Customer Reviews

Acer Aspire One 8.9-inch Mini Laptop (1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 Processor, 1.0 GB RAM, 120 GB Hard Drive, XP Home) Blue

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I suppose I should state at the onset of this review that I am a hopeless computer junkie. With the purchase of the Aspire One I now have four notebook computers and two desktop units (In my defense one of the notebooks is owned by my employer). To give you an idea of what I consider fun, I converted an IBM Thinkpad X41 to use a solid state disk drive. So I like to tinker with computers.

I got the Aspire One to monitor my personal email account at work. My employer has been setting up more and more stringent firewalls to the point where I couldn't access my email from the IT network. They *do* provide a 'guest' network, however, and it is through this that the Aspire will communicate with the outside world.

So what do I think of it?

Pros:
- The machine is very well built. The fit and finish is very nice.
- The keyboard is very usable - I found I could touch type on it with only a little adjustment. All the keys are where they should be, with nothing out of place (see where they put the right hand shift key on the EEE PC, for example).
- The wireless connected easily with my home network. I found that it initially ran very slowly when the unit was using the battery but this was easily corrected by setting the 'Power Save Mode' on the device's Advanced tab to 'Normal'.
- The screen is sharp and bright, but does have a reflective surface that some might not like.
- It runs Windows XP and has lots of room for applications and data
- The webcam is fun - I installed Skype and had a blast making video calls to my family.

Cons:
- The fan is noisy and runs continuously. This would have been a deal-killer had I not located a fan control utility on aspireoneuser.com. With this utility running the fan only comes on when you are running processor intensive applications. And the CPU does not get overly hot. I highly recommend it.
- The trackpad is poorly laid out. The left and right buttons are in the wrong spot and make selecting and clicking a two-handed operation. It helps to use the 'tap' feature but there are still times when you have to use both hands. I chalk this up to one of the trade offs the designers had to make to keep the machine small.
- The 3-cell battery can only power the machine for ~2.5 hours, and that is with the screen on half-intensity. I am already considering getting a 6-cell battery from 'Santa' at Christmas. Reports indicate that it will give you more than 5 hours of endurance which would be nice to have. The downside is the price - it lists for $120. That's a lot to shell out when the whole machine costs only $350, but I figure if it is a gift it won't count. ;-). I've heard that Acer is releasing a model with the 6-cell battery and 160GB hard driver for only $400. If you can wait this might be the way to go.
- I worry about the long term stability of the hard drive. When I first turned the machine on and set up Windows I tried putting it into 'standby' mode. I found that I couldn't get it out of standby no matter what I tried. In desperation I powered the machine down (a no-no with Windows) and restarted it.

On restart, Windows ran CHKDSK and found scores of bad pointers and orphaned files! When the desktop appeared I found that I could no longer configure power management, volume or networking. When I attempted to use the Acer system restore function that too was inoperable, complaining that a .DLL file was missing or corrupted. I found that Acer would send me a system recovery disk for $30 but then I would still have to get an external USB optical drive to use it. I was not pleased.

But like I said, I like to tinker. With a little time and effort I was able to download the corrupted .DLL file and get the hard drive restored to its factory default image. I regained access to all the missing applications and I have not had any further issues with standby.

Still, I worry about the hard drive. Once, I was putting the machine into hibernation and it accidentally got bumped. It took a real long time to finish the hibernation process and when I attempted to restart the machine it gave me an error message saying there was 'no boot disk' available. Powering the unit off and rebooting 'solved' the problem and I ran a utility to examine the health of the drive that found no issues. Still, I think Acer should develop a HD protection system similar to what IBM has for its Thinkpad models. The One is so light and portable that it is inevitable that it will get bumped around. Of course, you could also get the Linux model with the solid state hard drive but then you sacrifice all that disk capacity.

In conclusion, I like the Aspire One and feel it will fulfill its mission. For the money, it is a very good deal.

