Acer Aspire One Mini Notebook Review
Smaller seems to be better these days, especially when mobility is the key issue. As a result mini notebooks or ultra notebooks are getting more popular, especially among teenagers, sales personnel and mobile professionals.
Although mini notebooks do not deliver a powerful performance, they are sleek, slender, lightweight and very practical. Mini notebooks more than meet average computing needs as far as word processing, email and internet is concerned. So those who are looking for high-end power-packed workhorses may be disappointed with mini notebooks. Nevertheless, competition is getting fiercer day by day. Bigwigs such as HP, Dell and Lenovo are entering the rat-race that began with ASUS’ 7” Eee mini notebooks.
The Acer Aspire One mini notebook is one tough cookie when it comes to competition. With a price-tag of $ 349.00 it seems to have thrown in a good bargain with its 8.9”, 1024×600 display, its nifty keyboard, 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor, 512MB RAM, 8GB SSD, 802.11g/b wireless circuitry and a webcam. Moreover, it is a little over two pounds in weight and comes in attractive colors and slips easily into a bag or backpack. Great for travelling! One can pull it out of nowhere and get going with serious business anywhere, anytime.
The Aspire can run a whole range of regular applications at good speeds. The keyboard is surprisingly not so cramped-up like other mini notebook keypads. The right and left mouse buttons on either side of the mouse touchpad are something one will have to get used to. Also, once outdoors, one has to conserve power, as the 3-cell Li-ion battery may not last for more than two hours with minimum software running.
There s an option to upgrade to a 6 pack battery and 160GB hard disk drive, but the cost would soar. Talking about hard disk drive, the Aspire does not have one. Instead it is equipped with an SSD making it power-saving and light. The SSD can be combined with an SD card for continuous storage. There are ample of ports for standard operations considering the double card readers, LAN port, three USB ports, VGA out, headphone and microphone jacks. A Kensington security slot is also provided. The Wi Fi card can be switched on and off by using a slider button.
If you are used to Windows, the Linpus Linux Lite OS may be a little disappointing, especially if you work side by side on a Windows desktop. The plus point though is that it revs up in no time, The Standard interface is sub-categorized into ‘Work’, ‘Connect’, ‘Play’ and ‘Files’. The Open Office suite may also take time to get adjusted to and there is also a substitute for MS Paint.
There is no DVD drive, but you can play music on the media player which supports MP3 and WMA formats. The speakers are devoid of base and sound screechy; and if you’re listening to music, a pair of earphones may enhance the sound quality. In addition, there is a photo viewer and an array of engrossing games.
Yes, although the applications may seem to lack class, you can do almost everything you need a computer for. The 245mm x 165mm x 25mm plastic body is highly glossy and feels great to hold.
In spite of its shortcomings, it would not be fair to judge the Aspire using standard industry benchmarks. One has to remember what the purpose of the Aspire One is: affordability and mobility, and the Aspire does well at both.