Customer Reviews

Acer Aspire One AOA110-1834 8.9-Inch Copper Netbook - 2.5 Hour Battery Life

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

As other reviews have said, the initial setup process is SLOW. Be patient, and put the laptop aside until it is done. Once the install was done, then the ubiquitous Windows Updates (28 in all for me), take their pound of flesh, er, time. Once it finally is ready for you, it boots and runs reasonably well. After a few days of use, I removed the McAfee antivirus 60 day trial that was included with the PC and installed Avast! free antivirus instead. Response is noticeably quicker with this lightweight antivirus compared to the bloated McAfee.

Overall, the laptop is great value and very convenient size. Performance is about what you would expect with such a slow processor, but it's quite useful for web browsing (I use Firefox) and lightweight word processing. It wouldn't suit many people as their only PC, but for those trips when you want to pack lightly, or a day on the road or at a remote office, it's great. The 16 Gbytes of memory in the hard-drive-free version doesn't sound like much, but the installed applications take much less than half of this, so it's pretty reasonable unless you want to load a huge Itunes library or lots of videos.

For it's intended application as a super-portable web browser, it's a perfect fit.

Okay, I've had 2 of these mini laptops now. The first I bought on vacation in North Carolina at a well known chain electronics store. When I started using the laptop, there were unusually long pauses during initial setup. When you first power the laptop on it initiates 7 updates/installs. On 2 of 7 it took so long, I just set it aside and came back later. Same thing with both laptops.

After that initial install, I didn't have any problems, but as you worked on the computer, you still had these unusually long pauses, I'm talking 15-30 seconds, long enough that you'd start to think the computer had locked or you hadn't quite clicked on the icon.

Rather quickly I noticed that the right keypad button wasn't quite right. When you pressed it, you had to push it -way- down, almost a 1/4 of an inch. I finally decided to take the laptop back because of this, concerned that whatever was defective would get worse with use. I went to the local chain store here in Florida and swapped it out for another. When I got it home, I found that it had the same problem. I'll be returning it for a refund this morning.

Other things I noticed. First, I really liked the laptop. I bought it to replace the laptop I tune my race car with. Between the battery life and the small size, this one was ideal. It has plenty of USB ports. It comes with an 8gb SD card and it has 2 card readers. Also, even though this is a mini, it has a monitor port (not DVI), so you can still set this up like a workstation. This laptop is so small, thin, and light, I could see someone working in the field slipping it in a large pocket to free up their hands.

However, I'm not sold on the SSD drive. I think the long pauses were due to the hard drive, especially on that initial install. Also, this one is only 8gb, so why did Acer install Google Desktop and MS Office 60 day trial? I freed up .5gb just by uninstalling the frivolous software.

Also, the same defect, the keypad key, on 2 different laptops. One is a fluke, two is a pattern. If I had bought them from the same location, I would have thought it was a bad lot, and it still may be, but I think that is less likely with one from NC, the other from FL. I checked the floor model in FL and the keypad button worked just like you would expect, so this isn't a "feature."

If you are considering this laptop, I would seriously consider the version with a regular hard drive, rather than the SSD. Hopefully the repeat problem I had with the keypad was a particular lot and will be avoided, just by buying from Amazon.

Pros: Price point $258 can't be beat - love the form factor(very small) but a very usable keyboard - excellent display and options easily between external display, both or either. Runs extremely cool, never worry about overheating - All solid state no HDD to leave you high and dry. Very good for surfing web - does great job with skype video calls - Runs open office software really well -- built in web cam very sharp with built in microphone - very nice mouse pad built in and will run a usb mouse concurrently - 3 usb ports and one dedicated flash card for more memory and an additional multi card reader - Built in wifi does a very good job with decent range.

Cons: Seems a little slow but I'm comparing to a dual core desktop with more memory - it is very good if you only run one thing at a time - DOCUMENTATION SUCKS nothing on many of the features and hardware issues like how to upgrade memory THIS ALMOST GOT IT A 3 RATING! - no optical drive but uses desktop drives when networked and the desktop drive is shared - same with printers

I'm a little hard on the cons because I like to tinker with these things - but it really is great if you need it for a non-tech person who wants to do email (Thunderbird) or surf the net (Firefox).