I had a wretched experience with the HP 2133. I mentioned in the Amazon review of it (which I had no idea would end up all over the 'Net, tons of other sites are pilfering and posting these reviews) that I had bought an Acer Aspire One.

I like toys, I gave away the ASUS when I bought the HP 2133.

To complete the story:

I've taken the Acer on road trips, occasionally used it at home. It's small, the keyboard is barely big enough for touch typing, but, barely is enough. I'm half deaf, if the fan rattles I never hear it. I'm used to the SONY Vaio, so I'm thrilled with 2.5 hours battery. After stripping almost all the startup programs with msconfig, boot is much faster. We bought new office machines with VISTA when it was first released, XP on the Acer is an old friend ... one I'd missed.

The 120gig hd version wasn't priced much higher than the computer with the smaller flash memory, although the hd is more likely to be busted if dropped. I'm taking the chance.

All I want from a road-warrior notebook is Internet, some word processing, occasionally a Powerpoint. I don't crunch major spreadsheets, do graphics or edit video on the road. I don't much care which processor it has, all I want is basic functionality, reliability, with no surprises or drama. I want the wireless to work every time I turn the computer on. I expect the OS to boot up in a minute or so. The Acer delivers.

It doesn't hurt that it cost $349.

It gets my no-reservations vote. It's the rare combination of ingredients that's worth more than the cost.

I had this little guy for about 2 weeks now and I must say this is the coolest little computer that I ever owned.

The specs are pretty impressive. Comes with a 120 gig hard drive of which a 100 will be available to you. The rest is an invisible restore partition. That is plenty of space to work with for an XP home operating system. Comes with 1 Gig of RAM. More than sufficient for running XP. With Vista it is a different story. You can upgrade the RAM if need be but it is a complicated process. If you are like me..using the notebook for email, pictures and streaming content..1 gig is more than sufficient. The Atom processor is quite apt for this tiny guy. It handles most daily processes with relative ease without putting out a ton of heat. The 3 cell battery lasts about 2 and 1/2 hours under normal use. Make sure to turn down the LCD brightness. Some people have complained about the loud fan, but my experience is , unless you are listening for it, you will not be bothered. The wifi radio is a breeze. Very sensitive to pick up access points and quick to connect. My guy has never dropped a connection yet. The keyboard is slightly tricky at first but you will get used to it.

Viewing webpages is a slight challenge. You will have to be constantly scrolling down. On the IE 7, make sure you do away with the menubar and the toolbars to give the bowser maximum possible viewing area. The view is better at a 75% zoom level but you will need really good eyes to read.

The Aspire one DOSE NOT have an optical drive to read cd's or dvd's. To load programs or drivers you have one of 2 options. Directly from the net or via the network. (On your home network)Share the cd or dvd drive on your desktop PC . Now map it as a network drive on the Aspire one. Pop the cd in the optical drive of your desktop and access it from the Aspire one.

Also missing is the bluetooth radio. The easy way is to get a tiny usb bluetooth adapter off ebay. The smallest ones just stick about half and inch out. Make sure they come with the drivers. Windows has its own BT stack but very basic. If you are want it to connect to headphones to listen to music etc, you will need specialized drivers. IVT Bluesoleil is a pretty good stack and I have used it for few years without issues. Make sure the BT adapter ships with DRIVERS. My adpater is permanently plugged in to one of my usb ports. It slips into the provided pouch, no problem with the USB BT attached.

Screen is pretty bright and webcam is fair to use for yahoo,skype etc.

The case is a fingerprint magnet. Make sure you do not touch the screen unless you want to leave prints all over. A good wipedown with a soft cloth may be in order from time to time. It is ultra portable, super light weight..You probably get the picture.

Other than that, regular maintainence like cleaning the temp files, defraging etc will keep it running like new.

Charger defective - would not operate on AC power nor charge battery. Returned to Walmart for prompt refund, but will probably try another of this same model (local store was out or otherwise I would have already gambled on another).

