Acer Aspire One AOD255E hits stores, with Intel Atom N570 inside

The Acer Aspire One AOD255E comes with one of the most anticipated processors of the year, namely the dual core Intel Atom N570. The new processor offers much better performance than their previous chips, considering that most of them were single core versions. Another strong point of the new chip is that it requires less power to function, coming with a 8.5W TDP.

So, what does this mean for the AOD255E? The netbook is said to run for 8 hours on a single charge and be able to be much more responsive and able to cope with more demanding graphics applications.

Basically, what you would expect from a dual core processor nowadays. Together with the processor, there’s 1 GB of DDR3 RAM, a 250 GB HDD, Intel GMA 3150 graphics with support for DirectX 9, Wireless N, 10.1 inch, a 1024 x 600 display, a multi gesture touch pad and Windows 7 Starter.

If we take a very close look at this, we can see that it’s basically the AO522, a netbook we introduced to you only yesterday. The only thing different is the processor- is it that important to set these two apart?

Acer Aspire One AOD255E comes with dual core Intel Atom N570 processor

The A0522 has a AMD Fusion dual core C-50 APU, which comes with integrated HD graphics. The AMD processor is slower, as it runs at 1 GHZ, while Intel’s latest dual core Atom has a 1.66 GHZ speed. The second one might be better for multitasking, for example if you’re writing something, listening to some music and keeping a couple of browser tabs open all at the same time.

Considering that the two models have the same amount of RAM, processor speed is of the essence and Intel wins this one (true, not by much). Also, Intel Atom N570 requires less power to run- both Acer netbooks have a 6 cell battery, but the version running the Atom chip is said to last for about 8 hours, while the AMD version ticks in at 6.

This is really surprising, considering that the C-50 is the lowest power consuming processor from the line of AMD Fusion chips. But a very important aspect is the video performance, where the C-50 comes with HD graphics and compatibility with DirectX 11, while the N570 has only GMA graphics and support for DirectX 9.

This means that high res videos might be choppy on the Intel version and frame rates on most animations might be lower than on the C-50. True, the N570 is better at graphics than previous Atom processors, but it still lags behind AMD Fusion APUs. What will it be then? Performance or video quality? This should be your question when choosing between the two.

The AOD255E is now available from Amazon for $329.99.  It’s the same price as the AO522, so in the end the question is if you want a netbook better at video or one with longer battery life and emphasis on multitasking.

Tags: Atom N570

Last updated: March 29, 2012 | Published: March 5th, 2011 | Add the first comment!