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The time has finally come to take a closer look at one of this year’s most sensational news, namely Acer’s take on a netbook, the Aspire One. We take a closer a look at whether it can live up to the expectations, if it’s really “One to Desire”. This review is a two-parter – the second part takes a closer look at the Aspire One’s abilities as a multimedia laptop. We test the Linux – Linpus and the XP edition, both with 120GB hard drive and 1GB RAM. Both laptops are powered by Intel’s new N270 Atom processor.

The product was kindly lent to us by www.acer.dk

Specifications

Category:

Office, business, multimedia and all-round school laptop.

Processor:

Intel Atom, N270, 1.6GHz, 512KB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB.

Chipset:

Intel i945GME, 82801GHM ICH7-M/U Southbridge.
Intel 945GSE, Intel 82801GBM Southbridge.

RAM:

1.024MB DDR2, PC5300 RAM, 667MHz, Hyundai module (1x512MB+512MB onboard), 1.5GB is max according to Acer.

Display adapter:

Intel i945GME, with 8MB DDR2 RAM.

Hard drive:

120GB Hard drive, 2.5" SATA, 8MB cache, 5400RPM, Seagate ST9120817AS (http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=e72324bb966c6110VgnVCM100000f5ee0a0aRCRD&locale=en-US)

Display:

8.9" with Acer HighBrightness Crystal Brite technology, WSGA TFT, resolution 1024x600.

Sound card & speakers:
Realtek High Definition chipset, 24Bit stereo compatible. Two built-in stereo speakers.

Optical drive:
None, but you can connect an external drive via USB or share a drive via network.

Battery:

3 Cell, 2200mAh, included.
6 Cell, 2600mAh, upgrade available separately.

Networking:

WiFi
Wireless 802.11b/g
Ethernet LAN 10/100
3G HSUPA, UMTS/HSPA (available in country-specific models)

Connectivity options:

1x VGA
1x RJ-45 Ethernet
1x Microphone in
1x Headphones out / SPDIF
1x Multi-in-1 card reader, SD, MS, MS Pro, MMC, xD
3x USB
1x SDCard

Dimensions:

249(W)x170(D)x36(H)mm.
0.9 kg including battery.

Support:

Support available at http://www.acer.com/

Warranty:

Acer gives a two year warranty.

Operating system:

Windows XP Home Edition.

Software included:
Acer Program package incl. DVD player.
Microsoft Office 2007 60 day trial.
Microsoft Works – fully licensed.

Price:

The recommended retail price of the tested model is 2,799.00 DKK incl. VAT.

Package contents

At long last the Acer Aspire One arrived here at Laptop-review. Since the first news of the Acer Aspire One were released, it’s been the kind of product everyone has asked for here at Laptop-review, and we ourselves have waited anxiously too.

I’ve been given the pleasure of testing the Acer Aspire One in the A150 edition. It includes 1GB RAM, 120GB hard drive, and an XP platform. Beyond that, there isn’t much difference between the two editions here (Denmark).

You can read about the other model – the A110-L – next week here at Laptop-review.

Let’s take a closer look at what goodies were in the package. First, the small netbook; 25x17cm is not exactly huge. There was also a sleeve in the lid.

Let’s see what else is in there.

Manual and a battery, no CDs or media, which makes sense for a netbook that has no optical drive...

 Here we can see all the contents. Besides the netbook, you get a 3 Cell battery, a charger and nice long power cable, manuals and guarantee certificates, as well as a sleeve for the netbook.

 An important detail is the note that states you shouldn’t get your fingers caught beneath the lid – more on that below.

 Included:
- "Charger"

- "Sleeve"

- "Manuals"

The included sleeve only has enough space for the Aspire One, so you’ll have to find a bag for the rest of the accessories. Still, it’s nice to have. Notice the

Acer logo and the tight fit – a USB receiver from Logitech VX Nano (http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/mice_pointers/mice/devices/3271&cl=gb,en) couldbarely get in there, so remember to remove all accessories before placing the laptop in the sleeve!

The time has come to take the A150 out of the cover and take a closer look.

