Comments for Acer Aspire One Review! http://www.reviewaspire.com Laptop Acer Aspire One||Netbook Acer Aspire One|| Acer Aspire One Review Sun, 28 Feb 2010 10:46:38 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 Comment on Acer Aspire Timeline AS1810TZ-4174 11. 6-Inch Blue Laptop – Over 8 Hours of Battery Life by Bimo http://www.reviewaspire.com/aspire-timeline-reviews/acer-aspire-timeline-as1810tz-4174-11-6-inch-blue-laptop-over-8-hours-of-battery-life/comment-page-1/#comment-652 Bimo Sun, 28 Feb 2010 10:46:38 +0000 http://www.reviewaspire.com/aspire-timeline-reviews/acer-aspire-timeline-as1810tz-4174-11-6-inch-blue-laptop-over-8-hours-of-battery-life/#comment-652 Laptop power in a netbook form factor. A secondary machine that runs like a primary. Pros: - Size, small yet usefully large - Pretty - Sturdy build - Long battery life under almost all conditions. - glossy screen, but not annoyingly so (like the Mac glossy screens). - Well specced out. - Excellent value, even at the price point. Cons: - It gets smudged very very quickly. - Price premium is above many larger laptops. - You HAVE to upgrade to maximum RAM to get the best out of it. A barrista at Starbux put it best when she saw it: "Yummy!". And really, it is a yummy machine. Useful with its large keyboard and screen, the right amount of ports, realistically long battery life under almost all conditions, and yet smooth and powerful with the ability to run even power and memory hungry applications without fuss and muss. Very yummy. Because I do a lot of traveling and photograph events, I have long craved a netbook so that I wouldnt have to constantly lug a large bag and heavy computer. A MacBook Air was far too expensive, almost too large, with not enough ports and designed to be just a secondary machine. A netbook with even a 10" screen was really too small in the screen and keyboard. So when I saw the Acer AspireOne 751h with its 11. 6" screen yet slim form factor, I decided that was what I was gonna get, particularly as it was on sale at most places for under $300. Yet, I hesitated to buy as the reviewers kept harping that the Atom processor was slow. So, I waited and researched and saw that the AS1410 had more power, but by that time I wanted my cake and to eat it too. Finally, the 1810TZ with its Dual Core and 64bit Windows 7 became available but cost $250 more than I had originally budgeted. Come decision time, the pros far outweighed the cons. It was just too perfect to pass up. To complete things, I ordered a 4G WiMax USB modem and service from [. . . ], which made it a great portable machine, allowing you to avoid searching for WiFi hotspots. This effectively transforms the machine to a "everywhere" computer. (If you travel a fair amount around the US, I highly recommend getting 3G+4GWimax service if it is available in your area or when it does. That effectively gives you wireless broadband connectivity around the country. ) I like that I can now slip it into my bag, and I am often surprised just how small it is when I pull it out with one hand. The screen by default is very bright, yet will often run for far longer than 8 hours (sometimes over 12), and it is not even on the power saving settings. (Of course, using USB devices will drag down battery life, but it is still very good). The screen area allows you to see almost everything, although you may want to slim down your browser area. The glossiness isnt too highly reflective like that of the Mac laptops, you dont need a matte cover. The AC adapter's brick is tiny and light, making it near painless to carry with you. The glossy screen and shell smudges very quickly, so a microfiber cloth always on hand will keep it looking smart. Although it has the power of a primary machine, and can be used as such, it is really a machine to be used in tandem with a larger primary machine. Portability is its reason for being, so I would not recommend it as an only machine. To give a measure of how impressive this machine is: If an apple logo was slapped on it would sell like hotcakes as The Next Big Thing. But for the price of a MacBook Air, you can get 3 1810TZ's . :) Now, my pet peeve with the Acer 1810TZ - and why I only gave 4 stars, not 5. It runs best with 4gigs of RAM. Out of the box, like other manufacturers, Acer sells the 1810TZ with 3Gb of RAM. So to upgrade it to the maximum, you have to buy a 2Gb stick and dispose of the 1Gb. The reason Acer sells it with this odd number, is that with a 64bit OS, both memory slots needs to be filled, but because the onboard video shares the system memory and uses a little over 1Gb of RAM at max, they could not just sell it with just 2gb's of RAM. With 3gigs installed the video performance, particularly when running video full screen, stutters frequently. Although not at all slow, Windows 7 64bit isnt as fast as you might expect. With 4gigs of RAM installed, the speed is near perfect and video is very smooth. That extra 1 gig makes such a difference. It would only cost Acer an extra 5-10 