.... this is a copy of my original article about the Acer, I'm playing around with WordPress, Windows Live Blog and Windows Live Writer and this is just a part of that exploration process. :disted:
Acer Aspire One
The Aspire One from Acer is a Netbook I fell in love with almost as soon as I got my hands on it? almost!
?Almost?, and there in lies the story. 
It all started when GMa Kay decided that because I like the Acer entry in the 9? Netbook category of small laptops she would get me one for my B-Day.
So I order one from Sams Club online because their price is about $50 less than anywhere else and then I waited five days for it to arrive. So, it arrives and I?m all excited and I?m taking it out of the box and getting it all hooked up with the battery and the charger and starting it up and it only boots up as far as the WinXP splash screen and hangs up there.
Like you see in the picture above.
I?m thinking that maybe it?s doing that because the battery isn?t charged up yet, so I leave it on the charger until it has fully charged and the try again? same thing. So I mess around with it for the rest of that day, going online to research the issue, trying lots of different stuff and nothing works. I even tried hooking up an external DVD and running a Linux ?Live DVD? that lets you run the operating system (Linux) directly from the DVD and by-passing much of the PC hardware including the hard drive. That worked, the DVD booted up all the way and that was telling me that there was a hardware issue, like maybe a bad hard drive.
So next day I spend about an hour on the phone with someone at tech support with no solution to the issue and that?s when I decided that it would be best just to return it and that?s what I did, took it to my local Sams and returned it.
I later discovered that Sams Club had sent me a refurbished model? more on that later.
Next there was a two day wait until Sams Club did a credit back to my card for the total cost; they were good enough to give back all costs including shipping. So then finally I was able to go to one of our local PC stores and pick one up, for a larger cost of course.
Intrex - NC Computer Store and Computer Repair
While at the store the staff let me take the Acer out of the box and do a startup on it just to be sure that it was going to boot to the desktop? didn?t want to get all the way home before finding out about that little bit of info!
That?s when I discovered that Sams Club had sent me a ?refurbished? model!
When the Acer was removed from its box there in the Intrex store I could see that it had a nice foam protector over the monitor screen and also on the Touchpad? but the Acer that was sent by Sams Club was missing those protectors! Now if you are in a factory making those netbooks you don?t skip those foam protectors so that tells me that someone took them off at some later time, ergo? Refurbished!
Foam Protectors:
Now that we?re past all the drama maybe we can get down to working with this Acer Aspire One and see how we?re gonna like it!
Here?s my review after working with it for a couple of days.
The keyboard is decently sized, firm and easy to use. Now in no way can it compare with my big, honking, Microsoft ?Natural Keyboard Pro? with its almost two foot wide spread, in fact the Pro keyboard is actually larger that the whole Acer Netbook!
But although it will take some getting used to because of the stark differences in size and layout, I?m finding the Acer keyboard works just fine. I?m already starting to get accustomed to the feel of it and while I?ll never be as good with it as with my large Pro keyboard, that?s not a big concern because most of my ?serious? typing will still be done on my desktop PC anyway.
Specifications:
Processor and Memory:
Intel Atom Processor N270 (1.60GHz, 533MHz FSB, 512KB L2 cache)
1 GB DDR2 533 MHz SDRAM Single Channel Memory, (512MB onboard, 512MB soDIMM slot)
* Now it?s not some Hot Game Machine but the processor and Ram are plenty good enough for this small machine.
Hard Drive and Multimedia Drives:
16GB Total Storage Capacity: 16GB consists of 8GB SSD (Solid State Drive) and 8GB SD? (Secure Digital Card)
* 16GB of hard drive space sounds awfully small by today?s standards, what with hard drives now available in the Terabyte and larger range, but it?s actually an OK size because to my mind this little Acer is not about storage space, it?s about having a PC that?s lightweight, easy to handle and use and clean and simple when it comes to what?s on the hard drive. The first thing I did was start removing programs so that it could be as lean and fast as possible and then I added another 8GB SDHC card which increased the storage to 24GB and that?s more than enough for my needs.
But what if I need more storage space? SDHC cards are getting less expensive, so are USB thumb drives and a USB hard drive with several 100GB can be had for less than $100? not sounding like an issue to me. And, because its networked to my desktop systems that gives me well over two Terabytes of additional space.
Supported Media:
Multi-in-1 Digital Media Card Reader
Secure Digital? (SD) Card
MultiMediaCard (MMC
Reduced-Size Multimedia Card (RS-MMC)
Memory Stick?(MS), Memory Stick PRO? (MS PRO)
xD-Picture Card? (xD)
* Everything that I?ve tried so far works great. The transfer rate on the SDHC cards seems very fast.
Audio, Video and Graphics:
Integrated Intel? Graphics Media Accelerator 950
2 Built-in Stereo Speakers & High-Definition Audio Support
0.3 Integrated Acer Crystal Eye Webcam
* The display is great. The screen is really small of course, measuring only 8.9?, but don?t let that fool you, the Acer makes up for that small size with the best display I?ve seen on any PC to date.
* The built-in speakers suck? so far this is the only real complaint I?m having about the Acer, but I?m not going to complain too loudly because with a Netbook this small you have to realize that there?s no way they could include speakers big enough to give a quality sound.
However, the sound card is very much acceptable! When I plug in my economy version Plantronics headset the sound quality is very good and plays music with a very clean and clear delivery.
* I was really surprised at the quality of the webcam, it gives a sharp clear picture that?s almost photo quality and it?s at least as good as some of my early digital cameras were. The frame rate is a little slow so it jerks a little but not really badly and reception on the other end of an over the internet video conversation using Skype seems to work really good with the person on the other end expressing satisfaction with the quality of the video and the audio.
Connectivity:
Acer InviLink? 802.11b/g Wi-Fi Certified?
* Works great on my home network, when testing it on PC PitStop the upload/download speeds were about the same as my desktop results have been.
Ports/Slots:
3 - USB 2.0 Ports Windows? really handy for hard drives, DVD?s & thumb drives.
1 - VGA Port
1 - Headphone/Speaker/Line-Out Jack? sound quality is very good on my headset.
1 - Microphone-in Jack
1 - Ethernet (RJ-45) Port
1 - AC Adapter Connector
1 - Kensington Lock Slot
Monitor:
8.9" WSVGA Acer CrystalBrite? TFT LCD (1024 x 600)
* About the best display I?ve ever seen.
Power:
Battery Life Approximately 2.8 hours
* It works OK with the battery that comes with the unit, but it would nice to have one of the longer life batteries that are available, trouble is they cost lots of $$$.
Operating System:
Windows XP? Home with Service Pack 3
* I like XP, always have.
Dimensions and Weight:
Dimensions: 1.14?H x 9.8?W x 6.7?D
Weight: 2.18 lbs.
* Nice size, nice weight, it is easy to handle and carry around.
Color:
Sapphire Blue? Its OK? brown (copper) would have been better.
Conclusions:
Having practically no prior experience with Netbooks or Notebooks, with the exception of using a 15? Notebook for a few days last year for the Hamrick Family Reunion, my expertise is rather limited to say the least so my conclusions may need to be reevaluated in time but so far I?m very much impressed with the Acer Aspire One. There were some short comings, mainly with the speakers, but I don?t really see that a negative because with a unit of this size you?ve got to expect some trade-offs and it?s just not designed to be in the same league as a Laptop costing 100?s of dollars more.
Good quality, works good? I like it.
