Acer Aspire One D150 Video Preview: Great Battery, Poor Keyboard

After the impromptu 10-inch Acer Aspire One unboxing on Friday ended with the ominous suggestion that the new netbook feels "cheaper" than its predecessor, we now have a hands-on demo video to entertain us.  It's potentially bittersweet for anybody particularly looking forward to this budget ultraportable: while there are some genuinely positive aspects – the huge battery, for one – there's also disappointment to be had regarding both its look and feel.Demo video of the Acer Aspire One D150 after the cut

On the good side, the battery – a 6-cell unit – should last out for a solid 7hrs runtime, which puts the 10-inch Aspire One on a par with the Samsung NC20.  However when it comes to the keyboard, the Acer is apparently "separated by universes" from the 'board on the NC20, and even though the trackpad buttons have been shifted from their frustrating flanking positions, the pad itself is too small and the display too glossy.

Hopefully price will be the new Aspire One's saving grace.  We've already seen it go up for pre-order at J&R, in 1.6GHz N270 form at least, and now Amazon are listing the same model themselves.  $349.99 gets you the blue Aspire One with the 6-cell battery, 160GB hard-drive, 1GB of RAM and Windows XP; we'll have to wait a little while longer for the SSD and Linux options.