The Acer Aspire One with it’s 8.9″ monitor is a netbook introduced at a starting price aimed to undercut all those currently on the market. The base model was introduced with Linux and an 8GB SSD with a market price of $329, which is far under any other netbooks that offer the Intel Atom processor. With the whole new netbook trend everyone is wondering if the Acer Aspire One was built for the long term, or if it is a fly by night alternative in the already cheap netbook category. We’ll cover the Acer Aspire One in this review, that way you can decide if the Acer Aspire One is the correct solution for you.
Our Acer Aspire One Specifications:
- 1.6 Ghz N270 Intel Atom Processor
- 1GB DDR2 533MHz
- Windows XP Home SP3
- 8.9″ 1024 x 600 WSVGA glossy LED backlit display
- 120GB 2.5″ 5400RPM Hitachi Hard Drive (with SDHC storage expansion slot)
- 802.11b/g Atheros Wireless
- 3-Cell 23Wh battery
- Size: 9.75″ x 6.65″ x 1.28″
- Weight: 2lb 5.0oz
Build and Design
The Acer Aspire One’s design is subtle, although maybe a little subtle that brings off a cheap sense to the computer. Here is what we mean, the computer is designed with a glossy plastic which covers the whole computer, and the LCD monitor. Which means that in well lit rooms the glare shining off of the glossy part surrounding the LCD can get a bit overwhelming since it shines right back into your eyes. The design may be considered sleek by some standards, but personally we feel that its a slightly overdone. There are chrome accents here and there which add a nice alternative to the glossy plastic parts, but they don’t save the design at all.
On the other hand the build quality seems to be comparable with the best netbooks on the market. It’s obvious that Acer was motivated by creating a netbook that will stand the test of time. Allowing the user to throw the thing in their bookbag without much of a concern for breaking it. When the Acer Aspire One is closed it is about the size of a hard cover book. It’s also evident that Acer thought of a well designed amount of protection for the monitor. The cover feels strong and flexible at the same time, which is key for any protective covering for an LCD screen.
Future Upgrades?
Unfortunately Acer didn’t allow much flexibility in this department. The Aspire One is lacking in the ability for future upgrades that some of the other Netbooks (Asus for example) is so great with. The case doesn’t come apart easily, which can create headaches and that ugly sense of nervousness that your gonna break the case when attempting to access the computers vitals. We like mentioning the computers ability to be upgraded because there are a number of Netbook users which enjoy having the flexibility of upgrading things like RAM, Harddrive, and other expansion bays.
Keyboard and Touchpad
Typically netbooks need to sacrifice certain features to be able to fit all the computer essentials in such a small area. Usually things like the keyboard and touch pad are the first things to see a crunch in size. The Acer Aspire One on the other hand is spacious as far as netbooks go. The Aspire One is essentially a 9″ netbook in a 10″ model, which allows for a spacious real estate for the keyboard. The keyboard does feel cramped upon first usage (most netbooks feel the same way) but after a few hours it’s very easy to transition and not have to many troubles. The keyboard feels strong with little to no flex or wobble that we have experienced with other netbooks.
The touch pad design is unique and unlike any other netbooks we have seen. They decided to place the buttons on each side of the touch pad, which makes for some getting used to. Most touch pads have the buttons next to each other, either on top of bottom of the mouse pad. By having the buttons on both the right and the left means that it can get tricky at times where usage requires both right and left buttons at the same time. The touch pad seems to work very well and there are no dead spots that can be found on the touchpad. We really enjoyed the touch pad on this netbook and don’t have many complaints other than the button layout.
Display
The Aspire One features an LED backlit display with a glossy screen overlay. The screen is bright and very clear with the colors leaning towards a cooler gradient. The colors do look extremely well on the glossy screen, although the glossy screen can create problems when using the netbook in certain locations. The glossy screen makes it extremely difficult to use the netbook outside, which is really quite unfortunate. Sure the screen may be bright enough to be viewed outside, except that the glossy screen matched with the glossy casing means an extreme amount of sunlight/ambient light being shined right back into your eyes. The viewing angles are excellent, allowing for the ability to view the screen almost perpendicularly!