Physical aspects

First impression:



The tested model of the Acer Aspire One A150 comes in a stylish blue Acer colour. The screen is black on the inside and the lid is the same shade of blue on the inside. Other colours available at the moment are white, pink, and brown. This leaves plenty of opportunity for customization, and the Aspire One will undoubtedly become popular with “modders” who want to a personal touch on their laptop.



What really hits you is how elegant the Acer Aspire One truly is. It’s designed to look like a normal laptop; in fact, it looks like the laptops from Acer’s new Gemstone series.



At the same time, you can almost sense how light it is – less than 1kg. It is the lightest laptop I’ve had my hands on to date, and I’m honestly thrilled.



The Acer Aspire One A150 is smaller than most of the law books on my shelves, and is just as powerful on paper as my old TravelMate 4651. The 8.9” display is not very big, but a resolution of 1024x600 makes is adequate for a netbook.
The design of the A150 is elegant all the way through. That is actually impressive on a machine that costs less than a RAM update did just a few years ago.

The lid:



Like the rest of the laptop, the lid is made of solid plastic, and the display may flex a little when you touch it. The colour is metallic blue, and the Acer logo is printed in one of the upper corners. A small con to the Acer Aspire One is its susceptibility to greasy fingers, both inside and out, but besides that, the materials feel nice and despite the low price, they don’t feel cheap.

The front:



The front does not come with any other functions than a button at the right side that enables/disables wireless networking.
The rear:

There are no ports of any kind at the rear since the display is lowered behind the rear when you open the lid. Unfortunately, I do not know how the 6 Cell battery looks, but there is enough space for it really.

The bottom:



At the bottom there’s a vent, as well as access to neither hard drive nor RAM, but...something. I’ll leave it at that until I find out what’s supposed to be under the cap there, so look out for an update.



Only the battery is directly accessible.



The battery is ultra thin and adds only little to the overall weight of the netbook.



The battery is a 3 Cell, 2200mAh. We test its performance below.

There’s an interesting detail beneath the battery, namely a closed off SIM card slot. According to Acer’s website, 3G models are on the way. That definitely wouldn’t hurt on a netbook, but this model sadly did not have one so I have not been able to test it.



 The right side:

From the right, there’s a slot for a Kensington lock, then a multi-in-1 card reader that supports most available flash drives, two out of the three USB ports, headphones out, and microphone in.

The A150 comes with a 120GB hard drive, which is more than enough for standard netbook use; it’s a 5400rpm hard drive by the way, so you won’t be short on performance. There’s still the possibility of expanding capacity through flash RAM and USB hard drives, should you require it.

The left side:

From the left, there’s the power outlet and then a VGA port. Acer does not list a maximum resolution, but I tested the VGA port at 1920x1200, and the display was razor sharp. After the VGA port there’s a vent; at normal use and even at full load during movies or whatnot you’ll hardly notice the heat. Don’t cover the vents though! Next, there’s an RJ-45 Ethernet port that runs at 10/100Mbit. After that, there’s another USB port, totalling three which is decent for a netbook of this magnitude. You can never get too many USB ports...Last but not least there’s an SD slot; I didn’t have SD flash RAM at home, but I’ll test this out in part two of the review where I’ll also look at the Aspire One’s potential as a multimedia laptop.

The A150 has lots of expansionary possibilities via USB; one might miss an HDMI or DVI port, but the picture quality on for example a 24” screen is quite okay via the VGA port. Some of you are probably thinking “Yeah, that’s all fine and dandy, but what about my installation media?” The majority of programs most users will need on a netbook can be downloaded; for example, I installed WOW on the Aspire One via a shared DVD drive. In other words, you can easily do without an optical drive, though there are plenty of slim products on the market that would fit nicely with the Aspire One.

Diodes and buttons:

At the top left there are four diodes that show the status of battery, hard drive, Num Lock, and Caps Lock respectively.

At the right side, there’s a power button, the only other button on the Aspire One besides the button to enable/disable wireless networking.

At the lower right, there’s a diode showing the status for wireless networking.

Keyboard and touchpad:

With an inner width of 24 cm, there isn’t space for anything fancy. Acer has managed to fit a normal keyboard with six rows of keys into the Aspire One somehow though.

