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It comes down to this, I guess. Acer Aspire One

MichaelD

MichaelD

Lifer
I'm in the market for a Netbook and it looks like the only thing for me is the Acer Aspire One. Aspire One with the options I like.

I stared at the original Asus EeePC for months but didn't bite b/c rumors of a 10" screen were rampant. Months later, the 10" screen is a reality and it even has HCSD capability! It's the only netbook out there with that HDSC capability. Unfortunately there's a deal-breaker. The crappy K/B with the right-shift minikey still in the wrong place kills the EeePC for me. I'm a touch typist and "real and proper" keys are mandatory for me. That's the ONLY thing wrong with the new Eee PC; the keyboard. I know this busted keyboard layout won't work for me b/c years ago I had a Dell or Compaq laptop with the same messed up right-shift key...I couldnt' type on it. 🙁

HP just released the Mini 1000 series of netbooks. KB is perfect. The system is PERFECT. 10" screen. But...the PRICE. $525 for a 16GB SSD equipped system? :roll: Not even a HCSD reader! The biggest normal HD you can get is a 60GB. Dammit HP, you ALMOST had it! HP's supposed to be releasing a 6-cell battery for the Mini1000 in December...but that will probably push the price past $600, knowing HP. :roll:

And so I come to the Aspire One. The screen's 1" smaller (9") and the webcam sucks. But the other specs are great. 1GB system memory, 120GB HD, 1.6GHz Atom CPU. NORMAL KB. And it's $350. Caveat: I happen to own a full-size Acer laptop. It's 3 years old and hasn't so much as hiccuped. The Acer brand is total gold to me.

Based on my requirements, is this a good choice? It seems like the only choice for me. If HP offered a 120GB HD for $400 I'd have ordered already.
 
Why not go for the Aspire one with the 6 cell battery and 160gig HD for only $50 more?
I have the Aspire one 120gig with 3 cell and am currently looking for a low priced 6 cell because the only thing my system doesn't have is great battery life.
If you plan on upgrading to the 6 cell later and/or just want 2 batteries then getting the 3 cell might be an ok option.
 
Thanks guys; I'm really looking hard at anything with a normal KB under $500. The MSI Wind BlueAcolyte linked to is REALLY tempting. Damn good price for all that's included.

Dementedlemur: Where are they selling the 6-cell Aspire One? (I found it at Provantage, but it's OOS). I want a bigger battery...the whole point of an Ultraportable is to be unwired from an outlet.

Does the MSI Wind only have a single mouse button?! That's what it looks like. Dammit, another show stopper. :| I literally had the thing in my Cart and was just looking at the pics again. If I wanted a Mac, I'd get one...single mouse button. /mutter-grumble-mutter

*edit*
User manual says the touchpad has two buttons. Which is it?
 
That's OK, B.A. Thanks. 🙂

The more I look, the better the Wind is looking. I.E. the one you linked to. 😎 It's as loaded as these things get.

The only thing that concerns me is a reported touchpad problem specifically on the MSI Wind U100-286MY models. The Wind Forums has a huge thread on this topic. I'm researching it.
 
Woot has anew Acer Aspire One (8GB SSD, 512MB RAM) for $289 today. I picked up a Inspiron Mini 9 (16GB SSD, 1GB RAM, Ubuntu) from the Dell Outlet for $279 yesterday.

Sure neither have all the specs you want, but the price is right.
 
Originally posted by: iamwiz82
Woot has anew Acer Aspire One (8GB SSD, 512MB RAM) for $289 today. I picked up a Inspiron Mini 9 (16GB SSD, 1GB RAM, Ubuntu) from the Dell Outlet for $279 yesterday.

Sure neither have all the specs you want, but the price is right.
Click to expand...

Thanks much, iamwiz82. :beer: I've got about 50 IE windows open right now and I'm scrutinizing everything very carefully. This Woot is a nice deal...but only the 3-cell battery. Everything I'm looking at as a possibility has a 6-cell battery.

