Acer has formally launched the Aspire One Pro 531, a "business class" version of the already rather corporate-styled Aspire One 531.

To be honest, we think the regular 531 is better looking, and since both vanilla and Pro machines are an inch thick, weigh just over a kilo and incorporate a 10in 1024 x 600 display, a 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor, 1GB of DDR 2 memory, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a 0.3Mp webcam and 10/100Mb/s Ethernet, we'd choose the cheaper version.

The 531 costs around £349 with a six-cell battery - the same as a Pro with a three-cell power pack. Get a Pro with a six-cell battery and you'll pay £399, though that includes and extra 1GB of memory. The Pro also comes with a 250GB hard drive to the regular 531's 160GB HDD, but how much storage space do you need in a netbook, for heaven's sake?

Like the regular 531, the 531 Pro has a small touchpad with multi-touch capabilities. Acer said the machine would be offered with optional on-board 3G connectivity, but it didn't detail how much extra this will set you back.

Acer's website also shows a 64GB SSD option, but again Acer UK didn't indicate when - or if - such a model will come to the UK. Ditto versions with the 1.66GHz N280 processor. ®