Four Cool Ways to 'Mod' an Acer Aspire Netbook

Remember the Acer Aspire One netbook? It's the one I wrote about in my Netbook Diaries travelogue. Well, you know a gadget is popular when "modders" start going to work on it. And over at the tnkgrl Mobile blog, you can find a four-part series on modding the Aspire One. You won't believe some of the cool ways you can trick out this tiny machine.

In part 1, for example, you learn how to open the Aspire, upgrade the RAM, and add a notably absent feature: Bluetooth.

Part 2 teaches you to replace the Aspire's solid-state drive (SSD) with a hard drive. Part 3 is a biggie, covering the addition of an internal HSDPA 3G modem.

The latest part in the series shows how to add an internal eSATA port to the Aspire. That's probably not something many users need, but it's still pretty cool.

For anyone handy with a screwdriver and soldering iron, this is great stuff. If you're not into netbook dissection, however, check out Six Ways to Make Your Netbook More Like a Notebook. Lots of good hacks there, and no tools required.