Acer reveals first AMD-powered netbooks

Acer Aspire One 521
The Acer Aspire One 521 also has a big brother, the 721

At it's launch event in Cannes yesterday, Acer also launched the first true AMD netbooks. We say 'true' because there have been AMD Vision-powered Acer thin and lights before like the Acer Ferrari One we've previously reviewed.

But for that model, you're looking at £400. The new Acer Aspire One 721 and Aspire One 521 should come in a lot cheaper than that and enable AMD to properly compete with Intel Atom in netbooks - after all, Acer is the number one vendor of netbooks worldwide.

Here's the basic skinny on the two models. The new netbooks come in two sizes, 10.1-inch and 11.6-inch and have a slim and light low profile design with glossy lid. Both have ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4225 graphics.

These netbooks aren't based on the AMD Vision platform.

Acer aspire one 521

Instead, each is powered by the AMD V-Series processor V105 alongside up to 4GB of memory. Each also has an HDMI port, but screen res is understandably lacking - you can get 1366 x 768 (WXGA) panel resolution on the Aspire One 721, but not on the lower end model.

Each also has a webcam, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. We'll be bringing you a hands-on with the Aspire One 521 imminently on TechRadar.

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Dan (Twitter, Google+) is TechRadar's Former Deputy Editor and is now in charge at our sister site T3.com. Covering all things computing, internet and mobile he's a seasoned regular at major tech shows such as CES, IFA and Mobile World Congress. Dan has also been a tech expert for many outlets including BBC Radio 4, 5Live and the World Service, The Sun and ITV News.