Not the best as a primary computer but great as a second machine that you can pick up and go with immediately - weighs around 2 pounds.

I purchased the Acer to replace my Asus 7inch EEE webpad with a larger screen size and still keep it small enough and tough enough (SSD) to carry on motorcycle trips. The quality of the Acer is a definite improvement over the Asus the keyboard is slightly larger and easier to use and the touchpad works much better. The Acer looses the fifth star because it has Windows XP and is much slower than the Linux loaded Asus.
I solved alot of this problem by getting rid of McAfee and replacing it with Trend Micro Security Suite I also used the 8 gig SD card included for any programs installed, so the SSD only runs XP and Trend Micro and turned updates and scans on manual so they run only when commanded (I update very often and scan weekly and I defraged the drive after setting up and running windows update), it's still not super fast but I'm fairly impatient and I can easily tolerate it.
All in all I'm pretty happy with the Acer I've used it to access the internet wirelessly and with wired DSL without problems, I also use a Verizon USB modem (software installed on the SD card) and it works very well except during high traffic times.

[...]
UPDATE: I now also use this as my traveling MP3 player. BUT WMP will not play from an SD card (This seems to be a known crippling of WMP by MS.) I explored many players and found the free Windriver Media Jukebox 12 to be the best to play directly from the SD card. It is superb - I have 2100 songs on an 8 GB card. I also have rigged up an FM modulator to plug into the USB port for power. I just wrote another article on this. Email me if interested in details.

I just purchased a new 2 pound, 8.9" Acer Aspire One netbook running Windows XP - SP3, containing a built-in webcam, and Wi-Fi for $256. This is a full PC running every windows program I can throw at it. It is about as fast as the 4 year old XP desktop that is my main home machine, and the one I am using to write this article. (Note: I play videos on the netbook, but have not edited them there yet.) The screen is roughly 7.6 inches wide, and very readable.

The unit is available in various flavors (with or without a hard drive, Linux or Windows XP). There are many other vendors as well as several screen and battery options. I understand that this product type is growing in use rapidly in Europe and among students.

I did a lot of soul searching about Linux, wanting to support a competitor to Windows. However, in the end I chose the XP version because: 1 - By this time (SP3) it is a stable operating system; 2 - I have a lot of software and hardware that I'm comfortable with that I want to continue using and; 3 - I do not have a lot of spare time to hunt for new drivers. If you have spare time, by all means try the Linux version.

I did, however, avoid the hard drive and chose the solid state drive instead. The version I bought had 16 GB (8 GB on the motherboard + 8 GB via an SD card slot). There is another card slot available and I can add more memory there. Before I did that I looked at my main home machine (where I am extremely sloppy with file cleanup, and store lots of picture, PDF, Publisher, and music files). That machine (including Windows) has a total of 50 GB used. Furthermore, SD memory cards are getting really cheap at around $2 - 2.50 per GB at up to the 32 GB size (Note: 64 GB is much more expensive per GB). Hence, I reasoned that I could support my sloppy file keeping with SD at low cost, and avoid the fear of a hard disc crash. The latter really worried me in such a portable - back-packable machine.

The machine is truly amazing. I can use it anywhere in the house via the built-in WI-Fi. Using Skype video I have even used it for roving picturephone calls. I even use it on the family room couch to get movie reviews, or the details behind a NY Times article. My goal is to use this as my main traveling machine.

Some may wonder how you load software without a disc player. There are at least 3 ways to do that, and I have tried all 3.

1 - Make a copy of the load disc to an SD card (via a home computer). Then put the SD card in the netbook, and run it like it was a CD. (I did this with Office 97.)

2 - Do the same as step 1 by setting up the netbook and your home computer to share files on your home network. (I did this with the software for my new Logitech Orbit AF webcam.)

3 - Load software from the web, if it is available there. (I did this with AVG anti-vurus software, Calc98 - a great free scientific and financial calculator, and Gnuchess - Winboard - a great chess program.)

I am hoping that I will soon find a low cost GPS dongle to try as well. I just bought a great $12.99 travelling case from [...]. This machine is amazing. I have not been able to stop it yet. The price is also wonderful!!!