Initial setup took a good 30 minutes, but that's to be expected. I like XP, and the display is fine for what I want - basic Interent use - email, Facebook, etc., and it's lightweight and compact. You can easily tote it about with one or two fingers wedged between the screen and keyboard... although they instruct you not to do this.

Bought a second unit, which lasted three weeks. Sent to Acer repair, received it via FedEx today - and guess what? It boots up, then shuts itself down. Acer stated they updated the BIOS, but they obviously didn't bother to test this before shipping it to me. I spoke with their tech support and am shipping it back to them, yet again, for repairs.

I spent $348 (+ tax), on something I can't use and can't return, but the worst part is I also signed up for wireless access which is costing me $60/month while my netbook is in the repair shop.

I really like the design. The keyboard was very nice and easy to type on unlike the Asus EEE PC which was really small and I have fairly small hands too. If I have to nitpick, the backspace key was not full size, but I can live with that. About the fan noise, I didn't hear the fan buzzing noise that people are complaining about.

In the end, however, I returned the laptop because it had a crack right below touch pad. I opted to get a MSI Wind instead. Acer would have made a perfect mini laptop if they had included the 6-cell battery from the beginning. The 3-cell battery life was a disappointment. Even though Acer is coming out with the 6-cell battery option at the end of September, the battery is not flushed like the MSI Wind or Asus EEE PC. It protrudes out the back instead of down, which looks horrible in my opinion, destroying the nice elegant look of the laptop.

In the end, if you are concern about price and battery life, wait for the 6-cell version of the Acer One. It is the best value in my opinion in terms of price and features. But if you also care about the look and feel of the laptop with the 6-cell battery like I do, go with the MSI Wind or asus 1000h, plus one extra inch (10") make a big difference on these mini laptops.

After 4 weeks of use, here's what I've found.

PROS:

Light Weight

Low Cost

Decent Battery Life

Windows XP

Multi-monitor support

CONS:

Backup Windows CD not included/not available (The documentation on the Acer sight said to burn a CD using the eRecovery software on the computer. The eRecovery software is present, but it doesn't have that option. The Acer sight offers a CD for $20, but I heard that they send you the Linux CD, not the Windows XP CD.)

Loud cooling fan (sometimes).

Flickering LED backlight during hard drive access if brightness is turned down.

Touchpad buttons are a bit stiff (Though they loosen up with a little use).

Documentation (It took me a while to figure out the multi-touch touchpad was causing me to accidentally change the text size in Internet Explorer. I still haven't gotten the hang of using the touchpad to scroll a scrollbar. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.)

I have powerful workstations at home and at work. But I just started an online graduate program, and wanted something very light, stylish, and functional upon which to do my schoolwork, check email, and do online research. This baby is perfect for me. After three weeks, I am pleased with battery life (I get more than three hours on my 3-cell), connectivity, ease of use, quality, etc. It is so sleek, small and light, I am delighted. I appreciate having XP, and am impressed. I paid $349 at Best Buy, and feel it was $$ well-spent. Heck, the next one I get (2 years down the line?) will probably be $100 and 10 times as powerful. Not the best product for your only computer, but for a road warrior or student on the go, this baby is a delight.

Great little notebook. Keyboard is just perfect size. I had mine booting 4 different OSes: Vista, XP, OSX and Ubuntu 8.04 using Vista boot loader.

Atom CPU is no workhorse but has enough power to handle most tasks. 3 Cell Battery lasts around 2.5 hrs in XP and 3hrs in Vista.

Construction feels very solid and it has a professional look, not a toy look like early Asus minis.

