22 Responses

  1. Travis
    Travis August 28, 2008 at 3:11 pm |

    I was lucky enough to find one of these in Best Buy today. I was stunned at the hardware specs and the low price tag. $349.99 is very good for such a nice ultra portable machine.

    I own a Macbook Air too…now I’m scratching my head at what advantage it has over this little guy. Outside the Apple logo, I don’t believe there is one. Well…..Leopard is a big one.

    TJ

    Reply
  2. Christopher Price
    Christopher Price August 28, 2008 at 7:47 pm |

    The Aspire One can run Leopard too. We’re just waiting for the courts to rule it legal or not 🙂

    MacEee.com has already shown the viability of Atom-based notebooks with Leopard. And, from a quick look at the Aspire One’s internals, it looks like the Wi-Fi card is the only thing that would work. Luckily, it’s easily replaceable.

    Reply
  3. Gophur
    Gophur August 29, 2008 at 7:38 am |

    Do tell on the Best Buy coupon!

    Reply
  4. David Friedman
    David Friedman August 29, 2008 at 9:04 am |

    The Linpus(8GB) version I tried at Circuit City booted much faster than the XP(120GB) version I tried at Best Buy. What I would like to do is to buy the 120GB version, partition, then install Linpus as a dual boot, giving me the best of both worlds. Has anyone out there done this, how hard is it, does it work?

    Reply
  5. Christopher Price
    Christopher Price August 29, 2008 at 2:41 pm |

    The Best Buy coupon is the $100 for signing up for internet service (AT&T DSL, or Comcast). It’s good for $100 off any laptop, including the Aspire One.

    I believe it expires on Sunday. And yes, you can cancel the internet signup and simply not do the installation of service. So, you’re out nothing.

    Reply
  6. Christopher Price
    Christopher Price August 29, 2008 at 2:43 pm |

    To David, partitioning and installing Linux is not hard. You may want to set aside half a day if you’ve never done it before. There are countless great guides that can show you how to do it, much better than I can here.

    Reply
  7. woody
    woody September 4, 2008 at 9:46 pm |

    I just picked one of these up. I had the Eee 4G black, but it had major issues. The Acer is good thus far. Much more usable. I’m writing this comment using it.

    FYI, the Linpus version is probably faster due to the SSD drive versus the standard 2.5 inch HD in the 120 GB. I have the 120GB, but will probably swap it for an SSD when they have more space available.

    I am thinking of putting Ubuntu on this unit. Would also love to have OSX on it.

    Really wish they would have left the restore CD creator functionality. Or they should have made it create a bootable USB flash or SD card. Missed opportunities to shine Acer.

    Reply
  8. SC
    SC September 14, 2008 at 1:22 am |

    How does the Aspire compare to the eee 1000H? That model sports the larger screen and keyboard, as well as some of the features you lament the absence of (most notably bluetooth). The 901 is so yesterday.

    Reply
  9. Dastrophy
    Dastrophy September 16, 2008 at 2:35 pm |

    I bought an Acer Aspire One in the UK and it actually came with a Recovery DVD, which I was slightly surprised about…

    The bit I like best is the 120GB hdd… whilst not shock proof, the ability to dual-boot a netbook is one of the most useful things I’ve found: linux for everyday use, and windows for those one of apps, or connecting to that odd wifi…

    Reply
  10. Christopher Price
    Christopher Price September 16, 2008 at 6:29 pm |

    Dastrophy, is your Aspire One a Windows XP system, or a Linux one?

    Reply
  11. Dastrophy
    Dastrophy September 17, 2008 at 3:19 am |

    Linux, 120GB HDD, 512MB ram

    Reply
  12. dixyz
    dixyz September 23, 2008 at 9:09 pm |

    is the Aspire One screen glossy or mat??

    Reply
  13. Chris
    Chris September 30, 2008 at 11:05 am |

    Hardly seems like an impartial review, you obviously haven’t tried Eee 1000H…

    Got my Eee 1000H last week, came with XP and 160GB harddisk. Absolutely love it! Installed Ubuntu Eee as second OS, almost flawless. With Bluetooth and multi-touch trackpad. Nothing wrong with the keyboard either… ok during the 1st 2 mins I was trying to get used to the right shift key, but no big deal

    Oh wait… did I mention that Eee 1000H batteries lasted more than 6 hours with music player at almost max volume, internet explorer with 6-8 tabs, msn and open office word processor running? trying beating that with Aspire One

    Reply
  14. Christopher Price
    Christopher Price September 30, 2008 at 7:48 pm |

    Chris, you do realize there are 6-cell Aspire Ones, right? ASUS making that standard on all Eee 1000’s was nice, but it doesn’t make up for the price disparity.

