Acer Aspire One == Awesome Mini-Laptop!

**backpack** · 09-03-2008, 08:30 PM

Just got my new mini-laptop today, and it rocks. Yea, maybe I think that because my current "real" laptop is 7 years old, but having a computer the size of a normal hardcover book that runs XP, has a real keyboard, monitor out (which I'm using now with a random old LCD), SD card slots, real (120GB) hard drive, etc.

It's the Acer Aspire One (the 150 model, not the 110 which comes with linux and a 8gb SSD)... only about $350, too.

Kinda spam, I guess, but it's just about the perfect size/feature balance to travel with... I'll be using it to compose China TRs from the road this fall. Hopefully it will work as well as it seems it will.

**El Chupacabra** · 09-04-2008, 08:09 AM

That is pretty cool.

Wifi built in? No CD/DVD drive internal though, right?

**Viva** · 09-04-2008, 08:23 AM

How long's the batter charge under normal use? How much do extra batteries cost?

**pechelman** · 09-04-2008, 08:38 AM

generally speaking, all these UMPC's do about 4hrs on their small cell battery and about 6-7 on the big one
none have cdroms and all have wifi
some have bluetooth

theyre pretty cool

the acer one, the asus 901, and hp mini-note are the best ive seen
theres also an msi wind one which gets rated highly, but seems its hard to find or something

backpack, where did you buy your acer?
my dad was wanting to get one.
supposedly compusa had them for that, but i dont see it listed on their website...or i just suck

**skibumnh** · 09-04-2008, 09:24 AM

IF(Acer Aspire One == Awesome Mini-Laptop)
THEN(backpack = developer nerd)

;-)

**backpack** · 09-04-2008, 06:52 PM

Originally Posted by pechelman

supposedly compusa had them for that, but i dont see it listed on their website...or i just suck

Best Buy, but I don't know if they have them anymore... guy said they're pretty popular and they don't get very many in.

Chup: Wifi b/g, no internal optical drive but 2 SD card slots, FWIW.

Viva: I've only been getting a little over 3 hours with wifi and full backlight, but I assume if I turn the radio off and dim the backlight a bit it'll do 4. I have the small battery, and I think the 6-cell big one is about $100ish.

nh: Yea, I'm a nerd, but I make my money doing wildlife biology.

**kalisto** · 09-05-2008, 12:59 AM

Originally Posted by skibumnh

if (Acer Aspire One == Awesome Mini-Laptop)
{
backpack = developer nerd
}

;-)

FYP

What are you coding in?

Welcome to 2008

**skibumnh** · 09-05-2008, 05:45 AM

Originally Posted by KaLiStO

FYP

What are you coding in?

Welcome to 2008

I live and breath SQL right now but that was psuedo. I was hoping to make a point without exposing myself, but I should have known the people most likely to get it would call me out.

**wi3dzmin** · 09-05-2008, 07:11 AM

Tell tell... is the keyboard as annoyingly small as it's claimed to be?

Bonus: these run OS X

advres · 10-24-2008, 01:20 PM

Originally Posted by pechelman

generally speaking, all these UMPC's do about 4hrs on their small cell battery and about 6-7 on the big one
none have cdroms and all have wifi
some have bluetooth

theyre pretty cool

the acer one, the asus 901, and hp mini-note are the best ive seen
theres also an msi wind one which gets rated highly, but seems its hard to find or something

backpack, where did you buy your acer?
my dad was wanting to get one.
supposedly compusa had them for that, but i dont see it listed on their website...or i just suck

I just got back from Micro Center in Cambridge and they had them for $349. They only have them available for sale in store though as I just checked their website. If your dad REALLY needs one (and hasn't got one yet), I could pick one up and ship it for you.

**skibumnh** · 10-24-2008, 01:23 PM

Originally Posted by advres

I just got back from Micro Center in Cambridge and they had them for $349. They only have them available for sale in store though as I just checked their website. If your dad REALLY needs one (and hasn't got one yet), I could pick one up and ship it for you.

Advres, didn't realize you were a Masshole too. Good lookin' out.

**Mike Pow** · 12-05-2008, 04:00 AM

Could you run Photoshop on one of these?

I'm sick of lugging a bigger laptop around.

**amatog** · 12-05-2008, 06:49 AM

Trying to run Photoshop on the Acer Aspire would be like trying to cook a steak with a butane lighter.

**Dromond** · 12-05-2008, 07:33 AM

Originally Posted by amatog

Trying to run Photoshop on the Acer Aspire would be like trying to cook a steak with a butane lighter.

Indeed.

However the gf just got a little brown one with the 6 cell battery and now I get to use her laptop to run photoshop on. Most excellent! She loves it, btw.

**amatog** · 12-05-2008, 09:53 AM

I really like the Acer Aspire..its great for what it was designed for.

I have an Asus eeePC and its perfect for travel when you want to surf the web, e-mail, etc. I think the Linux os is just right for those functions, no bloated OS, no long boot up, simple and elegant. The Acer Aspire is way better imho.

Its not a high power workstation, but it beats the hell out of web browsing on an Iphone, Storm or any other smartphone/handheld ( as long as there is wifi!)

**Todds** · 12-05-2008, 10:31 AM

I'm happy with my Acer aspire one also. Got it at microcenter a few months ago.

My buddy just ordered the Lenovo 10" atom based machine for $379.

**The Dad** · 12-05-2008, 11:26 AM

Originally Posted by Mike Pow

Could you run Photoshop on one of these?

I'm sick of lugging a bigger laptop around.

Originally Posted by amatog

Trying to run Photoshop on the Acer Aspire would be like trying to cook a steak with a butane lighter.

For fuck's sake.

I beta tested Photoshop starting in v.0.91b. The fucker fit on a floppy disk and ran on an 8mb Mac IIcx.

I suspect that if you're willing to run a few versions older of PS -- back when the processing specs of one of these puppies would've been state of the art -- it'll do just fine.

advres · 12-05-2008, 11:47 AM

Originally Posted by alpinedad

For fuck's sake.

I beta tested Photoshop starting in v.0.91b. The fucker fit on a floppy disk and ran on an 8mb Mac IIcx.

I suspect that if you're willing to run a few versions older of PS -- back when the processing specs of one of these puppies would've been state of the art -- it'll do just fine.

I think it's more about the screen real-estate, not the computers power. With the size and resolution on the thing, you could fit maybe your tool bar and layers palette on the screen.

**The Dad** · 12-05-2008, 12:01 PM

Originally Posted by advres

I think it's more about the screen real-estate, not the computers power. With the size and resolution on the thing, you could fit maybe your tool bar and layers palette on the screen.

That's definitely a valid point. Although for minor stuff, it'd probably work, and for major, you hook it up to a bigger screen.

**RShea** · 12-05-2008, 12:39 PM

Most of these units- commonly called Netbooks now- come with either Linux (cheaper sale price) or Windows installed (higher priced). I've seen and can get the Acer's, HP and a few different companies white box versions like Asus and MSI mentioned. I can never usually meet the big store discount offers this time of the year (loss leaders or they are purchasing a ton of them) but if someone out there really wants one and has no other source, PM me and tell me what you want in the way of OS on one. I can check on pricing and stock is usually not an issue.

The keyboards are not quite full size but they are much better than some little PDA or phone that is easily carried along.