Tarsus strengthens netbook play with distribution right for Acer Aspire One

10 September 2008

The hottest new buzzword in the IT market today is netbook, a term that describes a new breed of super-thin, super-light, and super-affordable mobile computers that are rapidly making their way into the lives of both business executives and consumers.

Othelo, Acer product manager at Tarsus Technologies, says the mobile computing sector hasn't been this exciting for a good couple of years.

"To a great degree, things had settled into a comfortable rhythm in the notebook sector," he explains.

"Although developments like Intel's Centrino Platform, the advent of wireless networking and real 3D graphics power had created increased interest in mobile computing, nothing has ignited the industry as much as the introduction of these new netbooks," he says.

Netbooks come in at a quarter of the cost of a conventional business notebook and are quite capable of handling business-critical tasks like e-mail, Web browsing, instant messaging and document generation.

They also predominantly use a Linux operating system, so they're extremely power-efficient and provide a solid performance level.

The Aspire One is a focused device and at this price point its expected to find a comfortable place in most business people's lives as a second, or on-the-move device when ultra-mobility is required.

"Executives are becoming weary carrying a 13-inch or even 15-inch computer with them while they're away on a business trip, when all they're likely to do is respond to some e-mail and maybe generate a proposal or two.

"In this situation a 7-inch to 9-inch computer with a solid-state hard disc, hours of battery life, and an agreeable price tag are far more desirable alternatives."

Up until now, the vast majority of netbooks were very basic in their design and lacked many of the bells and whistles that business people would expect.

"That was, of course, until the launch of Acer's offering in this sector, namely the Aspire One," Vieira says.

Vieira explains that the Aspire One not only feels sturdier, but it makes use of newer technology than the average netbook on the market.

"Intel's new revolutionary Atom processor is just one example of this new technology in practice," he says. "By using Atom, the Aspire One performs better than most of its peers and is light on battery usage, which are two very important aspects to be considered when purchasing new hardware.

"Add to that Acer's one-year international warranty and the strong name the company has made for itself in the notebook space and it's clear the Aspire One will be one of the most compelling offerings in this new sector when it arrives in a few weeks' time," he says.

This sexy little number is currently available in white, however, towards the end of 2008, it will also be available in blue, pink and a more conservative shade of brown.

Vieira adds that Tarsus is delighted to have secured the rights to distribute the product in South Africa.

"While the Aspire brand is one that we don't generally carry - it generally describes products destined for the consumer and retail channels - we believe the Aspire One has great potential in the commercial sector.

"We're looking forward to huge success with this new product line, since it truly is changing the computing landscape both locally and abroad," he concludes.