Acer Aspire One Review Discussion

The Acer Aspire One is a 8.9" netbook with a starting price that is aimed to undercut nearly all the current market competitors. The base Aspire One, which includes an 8GB SSD and Linux starts at $329, which is far under anything else that has the Intel Atom processor. The big question running through everyone's minds is if this model is built like a budget computer, or if it has what it takes to go up against some models that sell for nearly double the retail price. In this review we cover all aspects of the Acer Aspire One, and let you know if this is a netbook you should consider purchasing.

Read the full content of this Article: Acer Aspire One Review

 

Thank you for the review.
I''ve just found it: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpls/abs_all.jsp?isnumber=4407531&arnumber=4407532&count=16&index=6 - the first netbook with a trackpoint! Finally!

 

Thanks for the review.

It closely matches the Sony G11 for performance but would need a 12 cell battery to match the G11's battery run time.

What is the size / weight (including cables) / rating of the PSU?

It might also help readers if you can put some numbers against WSVGA.

John

 

It seems halfway decent. Fancy that. I did like the performance of that HDD. It was fast!

But Acer commits one of the biggest netbook sins: small battery. The whole point of these small, cheap, low performing devices is decent battery life. And once again, the netbooks doesn't deliver.

Also good to see you include CoreAVC in the testing procedure. Modernized tests FTW!

Last thing: I still abhor the name Netbook. It's just so... wrong. Short, bad. Awful. Too Intel-y.

 

well i guess having a "larger" battery would probably drive the cost of the notebook up, therefore killing purpose of a small, cheap laptop.

 

Not if it's done at the expense of usability. Netbooks aren't meant as a first computer, but a complement. Think Macbook Air, only smaller and cheaper. For a netbook to be useful, it needs a 3h+ batterylife. Otherwise, what's the point? It's too small and too low-performance for many tasks. All these little buggers are good for are mild computing on the go.

There are full 15.4" laptops, with about the same price, same batterylife as this one (if not better) and much better performance. They're not small, but they would give you more for your money.

Now, I am a (urgh) netbook proponent. If done properly. That means small & portable, decent (usable) performance, low price and high batterylife. That's the essential part of a netbook. The rest give you value for money, but unless the for pillars aren't there, it's not a proper netbook.

That's why I'd much rather have a smaller, cheaper SSD than a fast HDD, and instead be able to use the laptop longer.

... Wow, Ranting.

 

Judging from your battery-life test, the Aspire One should manage a little less than 5 hrs with the 6-cell battery yes?

The netbook looks sweet. I think I'd get one by the end of the year if I can justify the purchase. Being able to play games like Deus Ex, Diablo II, Quake III, and any previous-gen 800x600 adventure title on a 8.9" screen is needless to say awesome, but how practical is such a computer exactly? Taking notes at class? I make better notes with paper. Surfing the net at a cafe? I barely do so - once a month at best. Doing homework while at the great outdoors? Staring at a 8.9 screen for more than 2 hours would probably give me a headache. The more I think of it, the more I don't understand the netbook fad. Just like i-phone... all bling, no substance.

..anyone?

 

Hmm ... so the mouse button/touchpad arrangement takes getting used to ... still not sure if I would want to go through learning that.

Still ... its a nice looking machine for its "class".

 

Like others, I'm waiting for the $400 model to come to the U.S with a 160gb HDD and 6 cell battery.

For the price, its a very good netbook, I think this is the real potential EEE killer.

 

I'll take this one. Using the exact same examples: I make better notes on the computer, I surf at cafés. I do homework in the great outdoors. And I don't get headaches from staring at a 8.9" screen for mor than 2 hours. If I compare this to my present study laptop, which is a 12" Powerbook, it does the same thing with a brighter screen and just less than half the weight. They keyboard is smaller, of course, but I have small hands. Performance is not important. The powerbook achieves about 4-5 hours of surfing and notetaking. If I could get this done on a smaller and lighter laptop for about the same price as I paid for the powerbook (used), I'd have gotten that.

 

Excellent and fair review, Kevin. I've had the One for 3 days now and your observations are similar to mine. I have the 6 cell battery (It is a must by the way) and I'm getting about 5 hours +/- depending on usage. You neglected to mention that a cheap slip cover comes with the One. Of course you would still need a good notebook bag or a portable DVD player bag but the slip cover would help prevent some scratching while on the move. I will mention again for those concerned about the fan noise (I'm not one of them). There is a utility at aspireoneuser.com that can be had for free to deal with it.

The Aspire One is not for everyone. I'm on the go a lot and this unit is perfect for me. It's extremely portable and very snappy for light duties, including light MS Office, Photoshop and Dreamweaver work. Would I love to have a Gigabyte m912v or an Everun Note. Absolutely!! But neither is currently available, I wouldn't get significantly more benefit and I'd have to pay more than double the price. The One is a good second or third, reasonably priced notebook. When I need to do heavy lifting, I go to my desktop.

