The microphone on this system works remarkably well and isolates noise better than any other that I have seen recently. It does get spotty at times, but usually is a decent mic. The Web cam, on the other hand, is one of the lowest quality Web cams i have ever used. While it is good enough for a brief videochat, it lags a fair bit and only focuses well on your face. If you videochat often, or need to conference call your office from Starbucks, I would suggest investing in a USB Web cam (which, interestingly, is roughly have the size of your computer).
Performance –
The biggest perk of this system is that it runs Linux, which, as mentioned earlier, means that the computer is up and running in less than 15 seconds. Opening applications is also a breeze. However, once you get about three to five separate windows open, the limited 512MB RAM greatly slows down the laptop. Trying to run over 10 tabs in Firefox, having more than three OO.o documents open, or playing a game and doing anything else at the same time slows the system down. Thankfully you can upgrade the RAM with little effort.
Battery –
Battery life being the primary concern with laptops and netbooks, this is the area that most people complain about. On this particular netbook, typing a OO.o document while running music and Pidgen, and doing a little Firefox browsing, I was able to get roughly three hours of usage on 75% brightness. At 100%, it was two-and-a-half. At 50% I was able to get about three hours and fifteen minutes. When just browsing the Internet or just typing, add about thirty minutes on to those totals. I know that it is not a lot of time on the computer, but at the battery size, it seems about right.
Extras bundled –
The Acer Aspire One comes with a leather carrying pouch, the adapter/charger, and a screen protector. These are in good quality, work well, and are light/small which fits the computer perfectly. The only issue is that the backup restore comes as CD-ROM. Seeing as the Acer does not have a CD drive, this makes little sense to me. Acer, had they been thinking, should have included the restore on a SD card.
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.