dollars to max out the RAM, and for them to hold back is just wrong. So when purchasing, order a 2Gb DDR2 SoDIMM to go along with it. All in all though, the Acer 1810TZ is a great little machine, well engineered, sturdy, powerful and pretty, and except for the RAM issue, it doesnt leave you wanting for more. -------- (Edit after a month of ownership) This machine still rocks, however a few other things - - You will need an external DVD drive, you cannot get past it. All your installation DVD's are on the hard drive, and unless you turn off the notifications, it will nag you to make backups of your restore DVD's. And what will you need to run those DVD's? Precisely. By the way, if you do buy an external DVD - TEST THEM with your machine. I have had issues with several units, that did not work. You want one that out of the box that A) will be recognized and installed automatically (Drive #1 - a major name brand) B) reads blank DVD's automatically and without freezing. (Drive #2- a off brand which was touted as fully compatible with Acers. ) I went through 3 before I finally found one (a Asus SDR-08D1S-U) that works as advertised. Good thing I bought it locally rather than online, or I wouldve been a highly irate camper. - Write down and save the key numbers on the Windows sticker on the bottom of the laptop before you lose them. The way theyve been printed, they will disappear quickly as the ink rubs off easily the piece of paper. Something I didnt expect, but it will happen. - Finding a protective sleeve for the 11. 6 form factor machine isnt easy. Theyre all either too small or too large. Best ones are those built to hold a 12 inch machine, with enough room for the AC adapter and slim external DVD burner. --------- All in all tho, the 1810TZ is still a great machine. Laptop power in a netbook form factor. A secondary machine that runs like a primary. Pros: - Size, small yet usefully large - Pretty - Sturdy build - Long battery life under almost all conditions. - glossy screen, but not annoyingly so (like the Mac glossy screens). - Well specced out. - Excellent value, even at the price point. Cons: - It gets smudged very very quickly. - Price premium is above many larger laptops. - You HAVE to upgrade to maximum RAM to get the best out of it. A barrista at Starbux put it best when she saw it: “Yummy!”. And really, it is a yummy machine. Useful with its large keyboard and screen, the right amount of ports, realistically long battery life under almost all conditions, and yet smooth and powerful with the ability to run even power and memory hungry applications without fuss and muss. Very yummy. Because I do a lot of traveling and photograph events, I have long craved a netbook so that I wouldnt have to constantly lug a large bag and heavy computer. A MacBook Air was far too expensive, almost too large, with not enough ports and designed to be just a secondary machine. A netbook with even a 10″ screen was really too small in the screen and keyboard. So when I saw the Acer AspireOne 751h with its 11. 6″ screen yet slim form factor, I decided that was what I was gonna get, particularly as it was on sale at most places for under $300. Yet, I hesitated to buy as the reviewers kept harping that the Atom processor was slow. So, I waited and researched and saw that the AS1410 had more power, but by that time I wanted my cake and to eat it too. Finally, the 1810TZ with its Dual Core and 64bit Windows 7 became available but cost $250 more than I had originally budgeted. Come decision time, the pros far outweighed the cons. It was just too perfect to pass up. To complete things, I ordered a 4G WiMax USB modem and service from [. . . ], which made it a great portable machine, allowing you to avoid searching for WiFi hotspots. This effectively transforms the machine to a “everywhere” computer. (If you travel a fair amount around the US, I highly recommend getting 3G+4GWimax service if it is available in your area or when it does. That effectively gives you wireless broadband connectivity around the country. ) I like that I can now slip it into my bag, and I am often surprised just how small it is when I pull it out with one hand. The screen by default is very bright, yet will often run for far longer than 8 hours (sometimes over 12), and it is not even on the power saving settings. (Of course, using USB devices will drag down battery life, but it is still very good). The screen area allows you to see almost everything, although you may want to slim down your browser area. The glossiness isnt too highly reflective like that of the Mac laptops, you dont need a matte cover. The AC adapter’s brick is tiny and light, making it near painless to carry with you. The glossy screen and shell smudges very quickly, so a microfiber cloth always on hand will keep it looking smart. Although it has the power of a primary machine, and can be used as such, it is really a machine to be used in tandem with a larger primary machine. Portability is its reason for being, so I would not