The ASUS and Aspire appear to be their favorites when all factors are considered but if you are in the market for a netbook you’ll want to read these and other reviews.

Happily for consumers if not for the industry at large, price in this category does not appear to correlate all that well with features and quality.

By John Ghysels, Special to Technology-Report.com

Product Review: High computing power in a small package; the Latest Acer Aspire One

A while back, I started a “sales journal” using ACT to track notes on my sales calls. I was using a fragile, old 50 GB mini-laptop to write in notes on my clients immediately after calling on them. This practice became an invaluable tool on tracking little details and items for follow up that usually didn’t make it to my easily lost or otherwise non-transcribed paper notes. Needing more memory, I tried carting around a full size laptop for this purpose for a time, but I found I just didn’t bother to take notes when it came to wedging that big computer into my lap in front of the steering wheel for a few minutes after every call (yes, while still parked, you smart alecs!). Also, when it came time for trips, I kept reaching for the mini when packing, despite the obvious advantages of my more powerful laptops. 

For car seat road warriors like me, I was excited when I saw the low price on this relatively powerful ACER machine.  For a mere $350, you can have the power to run RAM hungry programs like ACT, while still pulling off the usual suite of Office programs and email.  At 2.2 lbs with the included 3 cell battery, the weight can’t be beat, and with 1 GB of RAM and 120 GB Hard Drive, it offers plenty of flexibility and room for those needing portable power.

Thoughtfully, Acer loaded Windows XP Home Premium, rather than RAM hog Vista, which keeps the little machine speedy enough, and saves the trouble of having to rollback to XP for some business applications. 

If you are a photo bug like me,  I have found that having the ability travel with a camera and bring along the ablility to download, share, email and upload pictures tends to make one a helpful and popular family travel companion.  It is actually a bit amazing that of this still comes in at about $100 less than the well known and popular Lenovo S10.  In fact, this laptop costs about half the price of many mid-level consumer SLR cameras, yet would be a invaluable part of a traveling photographer’s pack. 

Some have faulted the 3 hour battery life on this lightweight unit, however, given the added outlets at many new airports and the ease of adding regulated AC converters in the car, I can’t say this worries me much. If it is a concern, a 5 hour, 6 cell battery is available, that boosts the weight to only 2.8 lbs. 

I find when it comes to making a quick trip, from making a few sales calls to a family overnight, nothing beats a tiny package of power when you need it.  Adding in the 5 in 1 card reader wraps up this package nicely, especially given the rapidly falling prices of SD memory.

Editor’s warning:  BEWARE there are TWO versions of this computer for sale at the moment, under the same name, and nearly the same price. The earlier version is a Linex version, with one a 16 GB “solid-state” hard drive. The newer version has a 120 GB hard-drive and runs on Windows XP Home. So unless you have an affinity for Open Office, stick with the bigger hard drive of new version of the Aspire One. 

November 28, 2008

John Ghysels