Excellent Value
Written: Aug 30 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Price/value, speed, Windows XP, display quality
Cons: Touchpad design, battery life, keyboard size
The Bottom Line: Excellent netbook. Go buy one before they increase the price.
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| rpons's Full Review: Acer Aspire ONE A150-1006 (LU.S040B.110) Netbook |
My wife wanted a dedicated laptop for her sewing and embroidery files, and we initially saw the ASUS Eee PC mini-laptop at Best Buy. She REALLY wanted to buy it but I had reservations about the Linux OS, 512MB RAM, and 8GB solid-state hard drive. I convinced her that it would be best to wait until the mini-laptops came out with Windows XP so we wouldn't have any trouble installing her embroidery software, among other things. The next week, we saw the Acer Aspire One in the Best Buy ad for $100 less than the ASUS Eee, running Windows XP, with 1GB RAM, and 120GB hard drive. I did some quick research on the Acer and it had pretty decent reviews, so I bought one.
We've had the Aspire One for a week now, and as an IT professional with almost 20 years of experience, I can honestly say that there have been very few computer hardware purchases, both personal and business, with which I have been more impressed. I feel the Acer Aspire One is an incredible value at its current price point, so much so that we are strongly considering purchasing a second unit for our oldest daughter. I guess my expectations were rather low for something so relatively inexpensive, but the Aspire One has exceeded all of them, particularly in how fast it is in general operation. After using other Linux-based netbooks, I was expecting pretty slow browser response times. I dare say the Aspire One's browser performance in IE 7 and Firefox 3 is at times faster than our Vista desktop PC. The WiFi performance is great, too. We've connected to our own WPA-protected network, a neighbor's WEP network, and my parents' WPA2 network without any problems. I tested the integrated webcam today via Windows Messenger and it worked great. I also installed a Philips SPC1300NC webcam (after copying the install CD to an SD card on another PC) which worked great, too.
I have also tested the Aspire One on a number of remote access VPN and terminal server applications for work. All of them have worked great without any problems. Since the unit does not have a PC Card or Express Slot, I installed Verizon's VZ Access Manager software to use my BlackBerry as a broadband modem. It worked great. Supposedly, Acer will be releasing models with integrated 3G and/or EVDO, but they are not available yet that I can see. I may recommend the Aspire One for on-call IT staffers and executives. Its size and weight make it extremely portable and relatively inobtrusive, while providing full-size laptop functionality, including enterprise remote access to VPN and Windows Terminal Server applications.
So far, there are a few minor negatives for me. First, the keyboard is slightly cramped, but of course this is to be expected on a unit with an 8.9" screen. I do find the keyboard easier to type on than the ASUS Eee PC. I type around 85 wpm and can probably type around 75 wpm on the Aspire One keyboard. Second, the battery life is around 2.5 hours with the included 3-cell battery. There is a 6-cell battery available which offers 5-6 hours of runtime, but it costs over $100. I can't really fault Acer for including the 3-cell, considering the price point, and, unlike some who might balk at paying nearly one-third the cost of the laptop for an extra battery, I could easily justify it if I needed that type of runtime, and I would have no reservations spending the money. Third, although Acer has done the best they could with the form factor allowed by an 8.9" screen, I do not particularly care for the touchpad button placement. The left and right "mouse" buttons are positioned to the left and right of the touchpad, rather than underneath it, as is more common. Although the buttons are the same height as the touchpad, they are somewhat thin. Another very minor issue is that the glossy blue finish on the top cover shows fingerprints very easily. Admittedly, it does look very nice when wiped clean.
To me, the strengths of this system overwhelmingly outweigh the negatives, and I would not hesitate to buy again. Everyone we've shown the Aspire One can't believe it was so inexpensive, or that it is so well-equipped. Both my father-in-law and my parents are thinking about buying one now after seeing it today.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 349
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: over 1000
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Epinions.com ID:
rpons
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Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 1 member
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