recommend it as an only machine. To give a measure of how impressive this machine is: If an apple logo was slapped on it would sell like hotcakes as The Next Big Thing. But for the price of a MacBook Air, you can get 3 1810TZ’s . :) Now, my pet peeve with the Acer 1810TZ – and why I only gave 4 stars, not 5. It runs best with 4gigs of RAM. Out of the box, like other manufacturers, Acer sells the 1810TZ with 3Gb of RAM. So to upgrade it to the maximum, you have to buy a 2Gb stick and dispose of the 1Gb. The reason Acer sells it with this odd number, is that with a 64bit OS, both memory slots needs to be filled, but because the onboard video shares the system memory and uses a little over 1Gb of RAM at max, they could not just sell it with just 2gb’s of RAM. With 3gigs installed the video performance, particularly when running video full screen, stutters frequently. Although not at all slow, Windows 7 64bit isnt as fast as you might expect. With 4gigs of RAM installed, the speed is near perfect and video is very smooth. That extra 1 gig makes such a difference. It would only cost Acer an extra 5-10 dollars to max out the RAM, and for them to hold back is just wrong. So when purchasing, order a 2Gb DDR2 SoDIMM to go along with it. All in all though, the Acer 1810TZ is a great little machine, well engineered, sturdy, powerful and pretty, and except for the RAM issue, it doesnt leave you wanting for more. ——– (Edit after a month of ownership) This machine still rocks, however a few other things – - You will need an external DVD drive, you cannot get past it. All your installation DVD’s are on the hard drive, and unless you turn off the notifications, it will nag you to make backups of your restore DVD’s. And what will you need to run those DVD’s? Precisely. By the way, if you do buy an external DVD – TEST THEM with your machine. I have had issues with several units, that did not work. You want one that out of the box that A) will be recognized and installed automatically (Drive #1 – a major name brand) B) reads blank DVD’s automatically and without freezing. (Drive #2- a off brand which was touted as fully compatible with Acers. ) I went through 3 before I finally found one (a Asus SDR-08D1S-U) that works as advertised. Good thing I bought it locally rather than online, or I wouldve been a highly irate camper. - Write down and save the key numbers on the Windows sticker on the bottom of the laptop before you lose them. The way theyve been printed, they will disappear quickly as the ink rubs off easily the piece of paper. Something I didnt expect, but it will happen. - Finding a protective sleeve for the 11. 6 form factor machine isnt easy. Theyre all either too small or too large. Best ones are those built to hold a 12 inch machine, with enough room for the AC adapter and slim external DVD burner. ——— All in all tho, the 1810TZ is still a great machine.

]]> Comment on Acer Aspire Timeline AS1810TZ-4174 11. 6-Inch Blue Laptop – Over 8 Hours of Battery Life by Murphy http://www.reviewaspire.com/aspire-timeline-reviews/acer-aspire-timeline-as1810tz-4174-11-6-inch-blue-laptop-over-8-hours-of-battery-life/comment-page-1/#comment-651 Murphy Sun, 28 Feb 2010 08:21:23 +0000 http://www.reviewaspire.com/aspire-timeline-reviews/acer-aspire-timeline-as1810tz-4174-11-6-inch-blue-laptop-over-8-hours-of-battery-life/#comment-651 This review is from: Acer Aspire Timeline AS1810TZ-4013 11. 6-Inch Black Laptop - Over 8 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Home Premium) (Personal Computers) This ultraportable rocks. I have a nice laptop core2duo 15. 4" with Blu-ray, etc. . . but I started to realize I needed portability and battery life for use on the road and around the house. Why this laptop is "perfect" for me on the go and around the house off the plug: 1. Small form: barely over an inch at the thickest, just under 3. 1 lbs. 2. Battery life: this is huge. The screen seems very bright. I am using it surfing the web on wifi and after about an hour and a half it still says over 9 hours of battery life. On the plane. . . I watch over 3 hours of high quality DVD rips (over 1 gig an hour mpeg4), plus an hour of full screen flash based "Peggle Nights". . . and still over 40% battery left. 3. Keyboard is full sized (other than directional keys), touchpad multi works great 4. Real premium windows 7. 5. HDMI, 1080p, full uncompressed multichannel PCM audio. It actually plays bluray quality clips. . . no netbook outside of an ion based can get close to this 6. A solid dual core CULV processor. Each core can easily best an Atom 1. 6Ghz 7. Real specs. . . 3 GB RAM, 320GB HDD. 8. Screen. Awesome. . . no more scrolling when surfing or incompatible apps, a real usable res. Cons. 1. No optical drive. this is expected on something this small and light like a netbook, but it is still a con 2. Cost. All these real specs, win7, comes at a premium over a netbook. Still it does what other ultraportables do at a third their cost. 3. Processor trounces Atom based, but forget real games on it, it still uses integrated gfx. . . while they are optimized for video, they don't push polygons. 