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List price as of Aug 5, 2008:
S$499
S$499
Product Summary
Very good
The good: Secondary SD slot expands primary storage; slim and light form factor; inexpensive. 7.6
out of 10View score
The bad: Limited 8GB SSD; poor battery life; no Bluetooth.
The bottom line: The Acer Aspire One may not be as feature-packed as the Eee PC 901, but the keyboard is certainly much better and could tip the scales in its favor.
Read full review of the Acer Aspire One AOA150 »
Average User Rating
from 9 users
Excellent
8.1
out of 10CNET Asia Review
When the Aspire One was first unveiled at Computex Taipei, it brought about much excitement among those intimate with the Netbook segment. Not because it had ground-breaking features (though there is one particular technology which is unique to the Aspire at this time), but because a value vendor had finally entered the niche market.
While no one can accuse the S$798 (US$563.36) Eee PC 901 for being unaffordable (that dubious honor remains with the HP Mini-Note), Acer's version comes at a pocket-friendly S$699 (US$493.47), yet retains a competent feature set. Our only gripe lies with the puny 8GB solid-state storage, though the Taiwanese maker has a unique workaround which quite impressed us.
Design
It may be cheap, but that doesn't mean the Aspire One missed out on beauty school. It's two-tone color scheme is attractive and second to the HP Mini-Note only because the latter sports a full aluminum body. At 29mm thick and less than 1kg in weight, this Acer is both slimmer and lighter than the Asus Eee PC 901. Unfortunately, this increased portability actually decreases the mobility of the Aspire One, as we shall see later in the performance and battery life section. The unit is available in white or blue.One of the best design elements, in our opinion, is the keyboard. With more real estate than the Eee PC 901, the Aspire One is definitely the budget Netbook of choice if you need a machine to do more than just typing URLs and short emails. The gold standard in Netbook keyboards, however, still remains with the HP Mini-Note. The touchpad of the Acer is similar to the HP's version in that the mouse buttons are located at the flanks instead of the bottom. This may take some getting used to though we don't imagine it will cost too much grief to users.
There are no shortcut keys present on the Aspire One, though a wireless radio switch is available at the front of the unit. The rear is reserved for the battery and the ports have been positioned along the sides for easy access. A Webcam, along with a microphone, sits above the 8.9-inch display.
Features
We'll not keep you in suspense for long. The exciting bit of technology Acer built into the Aspire One to sidestep its puny 8GB storage is the inclusion of two memory card readers. What a yawner, right? But wait, there's more. While one of them is a standard 5-in-1 reader which takes SD/SDHC/MMC, Memory Stick and xD-Picture Cards, the other's sole purpose is to expand the primary storage using an SD/SDHC card. Instead of showing as a secondary drive, files will span between the in-built SSD and memory card seamlessly. This allows Acer to reduce the initial cost of ownership while permitting users to expand the main capacity cheaply. The SDHC format can reach a maximum of 32GB and, at this time, costs around S$50 (US$35.30) for an 8GB card. Prices are expected to drop as higher sizes become available.The 8.9-inch display has a maximum resolution of 1,024 x 600 pixels, which is on par with other Netbooks in this size category. The underlying graphics chipset is an integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 950 processor, so don't expect gaming to be a forte of this machine. The Aspire One provides a monitor-out port which allows larger displays to be hooked up. The audio quality is nothing to write home about, though it should suffice for casual music lovers and videos.
While the Eee PC 901 sports a Draft-N Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radio, the Aspire One has only a standard 802.11b/g wireless connectivity and no Bluetooth. Other features are respectable, with three USB 2.0, dual memory card slots and a 10/100Mbps Ethernet port. A 1.3-megapixel camera sits above the display for impromptu snapshots and video-conferencing.
Rate It Now
User Reviews
Good mass market Netbook
Oct 21, 2009Rating: 8 out of 10 (Excellent)
Pros: Affordability, Acer support, Colour choices, Above average battery life
Cons: Not the highest range Netbook in town
Opinion:
Asus EEE PC have the longest and best battery life. HP Mini has beter keyboard and better looking Netbook. Sony Vaio P (although not in Netbook category) has cooler looking alternative but costlier.
This is a good mass market Netbook around. Acer has good support and is reliable. At their price point, this is the best Netbook for majority of the consumers out there hunting for casual Netbooks that does just the job!!!
Product OK, Service Wanting
Mar 9, 2009Rating: 6 out of 10 (Good)
Pros: Low price, Built In Camera, Good enough speed for netbook
Cons: Glossy screen, Slow Customer Service, Backup does not work - cannot install my own backup tool.
Opinion:
I got the D150 that does not have an embedded 3.5G HSPA modem.
Additional Pros in addition to the ones listed above:
- Big 160GB HDD with reasonable speed
- Three (3) USB ports
- Reasonable keypad and touchpad.
- Loud enough compared to my other Lenovo X61s.
- Extended battery last a long time.
More Cons:
- Heavy for its class and quite thick.
- Limited documentation.
- Hot.
Value for Money: Good.
Despite the bad service, this machine is good value for money. In Singapore, this week the machine is advertised for S$499. I got mine a few weeks ago. :(
If you are a road warrior, get something else. If you want a second over-night machine, this will do well.
Best in class!
Feb 16, 2009Rating: 9 out of 10 (Spectacular)
Pros: 4+ hours battery life, easy to use keyboard, bright/clear screen...
Cons: A bit thicker than MSI Wind when 6-cell battery is used
Opinion:
Was in Bangkok, Thailand recently and saw a really good offer, so I grabbed one! One photography blog I frequent has lavished Aspire One with praises for the mobile computing convenience and surprising power. I had to personally validate that claim, of course! And after using it for four days now, I can say Aspire One is a very apt replacement for a full-featured laptop. It runs all MS Office 2007 applications very briskly. It boots up in about 20-30 seconds, after with McAfee installed. It connects to the internet whether wired or wireless in a flash. I just installed IE 8 release candidate version and it works very, very well. I installed iTunes, YM, MS Live Messenger... they all work fine, even with multiple windows open at the same time. Light video and photo editing tasks also get completed in a decent speed and fashion, thanks to Intel Atom's hyperthreading ... Read more
User Discussion
saturdayclub:
ACER HAS THE WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE IN THE PHILIPPINES (AS PER EXPERIENCE)
RE: ACER PHILS.
ANYBODY OUT THERE?!!!! HELP PLEASE! I ...
gsr5867:
I believe the innovation Acer introduced here should be the standard for all netbooks. What a stroke of genius ...
DIODIABLO:
Unbelievable the is dropping like hotcakes.....courts selling to members @479....wooo hooo!
ica:
id like have it also, its light in weight and class in style
blinkblink:
For the Linux version,is there any recommended free anti virus software that I can download?
