Acer Aspire One

Netbook is One step behind the competition




THOSE WHO HAVEN'T YET TRIED OUT A NETBOOK-the new category of cheap ultraportable laptops that have quickly followed on the heels of the Asus Eee PC's runaway success-may need only a few minutes with a model like the Acer Aspire One to understand the reasons behind their popularity.

Like others in the genre, the $329 Aspire One is a featherweight (2.2 pounds that's perfect for throwing into a bag or backpack or for typing away in bed. And like the original Eee PC and the new MSI Wind U100, it uses Linux to keep startup and shutdown times short, and it offers a Windows XP option.

The Aspire One probably won't disappoint its target audience of students or users looking for an inexpensive, highly totable second system, though the 8GB of solid-state storage is a real liability. (The Windows XP version comes with a conventional hard drive.) Both version of the Aspire One do offer a dedicated SD memory-card slot, an additional multiformat memory-card slot, and three USB ports, which you can use to attach external storage.

The glossy lED-backlit screen on the Acer has good viewing angles and is more than fine for everyday use, but it gets washed out in bright light and suffers from a moderate amount of glare. Speaker volume is decent, though audio lacks warmth becaue there's almost no bass output.

The Aspire One uses Intel's new, low-power Atom mobile processor, but because its Linux OS needs fairly meager system requirements to run, the Acer comes with just 512MB of memory. (A $349 Windows XP configuration comes with 1GB of RAM and a 120GB hard drve, and Acer also offers a $399 XP version with a 160GB drive and an extended-life battery.) We didn't experience any hiccups doing everyday tasks like word processing and Web browsing at the same time. Bootup time was indeed impressive, taking only 20 seconds to get the main interface screen. It did take another 30 seconds, however, for the device to find and connect to our wireless network.

As you might imagine, a laptop that measures just 1.1x9.8x6.7 inches (HWD) doesn't have a full-size keyboard, but it is large enough to make touch-typing possible. We suffered the occasional spelling mishap with the slightly cramped keys, though, and had problems with the touch pad, even after we turned down its sensitivity.

Acer has gone to great lengths to make sure that the Linux underpinnings have ben gussied up enough for consumer accustomed to a Windows-based GUI. The main interface is divided into four sections-Connect, Works, Fun, and Files-under which the Aspire One's apps are grouped. The home screen also features an Internet search bar to further speed up jumping online.

Free software is plentiful, including Firefox, a universal instant-messaging client, an e-mail client, an RSS reader, and direct links to Google Maps, Microsoft Hotmail, and Wikipedia. The free office suite OpenOffice.org helps fill out the Works quadrant; you get apps for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, calculator functions, calendaring, photo and paint apps, a utility to utilize the Aspire Pne's built in Webcam, and a number of games. Files houses icons that let you access your documents, music, photos, videos, downloads, and miscellaneous files.

In addition to its memory-card slots and USB ports, the Aspire One offers VGA out, an Ethernet port, and headphone and microphone jacks. It ship with a three-cell battery, but because it doesn't feature an optical drive, we couldn't normally test its stamina with our DVD-playback benchmark. In our everyday use, however, it lasted roughly 2 hours and 20 minutes per charge. That duration doesn't reall jibe with the idea of the netbook as an ideal traveling companion-if you're looking for the Aspire One to say juiced fo a cross-country flight, you'll need to secure the optional six-cell battery separately.



With its availability at Best Buy and Circuit City stores, the Aspire One is going to be successful. That doesn't make it the best choice in its category-particularly this configuration, with its puny amount of onboard storage-but it does have an appealing price, and it largely succeeds in showcasing the (albeit limited) charms of the netbook, a laptop that can finally serve as a lifestyle accessory for the masses.-Sean Portnoy

Computer Shopper November 2008

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Ready for Attack

Ready for Attack
Think Acer is just known for its budget systems? Think again. The company's new Predator will be the flagship system in its new Aspire G line of gaming desktops and notebooks. Pricing wasn't available at press time, though the specs and the design-which resembles an intergalactic battleship-offer lots to gawk at: Intel Core 2 Extreme and Core 2 Quad processors, up to 8GB of RAM, and an nVidia nForce 780i SLI motherboard primed to run 3-Way SLI with the most powerful of new nVidia graphics card.

source: Computer Shoppper August 2008.
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Acer Aspire 8920G

Acer Aspire 8920G
18.4-inc laptop will turn heads with its stellar display

THE $2,599 ACER ASPIRE 8920G is a snappy-looking desktop-replacement notebook that features one of the nicest displays we've seen. Its high-end Penryn processor will handle anything you throw at it, although serious gamers will likely require more 3D muscle.
Decorated in an attractive, dark blue metallic finish, the centerpiece of the 9-pound Aspire 8920G is its beautiful 18.4-inch glossy wide-screen TFT, which can display 90 percent of the color gamut. The result is an exceptional picture with deep, rich color and excellent viewing angles. Even better, the display has a native resolution of 1,920x1,080 pixels and an aspect ration of 16-to-9, so you can view high-definition (HD) movies in their natives format, without having to deal with black bars or stretched images. Using the built-in Blu-ray optical drive, we were blown away by the image quality, expecially when it came to skin-tone accuracy and color reproduction. Complementing the HD screen is Acer's CineSurround sound system, which provided true six-channel sound that's among the best we've heard from a notebook system. THe 8920's full-size black keyboard is responsive and comfortable, but the real eyecatcher is the CineDash media player console, which containts white-blacklit, touch-sensitive media controls and a dial that raise and lowers the speaker volume. (We found the latter a bit difficult to master.)
As for connectivity, the system has both VGA and HDMI video outputs, but FireWire and S-Video connections are nowhere to be found. Even more glaring is the absence of a TV tuner, an odd omission, considering the 8920G is billed as an entertainment system. With its 2.6GHz COre 2 Duo T9500 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 2 dedicated 512MB nVidia GeForce 9650 GS graphics card, the system performed well on our productivity and multimedia benchmark test. Gaming performance wasn't as stellar - we managed just 23.8 frames per second (fps) on Company of Heroes at the 8920's native resolution. While that isn't good news for hardcore fraggers, this system should satisfy casual games.



What's the Deal?
The 18.40-inch Acer Aspire 8920G is a real head-turner that will dominate your media collection, even if it is lacking some entertainment features and gaming prowess.

What it's for: This 9-pound desktop-replacement notebook can handle just about any media or productivity chore with ease. It's fine for casual gaming, too, though enthusiast gamers will want to look elsewhere.

Who it's for: Users who want a stay-at-home system that's built for showcasing HD movies, playing music, rendering video, and other media-intensive tasks.

What's included: 2.6GHz Core 2 Duo T9500 CPU; 4GB of RAM; 320GB hard drive; Blu-ray burner; 18.4-inch TFT; Acer's CineSurround sound system; touch-sensitive media buttons; HDMI out.

The bottom line: Though it's missing a few entertainment options, the big, brawny, and beautiful Aspire 8920G is still one of the hottest multimedia notebooks around.

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