Two weeks ago I wrote about some active speculation regarding the announcement of the not-so-secret Dell Mini-Inspiron (I guess Minspiron sounds too weird?).

Everyone expected the machine to be announced during a special Dell press event held that week; but we got nothing.

In the meantime, Asus, Acer, HP, Lenovo, MSI, Everex, Fujitsu and even LG have either released or announced their own Netbook. Everyone knows Dell will have one, so what is taking them so long?

I had initially set my sights on getting one of their shiny mini Inspiron machines, but ended up succumbing to the draw of the Acer Aspire One. At $350 it is (in my opinion) the best value for money in Netbook land at the moment.

The specifications:

• 8.9″ screen
• Intel Atom 1.6GHz CPU
• 120GB hdd
• 1GB ram
• Webcam
• Wi-Fi/Ethernet
• 3 USB ports
• 1 SD slot for storage expansion
• 1 multi-card reader slot
• Windows XP

The Aspire One (with Windows XP) launched for $429, then dropped to $399, then dropped again to $349. It was on sale this weekend at Bestbuy, but most vendors have yet to lower the price from $399. A Linux version of this machine is available for $329, but it lacks the 120GB HDD opting for an 8GB SSD drive instead. Perhaps I’ll give Dell a chance if they ever release their machine, but the Acer is making me mighty happy in the meantime.