Customer Reviews

Acer AO532h-2067 10.1-Inch Netbook (Matrix Silver)

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Have been using the system for about a week.

The battery life is unreal. With wi-fi on I get about 8+ hours, with wi-fi off the system says it can go 12+ hours and I believe it. recharge is fast as well.

The screen is very bright although i would have spent more to get 1280 wide rather than 1024. Screen reclines way back so its fine for just about any viewing position.

The body is plastic but feels very solid - no flex like I noticed in some of the ASUS netbooks.

Speakers are fine for everyday use. Haven't used the mic or speaker out jacks.

System is very light, and the charger is far lighter than I expected.

Trackpad is very responsive although I haven't mastered the zoom in and out gestures. The left and right click thing is a little stiff and takes some getting used to. I don't really like the keyboard style. It has teh flat keys with very little room in between and I'm having some problems gettign used to it rather than a standard PC keyboard (hence all the spelling mistakes in this review). that said the keys are very well arranged and none of teh common keys are hard to find or require complex ALT-FN-CTRL-SHIFT type combinations.

Keep in mind that this is a netbook, not a desktop replacement. The machine can get a little slow, usually if you are working in Internet explorer - this machine is going to have be seriously tryign out other, lighter weight, browsers.

this machine would get five stars except for the keyboard, which is a matter of personal typing style. If you are looking to all day battery life for non heavy duty computing then this machine is perfect.

Great little netbook, first thing I did was pop in a 2GB dimm. Very easy to access memory and hard drive on this model as you do not have to remove the keyboard like have to do on some other models (Asus, Dell, Samsung etc)

There has been some controversy over what memory that Acers will run on...on a gamble I bought 2GB of memory G.Skill F2-5300CL5S-2GBSK Zero issues, booted right up had to do nothing in Bios.

Pros: Silver color (not a finger print magnet on the outside)
Bluetooth
10 hour battery(probably won't get that long but maybe close)
Windows XP
Ease of access to hard drive to swap out if you want to
FAST with 2GB upgrade
Great Webcam

Cons: Not really any, just observations
Glossy screen reflects a bit but don't all glossy screens?
Inside is the fingerprint magnet but not a big deal at all to me


Had originally bout a 14" Thinkpad for an upcoming trip but decided it was still to bulky to bring with me. This netbook will accomplish all that I need for the next few months. Highly recommend!

The Acer Aspire One 532H is sold in many versions, with some vendors, such as Costco, having unique versions. The major differences are 160GB hard drives versus 250GB hard drives, and "regular" six cell batteries versus long-life six cell batteries. All current versions should have Windows 7, instead of the older versions' Windows XP.

I bought the Costco version, which comes with a two year warranty, instead of the one year warranty, a 160GB hard drive, and the long-life battery. I have been able to routinely get 8 hours to 9 hours of use before needing to charge the battery. The ultra-light weight of the 532H and its slim body make it easy to carry in my briefcase all day.

When I stop for coffee, it quickly identifies available wireless internet connections. I use it primarily for e-mail and checking the news headlines. However, although the keyboard is a bit cramped, after some time to adjust, typing shorter documents is not difficult. The screen is sharp and easy to read.

The power pack and charger is smaller and lighter than usual, so bringing it along for a week-end trip is not a burden. If the battery is totally drained, it fully recharges in two to four hours, depending on whether you are using the computer while it is charging.

When I have a fast internet connection (1.3 mbps or faster) the 532H will play back TV shows on Hulu smoothly, although sometimes it is necessary to pause the show for a few minutes to enable the memory buffer to fill up.

Using the Windows Task Manager to monitor CPU use and memory use indicates that memory use tops out at 700 megs to 800 megs with eight or ten Browser tabs open, and also running another program, such as listening to music on Pandora or watching a TV show on Hulu. I suspect a program such as PhotoShop would be very slow with just one GB of memory however. The CPU sometimes tops out at 100% load, indicating that the CPU, not the 1GB of memory, is the primary cause of the computer running slowly during some tasks.

There is no reason to upgrade to two GB of RAM if you will be using the Aspire for e-mail, browsing the news, listening to music, or watching videos on Hulu. I purchased a mini-DVD unit so that I could watch movies. Using Windows Media Player, there was a great picture, but no sound. I downloaded the free VLC video software, and movies then played fine, with nice stereo sound. Then I tried Windows Media Player again, and it was also playing DVD movies with sound...I'm guessing that when I downloaded the VLC video player, it included an audio codec that Windows 7 was missing.