 

Nice review you did, along with the pic's provided!


Cin

 

Great review. The only reasons I didn't go with this one is the gap on the bottom of the display panel, the awkwardly placed touchpad buttons and no easy access to the RAM and hard drive. I think this is the best netbook for the money though.

 

The 6 cell fills most of that gap and the touchpad takes almost no time at all to get used to. Although I agree that the Ram and HD are not for the faint of heart, 1 Gb of ram and a 120/160 Gb HD are more than enough for what this netbook is designed for.

 

I just bought a EEE 1000h because for the same ~$1200 I would spend on a 15.4" laptop with a decent graphics card (like a HP dv5t or Lenovo T500) and relatively bad portability I can get an ultra-portable (got the 1000h for ~$480) and build a fairly high end desktop for gaming and other processor-intensive stuff.

I don't need lots of processing power on the go since I only really game at home so basically I am getting a lot more portability and a lot more performance for the same amount of money.

 

Thx for excellent review!i like this machine alot...

 

We've had this configuration exactly as reviewed kicking around the house since Saturday (it belongs to my ladypal). I have the same reservations as everyone else - fan noise (although I'm a real noise stickler and I can withstand it), battery life, and the terrible touchpad which I can attest you can get used to, mostly. But this is the first netbook I've encountered that I think I would be happy with as my primary mobile computing solution. The machine is more than speedy enough for most everyday tasks (frequently faster and more responsive than a Centrino 1.73 I just retired, actually!), the keyboard is absolutely great for what it is, and the screen is really fantastic-- eminently readable with great viewing angles.

...Well, I should note that we're having a screen flicker issue on battery on the lowest brightness levels. This seems to be pretty common.

From things I've read in the "ultraportable press," I also think the system responsiveness story would be a whole other ball of wax with the 8gb SSD version and I would be leery of investing in that model, more out of concern for performance than worry about the lower amount of installed RAM.

So far, as is, I'm really pleased with this little guy, and I really want one - hoping I stand any chance of getting my hands on a six-cell edition any time in the next 4-6 weeks.

 

What does the utility for the fan noise really do??
As my Hp seems to be dieing (from that Nvidia/broadcom/hp issues), i would buy this netbook with a 6-cell but my only concern is the fan noise. Fan noise gets on my nerves so much sometimes i want smash my defective dv2000z against a wall.

 

The utility allows you to set a threshold temperature for your fan to turn on. The forum users are finding that the atom runs cool enough that even without the fan running it often doesn't reach the threshold temperature. So basically (if you're lucky), you're running fanless. The link to the beginning of this forum is:

http://www.aspireoneuser.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1888

Make sure you read the entire thread before deciding to use the utility as some users have been having problems.

 

the utility turns off the fan until it reaches a preset temperture threshold that you specify then the fan will kick in.

 

the fan is 99% inaudible on my aspireONE. the sound of leaves rustling on the trees is louder. you have to close all the windows and then you still wont hear it over the fridge

also i get like 4.5 hours of life on the small battery. configured it to run at 800 mhz most of the time, and turn down the brightness..

the 512 mb of ram and SSD are probably reducing power use and fan compared to the beefy XP model as well

finally, nobodys mentioned this thing has 2 CPUs. hyperthreading ftw

 

Hyper threading is not the same as 2 cpu's.

 

You are correct. Hyperthreading only allows the processor to devote idle cpu clocks to another thread, typically resulting in about a 10% performance increase. Not as good as a true dual core.

 

I love sites built on Flash and hope to build my own sites someday. I was very dissappointed to discover that some flash sites don't display properly with only 600 vert resolution. Thanks to aspireoneuser.com, there is a workaround:

http://www.aspireoneuser.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=2294

I can now expand my screen res to whatever I need to view a Flash site properly. For example, I have young daughters that love Webkinz.com. Until now they were unable to use the AAO to view this site. For me, the One just keeps getting better and better!

 

yo kev, between this and the Dell netbook, which did you prefer

 

I would probably go with the Dell if it didn't have such a horrid keyboard.

 

I just checked out a floor model of an Aspire One in my local Best Buy today ... kinda nice.

The keyboard is a little too small for my taste ... I do a lot of typing, so it is an issue for me.

The mouse buttons I suppose I could get used to ... I would probably still use an external mouse on it.

Not bad as a whole - seeing it and fiddling with it a bit improved my opinion of it!

 

My girlfriend wants the One. Is 379.99 CAN a reasonable price for the unit?

 

That's because it doesn't. The AA1 has a single-core Atom processor with hyper-threading. So, one processor...and not even dual core...FYI.

