Customer Reviews

Acer Aspire One AOD250-1289 10.1-Inch Seashell White Netbook - 6.5 Hour Battery Life

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have only had this D250 (White) for 2 days now, so my comments are really nothing more than a first impression at this point.

I purchased the D250 to replace a Dell 700M which I have loved, but even at only 4.5 pounds gets heavy with all its gear on trips - and 1280x768 on a 12" screen is starting to get hard on older eyes.

I did plenty of research and decided on the D250 over the Asus 1008 and Samsung NC10 primarily due to it's weight and styling - and the combination of a white shell with a black keyboard. I had counted out the HP and Dell for various reasons - most notably battery life.

First impression out of the box of the D250 was extremely good: fit and finish is excellent - with the exception that the hard drive bay door wasn't put on right and was warping up (a tab wasn't seated). A quick unscrew and reseat fixed that, but I was surprised it shipped that way.

Also note that the battery seats very firmly (a big plus) and the unit is very solid feeling.

After the initial Windows setup I was disappointed at the performance until I realized there was a huge drain being put on the system by the included trial version of McAffee. I uninstalled that and the system is quite snappy - very comparable to my 700M. I'll use CA AntiVirus or AVG instead (seems to have a lower system overhead) and the D250 is performing MS Office and Internet browsing tasks admirably.

I did just upgrade to 2GB of RAM using the Crucial DIMM offered here by Amazon. Everything seems to be fine with it and I haven't noticed any compatibility issues. I also haven't really noticed any performance changes, but I had very little "before" experience on which to judge.

After everything is now running I have to say I'm very impressed and satisfied with this little machine. Very solid, nice screen, usable keyboard and touchpad, and decent performance.

If I had to point to anything I would consider a disappointment, there would be 2:

1. Screen brightness settings (on aC or battery) don't seem to be properly retained across boot/restart and when toggling between AC and battery power. So, sometimes I'll restart and it will remain t level 7 where it was when I shut down, and sometimes it will revert to level 5 on restart.

2. Wireless doesn't maintain On/Off status of what it was on shutdown - it always comes back to On after a restart.

That's about it.

I also found a Targus Slipskin Peel neoprene slipcase (at Walmart for $[...]) that fits the 250D with the 6Cell battery perfectly. TSS11103US.

P.S. - there are two different versions of the 6-Cell battery for the D250, a 48kWh and a 58kWh version. My unit from Amazon had the 48kWhr version (est 6hr battery life).

Hope this helps.

** UPDATE (7/15/09) **
My "disappointment #1" (screen brightness issue) was corrected in a recent BIOS update. Now, the last setting is maintained (although not independently for battery and AC) across reboots. However, the brightness will still drop 2 levels if you disconnect AC power while running. But at leastthe behaviour is now consistent.

Also, I have now been able to (i.e. had reason to) test the System Restore capability and it worked flawlessly in putting the system back exactly as I received it, without the need for recovery CDs. Very impressed.

One last note: While this unit may not have Bluetooth built in, don't feel you have to spend an extra $[...] (or get a different model) just to get BT. You can find many extremely small USB BT dongles that work just fine and cost next to nothing. I got one that you can barely see (about the size of a Logitech Nano transmitter) and it cost a whopping $[...] online. The Aspire One recognized it and installed automatically and it works perfectly - for $[...].

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Hi, this video is a demontration of the Acer Aspire One in action, well sort of, it mostly shows you where the ports are located, how many, where is the hard drive and ram located and a little show of on how video and audio looks and sound on this netbook.

Hope you find this video informative or at least lets you take a look at what you wanted to see about the product.

believe it or not, I gave up a particularly large HP notebook with all the latest specs to downsize to this tiny little guy, and boy am I pleased i did. Most people use one of these as a second computer, I, on the other hand, use it as my one and only computer.

It can do pretty much anything. It plays music exceptionally well, most games (like the Sims2) work great on it as well. The keyboard is awesome, and very very easy to get used to (I've only had this little guy for four days, and after downsizing from a 17" laptop to this 10.1", I'm proud to say I'm already used to the keys).

If you're thinking about getting this, I strongly recommend it. Don't be wary. The price is extremely cheap, but that term does not describe its build. It is very tightly wound. Feels very durable, can be lifted with one hand, and the ports are fresh and tight, everything (from what I'm told by my nerdy cousin) you could dream of having in a new computer.

The screen size is perfect as well, just big enough for movies, games, even multitasking. Going from a 17" screen to a 10.1" feels like no change at all it's that amazing.

Try it. You will LOVE it.

I love this little netbook!
(This is from a simple user's stand point. Nothing technical.)
We are part time RVers and this does everything I want it to do right from the campsite. The internal WiFi gets me on line to check my email and send the pictures we've taken right from its card reader. Very easy to use.
I was a bit concerned the screen would be hard to see but it's not-even with less than perfect eyes.
I have nothing bad to say about this netbook.
It's all that, my favorite color red and doesn't take up any more room than my purse!