With both the Acer One and MSI Wind users are reporting an average of 1.5 hours battery life (with the 3-cell battery) with the WiFi on...which of course it will ALWAYS be on. That's what Netbooks are for; just surfing/emailing. I won't be editing any video on this thing. 😉

I'm really leaning towards just spending a little extra and getting the fully loaded Wind. I won't need to burn a day loading XP onto it. I won't need to buy an HCSD cards to augment the memory, etc.

Still surfing though!
 
Originally posted by: MichaelD
Does the MSI Wind only have a single mouse button?! That's what it looks like.
Click to expand...

It is a horizontal bar that pivots in the middle, making two buttons.

I have the Wind and I recommend it. I had a longish post on another forum that I will copy/paste here, with minor edits:

My wife and I both have [ MSI Wind ]

I got them on Ebay for around $500 each plus $20 shipping, minus 30% Live Search cashback (check the hot deals forums for details). Of course Paypal and the bank screwed me out of $140 worth of fees but I still saved a bunch.

I choose this one because of a few reasons. It is really "normal" for a netbook, meaning closest to full size keyboard and amenities (Windows, big hard drive). Also, I wanted a netbook with a 6 cell battery.

I have not owned another netbook, though one friend has an Eee PC 701 and another one has an Eee PC 900. Those are definately smaller than the MSI Wind, and lighter as well. However, most of the weight of the Wind is the 6 cell battery, while the other two have only 3 cell batteries. Those smaller netbooks also have smaller keyboards, making typing more difficult. With the Wind, typing is pretty close to a normal notebook. Speaking of normal notebooks, I've owned several. Most had 15.4" widescreens, but one was a 17" widescreen beast.

Specs:
1.6GHz Atom
1GB RAM
160GB HDD
10" 1024x600 widescreed with LED backlighting
a/b/g wireless, bluetooth
webcam
6 cell battery
2.6 pounds

What I like: Small size, 5+ hour battery, near full sized keyboard.

What I don't like: Thickness (but that's fault of battery), weight (fault of battery), overall size (can't without shrinking keyboard). Also, it has a tendency to tip over backwards if you bump it, which is the fault of the light weight combined with heavy battery at the pivot point (when unit is open).

So, what I don't like is directly caused by what I like. Bizzarre.

So far I have used it to browse the net, and also type up about a page of stuff. It works just as you would expect, not RIGHT NOW snappy like my overclocked Core 2 Duo with 4GB RAM and Raptor hard drives, but about as decent as an older computer with a fresh install of Windows.

Am I happy with it? Yes.

Would I buy it again? Yes.

Now, netbooks are in their infancy and new/better is coming out pretty fast. The Atom has already shown up as a dual core version in mini ITX boards, so higher end netbooks are coming soon with those. Also, SSDs are getting cheaper quick, so instead of trying to decide between a normal HDD and anemic 8-16GB SSD, probably larger ones will be offered that wouldn't be too hard to live with, capacity-wise. However, if you want one now, the MSI Wind isn't a bad one to choose.

There is one shortcoming of the Wind, and that is the warranty. Asus covers the Eee PC with a 2 year warranty, and the Wind only has a one year warranty. Also, while both warranties stated that opening up the unit voided warranty, Asus relented and publicly stated that it was okay as long as nothing was modded/damaged. However, if you open up the Wind, MSI will consider your warranty voided. The thing is that the Wind can easily be upgraded to 2GB RAM because there is a free SODIMM slot inside the unit, with the 1GB soldered on the board. I think going to 2GB would make Windows a bit snappier.

Other netbooks I considered were the Eee PC 901, Eee PC 1000 and the Acer Aspire One. The 901 didn't seem to give much for the money. The 1000 seems too heavy (IIRC just over 3 pounds). The Acer Aspire One was actually my top choice for a while, because it gives a lot of bang/buck. For $100 less than the Wind, you get just about all the same things (and more color choices). The big difference was that the Aspire One weighs even less, but has "only" an 8.9" screen (same resolution). Other specs were about the same, 1GB RAM, Atom CPU, 160GB HDD, 6 cell battery. I seriously think I would have ended up with one if it weren't for the Wind - not that I regret my choice. BTW the Aspire One has 512MB soldered onboard, and a 512MB SODIMM, so it can only be upgraded to 1.5GB by replacing the SODIMM with a 1GB module. Also, the SODIMM slot is under the keyboard, so it has to be disassembled quite a bit to reach it.
Click to expand...