If I were going on a trip for a few weeks, the Aspire, its charger, and the mini-DVD player would provide me with a complete computer system that weighs less than a total of five pounds...light enough to keep with you all day. Folks would have laughed ten years ago if you said that someday you would be able to buy a computer that weighed less than three pounds and cost less than $300. A real bargain.

When I shopped for this netbook, it was a long process. There are so many different configurations and price points available. What I finally did was to write a wish list by order of priority with price obviously being the deciding factor. What finally made me decide on this netbook was that it had all of my high priority criteria and I didn't pay 30 to 50% more to get what I really din't need (bigger hard drive,or windows 7 home premium etc)
The following was my wish list in order with comments on this unit.
Long battery life, (6 cell battery doesn't stick out of the rear like a growth. About 10 hours as advertised!)
N450 processor minimum (not the N270 or 280 which cuts your battery life about 25%).
Reasonable hard drive. (160 GB is hard to fill but I can always upgrade later reusing the 160 in an enclosure.)
Integrated Bluetooth, (no dongles and much better software. Function key on and off with indicator LED. Wireless mouse (any track pad used more than a couple of minutes drives me nuts), easy PDA syncing plus lan sharing if no wifi, using your headset from your cell phone etc. Bluetooth is a very useful feature that you will find more useful as you go. It works great with all of my devices and it shares nicely. The software and the hardware was integrated by the manufacturer to work together properly and I would go this route than go for the $20 dongles that everyone seems to be complaining about. BTW, if something physically jars a dongle hard enough,it could destroy the computer board).
A good display (for one person viewing).
A reasonable keyboard.
XP is actually a bonus. (Works great on these smaller processors and it's a lot cheaper than 7 home premium!)
webcam and microphone (work very well with Skype etc).
SDHC card slot (don't have Sony stuff so I am not paying for the extra slots I won't use).


Purchased with Microsoft Bluetooth mouse, works great but wish it was a little shorter for packing alongside the Acer. When you are travelling, you end up using the mouse in locations that a lesser or wired mouse wouldn't be comfortable with. Microsoft Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000 Mac/Windows
Memory upgrade. Probably didn't need it in hindsight but it installed easily. Crucial 2GB 256Mx64PC2-5300 CT25664AC667 DDR2 200-Pin SODIMM Laptop Memory

In the end, it had all what I wanted at a good price. Quality was perfect with no issues with the hardware or software. (have edited out reference to not having 'n' wireless. It does! thanks D.Houghton)

This has been the perfect on-the-go machine for me. I'm a student at a technical college and this little computer has been such a help. I'll admit, I'm not very technologically inclined (hence going to tech school), but I've found my Acer to be very user-friendly. If you're used to a desktop or a larger laptop, the small screen takes some adjustment. To me, the portability is worth the small screen. I was concerned that the keyboard would be too small, but I've had no trouble. The battery life has been more that I'd hoped. With moderate use, I've gone four days without having to charge the battery. Also, I've not experienced any issues while running multiple programs. My Acer has been the perfect extension of my home PC. I've been using it for a month and I still love it.

This computer has been everything that I wanted. I even bought a USB DVD Burner with Lightscribe and made a music CD, for my Son, full of his favorite songs, complete with his picture on the front. I am a musician and downloaded Audacity to multi-track a few songs. I just use an Audio-Technica microphone pluged into the line-in/microphone plug and it does a good job. I just can't wait to buy a pair of Bluetooth Stereo headphones so I can listen to my music collection wirelessly.

It's not a dual core processor so it's a little slow on some functions, but it is a capable performer. I bought the 2GB ram upgrade and it improved the performance noticably. If you don't need the biggest, baddest computer on the market and you want something easy to travel with, then I recommend this computer. My wife's laptop just died recently and after playing with my netbook for a while, has decided to buy on of these instead of a full sized laptop.

external cd drive. I bought this as a back up for my desktop, but will use it as a portable. I don't think I'll need to upgrade the ram cause I don't have a bunch of programs open at once. Heck, my desktop has been working fine with 512mb, 1gb is surely an upgrade using this. One thing I did was to clean out all the BS software (trials). Updated XP, downloaded my Mcafee 3 user subscription, loaded the software I wanted and this little thing works as well or better than my desktop.

