825PTZ is a convertible ultraportable notebook featuring among many cool features a multi touchscreen.

It further features has an Intel SU4100 dual core processor at 1.3GHz, boasts 4GB of Random Access Memory, a 320GB hard drive, blue tooth, a 6 cell 5600 mAh battery, Wi-Fi, 802.11b/g/n wireless and comes packed with Windows 7 Home Premium Operating System. This OS means more and better customization than the Windows 7 Starter Edition spotted in many netbooks in the market. Thanks to the powerful 6-cell battery, you get at least 5 hours of normal use.

This intriguing 11.6 inch swivel display convertible boasts a capacitive multitouch screen which has the ability to be folded and used as a tablet. It comes in black, blue or red colors. The word that dominates the Acer Aspire 1825PTZ is ‘glossy’, right from the screen to the case. It has a nice keyboard which is a combination of a normal and chiclet keyboard.

In Europe, the netbook ships at 600 Euros while in Italy it goes for around €693.15 equivalent to around $942. This is quite a huge jump from Lenovo S10-3t and Asus T101MT, but it gives you an unrivaled performance.  When it hits the US market if at all it makes it there, hopefully the price will considerably drop. But with a capacitive touchscreen, will it be hoping a little too hard for the impossible?

With the Acer Aspire 532G Netbook on the horizon, the firm looks to launch the latest range of Nvidia ION tech with this dual GPU portable monster. While a release date has yet to be announced, the 532G certainly looks set to entertain with its fully HD capable GPU. With the latest in processors, the netbook features an Intel Atom 1.66 GHz alongside 2GB of ram and plenty of hard disk space. However with Acer still as of yet to reveal the full capabilities of the Nvidia Ion GPU, we’re left waiting until the netbooks release at the end of Q1.

Looking at the 532G, one might be mistaken for thinking that this is just an ordinary netbook, but with its large keyboard and high quality screen, you soon realize that the Aspire One 532G is nothing like the competition. The only drawback on this machine is that the track pad leaves a little to be desired because of its glossy finish which may make scrolling tiresome. Regardless however, the Acer 532G is set to be the market leader showcasing Nvidia’s latest technology. With up to 10 hours of battery life, the Aspire One 532G is well equipped to deal with 3D games, Photoshop and indeed many graphics intensive applications.

Acer have yet to announce a release date or pricing, but this new laptop will probably appear at around the $500 mark. With its generous specification, Windows 7 Home Premium and also a super-fast and compact charging unit, it’s compact, portable and most importantly a thoroughbred in the world of netbooks. The 532G is set to be the premier netbook in Acer’s 2010 product lineup. It’s well equipped, powerful and it will do almost anything the typical user might require.

Perhaps to compete with Acer’s Ferrari themed netbooks, Packard bell is due to release a special edition netbook in homage to Moto GP, Valentino Rossi. With a stunning lid design, it certainly looks the part with a striking sun and moon design which is apparently the same emblem which appears on the legend’s helmet. However, the question is, does the dot VR46 netbook have what it takes? Most importantly, is it worthy of the Valentino Rossi moniker?

Shipping with Windows 7 Home Premium as standard, the machine is equipped with not the typical Intel Atom CPU, but instead a ULV (ultra low voltage) Core2 Duo processor for that extra additional horsepower. With 2 GB of DDR2 as standard, it’s good to see a move away from under-performing 1 GB machines. Coming with all the usual Wi-Fi / Bluetooth / card reader functionality which you’d expect, it has to be said that it’s a powerful and well equipped piece of kit. With an 11.6″ display supporting 1366×768 HD, this is good news for movie fans and with the GMA 4500MHD on board graphics chip providing video, it’s a capable movie machine that can tackle HD movies without problem. The Packard Bell dot VR46 certainly looks good on paper, but a UK release date is yet to be confirmed.

Packard bell’s new offering is pleasing on paper and while we’re generally impressed, they have yet to announce a release date and the price leaves a little to be desired. While this netbook is certainly as powerful as it is stylish, Packard Bell’s price tag of £449 begs a little caution considering that HP, Dell and Acer will all be launching similar models that are equally as powerful in the near future.

Acer continue to release new netbooks in an attempt, it seems, to dominate the netbook market. The latest netbook to hit our shelves is the Acer Aspire One 532H. This 10.1″ ruby red netbook uses Intels latest “Pine Trail” Atom N450 1.66GHz processor. Early reports suggested a great value netbook, but, it seems those reports may have been slightly off the mark. That aside, the 532H still gives you 1GB RAM, DDR2 SDRAM, 250GB HDD plus Windows 7. In addition to these, there will also be Wi-Fi networking, a multi-in-one media card reader, an integrated webcam, three USB 2.0 ports, and a multi-gesture trackpad.

The whole idea behind the Pine Trail Atom is to improve power efficiency and in turn increase battery life. Acer currently promise that the 532H will last up to 10 hours. According to reports, the six cell battery can reach the 8 and a half hour mark, which is still pretty good. As this is one of the first netbooks to use the Pine Trail Atom processor you may want to wait to see what other manufacturers can do with it? If not, you can currently get this one from Amazon for just over the £300 mark.

Acer were one of the original manufacturers of netbooks and they continue to produce excellent products. The Acer Aspire One DB150 model is the latest in the range. The Acer Aspire One A series set the standard of of the Acer netbooks but the D series has now pushed this further. This new netbook now delivers increased performance using Intel’s Atom N280 processor. It also comes with a slightly larger 10.1” CrystalBrite widescreen display.

Whether you’re using wireless, wired or 3G, you will stay connected with the D series. The D150 comes with three USB ports, an Ethernet and Wifi 802.11b/g. The signal is enhanced by Acer Signal Up functionality which maintains your connection as you move your netbook away from the Wifi base and gives a stronger reception.