Aspire One D250-HDT, being WXGAG (1280x720)

This is a new version which is available in the Netherlands and well since I am having the previous D250 (1024x600) I am thinking of switching to this HD version. Frankly the rest of the specs are the same being also an Atom N280 with 6-cell battery, but will a 10.1inch display really be readable at 1280x720 resolution? Would anyone have some idea?

 

Readability is one consideration, performance is another: I was also wondering how the CPU & chipset will deal with generating all those additional pixels? Me, I think I will wait off on the higher resolution Netbook`s until next year and the next generation are released;

I recently looked at one of the Sony P series and they have a screen resolution of 1600 x 768, very sharp and clear, however excruciatingly small, and I would not want use a machine with this size of font for any length of time. 1280x720 will clearly be better. My favorite display at present is my LG X120 with its 1024x576 resolution, a scroll monster it may be, yet I find it a little easier on the eyes than my D250`s 1024x600.

The increased real-estate will be a clear benefit, am just concerned I would spend my time increasing font sizes to make the display more readable, I think you need to assess what you use the Netbook for; video you may well need more computing power, general browsing font size may be problematic, 2D imaging I can see the benefit.

Personally I would hold off, the D250 is just out the box, and the additional computing power needed for the higher res display has to impact battery life to some extent. Next year there will be a new series of Atom CPU`s, CULV etc, NVIDIA® ION™ will be more widespread, battery designs are becoming ever smarter and have greater capacities (new LG X130 estimated 12Hr !!!), OS`s will be more Netbook centric; Windows 7, Ubuntu & Kubuntu Netbook Remix, Open Solaris to name but a few, buy one now and you will definitely be upgrading again in 2010, there is just too much in the pipeline for Netbooks coming in the not too distant future.

Next year will be very interesting as Microsoft will have to relinquish the restrictions on Netbooks to some extent to remain competitive; a 2Ghz CPU & ION, 2Gb Ram, 500GB Drive & HD display is just around the corner, the fact that it wont retail with Windows 7, well who is going to care. The only real issue with other OS`s is maturity in drivers and power management and they are gaining ground fast.

I ran Open Solaris 2009.6 on my D259 and all but the LAN driver (can be complied) ran perfectly out of the box, even with the desktop enhancement maxed, only battery efficiency was an issue and this can be tweaked, once battery run time equals XP MS will be history on my systems, and with the likes of the LG X130 you can afford not to be squeezing the last Amp of power and have the OS of choice, not necessity, as the "Open" community simply has far more interesting platforms and applications on offer.

Q-6

 

wow 1280x760 res on a 10" screen! I don't think I can handle that, too much squinting for my old tired eyes. I sold off my old AAO with 8gb SSD. I decided between the D250 and the 751 and finally settled on the D250 for the faster performance and also because the fonts etc were just too small on the 751.

 

my first post in this forum..
After experiencing the 1024x600 res on a 9" screen.. the 1280x720.. its really a blessing..
Its the main reason i bought the bugger in the first place.. just hoping it will play nice with snow leopard