Acer Aspire One Reviews

Mobile Computer Magazine have recently reviewed the Acer Aspire One Netbook, Mini-Laptop or Ultra Portable Laptop, whatever you decide to call this Mobile Internet Device from Acer.

On their website, they report on the Acer Aspire One and state that many people searching for a portbale laptop have been hedging their bets when it comes to buying low-cost laptops along the lines of the Asus Eee PC's. It is considered that these cagey buyers have been wise in keeping their cards and hard earned cash in their wallets for so long. It is recognised that Asus, with their range of EEE PC's, have all but created the market for the ‘netbook’, but with other laptop manufacturers now jumping on the bandwagon, Acer with its Aspire One, is the latest in a long line of new ultra portable laptops to be seen from some of the major laptop manufacturers.

Up until now, many netbooks/mini laptops have followed the same ultra-portable laptop design with the Acer Aspire One certainly not bucking this trend. However, acording to the opinions of some early reviewers, Acer's Aspire One is by far the best-looking netbook to be seen so far.

Julian Prokaza who wrote the review for Mobile Computer Mag, goes on to say, "The glossy finish on the lid contrasts nicely with the matte underside and the two raised hinges leave an expanse of visually pleasing empty space below the screen. Acer has also used the same design trick as Apple did with the MacBook Air – curved edges on the lid and front of the case make the Aspire One look much slimmer than it really is."

Julian also comments on Acer's decision in making the Aspire One slight bigger than its main competitior the EEE PC 901. The Aspire One is 24mm wider than the Eee PC 901 which to some is a negative in terms of portability.

So what does this mean for the Acer Aspire One?

Well, not a lot, because it means Acer have been able to fit in a bigger keyboard that transforms the Aspire One from being a device useful for emails and occasional notes into something that you can actually sit and type on for lengthy spells. Julian's review also notes that despite the keys being far from full-size, the Aspire One's larger key tops and wider key spacing makes them much more comfortable to use.

The touchpad utilises the same stretched design as seen on the HP 2133 Mini-Note, with it's buttons being either side, rather than below as with many other laptops. Fortunately, with the Acer Aspire One this seems to work a great deal better than that on the Mini-Note with the narrow buttons having a far more positive feel.

Both the size and resolution of the Aspire One’s screen are the same as the Eee PC 901’s, and when put side-by-side, there’s seems to be little to choose in the difference in image quality. However, the Eee PC’s screen does appear to be a little brighter at its maximum setting, but having said this, the Aspire One’s LED backlight, is far from lacking in luminance.

The Aspire One has an almost identical set of ports as the Eee PC but with a couple of notable differences. The first being that the Aspire One has a second SD Card slot on one side of the case which allows you to simply pop a SD card in to it and its free storage space is automatically added to that of the 8Gb SSD capcity on the entry level model.

Acer also recognised that that an ultra portable laptop - netbook, designed for go-anywhere internet access isn’t much use without an internet connection. This is why the Aspire One with its Bluetooth and Wi-Fi is also complemented by onboard 3G on some of its higher spec models (not the entry-level one) – there is also a SIM card slot underneath the battery and at some point in the future, WiMAX is to be added.

Acer Aspire One - Which Operating System?

Windows XP will become available on the Aspire One later in the year but for now the early launch of the Aspire One models are all be shipped with Linpus Linux Lite. This OS is a commercial distro based on Fedora. Designed specifically for small-screen netbooks this operating system uses a similar simplified front-end to the Xandros-based distro supplied with the Eee PC. The UI has however been heavily modified for use on the Acer Aspire One.

We would like to credit this review to Julian Prokaza, which he wrote for Mobile Computer Mag and leave you with his summary for the Acer Aspire One

With an expected price of £199 Inc VAT, the Acer Aspire One is remarkable value and it’s much more in keeping with the netbook - Ultra Portable Laptop - Mini Laptop concept than the Eee PC 901 at £319. Of course the Eee PC 901 has a better overall specification too, but with a free SODIMM slot, its automatic SD Card storage expansion and an optional six-cell battery, it’s easy to bring the Aspire One up to a similar spec for less than the £120 price difference. And, of course, it also has a bigger keyboard – one thing you’ll never be able to add to the Eee PC 901.

Convinced? Compare the prices for the Aspire One here; Acer Aspire One Prices Compared

Home | Acer Aspire One Information | Specification | Where to buy | Aspire One Reviews