A couple other things about the Wind. It is about exactly half of a typical 15.4" notebook. Really. I put them on my old notebook (rotated 90º) and it was half.

I really have gotten 5+ hours battery with WiFi on and LCD brightness on lowest, just web browsing. LCD is super bright, so lowest brightness still works indoors if room is not super bright. With LCD brightness turned up all the way, almost hurts the eyes.
 
Zap: Thanks very much for posting your review of the Wind here. Judging by the specs of your unit, t looks like you have the U100-432US unit, correct?

Are you having any problems with the touch pad on the Wind? That's the sticking point in my decision right now.

The Acer One looks great too and there are nice deals on the SSD/3-cell batt equipped units. But an 8GB SSD is too small for me and once you start adding in the price of HCSD cards, it loses it's overall good-deal value.

I really didn't want to spend $500 on a Netbook, but for everything the 432 offers, it's hard to resist. If I could get the 6-hour battery with the smaller HD for $50 less I'd go for it. If they had a 32GB SSD and 6-hour battery for $450 I'd go for that too. But you can't spec-out your own machine, unfortunately. 😉

Is the memory slot (the empty slot) under the KB?

Thanks again for your input.

*edit*
Acer One XP 6-cell 1GB $400. Dang. For $100 less, I'm losing 40GB of storage space (which I'd never use anyway) and 1" of screen. On something this small (netbook) how much difference does 1" diagonally make? 😕 I hate it when it comes down to nitpicking the details like this!
 
i dont know why any of them make one with those nubby eraser pointy stick things. those take up much less space than a trackpad, which might be good in some ways

oh and ebay + Text = win

 
Originally posted by: clandren
i dont know why any of them make one with those nubby eraser pointy stick things. those take up much less space than a trackpad, which might be good in some ways
Click to expand...

I'm not positive but I think IBM/Lenovo has a patent on the eraser mouse thingee.
 
Originally posted by: MichaelD

I'm not positive but I think IBM/Lenovo has a patent on the eraser mouse thingee.
Click to expand...


not sure about that. i've seen some dells and gateways with them.. well full-sized laptops.
when the lenovo netbook got announced i was surprised that it didnt have one. not even theirs has one =/

 
MichaelD, I am not having any problems with the touchpad, besides trying to figure out how to make it scroll (seems like tapping upper right and lower right corners work). I have just under 15 hours on it.

What problems am I supposed to be having? 😕

Yeah, that's the Wind model I have. Er, black one, so that's the one my wife has. Mine is same, just in white. I do notice that the black shows greasy finger/hand prints easier.

The Acer Aspire One with HDD, XP and a 6 cell battery was a solid runner-up to the Wind for me. I haven't seen one in person so I don't know how the keyboard is, but since on the Wind the keyboard goes all the way to the edge, the Aspire One must have a smaller keyboard like the Eee PC 900 series. One common complaint (thought I don't think it would bother me) about the Aspire One is the placement of the touchpad buttons on either side instead of on the bottom.

I really do suggest you read up on the Live Search cashback and then get yours from Ebay. Don't remember where mine came from, but my wife's Wind came from Mwave. Yes, Mwave.com sells on Ebay, and you can get cashback (currently 25% but keeps fluctuating and sometimes going away). If you can get a 25% cashback deal, then you will pay $500 -$125 cashback after two months, plus $20 shipping. That would put the Wind at $395 shipped (after waiting two months). You just have to make sure the cashback award shows when you go to place your Buy It Now order.

Alternately you can get the Acer Aspire One with 6 cell battery for around $320 shipped.