4. Case lid. While it makes a good picture, the glossy finish of the lid is a fingerprint magnet. I am looking into a few options to reduce prints (car wax, skins, etc) Overall. . . I can't be more happy I went for it. The only other option that was a contender was the HP mini 311. It also has the same type of 11. 6 higher rez screen, HDMI with 1080p processing. But it falls down because while base is $400, that is without bluetooth, without wireless N, with only 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD, winXP, and considerably lower battery life (30-40%), AND a far inferior atom N270. Really no contest. . . This review is from: Acer Aspire Timeline AS1810TZ-4013 11. 6-Inch Black Laptop – Over 8 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Home Premium) (Personal Computers)

This ultraportable rocks. I have a nice laptop core2duo 15. 4″ with Blu-ray, etc. . . but I started to realize I needed portability and battery life for use on the road and around the house. Why this laptop is “perfect” for me on the go and around the house off the plug: 1. Small form: barely over an inch at the thickest, just under 3. 1 lbs. 2. Battery life: this is huge. The screen seems very bright. I am using it surfing the web on wifi and after about an hour and a half it still says over 9 hours of battery life. On the plane. . . I watch over 3 hours of high quality DVD rips (over 1 gig an hour mpeg4), plus an hour of full screen flash based “Peggle Nights”. . . and still over 40% battery left. 3. Keyboard is full sized (other than directional keys), touchpad multi works great 4. Real premium windows 7. 5. HDMI, 1080p, full uncompressed multichannel PCM audio. It actually plays bluray quality clips. . . no netbook outside of an ion based can get close to this 6. A solid dual core CULV processor. Each core can easily best an Atom 1. 6Ghz 7. Real specs. . . 3 GB RAM, 320GB HDD. 8. Screen. Awesome. . . no more scrolling when surfing or incompatible apps, a real usable res. Cons. 1. No optical drive. this is expected on something this small and light like a netbook, but it is still a con 2. Cost. All these real specs, win7, comes at a premium over a netbook. Still it does what other ultraportables do at a third their cost. 3. Processor trounces Atom based, but forget real games on it, it still uses integrated gfx. . . while they are optimized for video, they don’t push polygons. 4. Case lid. While it makes a good picture, the glossy finish of the lid is a fingerprint magnet. I am looking into a few options to reduce prints (car wax, skins, etc) Overall. . . I can’t be more happy I went for it. The only other option that was a contender was the HP mini 311. It also has the same type of 11. 6 higher rez screen, HDMI with 1080p processing. But it falls down because while base is $400, that is without bluetooth, without wireless N, with only 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD, winXP, and considerably lower battery life (30-40%), AND a far inferior atom N270. Really no contest. . .

]]> Comment on Acer AOD250-1838 10. 1-Inch Ruby Red Netbook – Up to 9 Hours of Battery Life by Birdy http://www.reviewaspire.com/acer-aspire-one-netbook/acer-aod250-1838-10-1-inch-ruby-red-netbook-up-to-9-hours-of-battery-life/comment-page-1/#comment-639 Birdy Sun, 10 Jan 2010 23:58:56 +0000 http://www.reviewaspire.com/acer-aspire-one-netbook/acer-aod250-1838-10-1-inch-ruby-red-netbook-up-to-9-hours-of-battery-life/#comment-639 Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Acer AOD250-1633 10. 1-Inch Black Netbook - Up to 9 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Starter) (Personal Computers) The Acer Aspire One D250-1633 is exactly as advertised. A nice small netbook with an easy to read screen. Windows 7 Starter works fine. So does Office 2007. I was concerned about the 1 GB memory but Windows 7 Starter seems very lean and Word and Excel and Internet Explorer run (at the same time) with memory to spare. The keyboard certainly is smaller than normal, but I'm a hunt and peck typist so it makes little difference to me. If you're looking for a small, light, inexpensive netbook this seems like a good choice. Amazon Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

This review is from: Acer AOD250-1633 10. 1-Inch Black Netbook – Up to 9 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Starter) (Personal Computers)

The Acer Aspire One D250-1633 is exactly as advertised. A nice small netbook with an easy to read screen. Windows 7 Starter works fine. So does Office 2007. I was concerned about the 1 GB memory but Windows 7 Starter seems very lean and Word and Excel and Internet Explorer run (at the same time) with memory to spare. The keyboard certainly is smaller than normal, but I’m a hunt and peck typist so it makes little difference to me. If you’re looking for a small, light, inexpensive netbook this seems like a good choice.

