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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally, an HD based Linux Acer Aspire One, January 28, 2009
Well, what can I write that hasn't been written before. Well, first off $50 cheaper than the identical XP version is a good start. I have had mine for about a week and it is a notebook replacement. Now, you do have to be able type on it and have pretty good eyesight, but before you let the industry tell you these are "smartphone" wannabe's, you should try it. The Linpus linux version is great for advanced users who just want it to work and beyond easy for people with no computer skills. OK, maybe you will have to enter their WPA key for them, but beyond that, if they can drive a mouse, they can successfully use this system.
I have the 3 cell battery and am getting just under 2 hours with WiFi active and working on it without break. I would expect that the 6 cell battery will double that. Oh, yeah, that is 2 hours of constant work, did I mention that this is simply a small form factor notebook, and the term netbook is simply to get people to think they need another "real" notebook.
That said, I have tried Ubuntu netbook remix and it worked very well. I would post a link to the Ubuntu site, but Amazon seems to delete them. Should be an easy Google search. I then installed my favorite Mandriva Alpha RC2. What can you say about KDE 4.1 except wow. It is not ready for the masses (my installed base) because, well, it's Alpha, but it is serious eye candy screen effects heaven. Once the fit and finish is in place, well, OS-X will probably look OK against it, Vista a long distant 4th. Oh, for the Fedora users, live CD (I have a USB CD/DVD burner) worked perfectly that I saw, but didn't install since it was exceptionally similar to Mandriva's KDE version.
Mandriva, suspend to ram works fine. Have not suspended to disk, never saw the need. Power profiles work well. I have not tested all the FN keys as I already have keybaord shorcuts I am used to for volume control, etc. Well, the brightness function keys worked, guess I should try them all out for completeness.
Been said a hundred times before. Great screen, very bright, keyboard I am absolutely fluent on, and even though i have a desktop (Mandriva) with 24" 1920X1200 resolution, I still find myself using this 90% of the time. Trackpad, well, it's a trackpad, so you know what to expect. I picked up a mini mouse for $11 at WallyWorld, so no heartburn there.
With KDE 4.2 official (and I will update this entry) Mandriva final should be along soon and I will report exactly how that goes.
Oh yeah, obligatory warning. If you don't know what "Linux" is and you are not techincally savvy, get some advice. Windows programs (if you are dependent on them) don't install on Linux. There are equivalents to everything built into Linux that are at least as good, often superior, but if you must have that specific Windows game, then Linux is not for you.
Extra warning. If you have a Zune and have purchased DRM constrained music, or an iPod and also have DRM constrained music, that music will not work on Linux. If you have all MP3s, then you are WAY ahead of the game and will have no worries. Oh yeah, Zune doesn't work on Linux. Totally proprietary interface and not enough Linux Zune users so nobody has added the support.
I hope the above helped. I seriously recommend you try one in person (if you are new to netbooks) to check the keyboard and screen size. Even if you can only find the XP version, you will get to see how the screen looks and the keyboard works for your hands.
Oh yeah, final thought, even though this runs linux very very well, you must rely on others for how XP work on this machine because, while XP might run great, you must have AV and anti-malware which may well bog an XP machine down to an unpleasant experience.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
DO NOT BUY FROM ANTOnline!!!!!, March 1, 2009
I love this little computer. It is a perfect 2nd laptop to take onto campus and take notes with, surf the internet, what ever you want. The only problem I had was who I bought the computer from. ANTOnline was selling them through Amazon, so I thought they would be legit. Not only did they send me a computer with a 4-cell battery rather than a 6-cell (about a $50 difference) but they refused to refund me the money. The only thing they offered was for me to pay to ship it back and eat that cost and they would take over 30 days to refund me my original amount. Nobody was willing to talk to me, they want you to conduct all of your inquires online, but they will not answer your email. One guy even hung up on me because I asked to speak to his supervisor. NEVER BUY ANYTHING FROM ANTOnline!!! THEY WILL NOT SEND WHAT YOU PAID FOR.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Acer Aspire One with Linux Fits the Bill, February 18, 2009
I wanted a Linux-based netbook with a properly positioned right shift key, so I decided to try an Acer Aspire One. So far I'm please with the quality of the machine, and the keyboard is very user-friendly. Linpus Lite is a reasonably good Linux distribution. In general I've been able to make the software modifications I wanted, but this has required a lot of time on forums and enthusiast Web sites. Overall, I'm happy with my purchase.
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