Regarding the empty SODIMM memory slot, I think it is on the bottom of the unit. You have to remove the bottom and then you see the motherboard and the empty slot. UNFORTUNATELY there is no simple door over the slot and there is a "warranty void" sticker over one of the screws. Yes, upgrade the memory and you void the MSI warranty. I am sooooo tempted to do that, because going to 2GB RAM would be nice, plus the chipset should support dual channel mode (though unsure if implemented in the Wind PCB or BIOS).

Oh yeah, while these things are pretty small, just know that any model with a 6 cell battery will basically be around 1½" thick at the battery and will be heavy.
 
Has aspire one, very happy about the size, weight, HD space and what I get for the price I paid (350)

Word of warning: Aftermarket 6 cells are freaking huge. I got one from ebay that has 7 hours as windows reported, but it's protruding from both back and bottom. The original 6 cell is suppose to only protude from the back to make it wider but not thicker, however I think they will last 5 hours and cost much more, 100 vs 70 I paid for mine.
 
Thanks very much for the detailed reply, Zap. I also appreciate you letting me know about the Live.com cashback deal with EBay. I'm trying to get that to work.

AFA the touchpad issue goes you can read about that in the 8-page long thread at the MSI Wind forums. I have read the entire thread twice, followed all the links (that was about 2 hours of work, mind you) and I still can't decide if there is a REAL problem or it's just folks whining about a simple touchpad not being able to do 23 different things and make toast in the morning too. 😕

I did learn a few things about the Acer One VS. the Wind. Even in the 1GB models, the Acer is only upgradeable to 1.5GB b/c they solder a 512MB SODIMM to the MB. IOW, the 1GB model is 512MB soldered in and a 512MB SODIMM in the additionaal memory slot. Since the chipset has a 2GB limit, you are limited to a 1GB upgrade stick in the slot for a 1.5GB total limit. That's not cool.

The 1GB Wind, OTOH has a 1GB chip soldered inside and an additional EMPTY slot. Add a 1GB stick for about $20 and you've got a 2GB little monster. 😀

I'm honestly stuck b/t the top-line models of the Wind and the Acer One. It basically boils down to paying an extra $100 (25%) for what amounts to a bigger screen with the Wind over the Acer One.

BOTTOM LINE

Both topline models have 1GB RAM (nod to the Wind for upgradability), B/G/N/Bluetooth, 160GB HD. Wind has a 10" screen, One has a 9". Is the extra inch and extra 512MB upgradable RAM worth $100? RAM maybe not so much...but the screen? Diff b/t a 22" and a 24" maybe not too noticeable. But b/t 9" and 10"?

I don't know. I'm working on it.
 
Originally posted by: MichaelD
Thanks very much for the detailed reply, Zap. I also appreciate you letting me know about the Live.com cashback deal with EBay. I'm trying to get that to work.

AFA the touchpad issue goes you can read about that in the 8-page long thread at the MSI Wind forums. I have read the entire thread twice, followed all the links (that was about 2 hours of work, mind you) and I still can't decide if there is a REAL problem or it's just folks whining about a simple touchpad not being able to do 23 different things and make toast in the morning too. 😕

I did learn a few things about the Acer One VS. the Wind. Even in the 1GB models, the Acer is only upgradeable to 1.5GB b/c they solder a 512MB SODIMM to the MB. IOW, the 1GB model is 512MB soldered in and a 512MB SODIMM in the additionaal memory slot. Since the chipset has a 2GB limit, you are limited to a 1GB upgrade stick in the slot for a 1.5GB total limit. That's not cool.

The 1GB Wind, OTOH has a 1GB chip soldered inside and an additional EMPTY slot. Add a 1GB stick for about $20 and you've got a 2GB little monster. 😀

I'm honestly stuck b/t the top-line models of the Wind and the Acer One. It basically boils down to paying an extra $100 (25%) for what amounts to a bigger screen with the Wind over the Acer One.

