Customer Reviews

Acer Aspire One AO751h-1545 11.6-Inch Black Netbook - 8 Hour Battery Life

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Being a technologist, my career allows me to evaluate lots of computers and Netbooks. Nearly all offerings lacked quality, speed and features and were just big PDAs. Others were so expensive that they were just thin Notebook computers.

Aspire One recently released an 11.1" screen version (big by Netbook standards) and Z520 Atom processor (fast for a Netbook). With Windows-XP the performance is fantastic. I am able to smoothly watch DivX and Xvid encoded videos. With the larger battery, I get 6 hours of usage at maximum screen brightness (it is extremely bright) and 10 hours at lowest brightness.

This Netbook is available in four colors and I choose Black (Acer Aspire One AO751h-1545) to hide fingerprints (the Netbook's only negative). I searched every source and the best price is through Amazon ($[...] delivered) via J&R Music and Computer World.

If you want to make this computer run faster, follow these steps: uninstall Mcafee trial and install the free "Avast Antivirus" and the free "Spybot Search & Destroy". Uninstall Microsoft Office Trial and install the free "OpenOffice". Uninstall the DVD software (there is no drive to support it). If you need a CD drive, consider the highly rated "USB 2.0 External CD DVD RW Burner Drive" by sunvalleytek (under $[...]).

Even at 11.1", the screen can be hard on older eyes. Increase the font size to large (Display properties - Appearance) and default icon size (System - Advanced tab - Performance - Settings) to make things easier to see.

Cold boot time is under two minutes and it resumes from standby in under 3 seconds. I am so happy with this computer, and it is so inexpensive, that I have bought several and plan to buy more. Especially since Microsoft may discontinue Windows-XP soon, and you really want XP over Vista or Windows-7 to preserve Netbook performance.

Happy computing.

The CPU is very slow. Good thing it has a long battery life. You are going to need it as it will take longer to do your task. Seem to take forever to load up. As I surf the Internet, I can tell it takes awhile to refresh the pages. I try watching videos [...] and I notice the freezes every 10 seconds. Forget it watching it in full screen. Then you can really tell how much it lags.

The good part about this machine is the light weight and the screen is beautiful. Battery lasts as advertised with low setting.

You are better off with a notebook that uses the Atom 270 or 280 CPU that is 1.6 MHZ. I didn't think .3 MHZ makes that much a difference, but it does.

One last thing: I noticed a high pitch sound from the netbook. I could not tell you what is making that noise. Could be the spinning if the drive or fan.

The size of the Acer Aspire One is nice for portability. The keyboard is easy to work and the screen is reasonable to read, I just wish it would go faster. This machine is seriously slow! I can go faster on my 13-year old desktop. It probably has something to do with all the unwanted junk that's loaded onto it before you get it. However, if you're like me, you're not an engineer or tech-head, you just want to use a computer out-of-the-box, and you don't want to analyze it or spend a gazillion hours trying to figure out how to make it go faster, then this machine is not for you.

I got this netbook to actually replace a 15.4 inch macbook pro (I know the blasphemy of it all), well not so much replace it, but travel with it in place of the mac (which I am still keeping, since it is company issued). My reasons were I spend so much time in airports and planes each week walking around and pulling out the laptop to work, that the low battery life, with the scarce number of outlets in an airport, plus the shrinking seating room in airplanes was limiting my computer time. This netbook is supposed to solve all that. Well, I haven't traveled with it yet, but I spent some time "prepping" it and testing it. It is very light and the battery is lasting around 6 hours with fairly heavy use (wifi always on, bluetooth adapter, screen 75% brightness, etc). I mainly use web browsers (we sell a Saas based software application), itunes for my iphone, and Microsoft Office (sparingly). I also gave a web presentation using gotomeeting, which worked with no problems. My only complaint, which is everyone else's and what I expected was the low performance (yes I did upgrade to 2gigs and I am running xp not vista - shudder), but again I expected that. Two complaints are the heavy battery makes balancing it on my lap cumbersome as the laptop wants to tilt back all the time and the flex in the screen backing (or lid), when closed and I am gripping it, it feels like it might give if I squeezed to much. I do find one key kind of squeaking a little, but the keyboard is a joy to type on compared to the 8.9 acer aspire one (which I also own). Overall I am pleased with the purchase. I gave it 4 stars and not 5, because of the give in the casing of the netbook, which I think could have been sturdier, but here is hoping to lighter travel both in scheduling and in the amount of weight I have to lug around (now to find the perfect backpack for a day trip and my little net book and accessories - Samsonite Proteo anyone?)

