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Wednesday December 2, 2009 11:33 AM AEST
Skip Navigation LinksPC Authority > Reviews > PCs & Notebooks > Notebooks > Ultraportable Notebook > Acer Aspire one, reviewed in detail

Acer Aspire one, reviewed in detail

Friday October 10, 2008
Written by Sasha Muller
Tags: Acer | Aspire | one
AUD
$533
Price at time of review.
Acer’s Aspire one makes a splash. A great keyboard, a fine screen and a keen price make for a superb mini-laptop
Recommended
1 out of 6

"ACER ASPIRE ONE CUSTOMER SERVICE"

Pros:
small light computer

Cons:
made of sub-standard parts
I bought an Acer Aspire One (AAO) this fall and within weeks the screen blacked out upon booting. Rather than replacing my AAO , Acer referred me to a technical repair depot. After 6 weeks still no word - then two weeks ago after calling Acer they said they would send me a new one on “back-order” - still no sight of it. Today when i called they said they have no idea when the “back-order” will be filled. Just wonderful customer support - not! Wish i had bought a MacBook now…..
5 out of 6

"Acer Aspire One (Windows XP HOME, 1G RAM, 120GB HDD)"

Pros:
* Good Price
* Perfect for students or people on the run
* Excellent performance for its class
* Keyboard nice to use
* Nice and light
* Crisp clear screen
* Good WLAN reception
* Small charger makes for better portability
* Good sturdy chassy

Cons:
* Battery life could be better (but 6-cell battery will help that)
* WLAN switch is a returning switch, would prefer an actual two state switch
* Battery takes a while to charge (about the same time as it takes to be exhausted - 1 - 1.5 hours)
* Would like the option to disable WLAN in BIOS, good for when on an aeroplane (what if i bumb the WLAN switch?)
* Mouse buttons on track pad are on each side of the track pad not below it.
Excellent product, I was surprised at how capable the onboard graphics card is, it ran Wolfenstein: Return to Castle smoothly with all graphics settings set to full.

With the ability to connect an external monitor via a VGA port on the left side, you can turn this little wonder into a desktop replacement for the office with minimal discomfort.

The charger port is on the side, which means you dont have be careful when tipping the unit back.

Once i installed AVG Free 8 Antivirus, and cleaned out as much as i could from the programs loading on startup i got my boot time down to about 65 seconds, which i find adequate.

The only thing i dont like about the keyboard is the Home and End keys require that you hold the FN key and use the PgUp and PgDown keys, seperate keys for the Home and End would have been a much better choice.

All in all i would definitly recommend this unit for the following uses:

1) A portable enternainment unit, plays almost all games from 1 or 2 years ago. And will happily play popcap and Gamehouse games

2) Office replacement for people on the run. Take it with you anywhere, it will fit in your briefcase, when you get back to work, plug in a monitor, mouse and maybe a keyboard and you are set.

3) Student PC, this unit handles Office and web browsing like a breeze, perfect for the UNI or High School student (and nice on the wallet).

4) Techno junkies who want technology on the run (this category is mine)

5) People who fly around a lot, the unit fits perfectly on the small aeroplane tray tables that you have in Economy class flights.



Copyright © 2009 Dennis Publishing

This article appeared in the November, 2008 issue of PC Authority.
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Comments: 3
Thoughts on this article? Add a comment below.
TheToid
Oct 17, 2008 10:05 PM
I recently bought an Aspire One (Windows XP home, 120GB HDD, 1 GIG of ram) and i have to say, it has exceeded all my expectations, it does everything i need, plays games (Popcap and Gamehouse), handles Office superbly, provides a good browsing experience. And to top it all off the VGA port for external monitor even makes it perfect for software development. I give this item an A++. I got mine with the $100 cashback option from Acer (valid to the end of october) so it only cost me $500.

Although the standard battery does give you about 1.5 - 2 hours with average load (ie. Popcap game or similar) i want more battery time, i so invested in the 6-cell battery.


Comment made about the PC Authority article:
Acer Aspire one, reviewed in detail?
Acer’s Aspire one makes a splash. A great keyboard, a fine screen and a keen price make for a superb mini-laptop

What do you think? Join the discussion.
.:Cyb3rGlitch:.
Oct 17, 2008 11:20 PM
TheToid wrote:
I got mine with the $100 cashback option from Acer (valid to the end of october) so it only cost me $500.

Don't count on it. ;)
Slatts
Oct 18, 2008 10:10 AM
.:Cyb3rGlitch:. wrote:
TheToid wrote:
I got mine with the $100 cashback option from Acer (valid to the end of october) so it only cost me $500.

Don't count on it. ;)

cynic :p
Login or register to submit a comment.


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