]]> Comment on Acer AOD250-1838 10. 1-Inch Ruby Red Netbook – Up to 9 Hours of Battery Life by Joylyn http://www.reviewaspire.com/acer-aspire-one-netbook/acer-aod250-1838-10-1-inch-ruby-red-netbook-up-to-9-hours-of-battery-life/comment-page-1/#comment-638 Joylyn Sun, 10 Jan 2010 22:53:21 +0000 http://www.reviewaspire.com/acer-aspire-one-netbook/acer-aod250-1838-10-1-inch-ruby-red-netbook-up-to-9-hours-of-battery-life/#comment-638 Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Acer AOD250-1633 10. 1-Inch Black Netbook - Up to 9 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Starter) (Personal Computers) WARNING: netbook specs change rapidly, as do their prices. So be sure to research any changes since the date of this review. OVERVIEW: bright, clear screen; snappy response (based on a couple of hours of adding and removing programs, after the 31 updates to Win7 first downloaded); tolerable streaming video (ran HD Apple trailers in 480 mode fine; Hulu was sometimes "choppy"; ran "Large" non-HD Apple trailers fine; ran ABC. GO. COM tv shows tolerably well; won't run Hulu in 480 mode or full screen; ran HQ You Tube fine). Smaller screen and smaller keyboard at a time when other netbooks are bumping up against super light laptops, but at least this is under 3 pounds WITH the charger. And you can't beat that battery life! WHAT COULD BE BETTER: The 11. 6" screen on some Aspire Ones is superb - more pixels = ability to see NY Times online full screen without scrolling (the 10. 1" on this one requires slight scrolling, but you are only missing "ad boxes" on the right hand anyway). HOWEVER I bought a 10. 1" because all the 11. 6" models come with downgraded Atom processors (z520 with GMA 500 chips vs. the N280 and GMA 900 on this one). SHOULD come with 2 GB of memory to match the other upgraded specs on this otherwise upgraded version, but unfortunately, doesn't. NOT ALL ASPIRE AOD250'S ARE CREATED EQUAL DEPT. : Danger Will Robinson! Danger Will Robinson! Danger Will Robinson! PLEASE NOTE that Aspire has put the AOD250 label on a WHOLE HOST of widely different netbooks. Things to watch out for: the N280 is MUCH faster than the N270 - not because of the processor speed (1. 66 vs. 1. 6, nothing!) but because of the front bus (memory) speed (677 vs. 533, a lot!). This version, as of the date I write this review, also comes with Win7 while many come with XP; comes with 250 GB hard drive instead of 160 GB on most AOD250's; has wireless N instead of G (a LOT faster, when internet cafes and other locations upgrade); has Blue Tooth; has the 6 cell battery (AND it's in the 5200 m. a. version, not the 4200). WHAT I DID ON DELIVERY (ymmv so think before you leap: 1. BEFORE inserting the battery, I removed one easy screw from the middle back panel, pulled a couple of side clips off the existing memory module, and did a 5 minute total upgrade to 2GB of RAM. Super simple. 2. Install the battery, plug in the charger, boot up. 3. Wait for normal set up; enter minimal information. 4. Load Internet Explorer and click on Windows update - the computer will update soon on its own, but this speeds it up. 5. Installed 38 security updates and 3 non-essential updates. Note: Acer has its own update program to check for BIOS and device driver updates, a nice touch, I went in and changed the update frequency to monthly from daily. 6. Uninstalled the trial antivirus program. Which virus program you choose is up to you; I've had good luck with Panda (paid) and with AVG (free, no ads). Based on what I read since then, I decided to try Microsoft's new, free basic protection program, Microsoft Security Essentials (Google: download Microsoft Security Essentials) and quickly installed it. It's not supposed to be as up to date as some, but it's overhead is low and I have some confidence that MSFT will try to make it work well in conjunction with their Win7 patches and updates. NOTE: Security Essentials has its own Malware program which replaces Windows Defender which comes with Win7. Make sure both aren't running at the same time (make sure Security Essentials DID turn off Windows Defender). 7. Uninstalled all the junkware (trial Office, Norton BackUp, eSobi, etc. ). Uninstalled all the excess MSFT baggage - Silverlight, Live Essentials. If you ever use a program that wants chunks of these, they will ask to download and reinstall and you can decide then. NOTE: you don't want tags of too many programs running in memory, that slows down the computer especially video - the "load" from the antivirus can be especially significant. 8. Downloaded Quicktime; iTunes; Flash 10 (already installed - good work Acer! - but there was an incremental update since the build they installed on my hard drive. KUDOS TO AMAZON DEPT. : I got this overnight, with the memory chip to upgrade, for only $28. Wow. I could have had free delivery by waiting a week or two with Super Saver. And they actually got the right computer to me - given how my AOD250's variants they stock, and colors, that's no mean feat. WHY YOU MIGHT WANT GET THE SMALLER BATTERY DEPT. : The humongous runs forever battery is fatter and heavier. Heavy, not a problem; wider not a problem; problem is, it juts down from the body which means it doesn't fit well in a flat computer slot. On the other hand, it elevates the rear of the deck slightly for better cooling. YOU SHOULD GET THIS IF: You are cheap or on a budget or want a very light, very small, very functional computer for travel. If you write, blog, browse the web, watch YouTube, download to iTunes (250 gb helps). YOU SHOULD NOT GET THIS IF: You want to watch Hulu in higher resolution and/or at full screen; if you burn a lot of DVDs; if you do Photoshop or make movies; if you play video games that make demands on hardware. Get the new white Macbook instead. MY CRYSTAL BALL SAYS THESE THINGS WILL CHANGE IN ONE YEAR: Dual core Atom chips (already available); lower power consumption support chips instead of the ancient 945; better graphics chips (from Intel, or from 3rd parties, Nvidia already has the Ion); standard 2 gb with optional 4 gb; 11. 6 as the "premium" netbook niche and 10. 1 as the "standard" niche with small screens disappearing; XP disappears, finally replaced by Win7. AND THE QUESTION YOU WANTED ANSWERED FIRST: Yes, Win7 works out of the box. Abiword works fine with it. Yes it is as fast, to my eye and hand, as XP. Yes, it will be supported a lot longer in the future than XP. NO, stay away from Vista even on a close out model. I had it one one netbook and had to return it, it was so slow. Win7 Starter has no "eye candy" for the desktop but it is FAST. Amazon Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

