Pictured is my new 8.9″ WSVGA Acer Aspire One in Sapphire Blue next to a Pepsi can for scale. It’s tiny. Specs: 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270, 16GB SSD (8GB SSD + 8GB SDHC), 1GB DDR2 RAM.

I plan on taking it to Europe with me and use around the house. It’s currently running Windows XP and while I originally envisioned putting Windows 7 on it, I think I will pass. The machine came with only 2.3 GB free of space on the SSD and I managed to gain an additional 2GB by removing a bunch of software.

I plan on using this as a netbook and will not mistake it for a fully featured laptop. I’ve read too many reviews of people unhappy about the webcam, the size (WTH?), and the trackpad. They must not have understood what they were getting into. After getting this thing slimmed down, I am amazed at its speed and can safely say that it’s one of the coolest machines I have ever owned.

I am a Mac user, but Apple has not released anything in a netbook size that is under $750 so I had to head to the dark side. With the Acer’s small size, SSD, and coming in at under $300 I’d consider it a risk worth taking.