Review: Acer Aspire 'ONE': Windows Version, 1Gb RAM/120Gb HDD

Introduction:





Asus opened up the netbook segment with the E701 last year. Even though it was promised initially at at 200$ price-point but launched for 400$ and came with a hot (literally!) Celeron 900Mhz running at 630Mhz, Asus was first to market and sold a lot of units. The E701 was an imperfect portable, but a good first attempt by Asus. With no competition, Asus had the house to itself. The HP mini-note and the Everex cloudbook which followed it soon enough were both crippled by the slow Via processors they used. The mini-note is also much more expensive, putting it squarely into the mid-budget laptop category.

As a second iteration, Asus followed up with the (more expensive) 900 series which was again Celeron based and now currently the (even more expensive) 1000 series powered by the new Intel Atom low power processor series. Although Asus had the lead, they seem to have diluted their market with much more expensive models while what consumers really want is better models in the same 400-500$ price bracket. With ever dropping budget laptop prices, you don't want customers getting too confused over which one to buy.

Other companies are running to catch up. MSI came up with the Atom based Wind laptop soon for <500$ and todays subject, the Acer Aspire ONE is the new kid on the block. Having looked at Asus, Acer has the advantage of knowing what to do right the first time. And they had better deliver. Both Dell (the mini) and Lenovo (the Ideapad S10) are waiting in the wings, for what promises to be a competitive year for these companies and a great year for anyone looking for a portable laptop.



With such a competitive market, Acer needed to deliver a notebook which looked good while also keeping the price down, in between the two extremes of the 701 and the HP mini-note. And with the Aspire ONE, I would say they have delivered. With a starting price of 350$ (US $) and the initial 22k approx. pricing (Indian rupees), this is a tempting portable. The Aspire ONE has launched in India with the Xp version first, including 1Gb RAM, a 120Gb HDD and a 3 cell battery (for now).

Surprisingly, there aren't many reviews for the Windows version of the 'ONE' on the Internet.

Most of the direct comparisons in the following review will be with the E701 which I have also used for some time before gifting it to someone. Theres a separate comparison based on features/weight/pricing etc with other netbooks towards the end.


Technical Specifications:

Anyway, first for the main technical specifications for the Aspire ONE:

(Complete specs at acer India - Products View )

Intel® Atom™ processor N270 (1.60 GHz, 533 MHz FSB, 512 KB L2 cache)
Mobile Intel® 945GSE Express Chipset (DDR2 400/533 MHz)
802.11b/g Wi-Fi
Operating System Genuine Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
Memory DDR2 533 MHz SDRAM 1 GB RAM
Resolution 8.9" WSVGA LED backlight high-brightness (typical 180-nit) Acer CrystalBrite™ TFT LCD, 1024 x 600 pixel resolution
Audio High-definition audio support
Built-in digital microphone
Hard disk drive: 2.5" 9.5 mm 120 GB HDD
Multi-in-1 card reader:
Acer Crystal Eye webcam, supporting 0.3 megapixel resolution

Dimensions and weight:
249 (W) x 195 (D) x 36 (H) mm (9.8 x 6.7 x 1.42 inches) for SKUs with hard disk drive
As per specs, weight is as follows:
995 g (2.19 lbs.) for SKUs with NAND flash module and 3-cell battery pack, and, 1.26 kg (2.78 lbs.) for SKUs with hard disk drive and 6-cell battery pack.
So, the unit with the HDD and the 3 cell battery will be in between 995g and 1.26g.

Power:
30 W adapter with power cord
24 W 2200 mAh 3-cell Li-ion battery pack
Up to 3-hour battery life for 3-cell battery pack

Ports:
Three USB 2.0 ports
External display (VGA) port
Headphone/speaker/line-out jack
Microphone-in jack
Ethernet (RJ-45) port
DC-in jack for AC adapter
Keyboard 84-key keyboard with 1.6 mm (minimum) key travel
Touchpad pointing device with two buttons 12 function keys, four cursor keys, one Windows® key for Windows® XP Home Power button with LED
Easy-access switches with LED: WLAN.

Colors:
Sapphire blue ONLY for now in India.

Warranty One-year International Travelers Warranty (ITW)