The overall layout of the build seems easy to learn and use. The buttons are in the right spots (with the exception of the mouse) and it is easy to tell what is going on. The plastic body feels slightly unsteady and unstable, but it held up to a lot of abuse. The only change to the otherwise smooth layout and look is a small bump for the SSD HD and a cutaway section for replacing the RAM. The overall feel of the netbook in your hand, while closed, feels almost identical to that of a novel, so it should work well with the coffee-sipping crowd.
The Screen – 
Loaded with what seems to be the norm for netbooks, the Acer Aspire One has a small 8.9in screen that is surrounded by a glossy black body. The screen also has a glossy cover on it. Similar to the problems with the rest of the body, this serves to bounce light into your eyes in a well-lit environment. The backlighting of the Acer reacted quickly and produced a bright outlook that had several customizable levels of brightness. It is easy to read text and view images on this screen. When watching videos or photos, one notices a slight lag on quick or high-def sections, but it is only noticeable briefly. Additionally, it is hard to view some wide Web sites using this screen, but most fit easily onto it and are quite readable. The biggest issue with the screen is its viewing angles. You need to be looking almost dead on vertically to see the screen well; however, the horizontal angles seem to have a much wider allowance than normal laptops. The screen is perfect for watching Flash movies, Youtube videos, and working on your e-mails.
Operating System – 
On my normal laptop (Acer Aspire 7720), I dual boot Ubuntu and Vista; this might cause me to have a different reaction to the included OS (Linux Linpus) than you. I found the OS of this model to be amazingly quick and useful. It boots up in roughly 10-15 seconds, launches applications in about the same time, and is quite user-friendly. All tasks needed are grouped into four sections (Web, productivity, entertainment, and files) and you can quickly find what you need. There is also a handy search bar located at the top of the screen. Users who are not used to Linux will quickly find this OS to be quite user-friendly.
Article comments
1 - Paul Nat
the keyboard of the acer is 85%. is that bigger than the asus?
2 - Robet M. Barga
It appears as though the Asus is an 80% keyboard size. While it might not seem like a large difference, I tested both at the store and it was much, much easier to type on the acer.
3 - Carla
Are they reliable to have the office works eg. word excel powerpoint on them and still work fine? Can you upgrade them to 2GB? Can you watch dvd's on them? sorry dont know much about computers but this one looks hot
4 - Robet M. Barga
The computer is quite reliable and easy to use. I would recommend creating a bootable recovery thumb drive though, in case you mess up...
Remember, their is no microsoft office in the version I used (there is none in either, but the XP version supports it); however, there is Open office which is a free version almost identical. It can open and edit word/powerpoint/excel documents.
Ram is upgradable to 1.5gig
There is no disc drive. You can stream movies OR use an external disc drive OR use a file you already have (LEGALLY) to view movies.
anything else?
5 - the one
this netbook looks g8!
can i install a program like other big PC can?
6 - Notebooks and laptops
interesting review
7 - Remi Een
I bought an Acer Aspire One (AAO) this fall and within weeks the screen blacked out upon booting. Rather than replacing my AAO , Acer referred me to a technical repair depot. After 6 weeks still no word - then two weeks ago after calling Acer they said they would send me a new one on back order. Still no sight of it. Today when i called they said they have no idea when the back order will be filled. Just wonderful customer support - not! Wish i had bought a MacBook now.
8 - Robert M. Barga
Do you have the names and service numbers of the people who you talked to? If so, call and discuss them with the service manager
9 - Laptops
Before making such a large purchase you should always do comparisons ensuring you are getting the right product.
10 - Robert M. Barga
I agree, I either recomend using a site like Cnet or the like to evaluate the models first
11 - Harris
It's an ugly computer indeed, an online seller will even show the pics of this netbook in darker colour to hide it two rivets on top of the screen that was denting the surface of the screen's frame that made this product look so cheap like a toy from a toys shop. Cosmetically, it's ugly and look cheap. Just don't know the performance cause I don't own and would think never own it.
12 - Robert M. Barga
Um, have you actually seen one IRL? The computer is drop dead stunning and there are no actuall problems with it. Maybe the seller just damaged that one
13 - simon
Had my AA1 for 4 months now and will not be using my old laptop again.
The front end gets a little getting used to but enabling the right click menu it opens the whole thing up and makes a usable item complete.
It does everything I want a laptop to do, It runs Linux, Open office 3, Firefox.Now with a slim external DVD writer I can burn disks and watch movies.The external writer is even the same color and finish as the laptop.
OK I had the Black screen when the thing would not boot up but that was soon cured by helpful forums aspire one forum, Acer Guy and Macell.
OK So its not big and flash and fancy, its not the most powerful, but for taking anywhere it great, its light and connects easily via wireless or RJ45.
All in all a great little web book.