The keys are comfortable to type with, and are not susceptible to greasy fingers like the cabinet. The keys make a nice sound and even I – with my large fingers – can easily type with them. You can forget about full-size though.

The touchpad with buttons at the side was a tad harder to get used to. I have to admit that I wouldn’t want to make do without a good mouse, even though the touchpad works like it should. The touchpad itself is 5x3cm, and the buttons are just 0.8x3cm. Acer’s standard software for the touchpad includes a zoom function, which is actually pretty handy.

Despite the keyboard’s apparent resistance to grime and how the display is lowered compared to the keyboard, the keys actually left prints on the display, which I found puzzling.  

The display:

The display is blank, which can be a disadvantage when lit directly. The colours were really sharp though. The A150 comes with a resolution of 1024x600, which might seem low to some. Personally, I find it well-balanced with the 8.9” size of the display; it’s nice to be able to see the desktop icons after all...

Rotation is a way to take advantage of the resolution, but you get used to the size of the display pretty fast, and when you’re at the office or at home, you can always use an external display via USB and the VGA port.

At the top of the screen there’s a webcam and integrated microphone. Both work as they should; the Crystal Eye webcam gives a pretty good picture for a 0.3MP webcam. Netbooks are useful for video conferences, and the Aspire One is highly recommended in this regard.

Noise, heat, and power usage:

The power supply included is quite compact, and we take a closer look at the power usage below.

The reason I mentioned the power cable is because I tested the laptop with an Eee 1000HD. The Eee comes with an ultra short power cable, and while the netbook is compact, the power outlet is far away – Asus could definitely learn something from Acer here.

I would describe the noise level from the fans on the A150 as low, even when gaming or running more demanding programs.

It’s time to take a look at how the insides of the Acer Aspire One A150 perform. In the benchmark section we assess the performance of the processor, display adapter, RAM, hard drive, and battery.

 Benchmark

Windows Vista Experience Index:

Often when we review laptops, the first thing we show you in the benchmark section is a picture of the Windows Vista Experience Index. We don’t do it this time however, for a good reason. While the A150 could run on Vista, I wouldn’t recommend it on a laptop with only 1GB RAM.
I have decided to put the Acer Aspire One A150 up against another netbook, namely the new Asus Eee 1000HD. The two netbooks are competing for thesame market, though the ideal challenger would be one of the Eee 910 laptops.

The Asus Eee 1000HD model had the following specifications:

Processor:

Intel Celeron, M 353, 900MHz, 512KB L2 Cache, 400MHz FSB.

Chipset:
Intel i915GMS Chipset, ICH6-M Southbridge.

RAM:

2048MB PC5300 DDR2 RAM, 667MHz. Gingle Technology.

Display adapter:
Intel i915GM with 8MB dedicated DDR VRAM.

Hard drive:
80GB, 5400RPM, Sata II, ST980811AS. Seagate hard drive with 8MB Cache.

Display:
10" LCD 1024x600 display.

Battery:
6Cell-6600mAh.

Operating system:
Windows XP Home.

You can read the review itself here on Laptop-review in the near future, and see more information on the specifications here: Asus EEE compareson

All in all, the two laptops are almost identical in terms of specifications. The Acer A150 has 1GB RAM less than the Asus Eee 1000HD model. The most important difference is presumably the processor, but we’ll see about that below.



Boot times and out of standby:





Boot and out of standby times are measured from when the power button is pressed and the Windows desktop appears.

The Eee 1000HD is slightly faster in boot time than the Acer Aspire One A150, but the difference is so small it might as well be due to a difference in the amount of software loaded on the two laptops. The difference is even smaller for out of standby. In general, though, you can see that the special edition of XP, the Home Edition – which both laptops come with – is slightly faster than a typical XP platform.


Battery performance:



Idle times are measured at lowest power profile on the tested model, while Classic times are measured at highest performance profile. The laptops are tested with BatteryEater 2005 to find the maximum battery life at the current settings.

The A150 loses to the Eee, but the comparison is hardly fair on this point. The 3 Cell 2200mAh in the Aspire Omr is just no match for the 6 Cell 6600mAh battery in the Eee 1000HD. Whether the performance of the battery the Eee is identical to what you would get with a 6 Cell upgrade in the Aspire One I cannot say. I will attempt to acquire a battery and update the review as soon as possible.