This review is from: Acer AOD250-1633 10. 1-Inch Black Netbook – Up to 9 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Starter) (Personal Computers)

WARNING: netbook specs change rapidly, as do their prices. So be sure to research any changes since the date of this review. OVERVIEW: bright, clear screen; snappy response (based on a couple of hours of adding and removing programs, after the 31 updates to Win7 first downloaded); tolerable streaming video (ran HD Apple trailers in 480 mode fine; Hulu was sometimes “choppy”; ran “Large” non-HD Apple trailers fine; ran ABC. GO. COM tv shows tolerably well; won’t run Hulu in 480 mode or full screen; ran HQ You Tube fine). Smaller screen and smaller keyboard at a time when other netbooks are bumping up against super light laptops, but at least this is under 3 pounds WITH the charger. And you can’t beat that battery life! WHAT COULD BE BETTER: The 11. 6″ screen on some Aspire Ones is superb – more pixels = ability to see NY Times online full screen without scrolling (the 10. 1″ on this one requires slight scrolling, but you are only missing “ad boxes” on the right hand anyway). HOWEVER I bought a 10. 1″ because all the 11. 6″ models come with downgraded Atom processors (z520 with GMA 500 chips vs. the N280 and GMA 900 on this one). SHOULD come with 2 GB of memory to match the other upgraded specs on this otherwise upgraded version, but unfortunately, doesn’t. NOT ALL ASPIRE AOD250′S ARE CREATED EQUAL DEPT. : Danger Will Robinson! Danger Will Robinson! Danger Will Robinson! PLEASE NOTE that Aspire has put the AOD250 label on a WHOLE HOST of widely different netbooks. Things to watch out for: the N280 is MUCH faster than the N270 – not because of the processor speed (1. 66 vs. 1. 6, nothing!) but because of the front bus (memory) speed (677 vs. 533, a lot!). This version, as of the date I write this review, also comes with Win7 while many come with XP; comes with 250 GB hard drive instead of 160 GB on most AOD250’s; has wireless N instead of G (a LOT faster, when internet cafes and other locations upgrade); has Blue Tooth; has the 6 cell battery (AND it’s in the 5200 m. a. version, not the 4200). WHAT I DID ON DELIVERY (ymmv so think before you leap: 1. BEFORE inserting the battery, I removed one easy screw from the middle back panel, pulled a couple of side clips off the existing memory module, and did a 5 minute total upgrade to 2GB of RAM. Super simple. 2. Install the battery, plug in the charger, boot up. 3. Wait for normal set up; enter minimal information. 4. Load Internet Explorer and click on Windows update – the computer will update soon on its own, but this speeds it up. 5. Installed 38 security updates and 3 non-essential updates. Note: Acer has its own update program to check for BIOS and device driver updates, a nice touch, I went in and changed the update frequency to monthly from daily. 6. Uninstalled the trial antivirus program. Which virus program you choose is up to you; I’ve had good luck with Panda (paid) and with AVG (free, no ads). Based on what I read since then, I decided to try Microsoft’s new, free basic protection program, Microsoft Security Essentials (Google: download Microsoft Security Essentials) and quickly installed it. It’s not supposed to be as up to date as some, but it’s overhead is low and I have some confidence that MSFT will try to make it work well in conjunction with their Win7 patches and updates. NOTE: Security Essentials has its own Malware program which replaces Windows Defender which comes with Win7. Make sure both aren’t running at the same time (make sure Security Essentials DID turn off Windows Defender). 7. Uninstalled all the junkware (trial Office, Norton BackUp, eSobi, etc. ). Uninstalled all the excess MSFT baggage – Silverlight, Live Essentials. If you ever use a program that wants chunks of these, they will ask to download and reinstall and you can decide then. NOTE: you don’t want tags of too many programs running in memory, that slows down the computer especially video – the “load” from the antivirus can be especially significant. 8. Downloaded Quicktime; iTunes; Flash 10 (already installed – good work Acer! – but there was an incremental update since the build they installed on my hard drive. KUDOS TO AMAZON DEPT. : I got this overnight, with the memory chip to upgrade, for only $28. Wow. I could have had free delivery by waiting a week or two with Super Saver. And they actually got the right computer to me – given how my AOD250’s variants they stock, and colors, that’s no mean feat. WHY YOU MIGHT WANT GET THE SMALLER BATTERY DEPT. : The humongous runs forever battery is fatter and heavier. Heavy, not a problem; wider not a problem; problem is, it juts down from the body which means it doesn’t fit well in a flat computer slot. On the other hand, it elevates the rear of the deck slightly for better cooling. YOU SHOULD GET THIS IF: You are cheap or on a budget or want a very light, very small, very functional computer for travel. If you write, blog, browse the web, watch YouTube, download to iTunes (250 gb helps). YOU SHOULD NOT GET THIS IF: You want to watch Hulu in higher resolution and/or at full screen; if you burn a lot of DVDs; if you do Photoshop or make movies; if you play video games that make demands on hardware. Get the new white Macbook instead. MY CRYSTAL BALL SAYS THESE THINGS WILL CHANGE IN ONE YEAR: Dual core Atom chips (already available); lower power consumption support chips instead of the ancient 945; better graphics chips (from Intel, or from 3rd parties, Nvidia already has the Ion); standard 2 gb with optional 4 gb; 11. 6 as the “premium” netbook niche and 10. 1 as the “standard” niche with small screens disappearing; XP disappears, finally replaced by Win7. AND THE QUESTION YOU WANTED ANSWERED FIRST: Yes, Win7 works out of the box. Abiword works fine with it. Yes it is as fast, to my eye and hand, as XP. Yes, it will be supported a lot longer in the future than XP. NO, stay away from Vista even on a close out model. I had it one one netbook and had to return it, it was so slow. Win7 Starter has no “eye candy” for the desktop but it is FAST.