 

i think acer aspire one is a good catch for p.c users like myself, who do nothing more than write school papers and surf the net. what i like most about this notebook is that i can bring it anywhere with me, without catching too much attentions from burglars and thieves, especially when i am commuting from school. it is lightweight and it doesn't bother me at all. two hours is enough for me because i usually work in places where there is an outlet i could use.,

 

every few years, intel makes a gigantic mistake.
intel atom is one of them.
just bought one little aspire one white linux version ,
the performance is to slow , has to wait a long time for pages to load up, especially those graphic intense websites. slight delay when playing youtube videos, well , even 400mhz procesosr iphone is faster than aspire one.
dont buy netbooks as long as its intel inside.

 

also, all the netbooks shall use trackball instead touchpad, like those u see on ibm thinkpad.

 

After reading what everyone has said, I think I am going to get an Aspire One (1GB, 6-cell). But I still have some remaining questions ...

(1) How heavy is the power unit/plug/transformer that comes with the machine? I found that most notebooks are "light" but they come with a 6lb. power unit that you have to lug around ...

(2) How long is the power cable?

(3) Since I am not really a technical person, I'd like to know whether I can continue to use my wireless package with someone like Telus. I can't see a way to put a Telus (or other provider's) wireless card into the Aspire One, and I wouldn't want to have to hunt for hotspot everywhere I go. Can someone give me some advice?

Thanks!

 

Addition to my post - does someone has an image of the 6-cell version? I read in other forum that the bigger battery "sticks out" from the machine. I just want to know what that means!

Thanks!

 

Hi Kevin, regarding your post on the Dell. The Dell Mini 9 is the first netbook I was looking at, but it's the small HDD that made me switch. The biggest you can get to is 16GB! It's a solid state but what can I put on it? I can't even intall Office I think ... What is your take on the Dell Mini 9 vs. the Aspire One?

I have been buying Dell for my company so I naturally wanted to go for Dell, but for such as small HDD, I don't think I have a choice. What's your expert opinion?

 

I think the Dell is more refined, but I would hold off personally until a model came out with larger flash storage or a 2.5" hard drive. I have too much crap that I need installed on my notebook that would never fit on 8 or 16gb of space.

 

Thanks, Kevin. But how long do you think we need to "hold off" for? The Dell has just come out (BTW, I'm in Canada), so I don't think a newer model will be out at least for another few months? If not longer? Or am I wrong?

Personally, I'd want a Dell too, as all my other systems are Dell's. I am just wondering becasue there are a lot of lost time I need to recapture with a very mobile netbook so I can catch up with work on the go, and I may not want to wait until, e.g. after X'mas. What do you think the timeframe will be?

 

does it make more noise than a regular laptop..?

 

I think there is a 12 inch model coming out from Dell before the end of the year if not before the end of October.

 

dougjr, good to know that. But I'm more looking for a 9" or max 10" model. Any take on that re: timeframe? Basically perhaps an upgraded version of the Dell Mini 9?

 

nomoredell, there have been many complaints about the SSD models of the Aspire One and their slow performance. The HDD models are much better, its not the processors fault.

Right now, the only other netbook processor available currently is the Via C7 which is far worse than the Atom, in all respects, performance, battery life, heat generated, etc.

 

I doubt they make any big changes besides color for the 9 inch model before the end of the year.

 

I don't have anything to weight it but it is not heavy at all. it's smaller than regular laptop power adapters for sure. Feels less than a lb, with all the power cables included

power cable is probably around 8ft or so (again, nothing to measure with at this time).

If it's a PCMCIA card, it won't work. You'll need USB at this time. There aren't many netbooks out there with expansion slots other than the Lenovo S9/S10 (Expresscard) and the Gigabyte (also expresscard).

It sticks out the back about 3/4" or so and affects how far you can tilt the screen back.

 

the charger weighs 10.8 oz ( http://www.jrin.net/2008_09_12/acer-asipre-one-actual-usage-review-xp-120gb-3-cell)

 

does it (120GB one) have 3G support like PCMCIA port..?

 

No.

3G One is to arrive later.

 

...Well, I should note that we're having a screen flicker issue on battery on the lowest brightness levels. This seems to be pretty common. these items are all new and in good condition, get more info in detail on http://www.yallstore.com/ jrox.php?id=4_3,
if you have any questions, contact us by email, my email address is [email protected]

 

Here's a good How-to for upgrading the RAM or hard drive:
techdc.com/acer-aspire-one-ram-or-hard-drive-upgrade

 

hello Kevin, could you help me?....I have read your review for the acer aspire one, could you tell me how to recover from a crash?...i do really appreciate your help....regards

 

has anybody installed windows xp on the 8gb SSD version of the one? how is the performance? in our place, there is a great price difference between the SSD version and the HDD version, with the SSD version with Linux being much cheaper, that is why im interested to know if installing windows xp in the SSD version would be feasible and if there is any effect in its performance.

thank you