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(More customer reviews)Recently there has been a small revolution in computing of sorts... the "netbook" or 'mini laptop'. What is a netbook? Well, they are tiny laptops that are in a new class of their own. Up until recently, the smallest class of laptops were defined as the "ultra-light" or "super ultra-light". These laptops usually had 12 inch screens and weighed around 3 pounds. Many of these ultra-lights did not have DVD or CD drives, but relied on "media docks" for these capabilities.
The new kids on the block "netbooks" are even smaller... having screens roughly 9 to 10 inches and weighing around 2 pounds. Many have hard drives that are flash based... also called solid state hard drives. So what has brought about this tiny revolution? Well, today's technology has finally made it possible to have tiny laptops that are powerful enough, light weight, and energy efficient enough to be practical. Also, the Intel Atom chip (which is a minuscule marvel that offers 1.6 Ghz of computing power while sipping electricity) is a big reason why these netbooks are even made possible. So as you read this review, keep in mind that these computers are not mere toys... but are in reality tiny little work horses :)Review: The Acer Aspire One
This review is for the Acer Aspire One with 160GB hard drive, 6-cell battery, 1.6 Ghz Atom processor with 1GB of RAM, and Windows XP pre-installed. Please note that there are several different versions of this Mini-laptop. Some of them come with different hard drives (some with solid state hard drives), and some with different battery options (like a 3-cell instead of 6-cell), and different Operation Systems too (Linux lite). I picked this one because the 6-cell battery lasts 5 hours or more, it has XP included, and it comes with a 160GB hard drive. It also makes this version the most expensive... if you're wondering why there's so many different prices floating around for the same model laptop.
Well, I've had this laptop for few days now and I'm very impressed and happy with what it can do. It runs Windows XP very well and you can have several programs open at the same time... meaning that it can multi-task pretty well. It seems to have a very solid build, strong screen hinge, and a beautiful (glossy) high contrast screen. The colors are very vibrant and the black level looks great. I am surprised at how quickly it can load web pages and video from youtube... there is very little lag time. For example, if you're watching a video on youtube and you switch to full screen mode, it doesn't slow it down and switches quickly. And although one of the drawbacks of this netbook (or any netbook for that matter) is that there is no DVD or CD drive, it played DVD videos off the hard drive great and (oddly enough) comes with Win-DVD software pre-installed. One of my worries before buying this was that I thought that the screen resolution might look pixelated since the resolution is only 1024 x 600, but it actually looks very sharp. The only thing is that you do have to scroll down more often while viewing web pages than normal due to the smaller screen size. Another thing that surprised me about this laptop was that even when you use all of the USB ports (it comes with 3 total) at the same time, it doesn't slow this laptop down. I found this out when I plugged in a USB Mouse, external hard drive, and external DVD burner ... and burned a DVD using data off the external hard drive. It passed the test with flying colors and didn't skip a beat. The only major negative thing about this laptop is the design of it's mouse. Not only are the mouse buttons positioned badly on the sides of the touch sensor... but the size of the buttons are super thin and tiny. I think they could have easily improved this by at least making the mouse buttons larger. The bright side is that you can always use an external usb mouse if this is a major annoyance for you. Other than that, this laptop has surpassed all of my expectations. Here's a quick list of pros and cons:
Pros:
-Beautiful Screen with vibrant colors, high contrast ratio, and bright!
-6-cell battery is amazing (offering 5 hours or more of use)
-160GB HD, Runs XP great, good multi-tasking capabilities.
-3 USB ports, and the Multi-card reader can read new SDHC cards
-Built in mic and web camera (video from camera looks good)
-Built-in Wifi worked well for me and web pages loaded quickly.
-So portable and light... about the size of a small textbook.
-Runs quiet and doesn't get hot while running.
