Netbooks based on Intel’s Atom processor faced a fresh assault this week: the $279 AMD-based Acer laptop.

Here’s the $299–or this case, the $279—question: do you want a Netbook with a 10-inch screen, an Intel Atom processor, no optical drive, and Windows XP that weighs about two pounds? Or, a laptop with a 15.6-inch screen, a higher-performance AMD or Intel processor, an optical drive, and Windows Vista that weights about six pounds?

Acer $279.99 laptop

On Wednesday, Best Buy was offering an Acer laptop (AS5516-5474) that had been previously listed at $299.

A Best Buy salesperson in a Southern California store said these deals typically last a week.

The specifications: an AMD Athlon TF-20 64 processor, 15.6-inch WXGA display, 2GB DDR2 memory, DVD-RW drive, 160GB hard disk drive, ATI Radeon Xpress 1200 graphics, 802.11b/g wireless, 10/100 Ethernet LAN, and Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic Edition. Pretty close to mainstream-laptop hardware with the exception of the low-end AMD-ATI silicon and the older “g” wireless.

It weighs in at 6 pounds and measures 1.5-inches thick.

Earlier this month, Best Buy was offering a $299 Toshiba laptop sporting a 15-inch screen but then bumped the price up to $329.

But whether it’s a $279, $299, or $329, it’s a laptop design that has legs. And a real competitor to the 10-inch Netbook, which costs about the same.

Source-infoworld.