]]> Comment on Acer AOD250-1838 10. 1-Inch Ruby Red Netbook – Up to 9 Hours of Battery Life by Frick http://www.reviewaspire.com/acer-aspire-one-netbook/acer-aod250-1838-10-1-inch-ruby-red-netbook-up-to-9-hours-of-battery-life/comment-page-1/#comment-637 Frick Sun, 10 Jan 2010 22:44:58 +0000 http://www.reviewaspire.com/acer-aspire-one-netbook/acer-aod250-1838-10-1-inch-ruby-red-netbook-up-to-9-hours-of-battery-life/#comment-637 Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Acer AOD250-1633 10. 1-Inch Black Netbook - Up to 9 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Starter) (Personal Computers) Update (17 Nov 09): After a fair amount of travel I stick by my initial rating. Construction is solid and I have had no issues, even after it has been thrown around a bit with my carry-on. Also, you shouldn't have to worry about the "big" battery sticking out. The extra battery life is worth it and the netbook fits easy in your typical sleeve. I bought a standard netbook sleeve off the shelf for a bit of extra protection and the computer fits in with no issues. In fact, I'm able to get my travel mouse and power cord in with it, zipped up and all, which makes travel even easier. ------------------------ So I was recently in the market for a netbook for travel reasons and happened upon the Acer One. After days of reading reviews and visits to local electronic stores, I had narrowed my choices down to the Asus (10 hour battery life) EeePC and this Acer One. As luck would have it, I was in the market just as Windows 7 pre-orders began and both machines came through Amazon with the new OS. In the end, the AC adapter issues with the Asus kept me away, and I figured 10. 5 vs. 9 hours of battery life wasn't too big of a difference (and neither would live up to the claims regardless). The netbook arrived the day after Windows 7 was released and I immediately got to work removing the "extras" that come with the computer. Surprisingly though, Acer did not load too much bloat on the machine and getting it off took no time at all. So then began the installation process. Avast, Office, iTunes, CD Burning software, VLC, Chrome, Firefox, Skype and Quicktime (the usuals) were all immediate needs and all went on with ease. I did purchase the extra gig of RAM that is recommended on most other netbooks (read around and you'll see) as well, however, it did not come until 3 days later so I had a decent amount of time to play around with this machine with just 1g. Even with 1 gig, iTunes ran smoothly, I was able to watch Hulu with no hiccups, Office didn't lag. . . I was actually quite surprised. The 2 gig showed up eventually though, and things got even better. Installation was a breeze (just open the memory "door" and clip it in) and took only 30 seconds. The computer recognized it instantly. Once up and running again, the system was noticeably faster. . . very noticeable. Having open multiple programs is not a problem at all (something I will admit I was concerned about initially). Along the same lines as the memory upgrade, an external DVD drive may be another buy you will want (just like with every other netbook). I did not invest in one, simply because I will not be needing it, but just a thought when pricing out your "full" purchase. So, what is good and what is bad? Pros: Battery life - lives up to the advertisement (for the most part). I run it on the intermediate setting and get 7 hours easy. Currently at 45% right now and have 4 hours and 5 minutes left. Wireless N and Bluetooth - while not "necessary" these are very nice. I can pick up signals with my netbook that other laptops in the house cannot get. Range is amazing. Speed - A lot faster than what I was expecting and blew away all my expectations. Just make sure you spend the extra 20-40 bucks and get the extra memory. You will see a big difference (keep in mind though, she does fine with 1 gig). 2 is always better though. Display - Very clear and easy on the eyes. Thought I might have issues with the small screen but it looks amazing. Windows 7 - you can read the reviews about it specifically but it runs great. I'll leave it at that. Cons: Keyboard - slightly smaller than some other netbook keyboards out there and can be tricky sometimes. Touchpad - Acer, as with others, boasts a multi-touch pad (similar to an iPhone or iPod Touch). Maybe I just haven't found the right use for it, but I find it nearly worthless and even when I can get it to "work," it is slow and not very useful. Also, some may find the touchpad a tad too small (at least I do). Finally, the click bar on the touchpad is not broken up into two buttons, and while this is fairly common, the click bar can be tough to click sometimes and there are times I will try to click and hit the middle, which does nothing, and you don't "know" until you look down to see what you're clicking. I think two distinct buttons would have been better and easier. In the end, this model (and it's brightly colored siblings), in my view, are an excellent buy if you're in the market. At around $400 (depending on how much you get the RAM for), this machine comes with features that you will only find in more expensive netbooks. While I've only had it for a week, I will say I am very pleased with my investment. If time permits, I will update this to review how it holds up with travel, etc. . . but based on simple home wireless use, I have very very few complaints. Amazon Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