I'm typing this review on this Acer netbook, which I've now had for a week and it's working out great for me. After bringing it home I immediately removed all the crapware (as a Mac owner, I had forgotten about how ugly buying a new Windows computer is), and then proceeded to upgrade to Windows 7. I filled the 250GB hard drive with my research and programs, and everything has worked out without a hitch. I do recommend upgrading all the drivers from the Acer Website after going to Windows 7, this may be the reason why others have complained about freezing machines and the like.

I bought this model because of the crisp 11.6" display and the full keyboard, and I'm glad I did. This almost feels like an ultralight laptop rather than a netbook, it's very comfortable to work on. I'm having no problems with speed, most probably because I am using it for netbook purposes (on the go Web browsing, text processing, an ereader, basic image processing, etc.), and not as a laptop wannabe, which I think is the problem with those criticizing performance here. The build quality is good, and there's nothing with the machine that would lead me to think that Acer was trying to sell a cheap product.

If you can afford it, get a MacBook Air, but otherwise this Acer is pretty hard to beat for under $300!

I bought three of these machines (AO751h-1401) they are indeed very impressive except for one very important thing. After the first one or two days they started freezing; not like "take a long time to process something" but more like just inactive. The monitor remains on but the harddrive light will stop flickering (sign of inactivity), the mouse won't move and the keyboard won't work. Therefore, I was always required to cold boot the machines. Most of the time the machines would freeze during windows updates or during some other software updates. Other times, the machines would freeze after being left on and then allowing them to go on stand by or sleep mode; it was impossible to get them out of stand by or sleep mode, so it always resulted in unwanted cold boots (with the power button or by removing the battery). Apparently the problem is persistent through a range of Acer Notebooks and Netbooks; either way, it is a shame because the machines could have potential (when they work properly). In the acer support site it asks that you update the bios to either 3206 or later (3208). Doing so worked--for a while that is. I managed to get the machines to not freeze during software updates, but I still can't get them to stop freezing after going into stand by or sleep mode; I always end up having to cold boot the machine. Everything else works great (once all software and system updates are installed, of course). So, if you get one, make sure you get it from somewhere that will give you a refund if it does not work.

I bought this lap-top for my most recent deployment to Afghanistan as a junk computer that I didn't care if it got destroyed. It lasted the whole 7 months, and still works great. When i first got it it did run a little slow, but I disabled every unneccesary little option that windows loves, and it ran noticeable faster immediately. I've had it about a year now, and still use it now that i'm back. Great for traveling, battery lasts when you know you won't be near power for a while. I velcroed a 500GB external to the case for movies, and it helped with the small HD. Overall great value!

**I've been back for over a year now and never expected this laptop to last this long with no problems. I've been running the free version of Avira and never had a virus or any prolems. I originally thought I'd need to update the 1GB of RAM, but it has never been an issue for surfing the net going to amazon and youtube because that's what I mainly use it for. Overall I am very satisfied with this product and plan to stay with Acer for future purchases.

I have been using lot of laptops and desktops. This got added as most recent netbook to my collection. Z520 processor feels like bit on the slower side, but if you uninstall Anti-virus and MSOffice Student ver and etc and have AVG anti-virus installed. It runs pretty smooth. I didn't face any issue with youtube or by playing DivX videos through VLC Media player. If you know how to keep your laptop optimized, I bet you don't feel performance degradation.

Worth for the money. Only thing I missed in this is Bluetooth. but I have Bluetooth Dongle (again a cheap priced one) plugged in one of the USB port permanently.

Battery life is also awesome.

Recommanded friends to buy.

I purchased this computer as a gift to someone. The battery does not hold charge. And it has been very difficult to get in touch wih the Seller. I am very unimpress with this.

I upgraded from a 10.1 to the 11.6, with an 8 hr battery. I loved theunit till I tried to call my daughter on Skype..........terrible jerkyfrozen video. I found out that the 11.6 had some kind of a 500, cardinstead of a 900. That is apparently the reason this does not come withSkype loaded. Consequently I spent $390 for a unit that sets on a shelf.I now use my 10.1 which I love, Skype works great. I am very disappointed in Acer for putting together a new, under performing unit.

NOT RECOMMENDED,

SYD