Longer battery life and 3G to replace cashback for Aspire One netbook

As the first mainstream player to enter the netbook arena, and bolstered by a $100 ‘cash-back’ promotion at launch, Acer stole the mass-market spotlight – and more importantly, sales – from lesser-known brands Asus and MSI. But the $100 rebate on the Aspire One is soon to end, while both Dell’s newly-minted Inspiron Mini 9 and Lenovo’s imminent IdeaPad S10 look to carve up the cake. So what’s next for the 8.9 inch netbook?

Acer plans to upgrade the Aspire One’s standard issue battery from the current three-cell module to a higher capacity six cell battery, extending the usable time between recharges to some five hours compared to the maximum of two-and-a-half hours available with the current three-cell battery.

The six-cell battery is already offered as a cost-extra option for $110. However Henry Lee, Senior Product Manager for Acer Computer Australia, says that the company’s initial intentions to roll out this upgrade “as of October or even earlier” have been scotched due to short supply of the six cell batteries. Lee now predicts the battery boost to “in early 2009”, although the netbook’s price will remain the same despite the larger battery.

Also still on the cards is the introduction of an ‘Aspire One 3G’ model which will come fitted with a 3G HSDPA mini-card for easy access to wireless broadband. Lee told APC that prototypes are currently being tested by “two large telcos within Australia” (our money is on Telstra and Vodafone, as they’ve been most aggressive in promoting 3G mobile broadband for laptops).

“We have done some preliminary testing and results are good. We are optimistic that a product should be available in early 2009”, forecasts Lee, although he was uncertain if buyers would be able to use their own SIM card and choice of carrier. “We are not able to say whether it will be offered on a plan or users can just insert their own SIM for access to the 3G network. We will need to work with the telcos and finalise this after regulatory testing has been completed”. However, the 3G card won’t be available as an after-sales option for current Aspire One owners due to the need to also modify the netbooks’s floorplan to allow for the 3G antenna.

While the $100 rebate offer on the Linux version of the Aspire One (model number AOA110, with an 8GB solid state drive and 512MB of RAM) has just ended, you’ve got until October 31 to claw back $100 on the Windows XP version (model number AOA150, with a 120GB hard drive and 1GB of RAM). APC advises buyers to shop around using sites like Static Ice to find the best price and ensure you can get your $100 rebate on top of that.

Many who’ve already snapped up an Aspire One are yet to receive their rebate cheque, however, with Acer allowing that the process can take as many as ten weeks from the date of purchase. Customers have “up to 14 days to register and send in the supporting documents” to claim their rebate explains Lucy Millington, Acer’s local Marketing Communications Manager.

After the claim has been “received and validated by Acer” there’s an additional period of “up to eight weeks (for) delivery of the cheque via post. Acer provide our customers with the ability to track their rebate status online via the Acer Cashback Registration Web site”. Millington says the rebate program has been “quite successful” in helping the Aspire One gain attention in this crowded market, with “cashback registrations for the A1 tracking higher than (our) notebook average”.

Millington told APC that Windows XP models of the Aspire One represent 95% of sales in Australia – and that while  black Aspire Ones have now been released, she is still tossing up between getting her own Aspire One in blue right away or waiting until early 2009 for the models decked out in what she describes as the ‘very Louis Vuitton’ brown. (We’re with you, Lucy – go the luxe brown!).