Acer plans netbook with 10.2-inch screen

Acer, the world's third-largest PC vendor, is planning to launch a netbook next year with a 10.2-inch screen, the largest netbook screen from Acer so far, a company representative confirmed.

The Taiwanese company's Aspire One netbook has been a hit this year. Launched at mid-year, the device now has Asustek Computer's popular Eee PC in its sights. Acer has forecast shipments of 6 million Aspire One's this year, against estimates of 5 million from Asustek for its Eee PCs.

[ For more on products in the hot mini-notebook category, check out our hands-on looks at Asus' Eee PC 901 and 1000 and the N10 netbook, the Cloudbook Max netbook, Elitegroup's G10IL mini-laptop, MSI's Wind low-cost laptop, Giga-byte's M912X mini-laptop, HP's Mini-Note netbook and Acer's Aspire one. ]

The Aspire One out now has an 8.9-inch screen, but most companies are putting out netbooks with 10.2-inch screens now. The slightly larger screen sizes are more popular with people who like to view Web pages without scrolling left and right to see the entire page.

Asustek, which has offered a 7-inch screen on its Eee PCs, has said it does not plan to offer the small screen size in the future because people don't seem to like it as much.

Netbooks are mini-laptop PCs designed for mobility, typically sporting 7-inch to 10-inch screens and weighing less than 2 kilograms. Most netbook components, including the microprocessor, are less powerful than those of full-fledged laptops so batteries last longer. Netbooks are designed for dealing with e-mail, browsing the Internet and working on word processor or spreadsheet documents, not for heavy-duty gaming, video editing, or other multimedia work.

Reports also indicate that Acer plans to launch a rival to Asustek's Eee Top, which is a low-cost competitor to Apple's iMac, a display with computing functions built-in.