When HDMI first started hitting netbook you used to have to pay a pretty premium in order to enjoy the pleasure.  Not everyone has the want or need to pay $500 for a netbook just to be able to port video from their computer to their television.  Acer has always been aggressive when it comes to their pricing and features and the Acer Aspire One 521 doesn’t disappoint.

It all starts with a 1.7GHz AMD Athlon II Neo K125 processor.  This processor is designed to make you forget everything you used to have to deal with when using a netbook.  It’s faster than the traditional N450 or N270 Atom processor but there is a tradeoff.  Having the additional processing power means that you aren’t going to get the same amount of battery power.  It also means that the netbook overall runs hotter.  Neither of these are dealbreakers and if you’ve used a full-sized notebook you’re used to dealing with these kinds of tradeoffs.

The other shining star is the Radeon 4225 graphics.  I’ve written before about how the Radeon 4225 is the answer to Nvidia’s ION 2 graphics, which means that you’ll be able to stream 720 or 1080p video from the web or stored locally on your computer without any lagging.  The downside is that the screen isn’t HD so you’ll be watching video on a 1024 x 768 screen and not the 1366 x 768 which are used in other higher end netbooks.

When you add in the DDR3 memory, full sized keyword, and HDMI output you’ll quickly realize that this is one of the best values around the web.  At $339, you’re not going to find a cheaper mainstream HDMI equipped netbook.  If you’re interested in learning about other HDMI netbooks under $500, you’ll enjoy one of our previous posts.

1. Acer 532g Netbook To Handily Beat Asus 1005PR

2. Asus 1015PEM vs. Acer Aspire One 522 – Who Will Win???

3. Asus 1201T Review: Great Hardware, Horrible Battery

4. AMD Congo Vs. Intel Atom Vs. Intel CULV

5. ATI’s Answer To ION 2: Radeon HD 4225