    Reply
  15. Matt Rix
    Matt Rix October 9, 2008 at 12:50 pm |

    Chris, I’ve got a 6-cell Aspire One with a 160gb HD that lasts for 6+ hours, and I guarantee that it cost a lot less than your EEE 🙂

    Reply
  16. Jimmy
    Jimmy October 22, 2008 at 5:59 pm |

    iv got an eeePC 901 and my bro has an aspire one i can see the attraction for the aspire but the longer battery life on my eee and the solid state drives just do it for me. iv done a fair bit of modding and you can put in a 160gb hdd as well as countless other mods i dont know about modding the aspire i haven’t seen any mods on it yet. i think that the eee is for me but for the less tech orientated the aspire is probably for them. I carry my eee with me every where and i get out at night if my eee wasn’t a SSD then it would have broken by now iv even slamed my eee in to a acer notebook one time and now its HDD sounds like its on its lats legs and no damage to my eee.

    Reply
  17. Matt
    Matt December 18, 2008 at 9:32 am |

    Just read your review and I agree. I’m an early netbook adapter and had an Asus 701 4G when they first started coming out last year. As much as I loved having it my two main complaints was the 7″ screen and small keyboard. In my opinion, Acer’s Aspire ONE (AA1) is the most value-oriented netbook and does not get its due credit.

    I even have Lenovo’s S10 and as attractive as the S10 is (10.2″ screen and easy access for upgradability) I’m staying with my AA1 for the reasons mentioned in your review (surprisingly the keyboard feels better on the AA1 than on the S10! And what’s up with the right shift key?!), the overall form factor, weight, screen resolution (still 1024 x 600 on both machines), and still no Bluetooth on the S10 (although available outside the US).

    FYI: I choose the S10 over MSI’S Wind ’cause cosmetically the S10 looked slimmer. Afterward I read the Wind’s keyboard feels better than the S10. HP’s new 1000 netbook looks interesting (8.9″ form factor with a 10.2″ screen!). And I read Acer will be releasing a 10.2″ version of the AA1 in 2009. But for now I’m happy with my AA1 =-).

    Reply
  18. tim
    tim December 25, 2008 at 4:57 pm |

    The eee pc is FAR superior in many ways. 1) Aspire’s finish after 10 minutes out of the box looks like toddlers used it with all the smudges. 2) the Sspire is flimsy, like a cheap Chinese toy. 3) The touchpad is too close to the button and you find your thumb touching the pad AND the button simultaneously. 4) also the button on the left is cramping my hand because my thumb is un-naturally forced too far forward to find the click button like a constant “thumbs up” to operate the pad.

    All the Aspire has going for it is the nice keyboard and the color choices.

    Reply
  19. How Acer Became The Top Netbook Maker | The ULPC Scoop
  20. rob
    rob February 26, 2009 at 4:52 pm |

    ur all nuts! i shell out 450 bucks and built myself a tablet! 12 inch touch screen wifi bluetooth 80 gig drive plus extended 2 gig ram plus x os! plus 4 uswbs a card reader.

    Reply
  21. travis
    travis March 18, 2009 at 7:56 am |

    wally mart now has the aspire one at $300 and i finally convinced the wife to let me buy one.

    i’ve watched longingly as the OLPC was developed, but it never really made it to market.

    then the EEE was developed and brought to market, but you can’t really find it over the counter anywhere, and the screen resolution is ridiculously small (too narrow for most web pages, too short to even show the START menu without being cramped!!), as is the keyboard, though the EXPECTED price kept me hanging on, it still hasn’t reached down to it’s $200 mark.

    then out of nowhere, walmart carries, IN STOCK, a $350 netbook, with a bigger screen, better keyboard, HUGE hdd (comparatively). i was caught off guard, somehow it’d skipped my radar completely, and it was just sitting there with a price tag!!

    there’s just no comparison for me. especially now that the price is only $300, hell i paid about that for the WARRANTY on my last laptop! and what’s more, the aspire one is AVAILABLE. just walk in to the store, and buy it. i still can’t say the same thing for the EEE, the MSI wind, the gBook, Dell mini9, nor the HP netbook.

    this little laptop is going to be POPULAR, because it’s affordable, it works well, and it’s ACCESIBLE, in a very common store. the other netbooks may have better options, but the average person wants to walk in to a store and pick something to take home, rather than look at pictures on the net and wait for a week for it to post.

    nuff said.

    Reply
  22. chris
    chris January 1, 2010 at 11:02 am |

    I love the acer aspire one. I picked up one for $315. It amazed me for the priceow great it is. I have friends that own the eee pc mini laptop and they are all frustrated with the small keyboard and the slow speed. I’m so happy with this netbook and would recommend it to anybody.

    Reply

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