Editors' Rating
| Design |  |
9.0 |
| Features |  |
8.0 |
| Value |  |
10.0 |
| Battery life |  |
7.0 |
| Performance | |
8.0 |
Published: 24 Jun 2008
Acer says the Aspire One is not a notebook. It might look and smell like one, but the company has gone to great lengths to promote the message that the One is an 'internet device'. Others, such as Intel, refer to it as a 'netbook' — a new category of device spawned by the ASUS Eee PC 701. Call it what you will — we'll stick with mini-notebook.
Despite its lateness to the party, the One has pretty much everything it takes to be a market leader. It's attractive and lightweight. It offers solid performance and is easy to use. Most important, however, is the price: the entry-level One costs a very budget-friendly £220.
Design
The One's dimensions are somewhat deceptive. The Aspire One's 24.9cm by 2.9cm by 17cm chassis makes it approximately 25mm wider than an Eee PC 901, but it's also marginally thinner. At 995g, it's also lighter than the 1.1kg Eee 901. Be warned, though: the One saves weight because it comes with a very small, very lightweight 2200mAh battery, which is dwarfed by the 901's 6600mAh unit.
The One, on the whole, is attractive — particularly with its lid closed. The curved edges and glossy blue finish (it's also available in white) give it a more contemporary, grown-up look than the Eee PC series. The general consensus in ZDNet office is that it isn't quite as attractive as an Eee PC 901, but looks are always a subjective issue.
The affordable (£220) Aspire One comes in white and blue and is available with Linux (Linpus) or Windows XP preinstalled.
By making the Aspire One's chassis wider than most netbooks, Acer has been able to incorporate a keyboard that's 95 per cent the size of a full notebook keyboard. Amazingly, you can actually touch-type on this system without compromising your speed. Sure, the Enter button isn't as big as we'd like, but otherwise it's spot-on. Both Shift keys are large, and even the Ctrl and Fn buttons are the right way round. Unfortunately, the touchpad is extremely shallow and its remarkably skinny buttons live on either side rather than directly below. This takes a lot of getting used to.
Elsewhere, there are three USB ports in total — two on the right, one on the left. There's also a D-Sub video output, Ethernet (RJ-45) connector, plus mic and headphone ports. Unusually, there are two SD card readers, one on either side. One of them — which also recognises MMC, xD and Memory Stick Pro cards — can be used to swap removable media in and out, while the other is intended for semi-permanent storage: you can simply stick an SDHC card in and leave it there.
Features
Like most netbooks, the One comes in Linux and Windows XP versions. The entry-level Linux version sells for £220 and packs the popular 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor and 512MB of RAM. Standard storage levels aren't great — just 8GB of NAND flash memory is provided, but you can't complain given asking price.
The basic Windows XP model uses the same 1.6GHz Atom CPU, but gets 1GB of RAM plus an 80GB mechanical hard drive, all for around £320. We like the generous amount of storage space, but the mechanical hard disk has moving parts, which makes the system more prone to accidental data loss than models with solid-state drives.
The majority of the One's other features are common across all versions of the device. The 8.9in. 1,024-by-600-pixel display is a good one and the 1.3 megapixel webcam above the screen comes in handy for anyone who wants to video chat with remote colleagues, friends or relatives.
Wireless technology in the One is arguably inferior to that of the Eee PC 901. There's no Bluetooth, for a start, and the wireless is of the 802.11b/g variety, which maxes out at 54Mbps. The 901, in contrast, comes with Bluetooth 2.0 and 802.11b/g/n — 802.11n supporting connections with a maximum theoretical speed of 300Mbps.
Where the One gets one over the Eee PC 901, however, is with its optional 3G/HSDPA adapter. Behind the battery pack, there's a SIM card slot into which you can plug a suitable SIM for go-anywhere internet access.
Many are familiar with Linux distributions from the likes of Ubuntu, SUSE and Red Hat, but few will have seen the particular Linpus implementation in the One. The home screen is divided into four sections: Connect for all internet, instant messaging and email-related tasks; Work for accessing OpenOffice word processor, spreadsheet, presentation and database applications; Fun for the games, media player and photo management software; and Files for accessing your data. There's also a search bar at the top right that can be used to search the internet directly or the files on the hard drives.
Acer offers a basic one-year warranty, which can be extended to two years for an additional £49.99.
Performance
The Acer Aspire One feels quick in everyday use. It takes approximately 17 seconds to boot the operating system — that's 3 seconds quicker than an Eee PC 901 — and about 10 seconds to launch common applications like OpenOffice or Firefox. The Linpus interface is also a joy to use; it's quicker and more responsive than the Linux distributions on most of the One's rivals.
Battery life wasn't particularly impressive, though. As mentioned, the One ships with a 2200mAh battery as standard, which lasted just shy of 2 hours when playing a DivX movie. That's a far cry from the Eee PC 901's 4.5-hour figure. Those wishing for better battery life can purchase a 4800mAh battery for £79.99.
Conclusion
In some respects, the Acer Aspire One is better than an Eee PC 901. It has an excellent keyboard, solid performance and is highly portable. The Eee PC 901 still has the edge in terms of battery life and mouse input, so it's a close call between these two mini-notebooks.
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