Pros:
Perfect keyboard, big shift keys
Shiny elegant finish
Bright screen
120 GB hard disk
Synaptics touchpad is great and very sensitive
Great for watching movies


Cons:
Cover is a fingerprint magnet
Black bezel is easily scratched.
Fan runs often
Weird touchpad button location but it's easy to get used to them.
Memory upgrade and modifications are complex, requiring full disassembly

Just sold my Blue Aspire One and got a Onyx Black with 6 cell battery... nice!

First, let me congratulate Acer on how close they came to succeeding with this thing. It's light as a feather, it's portable - about a third of the size of my main laptop - the battery life is decent, and the hard drive is expansive. That it can do so well without a DVD drive is a testament to how far flash and external drives have come (and how cheap memory has gotten) in the past few years. The wireless function is reliable, the screen sharp, the user interface compact, and the casing durable. It's very reasonably priced; it comes with a webcam. And I even like the color.

Too bad, then, about its two fatal flaws.

1) It is slow as HECK.

I'm not trying to play "Crysis" here. *Loading webpages* is often too much for the Aspire One. It took over two minutes to load a product page, for example, and I can feel it overheating from the effort as I type. That's unacceptable for any computer in the modern market.

It's not a program issue - I have nothing but Explorer running - though it means you're going to have to manage your programs very closely. (If your Aspire came preloaded with McAfee, for example, then you're gonna have to dump it for something less obtrusive like AVG, or else you'll never get your processor unfrozen.) Sure, I can take the Aspire anywhere - but if it takes a glacial epoch to check my e-mail, what's the point?

2) The following should rank as no more than an annoyance, but it's so pervasive that it's become a major turn-off. The "shrink/enlarge text" function in Explorer has been oddly mapped to the trackpad and left-click, so that when you attempt to scroll a webpage up or down, you'll often end up screwing up the font size. It's frustrating to have to stop and adjust Explorer to get your pages back to legibility thirty times a session.

Yeah, it's just one bug in one program - like a pull to the left in the steering wheel is just one malfunction in one part of the car. It's comparatively small, you can compensate for it, but it seriously hampers a main function of the machine, and there's no way it should have gotten past quality control.

They'll eventually succeed with the Aspire, even if only through the inexorable progress of Moore's Law, but in its current state, it's just not practical. I won't be keeping mine, but I look forward to the day when Acer gets it right.

This is a very well-designed netbook, which does everything it's suppose to do.
First of all, it is very light, which makes this device very mobile.
For its size, the keyboard works surprisingly well.
Only thing I don't like about is the split mouse button, which takes some time to get used to. Even after I got used to it, I'd still prefer normal mouse buttons.
Other than that, the keyboard and touch pad works like a charm.
I've watch netflix, hulu, and youtube videos without any problem.
I even managed to watch HD trailers on yahoo movie without any problem.
It is true the Intel Atom processor is lacking certain "oopms" the duel cores offer. And that's the reason why I said this netbook is not a replacement computer. You'll notice it takes little longer for certain programs to execute than your typical deskptop/laptop but it's not something you should to too concerned about.
Like most netbooks, this does not have any optical drives. (No DVD player)
Screen is beautiful and very crisp.
Battery life isn't something I can brag about since it lasts me about 2 hours with my 3 cell battery.
I can order a 6 cell battery but I don't like the fact that battery will stick out from back of the computer but if you are looking for longer battery life, just know that there is an option.
Fan is bit loud.
Audio is decent. Sometime it sounds too "echo-y" when I crank up the volume but it's much better than my Samsung Q1UP speakers since you can actually hear the sound.
Webcam works beautifully.
I've tested skype and it works very smoothly with high video/audio quality.
You can upgrade the memory to 2GB but it's not something you can simply open up a slot and install.
I wouldn't recommend doing it unless you have some experience with opening up your computer completely because you seriously need to pull apart almost the whole computer just to install 1 extra GB of memory.
I can't think of anything else to talk about.
The reason I gave it 5 stars, even with few kinks here and there, is because of the netbook's capabilities with such a low price.
I highly recommend this netbook for students for its mobility and price.