The processor:

The Acer Aspire One A150 comes with Intel’s newest Atom N270 processor. It’s a low watt processor, but does it also provide loads of horse power? We take a closer look at how it performs in the machine below. We can see that the internal L2 Cache is on 51KB, and that the processor runs with 533MHz FSB at 1.6GHz. Slightly less cache, but otherwise the same as the Dothan processor in my TravelMate 4651LMi work notebook.

SuperPi:

Super Pi calculates the number PI with 1 million decimals. The result is a time in seconds, meaning that the lower the number, the better. The PI can be used for direct comparison with other laptops that have run the same test.

Both netbooks generally perform far worse than what we have seen during the past year here on Laptop-review. At the same time, it’s surprising that the 900MHz slower Celeron in the 1000HD matches the Atom processor in the Aspire One. The score can be put into context by comparing it with that of a T9600 based laptop that scores about 16, and yes, the lower the better!!! The Acer Aspire One seemed faster than the Eee 1000HD in real time performance though. Performance of the Eee 1000 and Eee 1000H will presumably match that of the Aspire One.

SiSoft Sandra CPU Arithmetic:

SiSoft Sandras Whetstone and Drystone benchmark tests the processor’s ability to do pure number crunching, which occurs during gaming or different forms of picture editing. The measure is in Mflops (Millions Floating Point Operations Per Second) – the higher, the better.

Looking at the results, the difference is almost 30% in favour of Atom and the Acer Aspire One. I was actually impressed by the performance of Intel’s new Atom processor; it has loads of processing power. The Aspire One might also be winning due to a newer and better chipset.

SiSoft Sandra CPU Multimedia:

The multimedia test in SiSoft Sandra is calculated on a 2D figure. The output (it/s) is Mandelbrot iterations per second, i.e. the bigger the better.

As could be expected, the results favour the Atom processor. You get lots of performance here, and I would actually compare the processor with my old 1.6GHz Dothan in my work notebook.

Intel transferred their HyperThreading technology to the Atom N270, which is actually really noticeable when you compare the Atom to the Celeron processor in the Eee 1000HD. When you’re faced with the choice of which netbook to get, an Atom processor based netbook comes recommended. Acer has chosen a winner for their Aspire One...will we get a netbook with a dual core version of the Atom?

RAM SiSoft Sandra Memory Bandwith:

The A150 comes with 1GB DDR2 RAM that runs 667MHz with the following timings: 4,4,4,12,16.

The 512MB are onboard, so I looked at the degree to which you have to dismantle the Aspire One to upgrade to 1GB RAM. Let’s just say it’s not recommended, especially since the laptop comes with 1GB and would only be able to take on 512MB additional RAM.

Traditionally, 2GB are advisable on most contemporary Windows 32Bit based platforms, and one might hope that the Aspire One will get an updated version. On the other hand, the netbook ran smoothly and could even play HD films. Do note that dual channel from the newer Intel chipsets are inaccessible on the Atom platform – it would only increase performance. Sadly, Intel does not seem willing to let Atom and the Centrino 2 platform work together...

Sisoft Sandras Memory Bandwidth benchmark is used to measure the speed of the RAM – the higher the value, the better.

The result is that Acer’s Aspire One A150 has a lead on Asus’ Eee 1000HD. Note, however, that corrections for the newer chipset on the A150 and the additional 1GB RAM on the Eee have not been made. Still, it would seem that the extra 1GB of RAM aren’t utilized optimally.

Hard drive performance - SiSoft Sandra Hard Drive Read:

Sisoft Sandras hard drive test module is used to measure the performance of the hard drive. Sisoft Sandra runs a number of tests on the surface of the hard drive and calculates the average reading speed.

The biggest surprise here was that the hard drive in the Eee 1000 HD – just a standard 2.5” 5400rpm hard drive from Seagates Momentus 5400.3 series – beat all previous records in 2.5” tests I’ve run!!! This negligible 80GB can run fast it seems, almost 50% faster than the hard drive in the Aspire One, which is otherwise a decent drive. Whether the hard drive in the Eee 1000H will perform just as well I cannot say.