This review is from: Acer AOD250-1633 10. 1-Inch Black Netbook – Up to 9 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Starter) (Personal Computers)

Update (17 Nov 09): After a fair amount of travel I stick by my initial rating. Construction is solid and I have had no issues, even after it has been thrown around a bit with my carry-on. Also, you shouldn’t have to worry about the “big” battery sticking out. The extra battery life is worth it and the netbook fits easy in your typical sleeve. I bought a standard netbook sleeve off the shelf for a bit of extra protection and the computer fits in with no issues. In fact, I’m able to get my travel mouse and power cord in with it, zipped up and all, which makes travel even easier. ———————— So I was recently in the market for a netbook for travel reasons and happened upon the Acer One. After days of reading reviews and visits to local electronic stores, I had narrowed my choices down to the Asus (10 hour battery life) EeePC and this Acer One. As luck would have it, I was in the market just as Windows 7 pre-orders began and both machines came through Amazon with the new OS. In the end, the AC adapter issues with the Asus kept me away, and I figured 10. 5 vs. 9 hours of battery life wasn’t too big of a difference (and neither would live up to the claims regardless). The netbook arrived the day after Windows 7 was released and I immediately got to work removing the “extras” that come with the computer. Surprisingly though, Acer did not load too much bloat on the machine and getting it off took no time at all. So then began the installation process. Avast, Office, iTunes, CD Burning software, VLC, Chrome, Firefox, Skype and Quicktime (the usuals) were all immediate needs and all went on with ease. I did purchase the extra gig of RAM that is recommended on most other netbooks (read around and you’ll see) as well, however, it did not come until 3 days later so I had a decent amount of time to play around with this machine with just 1g. Even with 1 gig, iTunes ran smoothly, I was able to watch Hulu with no hiccups, Office didn’t lag. . . I was actually quite surprised. The 2 gig showed up eventually though, and things got even better. Installation was a breeze (just open the memory “door” and clip it in) and took only 30 seconds. The computer recognized it instantly. Once up and running again, the system was noticeably faster. . . very noticeable. Having open multiple programs is not a problem at all (something I will admit I was concerned about initially). Along the same lines as the memory upgrade, an external DVD drive may be another buy you will want (just like with every other netbook). I did not invest in one, simply because I will not be needing it, but just a thought when pricing out your “full” purchase. So, what is good and what is bad? Pros: Battery life – lives up to the advertisement (for the most part). I run it on the intermediate setting and get 7 hours easy. Currently at 45% right now and have 4 hours and 5 minutes left. Wireless N and Bluetooth – while not “necessary” these are very nice. I can pick up signals with my netbook that other laptops in the house cannot get. Range is amazing. Speed – A lot faster than what I was expecting and blew away all my expectations. Just make sure you spend the extra 20-40 bucks and get the extra memory. You will see a big difference (keep in mind though, she does fine with 1 gig). 2 is always better though. Display – Very clear and easy on the eyes. Thought I might have issues with the small screen but it looks amazing. Windows 7 – you can read the reviews about it specifically but it runs great. I’ll leave it at that. Cons: Keyboard – slightly smaller than some other netbook keyboards out there and can be tricky sometimes. Touchpad – Acer, as with others, boasts a multi-touch pad (similar to an iPhone or iPod Touch). Maybe I just haven’t found the right use for it, but I find it nearly worthless and even when I can get it to “work,” it is slow and not very useful. Also, some may find the touchpad a tad too small (at least I do). Finally, the click bar on the touchpad is not broken up into two buttons, and while this is fairly common, the click bar can be tough to click sometimes and there are times I will try to click and hit the middle, which does nothing, and you don’t “know” until you look down to see what you’re clicking. I think two distinct buttons would have been better and easier. In the end, this model (and it’s brightly colored siblings), in my view, are an excellent buy if you’re in the market. At around $400 (depending on how much you get the RAM for), this machine comes with features that you will only find in more expensive netbooks. While I’ve only had it for a week, I will say I am very pleased with my investment. If time permits, I will update this to review how it holds up with travel, etc. . . but based on simple home wireless use, I have very very few complaints.

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