Compare Acer Aspire One Prices   

                 
                 

The Acer Aspire One

Pros – very light, easy to use, stylish, great price (especially for Linux version)

Cons – low storage on base model, no bluetooth, 2 hour battery life

Wow! – just when you thought Asus had cracked it with the market leading Eee PC series, along comes this baby – The Acer Aspire One. Great looks, and the only thing lighter than the weight is the price!!!

First Glance
The Aspire One looks fab – we tested a white machine but it also comes in a stunning reflex blue. The casing looks robust enough and we were struck by the non-glossy screen which is always a plus given the constant sunshine we expect to be generated by global warming! At 8.9 inches the screen is good enough for most applications. The keyboard is comfortable and easy to use BUT watch out for the mouse buttons – curiously placed to the side of the pad – no doubt you’ll get used to it but at first glance it’s a bit odd looking. Then comes the defining moment – pick this machine up and you’ll be knocked out by its incredible sub 1kg weight – awesome and a big plus in our book. Netbooks are great but if they too heavy to lug around comfortably they kind of miss the point.

The essentials
The Intel Atom 1.6Ghz N270 is standard fare these days and with little cooling required it saves on weight and battery drain (although with a standard 2200mAh battery I am afraid the Aspire One is disappointing in that department anyway with around a 2 hour battery life). Standard Ram is 512mb on the Linux version but if you plump for the Windows OS you will get an upgrade to 1Gb although you’re in for a hefty supplement of around £100.
Standard storage is 8Gb SSD (solid state disc) – again great for weight saving and light usage – do anything more complex though or take the Windows version and you’ll need more storage – 80 or 120Gb upgrades are possible and again you have a choice between SSD and conventional mechanical hard drive

What more do you need to know?
Built in wireless is standard but the addition of HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access – a 3G technology) is a nice touch. The 0.3megapixel webcam won’t set the world alight and neither will the speakers – truly rubbish but then show me a netbook that weights less than 1kg with tub-thumping woofers and I’ll have my wallet out faster than you can say Harmon Kardon. Lastly there’s no onboard bluetooth – ok it’s a cheap accessory but it would have been nice to have built in.

Options :
- Windows or Linux
- Storage from 8-120Gb with SSD or mechanical options
- 512-1Gb Ram
- Blue or white