Cons:
-Badly placed and designed mouse buttons
-No DVD or CD drive (but no netbooks available offer one)
-Screen could be larger (an extra inch could go a long way)
Conclusion:
If you're looking for an affordable and portable laptop that has enough processing power to run most applications, this mini-laptop might do the trick for you. It is perfect for the student that is always on the go... especially considering the long battery life. It's probably not the right one for you if you run processing intensive software though... such as video editing or gaming software. Overall, the Acer Aspire is an amazing little laptop that is a wonder (even for us tech geeks) to see in action.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Acer Aspire One AOA150-1505 8.9-Inch Seashell White Netbook - 6.5 Hour Battery Life
A great choice for students as well as business travelers who like to travel light, this affordable ultra-lightweight Acer Aspire One (AOA150-1505) weighs just over 2 pounds and is packed with a 160 GB hard drive and Windows XP operating system. It has a vibrant 8.9-inch CrystalBrite WSVGA LED backlit display, integrated webcam for easy video chatting, and Intel's latest mobile processor--the Atom. Offering a cool seashell white chassis, the netbook's smooth surface is comfortable to touch, and it's accented with distinctive details, such as the attractive orange hinge ring.
Designed especially for mobile devices, the 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor uses a brand new design structure new hafnium-infused circuitry, which reduces electrical current leakage in transistors to conserve energy and gives you more time away from the wall outlet--up to 5.5 hours with the included 6-cell battery. Other features include 1 GB of installed RAM (1.5 GB maximum), 54g Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g), multi-format memory card reader, multiple USB ports, and built-in email, web browsing, and digital media applications.
It comes preinstalled with the Microsoft Windows XP Home operating system, which offers more experienced users an enhanced and innovative experience that incorporates Windows Live features like Windows Live Messenger for instant messaging and Windows Live Mail for consolidated email accounts on your desktop.
Processor The Intel Atom processor uses a brand new design structure that packs in 47 million transistors into a single chip sized at just 22mm (0.87 inches), and it uses just 2.5 watts of power--less than 1/10 of the 35 watts used by an Intel Core 2 Duo processor--for excellent battery management. This 1.6 GHz Atom N270 processor also includes a power-optimized front side bus of 533 MHz for faster data transfer on demanding mobile applications and a 512 KB L2 cache (which temporarily stores data).
Storage This version of the Aspire One comes with a 160 GB hard disk drive (5400 RPM), which offers enough to room to hold a an extra-large digital audio library of and still have room left over for movies, games, and a large collection of software. This Serial ATA (SATA) hard drive also quickens the pace with a higher speed transfer of data--akin to Firewire and USB 2.0.
Memory The 1 GB of installed RAM (512 MB onboard memory and one 512 MB DIMM, 533 MHz)can be expanded to a maximum of 1.5 GB of RAM,
DVD/CD Drive Because of its size, the Aspire One does not come with an integrated optical drive, but optional CD/DVD read/write drives can be connected to the laptop via one of the three USB ports, enabling you to create your music mixes, burn movies to DVD, and more.
Connectivity This Acer Aspire One notebook has an integrated 54g wireless LAN (Acer InviLink) that's compatible with 802.11b and 802.11g networks and offers Acer's SignalUp technology for enhanced antenna efficiency. It has has one dedicated SD memory card slot as well as a second multi-in-one card reader that's compatible with five different types of memory cards--Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO and xD-Picture Card--for maximum flexibility. The ability to have both a multi-in-1 card reader and a SD card reader at the same time allows you to download photos from the multi-in-1 to share with others and store to the SD card as an internal storage device simultaneously. Here's the full list of ports and external connections:
3 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals--from digital cameras to MP3 players
Secure Digital (SD) card reader, also compatible with MultiMedia cards (MMCs)
Multi-in-one card reader supports SD, MMC, Memory Stick/Memory Stick PRO, and XD Picture Cards
1 VGA monitor port
1 headphone jack and 1 microphone jack
RJ-45 port for 10/100 Fast Ethernet connection
56K modem port (V.90)
Screen, Video and Audio The 8.9-inch screen has a WSVGA resolution (1024 x 600) and support for up a 262K color depth. Video is powered by the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950, which uses shared video memory with the main memory. Acer's CrystalBrite display technology guarantees the best possible visual experience by preventing the diffusion of surrounding light and internal ray. Compared to normal TFT LCDs, Acer CrystalBrite technology is able to read color coordinates more accurately, thus minimizing distortion and creating high-fidelity colors in all environments.
This notebook includes an integrated audio card with Microsoft DirectSound compatibility, and it includes two stereo speakers.
What's in the Box This package contains the Acer Aspire One notebook PC (AOA150-1505; LU.S040B.235), rechargeable 6-cell lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, and operating instructions. It is backed by a limited warranty for parts and labor for one year from date of purchase.