BOTTOM LINE

Both topline models have 1GB RAM (nod to the Wind for upgradability), B/G/N/Bluetooth, 160GB HD. Wind has a 10" screen, One has a 9". Is the extra inch and extra 512MB upgradable RAM worth $100? RAM maybe not so much...but the screen? Diff b/t a 22" and a 24" maybe not too noticeable. But b/t 9" and 10"?

I don't know. I'm working on it.
Click to expand...

One has no onboard bluetooth. Screen is the same resolution so the worthness of the extra inch depending on your eye sight imo. Also to upgrade the one you have to totally disassemble the laptop, it's not trivial do and I read that someone broke their laptop already. If that's important to you, start to look into the wind.

The asking price was one of the major deciding factor for me to go for the one, another one is that it's smaller. However the 6 cell kinda defeated that purpose now.
 
Thanks for clarifying about Bluetooth on the One, IVAN2. As you know, this decision process isn't easy. 🙁

BT isn't a dealbreaker for me, but it's nice to have.

Apparently, upgrading the Wind isn't exactly easy either. What the hell ever happened to the little door held in with two screws on the bottom? :roll:

In that article they do say upgrading/dissassembling the Wind was much easier than the EeePC...that's a start.
 
Originally posted by: MichaelD
AFA the touchpad issue goes you can read about that in the 8-page long thread at the MSI Wind forums. I have read the entire thread twice, followed all the links (that was about 2 hours of work, mind you) and I still can't decide if there is a REAL problem or it's just folks whining about a simple touchpad not being able to do 23 different things and make toast in the morning too. 😕
Click to expand...

I just read the first post and skimmed the first page of posts. Seems like people just aren't happy that it doesn't allow scrolling. I've already noticed that on mine, and just shrugged it off. Really nice to have, but I'm not going to burst some neurons over the lack. The touchpad works as designed, it just wasn't designed with scrolling.
 
Originally posted by: Zap
Originally posted by: MichaelD
AFA the touchpad issue goes you can read about that in the 8-page long thread at the MSI Wind forums. I have read the entire thread twice, followed all the links (that was about 2 hours of work, mind you) and I still can't decide if there is a REAL problem or it's just folks whining about a simple touchpad not being able to do 23 different things and make toast in the morning too. 😕
Click to expand...

I just read the first post and skimmed the first page of posts. Seems like people just aren't happy that it doesn't allow scrolling. I've already noticed that on mine, and just shrugged it off. Really nice to have, but I'm not going to burst some neurons over the lack. The touchpad works as designed, it just wasn't designed with scrolling.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:
Thanks for all the details, Zap. I went with the fully loaded Wind. $500 ($480, technically)...exactly what I DIDN'T want to do at first, but after looking into the details (i.e. 6-cell battery, huge HD, bluetooth, bigger screen) I decided it was worth it. It even comes w/SP3 already on it...one less thing for me to do when I receive it. 🙂
 
Thanks, BlueAcolyte. I'm hoping that my 432US model already comes flashed to the latest BIOS...if not, I'm doing it anyway. :evil:

I'm really looking forward to using my Wind; all the reviews I've read have been positive and Zap's first-hand positive experience helped a lot in my decision. Ever since my wife commandeered my laptop (now "her" laptop) I have to get on the big box if I just want to surf. I'd like to sit in the livingroom and surf too...but two people can't surf on the same laptop. 😛

She's gonna try real hard to snatch my Wind simply b/c it's "so small and cute!" That's gonna be a nice fight...maybe I should cancel my order... 😉
 
Let us know what you think of it after you use it for a week... and who it ends up with. 😛

I solved my problem by buying one for my wife as well, because as soon as she saw mine, she had to test it out, and after she used it for a while she demanded to have one too. Sad thing is I just recently bought two notebooks for us (Gateway M6862 Best Buy closeout) and she haven't even unboxed hers yet.
 
Will do, Zap. 🙂

Odds are I'm going to wind up (hey, I made a funny!) doing exactly what you did and buy the wife one too. :roll:
 
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