I ordered the ruby red netbook, and it arrived quickly. I had to wait a bit to actually TOUCH it because my husband opened the package and was busy admiring the workmanship of it as I watched enviously. Finally, he put the cute little netbook in my waiting hands, and I began my exploration of it. I love this! All of our laptops have been Acers, so I already knew the quality of, and the long life of, Acer products. But this?? It is so perfectly ME - does everything I need it to, and quickly. The sound quality, the ease of the keyboard, the placement of the USB drives, etc., were obviously WELL thought out and engineered. Well done, Acer and Well done, Amazon!

i really wanted to post a review on this netbook because of how well it works. i tried the asus 10" and it wouldnt install the programs i wanted. it was too heavy and too big. i tried the dell mini inspirion netbook. best buy sells em for 400 but walmart sells em for 300. either way they are GARBAGE. dont waste ur time. trust me. it has fixed ram and the processor stinks. i tried installing simple programs and got the infamous blue screen. dumping phyical memory. took it back in one day. NOW!! the acer! i am actually running PRO TOOLS+REASON+FRUITYLOOPS+MOVIE EDITING SOFTWARE and the acer flys through every screen like im on my high performance desktop. i was shocked at how fast this lil sucker moves. now i have a portable studio and video production station i can take with me anywhere. and this is all on 1gb ram. i didnt even need to upgrade to 2gb for it to perform as if i had 4gb. that says alot. i almost want to buy a second one just cause i love it that much. its the lightest and fastest netbook out. trust me. i have a real nice sony vaio laptop and i havent touched it once since i got this baby. also the screen is the sharpest of them all. i mean crispy! the asus and dell screens cant come close. the asus screen @ 100% brightness is like the acer @ 30% brightness. incredible difference. i tried the HP mini too but i like the acer better. the best 300 u will ever spend. everyone will surround u while ur using this thing. the net is lightning fast.

now the only thing that could make this the best laptop on earth is the sound system. imma keep it real. like most laptops the speakers are pretty low. i would recommend buying the "JLAB B-FLEX" usb speakers like i did. its one plug into usb and the speakers are mad loud. or just use headphones. if ur in a loud room u will have to be right in front of the netbook.

overall if u are looking to get the best netbook u cant go wrong with the acer aspire one. the thinnest, fastest, lightest and best performance out of em all. i promise you will be blown away.

Purchased this about 1 week ago and recieved it 6 days ago (gotta love Prime overnight!). I also ordered a 2GB RAM upgrade (just a generic chip) so my review does not reflect the function without this upgrade - I had only booted it up for an initial set-up before installing the RAM. I would HIGHLY recommend the upgrade. It is cheap, easy, and makes a big difference (in comparison to the Dell Mini Netbook with 1GB RAM). I use this as a second computer to type notes for class - Primary laptop is a Dell Inspiron 1720 (17").

First impression - great screen size, resolution, and brightness. Keyboard is spaced well enough that I really needed no adaptation from a standard size keyboard. Touchpad is a little small, but easy to use and I was able to adjust easily. Speakers are not necessarily loud, but headphone out works great with in-ear buds. Battery DOES stick off of the back, but causes me no trouble. Battery life with the 6-cell is GREAT!

The computer gave me no problem connecting to wireless and wired internet connections, and the included McAfee security works well. Instead of using the included Microsoft Office, I downloaded OpenOffice, a fully compatible side-by-side to Microsoft Office. I didn't find too many garbage programs pre-installed on here, so I didn't remove a lot. the webcam has a decent resolution but I haven't used it yet. I love having the flexibility that this computer offers, such as using the multi-card slot to load pics directly from my camera. I haven't found anything about this computer that I don't like. The HD size is great, the speed is good (considering that you're running a 1.66gHz single-core processor), and the screen size is MUCH easier on the eyes than the 8.9" screens.

I did upgrade a few programs to newer versions and installed Mozilla as the internet browser. Other than that, everything was up-to-date.

I'd recommend this computer to anyone who is a student, businessperson, or someone who likes to travel who wants a portable laptop on which to work.

The Acer get great battery life (been two days so far and averaging ~6 hours of use. The keyboard is smallish, but its nothing overwhelmingly small. The screen is crisp, and the laptop is very light and easy to carry. I dont even notice it in my bag.

The only downside is that it is feeling just a touch sluggish.

I do audio and video processing and editing, usually on a 5 year old, yet still quite functional bloated-in-size tower computer with tons of RAM. And when on the road, I have used a specially configured Toshiba A-35 laptop.
Came the time for my partner to go back to school, needing a laptop. Cleaned up the Toshiba and away it went with her leaving me lacking a 'road' computer.
Enter the Acer Aspire One. Thought I'd try a netbook, and honestly, the first one I bought (Not an Acer and NOT at Amazon) was true crap and cheaply made. It was shipped back the next day. But I had read the reviews on the Acer and some friends in Phoenix and Seattle praised their netbooks they got through AT&T, so what the hell, I'll try one.
In short, it blew me away with it's power, functionality and options!!! The little thing does literally EVERYTHING not only the Toshiba laptop cound do, but literally runs circles around my Production Computer in my studios!
I run the Adobe Production Suite, Audacity, and Cyberlink along with various other apps as well as Microsoft Office 2003 with no issues at all.
Running 2GB RAM.
The 160GB HDD is a good size (I archive to a 500GB external), video is good, and I use external speakers as most laptop/netbook speakers are less than perfect. I appreciate the touch sensitive Synaptics options of +/-, one touch scroll and the sort as well as the rated 6.5 hour battery (I've been getting over 7 hours without the wireless on).
I highly recommend this wonderful little netbook!
Buy it through Amazon - I did and as always, Excellent Customer Service!!!

I got the AOD250 with 6 cell battery to take with me to do field research in Central and South America, for my dissertation. So far, this little netbook has served me well. Although I would rather be typing on my full size laptop or desktop, I am very happy to sacrifice keyboard and screen size in favor of portability and ease. In terms of memory and speed, this netbook is actually faster and has more hard-drive memory than my 2 1/2 year old laptop. And, the 6 cell battery lasts for a long time, I haven't timed it but it probably is around the advertised 6 hours. Like most people will say, this is not a computer for gaming or watching movies. But if what you want is to do work and you're on the road a lot, then this computer might be for you. My advice is to test out the keyboard in a store first, though, to make sure you're comfortable with it-- and compare with other models.