The results from HDTach confirm the picture painted by SiSoft Sandra: the hard drive in the Aspire One A150 performs quite well for a 5400rpm Sata 2.5” drive. Like RAM, the hard drive in a laptop is one of the few remaining bottlenecks that keep laptops from reaching the same level of performance as desktops.

Display adapter performance - 3Dmark:

Both laptops come with Intel onboard graphical chipsets that aren’t exactly suited for gaming and high end graphics. Let’s see how they perform in tests. I had some irresolvable problems with the Eee; it somehow lost the ability to run direct3D graphics. I hope to make a complete test later when I review the Eee 1000HD.

The 3Dmark tests show the performance in DirectX 9 and thus newer games and programs. No tests were run in DirectX 10.1, which both display adapters support.

Generally, the Aspire One performs as expected. I let my WOW-enthusiastic nephew test both laptops, and they could easily run the game. The Aspire / Atom combination was the best, though.

Overall performance:

The PCMark 05 results can be compared directly with other laptops that have run the same PCMark version. The program produces a score from a test that includes the performance of the processor, RAM, hard drive, display adapter, etc.

The score doesn’t impress when you compare it with the newest T9xx and T8xx series processors, but you still get lots of power in the Aspire One.

Gaming

It would be absurd to call a netbook a gamer, but I tested the Aspire One in a fitting game, namely the MMORPG World of Warcraft. Or rather, my inaugurated nephew did...

We tested with a 1024x600 resolution.

I shall let the pictures speak for themselves.

According to my nephew, the FPS varied as shown.

You can actually play some 2½ hours on the battery.

Let’s just conclude by saying that the quality was good enough to keep my nephew up all night...

Conclusion:

Since the first news of Acer’s Aspire One, the netbook created quite a stir and impatience amongst laptop enthusiasts. It’s definitely been worth the wait (not that certain aspects couldn’t have been better).

Let’s start with the negative. The lack of access to upgrade RAM at home will undoubtedly make more experienced users stray over to the Eee rather than the Aspire One. 3G should have been in included in all netbooks; the netbook of the year will presumably be the one with the best 3G solution. Unlimited mobility and netbook are two sides to the same coin. There’s also the susceptibility to grime; if you’re the kind of person who can’t bear when your things get grimy, don’t pick the Aspire One.

That was the only negative aspects of the Aspire One worth mentioning. You could say that it lacks Gigabit Ethernet, E-Sata or DVI/HDMI, but it’s a netbook and a very potent one at that.

With its impressive low weight – some 950 grams with battery – it’s a delight to handle. The network adapter works fine, which is sometimes a problem with Acer, but the laptop ran all the tests with no problems whatsoever.

The possibility of connecting an external monitor to the Aspire One, combined with no less than three USB ports makes the laptop a serious candidate for a work notebook, especially for people on the go. Okay, a battery life of three hours is slightly low, but I experienced that the battery can be recharged in just over 30 minutes. I hope to return with an update on the performance of the 6 Cell battery later.

Works license and preinstalled Office 2007 (trial license) makes the laptop ideal for all students. Some might wish to supplement the battery with an extra one, but most will be able to recharge it in the course of a day, and as an old law student, I can only envy those who can sit and type down notes directly at lectures. Here the Aspire One will be super, especially with its compact size on small lecture tables...

I’ll be writing another review of the Aspire One for two reasons: 1) because it’s just awesome (despite its grime problem); 2) because it has impressed me with its multimedia abilities. Part two will be about playing films via a projector and sound via all new speakers from Logitech – look forward to it!

All in all, the Aspire One is “One to Desire”. I had to own one myself, and it has almost taken over the function as work notebook from my old TravelMate completely.

The Acer Aspire One A150 gets my highest recommendations.

Overall, I’m gonna round up and give it a small 4.

Pros:

- Price

- Total experience

- Display

- Impressive performance

- Software bundle

Cons:

- Battery life in the low end

- Lack of 3G

- Difficult to upgrade hard drive and RAM.

Battery: 2,5 / 5Graphics: 2,5 / 5Construction: 4 / 5Software: 5 / 5Overall: 4 / 5