Performance
The Intel Atom based processor isn’t known for it’s exceptional speed breaking records, but it does do its job fine for all normal activities. Things such as internet browsing, word processing, and photo editing (within reason) all performed very well and provided quick responses to our requests with various programs. Keep in mind as to what netbooks are primarily for, to do your basic functions such as surf the web, email, documents, and things of that nature. It isn’t best for programs that require extensive use of the resources as netbooks are able to handle the load very well.
Gaming performance is limited by the Intel Atom based processor, but games can still be played at somewhat decent framerates. For example Half Life at 640×480 runs at 20-40 FPS, which allows for a fine playing environment and a great alternative to Solitaire when you are looking for some fun.
We also tested the video, using VLC and the latest codec’s we were able to watch a two hour movie successfully. Although anything more than two hours would be pushing the batteries life and we wouldn’t recommend it.
HD Video is pretty much out of the question on this computer. We tried various different programs, codecs, and videos and nearly all of them had trouble playing at a steady framerate. So don’t count on playing any resource extensive HD videos.
Speakers and Audio
The speakers on the Acer Aspire One are pretty bad and are near the worst we have experienced on a netbook. Peak volumes are extremely low, and the frequency levels are just as bad. When playing Half Life we had to pull out our headphones as we weren’t able to hear the dialogue that the game provided. Don’t expect to use these computer speakers and have a pair of headphones ready if you do need to use audio.
Ports and Features
One thing that the Aspire One does well is the availability of various ports. Providing two card readers, plus the three standard USB ports, LAN, VGA, and audio jacks. The real complaint with the ports though is the lack of Mini-PCIe slot which would have been wonderful for future 3G upgrades.
Heat and Noise
The Intel Atom based netbooks are typically all known for running on the warm side of things, and the Acer Aspire One is no different. Under light – medium usage the Acer stays within reasonable levels, although under high usage it can get hot and almost unbearable if you are setting it on your lap. The keyboard area stays relatively cool at a temperature slightly above the rooms, while the bottom of the computer can be the warmest area of the computer.
The Aspire One is undoubtedly a loud netbook, in fact we assume that its actually the loudest of the bunch. As soon as the netbook is turned on the cooling fans begin and can be heard as long as the computer is on and being used. Since everything needs to be smaller on netbooks the fans go without exception, and as a result aren’t very effective for the amount of noise that they produce. By the time that the computer has been warmed up and operating for a while the fans can increase to an annoying level. It stands out while being used at a coffee shop and could even present a problem in the classroom.
Battery
Considering that the Acer Aspire One is a 3-Cell battery we knew that our results wouldn’t compare with some of the 6-cell alternatives that we have tested. We set the computer screen brightness to 60 percent, wifi enabled, and some internet browsing and the computer managed to last 2 hours and 23 minutes before it needed to be shut down. Therefore under harder conditions expect the computer to last under 2 hours on a full charge.
Conclusion
If you are looking for a low cost netbook, then the Acer Aspire One should be on your list. The computer has a great solid build quality to handle the abuse that netbooks are so prone to, and has enough power to get you through your daily application needs. The battery life is lacking due to the 3-cell battery as opposed to a 6-cell, so consider what your ultimate use is for the netbook and determine if 2 hours is enough time on a full charge. For the price though the Acer Aspire One is a fantastic netbook, priced at $349 it is in the ballpark of the $499 netbooks!
Pros
- Low Priced Intel Based Netbook
- Good performance
- Dual SDHC card readers
- Responsive Touchpad
Cons
- Not easy to upgrade
- Noisy Fan
- Glossy plastic/screen makes it hard to use outside or in bright environments
