Netbook computers

Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews

87 of 88 people found the following review helpful.
You've finally found what you need!
By SerNa
It has been a long netbook/laptop search for me. I've been looking for something that is small (but not too small), light, thin, and has a better performance than Atom powered netbooks. I looked through every brand and model, including Toshiba, Asus, HP, Lenovo, Dell, etc. Sure, there are some nice ones out there, but all of them have at least one considerable drawback: high price, Atom processor, or some kind of problem like sluggish mouse pad.

I've spotted an old model of Acer Aspire One 11.6" about a year ago. It looked nice. So, when I saw that a new model has been released, I immediately bought it. Now, as I am typing this review using my new Acer, I can not say enough how glad I am that chose this model.

Pros:

1. I really like 11.6" screen. Bigger than 10", but smaller than 13". Very useful for work! And it is very bright too.

2. Performance is great. 1.7 GHz processor is FAST. Clear advantage over Atom processors.

3. Keyboard. Full size keyboard is very comfortable.

4. Mouse pad is responsive and has a nice multi-gesture feature that allows you to zoom in or zoom out the page. Since 11.6" is not 17", it can be useful at times.

5. It is VERY thin (less than 1-inch!) and VERY light. It is so easy to throw it in your briefcase, backpack or purse and carry everywhere with you.

6. I really like that the power cord attaches on the side and can be rotated. This design keeps it from constant bending and breaking.

7. It has a web camera and mike. Skype lovers rejoice! :- )

6. 2 GB DDR 3 Memory is plenty (assuming you are not going to use it as your primary laptop for Photoshop or something like that). You can add one more 2GB card if you wish.

7. 250 GB Hard Drive.

8. Comes preloaded with Windows 7 Home Premium! Update: Someone commented on Windows 7 and said that it is unstable and creates all sorts of problems. Praise God, I did not have any of those issues. Mine runs well and I did not have even a single instance of "hanging" so far.

9. Impressive ATI Radeon HD 4225 Graphics video card.

10. Of course Wireless Setup Card.

11. HDMI output so that you could share your photos and videos with your friends and family on a big screen.

12. 1366 x 768 magnificent resolution!

12. So far the fan was quiet and laptop did not heat above average. Of course, as with any other laptop, if you are planing to use it on your lap for hours and hours, plan also to get a cooling pad (unless it is a cold winter and you need to warm up :- ) By the way, cooling pad is a worthwhile investment-- it will prolong the life of your laptop.

Overall, it is a very nice laptop with VERY professional, stylish look, great performance and characteristics. If you want something small and inexpensive, yet powerful, Acer Aspire One is about as good as it gets.

Cons:

Well, it is hard to name any. It is good. There are though some things that you have to accept when you buy a laptop of this size and price.

1. Of course, there is no CD-ROM, but availability of wide range of flash drives basically takes care of this issue.

2. Speakers are clear, but, please, don't expect them to blow you away with a powerful sound.

3. The battery will last you about 5-5.5 hours (in economy mode). Yes, most Atom powered netbooks give you between 6-10 hours of battery powered work, but they are also slow. The bottom line, you have to choose what your are willing to sacrifice. Spend about $300 more and you can get something as powerful with an excellent battery life. Buy slow Atom and enjoy battery, or buy Acer and enjoy good performance with a descent battery life. Honestly, how often you will be away from the power outlet for more than 5 hours?

4. The hinges seem to be plastic. I would not mind them to be aluminum, but I have to remind myself that plastic is not all the same and can be pretty durable. I guess only time will show whether this fact is really a minus or not. Since overall quality of this laptop is very good, I expect this to be true about the hinges too.

The bottom line: my quest for a small laptop/netbook was finished with the purchase of Acer

Aspire One 11.6". I like it a lot and it meets all my needs for a VERY good price. Money is not your concern? Buy something better, otherwise enjoy this laptop and feel good that saved several hundreds dollars while getting a GREAT product!

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful.
Great HD Netbbook
By J. Jaffe
We travel a lot and have been looking for a netbook that will show our HD video camera movies. I am greatly disappointed by Intel's shutout of Nvidia ion for the latest generation of Atom chips. Intel lags badly in the graphics area and does not make any graphics for netbooks that would suit our requirements.

We received an AO721 from Amazon a few days ago and I have been very pleasantly surprised at its performance. The AO721 not only plays HD well, but I can play my non-standard, difficult to play 1080/60P videos from my Panasonic TM700K with only a small amount of jerkiness in Windows Media player. My wife and I enjoy playing Unreal Tournament 2004. UT is playable at 40 - 50 fps which is very unique for a netbook. What is interesting is that in some UT maps where our older 3.2 GHz P4/ATI 9800 desktops fall below 20 fps the AO721 still ran above 30 fps.

All other aspects of this netbook such as the full size keyboard, touchpad, camera, weight, screen quality easily meet our needs.

Overall, this is fine performance netbook and priced at a bargain.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful.
Simply perfect balance
By Edgardo Pichardo
I'm an IT professional and I already owned a 10" netbook (MSI U230). I wanted some more graphic power over Intel's 945G poor offer, a bigger screen with better resolution and a bigger keyboard. I must say ACER delivers here. In my opinion, 11.6 inches is the perfect size for a netbook. Plus, add a 720p display (1366x768) and good graphics (HD 4225) and you have a winner! This is what this equipment is all about. Battery life is good 2.5 - 5 hours depending on power settings. I usually have a plug around, so I don't care too much about this.

Pros

- 720p resolution rocks! (1366x768). Far better than standard WXGA (1024x600) for web browsing. Fonts are bigger and easier to read. (And I really have to read a lot).

- GPU is better than anything else available on a netbook (ATi HD4225 with DirectX 10.1 and shader model 4.0 support!)

- Processor feels faster than Intel's Atom (Extra 100Mhz and 1MB cache makes a difference!)

- 2GB DDR3 instead of 1GB standard around (and 2GB extra can be added).

- Disk space is very good (250GB). Only one partition for Windows 7 and you data.

- Windows 7 Home Premium installed instead of Starter edition.

- Includes WiFi N (108Mbps standard) right out of the box instead of common WiFi G (54Mbps).

- 10/100/1000 Mbps LAN card. Note the 1000 Mbps link.

- Gesture enabled trackpad.

- Full sized keyboard is excellent!

- Nice weight and size.

- Nice finish.

Cons

- It has a glossy display. Not bad, very crisp clear although until now I preferred non-reflective displays.

- Draws a little more power. Nevertheless, trade off is really worth it! Not a real con if you are not going to be far from a plug for more than 5 hours.

I'll update this review after trying a few 3D games on it!