For the price, it is difficult to discover fault with Acer’s even cheaper edition of the 10.1-inch Aspire One, as long as you are not anticipating top-of-the-line features.

As prices keep falling in the Netbook Wars, abiding competitive among a slew of me-too Atom-powered mininotebooks is a challenge. While paying $500 for a Netbook was usual just a year ago, today, stripped-down however still functional Netbooks are now pushing $300, headed by Dell and its bare-bones Mini 10v. Acer’s Aspire One assisted define the Netbook to the masses, underselling the rivalry at $350, and the most recent version drops the price (while slimming down the chassis) with the $298 Aspire One AOD250.

Just a a couple of months ago, Acer launched the first 10-inch edition of the Aspire One Netbooks, the AOD150. In Feb it cost $350, and we named it very good, but it had its limitations: a terrible touch pad, moderately bulky size because of a six-cell battery, and a keyboard that was positively cramped compared with the competition.

The AOD250 weighs less and is thinner than the AOD150 because it has a three-cell battery now, not a six. The specs on processor, disc drive, and RAM are identical, but the new Aspire One’s more compact design makes it feel a bit less like a budget product.

The finish has a metallic-flake look, with a shiny but not atrociously fingerprint-attracting finish. The screen hinge, where the bulk of the battery is housed, is matte black and lies relatively flush with the rest of the machine. Inside, the black keyboard is housed in red plastic with a finish that feels like brushed metal, while the glossy 10.1-inch screen is encircled by shiny black plastic. It’s not an unattractive looking for a budget Netbook, but possibly not exactly business casual.

Although it is a decent-looking machine, it does not especially stand out as groundbreaking in any way, opposed to what Asus did with the stylish new “Seashell” Eee PC 1008HA. On the other hand, the Seashell prices $429, while the AOD250 is $130 cheaper. That’s a big deviation in a low-cost product.

The keyboard feels comforted to type on, and although it has a pair of full Shift keys (no ugly right-side compression), it is still far from full size. As a result, the typing experience is more cramped than working on an HP Mini 110 or a Samsung N120. The keyboard could have gone fully edge-to-edge, and in the future we genuinely hope Acer makes this shift. The touch pad is decidedly an advance: while it is still little and inset, the bottom rocker button is much more clicky than earlier.

The 10.1-inch wide-screen LED-backlit LCD offers a 1,024×600-pixel native resolution, which is acceptable for a screen this size. Colors are sharp, and text and icons are firm.

If you are familiar with the AOD150, you will know what to anticipate here as well. The same budget no-frills ports are available here; while three USB 2.0 jacks are generous, there’s no Bluetooth. For only $30 more, the HP Mini 110, while thicker in size, includes Bluetooth as well as a fuller edge-to-edge keyboard. You’ll have to look to more expensive Netbooks for features like 802.11n or ExpressCard slots.

When it comes to Netbook batteries, the most common choice is between three and six cells; three cells are leaner but usually last 2 to 3 hours, while six cells are thicker and can last in the 5-hour range. The Acer Aspire One AOD250 executed for 1 hour and 50 minutes on our video playback battery drain test using the included three-cell battery, which is lower than average; the three-cell HP Mini 110 endured for about 30 minutes longer. While that does not leave much time for mobile work without an outlet, bear in mind that our battery drain test is particularly grueling, so you can anticipate longer life from casual Web surfing and office use.