Very happy with this netbook. Used now for 1 week. It does all it claims to do. Very nice machine. Only issue is getting used to the mouse pad.

There is a considerable amount of dabate over upgrading to 2Gb of ram. I got the 2 Gb PC2-6400 800 card and installed it and the computer would not boot.

I also bought this Acer Ao532h with Windows 7 starter for my wife. I popped the memory card in hers and it booted up without a problem and also it immediately recognized the 2GB of ram. I then placed the 1Gb card from the Acer Ao532 Windows 7 machine to mine (Acer A0523 with Windows XP) and it did not boot either. So I am now convinced that both machines use diffferent memory cards because of the difference in the operating systems. I am hoping what I am saying is true. Maybe it is my Acer with Windows XP is no good (based on a prior customers review) or I may need a different memory card.

Update: I ordered the Crucial 2GB 256Mx64PC2-5300 CT25664AC667 DDR2 200-Pin SODIMM Laptop Memory and installed it on My Acer Ao532h running Windows XP and it booted up recognizing 2GB of ram. Works like a champion. Now I am very pleased. *****5stars. Absolutely 100% satisfied with this netbook and so is my wife. Her's running on Windows 7 starter pack.

I bought this in red. It is a deep maroon, and although it is very nice, I think the onyx blue, which is a bluish black, looks very nice, too.
I am very glad I bought the machine. I have recommended it to everyone I know who is thinking about buying a netbook. It is very thin and light in weight, about as thin as a small book, and it looks very masculine and professional. (For both men and women I think masculine looking computers carry the day. A feminine computer looks very unprofessional.) I had looked at a number of brands in the stores and thought they looked like cosmetics cases or children's toys. I did not want a computer that could be mistaken for a make-up case and I certainly did not want a toy.
I saw the blue Acer on sale at Office Depot with 7 Starter and I was very impressed with it, but I wanted XP and nobody local carries any netbooks with that OS so I ordered it from amazon, paying extra for the red one.
It is exactly what I wanted. I liked it so much I spent the first few hours after I got it connected to the net emailing everyone I knew to tell them about it. Most are academicians who want a small netbook to carry to conferences.
A friend has an older Samsung netbook and hers is about the size of an older desktop cassette recorder. Remember those? And is about just as heavy. Although the screen is the same size as the Acer's the machine is much thicker. The Acer feels like a feather in comparison.
I was also able to copy some of my software to a flashdrive and install it on the computer, even though I am not a techie. It turned out not to be difficult at all and saved me the cost of an external DVD/CD drive.
The keyboard is quite large and quite easy to use. And I found the screen to be quite an adequate size. It does not feel cramped.
I also discovered through customer comments that it is possible to upgrade the RAM to 2gb on this model, even though the manufacturer doesn't say so. However, the 7 Starter and XP versions of this model each take different memory modules. People who are interested should look this up in customer comments as some give the exact specs of the modules that work with each version.
I highly recommend this machine to anyone who is looking for a netbook.

We have not had the PC for a week yet. Out of the box, it took me an hour to get the wireless working. That should have been my first clue.

I do this kind of thing for a living so I am not a neophyte.

Frequently, and randomly, it disconnects from my wifi network. I have a wrt54gl router and a "TRENDnet 300 Mbps Wireless Easy-N-Upgrader (TEW-637AP)" (bought also thru Amazon). I also have an Acer Aspire AS1410-8804 11" lap top with wireless draft N. This works, and sees, my wireless network (both G and N) fine. Stays connected and I get good speed.

The Aspire will ONLY see my G network. Cannot even see the N network at all.

When it connects, I have no idea how long the connection will last.

If you surf "Acer and Atheros disconnect" you will see this is not a new problem.

We are going to try to send this thing back to Acer to have them fix. We will see.
One solution is to take the thing apart and install a new, non Atheros, network card.

Not looking forward to that idea.

Be cautious. Some people all things work. Some, a bunch, not so lucky.

I will post updates.

Update: 11/24/2010

This Acer sees wifi N "if" we are looking at 2.4 ghz. Does not see the 5 ghz band. Speed vastly improved, but and I say but, if I was going to say a device was wifi N compliant, it would be for both bands or I would specify that it only works on the 2.4 ghz band. Had the exact same problem with my iPhone. Which, actually, is what had me try the Acer on 2.4. Bumped my review by one star. Didn't give it a 4 just because I should not have had to work this hard to figure it out. It really is a nice little box. Battery lasts 4 EVER.