Home > Consumer Reviews > Acer Aspire One AOD150-1165 10.1-Inch Sapphire Blue Netbook - 6.5 Hour Battery Life

This is a cool little computer. Of the netbooks currently available (late February 2009), it has the best combination of features and price. These were the particular features that sold me:

- a usable keyboard, with properly positioned Shift keys. Many other netbooks compromise here, using a small weirdly-placed shift key that can make it very difficult to type accurately. The Acer's keyboard is slightly reduced in size, but I am able to touch-type on it with no problem.

- a 10.1" screen, with 1024x600 resolution. Bright, clear, and easy-to-read.

- a 160GB disk drive; quite generous storage capacity for this class of machine. Plenty of room for photos, music files, and the usual day-to-day work.

- extended run-time on battery. This is perhaps one of the greatest advantages of a netbook over a more traditional laptop. Because of the power-efficient processor used, even the smaller 3-cell battery will usually have double the battery run-time of a regular laptop. And with a larger 6-cell battery, the Acer will run for an entire workday. Like other early orders, mine (ordered on Sunday 2/22) was shipped with the larger battery. This adds an enormous degree of convenience and utility to the netbook; true un-tethered portability.

- a compact, attractive case. It's a nice change from the usual black or monochrome computer.

Along with the 3 USB ports, good wi-fi connectivity, an ethernet port, external monitor jack, built-in webcam and mic, 1 GB RAM, and 1.6Ghz processor, it has everything most of us need in a portable computer, and nothing that we don't.

The only thing that I actively dislike is the mouse-button. What were they thinking? As others have noted, it is truly heinous, requiring an incredible amount of force to press. Unbelievable, especially when one considers how well thought out the rest of the design seems to be.
(UPDATE June 2009): I was in Walmart today and checked out the two Aspire One's that they had on display. The stiff mouse-button problem appears to be fixed in the latest models! The feel was quite reasonable on the current store-models that I tried.)

Fortunately, there is a partial workaround for the stiff button... using touchpad tap/gestures in place of the mouse button for single or double-clicking, and marking text. I haven't got a great workaround yet for click-drag operations (e.g. moving windows, dragging files). I've had to turn that into a two-handed operation; left finger holds down the mouse button, right finger drags on the touchpad. This is something that I do infrequently enough that the overly stiff button isn't a deal killer. However, it is a serious flaw in an otherwise excellent design.

(UPDATE: the touchpad can be configured to allow "Locking Drags" on the Acer. Bring up Control Panel -> Mouse -> Device Settings. In the listbox, click on the Synaptics Touchpad entry, then click on the Settings button. This brings up the Properties dialog for the touchpad. Select +"Tapping" (expand the entry), then "Tap and Drag". There is a checkbox for "Locking Drag" so that you can turn on this behavior if it suits you. It can provide a workaround for the unwieldy click-drag behavior caused by the Aspire One's stiff mouse button. )

Wishes for a future version:
1) improved button!
2) an even higher-res compact display; say 1280x800.
3) somewhat faster dual-core processor, when they become available (a BiAtom processor?), but without seriously compromising battery life.

That's about it. I wouldn't want a built-in CD/DVD or much bigger display because I want a netbook to be small, convenient, and compact. I like getting 7 to 8 hours on a battery charge, and don't want that to suffer.

Overall, the Acer Aspire One has an almost ideal combination of features and price. Recommended.

Buyers BEWARE of the so-called one-year warranty!

I purchased this netbook on February 20, 2009 for my daughter's 18th birthday and graduation gift, which hasn't occurred yet but gave it to her early. As of May 9, 2009 the product isn't working and since May 10, 2009 have been corresponding through Internet email tech support to resolve.

First, it was recommended to restore to a date when system was functioning properly. That didn't work. The other recommended was to run the e-Recovery program which restores the system to the factory settings. This requires the use of an external optical device which I had to purchase (that I received on May 21, 2009 for a cost of $78.88 - Wal-Mart) to be used to back-up system before running the recovery program. Well, that can't be done due to the initial issue and that is that the netbook is kind-of-in a frozen state. You click on the icons or programs and the hourglass continues to run.

