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We could try and review Acer’s brand new ultra-portable, the Aspire One, without mentioning the Asus Eee PC, but that would be futile. Not only would you be hard pressed to tell the difference between the two without your contacts in, they’re almost identical in terms of functionality.
But the Aspire One has a few tricks up its sleeve. It’s even cheaper at £200, and promises better performance thanks to Intel’s Atom processor.
Why go mini?
The appeal of these tiny notebooks is that they combine size, better-than-average build quality and an incredibly low price. It’s the latter that makes them so desirable.
HP, for example, missed the mark with the rather more lovely to look at Mini-Note because of the cost. As Asus has improved the Eee, it’s also come within tackling distance of a ‘proper’ laptop. The best configuration of the Aspire One – the one that runs Linux, natch - costs less than the original Eee.
The mighty Atom
The One’s secret is that it uses Intel’s new Atom processor. It requires so little cooling that the One is completely silent, but it boasts astonishing performance for little cost.
Just a week ago the Mini-Note seemed like an acceptable compromise in terms of desktop power for portable prowess: compared to the Aspire One it’s computing in molasses, not computing for the masses.
Simple tasks on the Mini-Note – like opening a website with just a hint of basic Flash scripting – take forever. The Aspire One is ready ten seconds after pressing the power button, and even the notoriously sluggish OpenOffice leaps into action as soon as you click the icon.
Tricky interface
The interface isn’t quite as friendly as that of the Linux Eee, though. It’s tricky to find files on memory cards, for example, and you can pretty much forget about sharing media or copying documents across a home network.
This could hopefully be fixed with a software update in the future. The One may accept a WiMAX or 3G card fitted for browsing the web on the move, but it should also be able to stream a video to watch in bed.
Simply the best
Size-wise, the Aspire One shares almost identical dimensions with the Mini-Note but keeps the weight down to that of the Eee. The 8.9in screen is also identical to the Eee 900, and the larger text is more comfortable than the higher definition Mini-note.
As good as the One is, though, it could be better. Despite the fact that the CPU throttles to half speed when you stop typing, the battery life is rubbish. We managed just two hours in ‘power save’ mode, so the optional six-cell battery pack or a spare will be an essential.
The mousepad, too, is a small fiddly affair compared to the brilliance of Asus’ multi-touch one.
And with Dell and MSI yet to start sampling their new ultra-portable contenders you may yet want to hold off committing your cash to one side or the other. But for now, at this price, the One is the one to buy.
Tech Specs
- Bluetooth
- No
- Dimensions
- 249x170x15mm
- Operating system
- Linpus Linux
- Processor
- Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz
- Screen resolution
- 1024x600px
- Screen size
- 8.9in
- Storage
- 8GB
- USB
- 3
- Weight
- 986g
- Wi-Fi
- Yes
Comments
GSLCWILL
1 year ago
I have had a number of laptops including three of this particular brand. The main problem with it was the mains cable which keeps getting extremely hot after a couple of hours use. Replacement cables also failed as the connector inside the laptop got very wobbly until it was impossible to get a mains connection and therefore unable to charge the battery
amaso
2 years ago
Done a nice Acer Laptop reviews indeed and got to know the product in detail from the blog.
Acer has really earned a great name for the laptops and other computer IT field. I am really a acer fan and almost use all of the acer products in my assembled PC. It is also a good option if one is going for a gaming PC.
burty22
4 years ago
I just bought one of these yesterday with 120gb and windows XP. I absolutely love it! It boots quickly and is easy to type on. The only problems I have with it is the battery life and the annoying fan(I fixed this with a bit of software which regulates the fan)
seanobie2008
4 years ago
This is well worth the money only cost me £219.99 for the Linux OS, 120gb HDD, 1gb RAM. It is not the fastest of laptops but for the size and money who cares. If you are looking to buy one I suggest paying extra for the windows XP version I will be upgrading to XP soon. +/ Cheap, Well made, Nice screen, Small, Light, WIFI -/ Terrible battery life, Linux OS is poor
KingKhan
4 years ago
I bought one from John lewis...its really good, i mainly use it for uni work. But recently it has become slow at loading pages on the internet and streaming videos, i cannot see any reason why? Linux are strongly immuned to viruses compared to Microsoft OS. Does anyone know why this is happening? My net is really fast its doing 8mb atm
JB21
4 years ago
Forgot to say... My review refers to the base 8Gb NAND storage model bought from PC World, the only retailer that seems to have stock right now. But once this Apsire One becomes more ubiquitous in the marketplace I guess the price of it will fall to a level that could make a good buy for those just wanting rudimentary facilities in a neat package, and who can live with the shortcomings described. After all, the competition is lots more expensive.
JB21
4 years ago
My gf bought one the other day for £249.99 and I checked it out. 1. Reasonable build-quality; 2. Impressive screen - quite awesome I would say; 3. Keyboard a bit flexy; 4. Battery life about 2.5 hours - maybe a tad more after time; 5. Linpus Linux is naff IMHO. Few apps and the usual hassle installing more/updating etc. Linux geeks will be okay with this though...if they can get a connection to the update server (which we couldn't); 6. Will run Win XP Pro SP2 fine (we tried it). Drivers from Acer Thai site; 7. Webcam is rubbish (only 0.3 megapixels); 8. Under Linpus neither the internal nor an external mic will record sound to local apps like webcam (apparently mics only work with Skype and Messaging services). An external mic works ok with XP Pro. But sound quality is awful. The internal mic still produces only a hissing noise. Even in the highest quality setting webcam video was dead jerky. So altogether webcam seems pretty useless; 9. Connected effortlessly to local WLAN; 10. Easy to restore damaged installations. Will boot from a USB stick. Instructions included; 11. Documentation extremely sparse; 12. Acer UK support is virtually non-existent. No one there had 'even seen an Aspire One yet'. So they couldn't help. We were invited to call a premium rate number next day for more info. Although the hardware is guaranteed for a year, the software is not, apparently, guaranteed at all. So you has to pay plenty for help with it; 13. Sapphire Blue colour looks really cool. In summary quite a dinky little unit and just about acceptable - to some perhaps - for the originally intended launch price of £199. But, given the above, way OTT at £250. So - back to the shop it went, and she's now saving for an Asus eeePc 901. A wise move methinks.