Koobten – Netbooks and moreNetbook reviews

Computerworld reports that HP and Acer are engaging in a price war, with the US school opening season upcoming this fall.

Acer slashed prices on its Aspire One netbooks on Friday to as low as $329 for one version, while HP revealed new prices for Mini-Notes on its Web site.

The price of the HP Mini-Note 2133 KR948UT has been slashed to $789 from $949, according to HP. The device has an 8.9-in. screen, uses a 1.2-GHz Via C7-M microprocessor, and has 2GB of DRAM and a 160GB hard disk drive (HDD) for data storage.

The lowest-priced Mini-Note running Windows Vista Home Basic is the KX868AT, which costs $599, down from $786, according to HP.

The lowest-priced Mini-Note is the HP 2133 KR922UT at $499 on Amazon.com and elsewhere, but a better version of that netbook, the Mini-Note 2133 KX869AT, offers a lot more for $549.

The education sector is being targeted by the netbook manufacturers, with portable, lightweight and small devices that cost less than full-sized notebooks being viewed as ideal for students of all ages. For me I would say that the big issue here would be battery life, given that schools and libraries may not always have wall outlets available for charging. Asus’ concept of whole-day computing comes into mind here.

Yugatech recently published a roundup of 9-inch netbooks that are on retail in the Philippines market. These include the Acer Aspire one, HP Mini Note and the Asus EeePC 900.with the addition of the MSI Wind 10-incher for reference.

According to Yuga, the Acer Aspire one comes out the winner, considering the price factor, with the MSI Wind also a “nice option.” The EeePC and HP Mini Note are lagging here, perhaps particularly because they are already dated models. Asus has reportedly chosen to forego selling the 901 in the Philippine market, but will instead launch the 10-incher 1000 next week.

Yugatech has a similar round-up of 7-inch netbooks here.

(image credit: Yugatech)