When I reported the latest, basically I was told this is "Advance Troubleshooting" which is supported over the phone that is chargeable at a cost of $2.95 per minute with the slots 30 minutes ($59.99), 90 minutes ($129.99), or 15 issues ($199,99) and the validity will be 1 year which can be billed to your credit card. I can' believe they are using "Advance Troubleshooting" as justification for not honoring the one-year warranty on their system that stop functioning properly within three months and as a way of charging the consumer more money.

So, PLEASE beware of the one-year warranty because your issue may get labeled as "Advanced" which will require more of your money.

Good build quality however, not as good as the Lenovo. For a lower price point than the Lenovo s10 this model does come with a 6 cell battery. The battery has lower rated run-time than the Asus 1000he 6 cell battery and the Samsung s10. The Acer does NOT have bluetooth support (listed as optional for you to find out after you open the box). Also listed in the manual is a rear aircard slot at the battery compartment but this is also OPTIONAL which means it probably doesn't exist. The Levono also lists bluetooth support as optional. The Acer has a quirky one button toggle touch pad instead of traditional 2 button as on the Asus.
The lack of bluetooth support means you will have to tie up a USB port for a mouse if you need one. For the slightly higher price of $20 (if you shop around) I would go with the Asus 1000HE netbook that comes with bluetooth support, the Atom 208 processor and a long life 6 cell battery.
I'll be returning my Acer even though it is an inconvenience.

Pros: Windows XP, Bright Screen, Good Keyboard for the size, Super portable, 6 cell battery lasts 7-8 hours on a full charge

Cons: the touch pad is small and somewhat hard to use. this is solved by wireless mouse

I bought this computer last week and set it up this weekend. removed the bloat ware in about 15 minutes. Loaded MS Office 2007 enterprise version, Snag it, Firefox and AVG virus protection. All this took less than an hour. I have a 15.4 lenovo with vista, 2gb of ram and Intel Dual core processors and the Acer out performs it. I have used word, excel, powerpoint and Outlook extensively over the last 4 days and as far as I can tell it runs better on the Acer Aspire. On Sunday I was working on a project and used the battery for almost 8 hours before I had to plug it in the wall. The wireless has not dropped once since the initial set up. I have used my home wireless network and a public network at Panera bread. I have big hands but there is enough room on the keyboard for me to type. Monday night I watched streaming video from NBC.COM and there were no blurs.

One irritation is ACER back up and recovery program will not create a recovery disk on an USB drive. It exclusively looks for Optical drive. I am sure there is a work around but I have not had time to look.

I am going to use this machine exclusively for traveling and my consulting project work. I bought it for my kids but I guess now they will get the big laptop.

I know that Acer netbooks have been hailed as convenient and a great value, but I have to say that I was very disappointed with both the computer itself and Acer's customer service. I am a teacher, and I purchased the Aspire on which to write my Master's thesis. When the hard drive went ka-plooie a couple of days after I received the computer, I thanked my lucky stars that I had just begun my research and was not farther into the process. I called Acer and they told me they would not replace the entire computer, but would just send me a hard drive. I was fine with this, but when I found out the new hard drive would have no operating system, I had to call again and order a recovery disc. Stupid and inexperienced me did not put two and two together: with no optical drive, there was no way to use a recovery disc to load Windows. I had bought the unit because the price fit a teacher's salary, and to have to now spring for an external cd drive was out of the question. By the way, not that I used them (Amazon graciously took back the computer when Acer would not), but the recovery discs that were promised to me by customer service "within 2 to 5 business days" did not arrive until two-and-a-half weeks later. Thank God the whole experience is just a memory, and I'm now enjoying my new HP laptop from WallyMart (I hate to use the box stores, but I gotta get a move on my thesis).