I really love this lightweight and compact little computer. At first I thought the small screen would be a problem, but you soon get used to it. If you are an audiophile you may want to consider external speakers, as the computers speakers are in the bottom/back. Other than that I can not find a thing wrong with it. It is fast, sets up easily to a WiFi network and is a breeze to use and carry. The attractive case and full size keyboard are an added value. It also has many added features that add to its usability. For the price, you can't beat this little guy.

I recently purchased this netbook for cross-country travel on my motorcycle. I wasn't expecting much, just the basics. But after getting it setup and using it for a while, I can honestly say I won't be traveling anywhere without it. Plus my teenage daughter determined that the copper color is "cool."

First impressions... this thing is small. And very quiet. And the screen is bright and easy to read at 1024x600. And the keyboard isn't too small (I'm a 6'1" guy with large hands). And the touchpad works fine if you don't have a usb mouse handy. But the system works even better with a Logitech V220 notebook mouse.

Then I noticed that the Aspire One worked fine when powered by the adapter, but very slowly when powered solely by the battery. A quick trip to the Control Panel/Power Options enabled me to change the power management functions to Always On. I then went to Control Panel/System/Hardware/Device Manager and changed the Power Save Mode for the network adapters to Off. It no longer runs slowly under battery power... and the battery should still last for more than 2 hours. I am planning on buying a 6-cell battery however, just for more battery time.

Next, I removed Google desktop, McAfee antivirus, the trial version of Microsoft Office 2007, and various Windows programs/utilities I don't use (Outlook Express, etc). Then, after downloading and installing Avast Antivirus 4, I downloaded Mozilla Firefox to replace Internet Explorer (which was then erased as well). Then Open Office 3 and Mozilla Thunderbird were downloaded and installed. Out of the original 8Gb of internal SSD space, I now have over 3Gb of free space. And the additional 8Gb SSD (my system is advertised as having 16Gb total SSD storage space) is completely free. So the 16Gb of SSD storage is plenty for my uses, and I can still run all of my Microsoft Office 2002 Word and Excel files on Open Office.

Suggestion - in addition to the V220 mouse, get the CaseCrown travel case with the front pouch. You'll need the additional space to hold the power adapter and cords, an RJ45 cable (for when the hotel doesn't have wireless internet), and mouse.

After years of buying stuff on Amazon, this was my first review. I guess it took a product this good to finally get me off my duff and contribute.

I like it a lot, good features for the price. Provided hardware/software is weak, not much better online from Acer, can't understand restore options. Not that it's needed now but maybe in future if I hose it. Battery replacements are expensive, especially 9 cell option. More than half the price of whole unit. Overall, for its immediate use, a good buy. So far has proven reliable.

i think i was really excited about how compact and light weight it is. the color is also nice. however i do need to upgrade to atleast 16GB, since the 8GB makes Office and other applications work too slow. i had difficulty gettng used to the small keyboard. but now i do appretiate being able to take it anywhere. the wireless connection is perfect. the camera has a high definition quality i really like. but the itegrated speakers and microphone have really low volume. i do feel it was a good purchase though.

I absolutely love this mini laptop. I bought this brand because I have a desktop pc by Acer as well. I also choose this brand since it's got the Windows XP and since I'm comfortable with that, I stick with that. There were some other mini's that had Linux which is a mac, or mac type anyway, and I didn't want to have to learn how to use another kind of computer. I just wanted something I could open up and use right away, and this fits the bill perfectly. It runs fast and the keyboard doesn't seem too small. I've made very few typos because of the size but I'm getting used to it quickly and that's not a problem at all. I have an old neck injury and this is so nice to be able to lay back on propped up pillows and rest my neck while checking my emails and surfing the net and doing some web design and my ebay store. "This is the life!" I really believe anyone that buys this gem will absolutely love it, I can't imagine why they wouldn't unless they're just into Macs and there are other mini laptops that have that type, I think Asus or something like that. Do a search and you'll find them as well. Seems the ones with Linux are a little bit cheaper too. But I am 100% happy with Windows XP in this Mini PC! IT'S TERRIFIC!!!!!! APLUS++++++++++++++ A GREAT PRICE TOO!