Ace in the hole
IT’S difficult to write about the Aspire One from Acer without gushing.
Out of the box, this mini-notebook is the perfect traveling companion for anyone who simply needs to surf the Web, send e-mail and perform typical office tasks such as typing up documents, working on spreadsheets or giving a presentation.
Its compact size—6.7”x9.8” and less than an inch thick—and weight—less than a kilo—make the Aspire One extremely easy to bring along anywhere. The netbook is slightly longer than the pioneering Asus Eee PC, but Acer has put that extra space to good use by building in a larger keyboard that most touch typists will appreciate (about 85 percent of a full-sized one) and a glossy black frame around the LCD screen that makes it look brighter.
Acer does a solid job at combining aesthetics with thoughtful design. Unlike other netbooks that have a matte finish, the Aspire One comes with an attractive glossy exterior. The unit I reviewed was pearl white, but the Aspire One is also available in shades of blue, pink and brown.
The battery slips neatly into the hinge where it can be locked into place. On the netbook’s left edge rest the power jack; a video port for connecting to an LCD projector or an external monitor; a network port, one of three USB ports (the two are on the opposite side) and an SD slot that provides a quick way to expand system storage. Plugging in an 8GB SD card will double your storage to 16GB in a snap.
On the right edge of the netbook are microphone and headphone jacks; the two other USB slots, a 5-in-one card reader (useful for reading in photos from your digital camera); and a slot for a Kensington lock. A switch on the front edge turns WiFi on and off.
The Aspire One sells for P18,800 for the Linux version, making it the most attractively-priced netbook in the market today. For that price, you get an Intel Atom N270 processor, an 8.9-inch LCD screen, 1 gigabyte (GB) of memory, an 8GB flash drive for storage, built in Wi-Fi and Ethernet and a built-in Web cam.
The Aspire One comes with a good selection of free software, starting with the operating system, Linpus Lite, a version of Linux based on Fedora. Remarkably, the Aspire One boots up and is ready to use in less than 30 seconds.
Like the Eee PC, the Aspire One shields non-technical users from the complexity of the operating system. The launcher organizes applications into four sections (Connect, Work, Fun and Files) and is very easy to use. Clicking on an icon launches its associated program.
OpenOffice, an open source office productivity suite that’s compatible with MS Office, comes installed. The Aspire One also has a collection of programs for managing e-mail, contacts and appointments and for sending instant messages.
As good as the Aspire One is, Acer should consider improvements in two areas when it designs the next version of its netbook.
First, the tiny touch pad is difficult to use because the right and left click buttons are positioned awkwardly to the side of the pad, making it almost impossible to select a window and move it with just one hand. My suggestion: go back to the track point popularized by the IBM Thinkpad. This will keep the space required on the wrist rest small and make the system easier to use.
Second, Acer should consider improving battery life. One full charge enabled me to use the Aspire One continuously for two hours—not all that bad, but quite a bit less than the competition.
In my case, neither of these are deal breakers. I prefer to use a mouse even on a notebook, so the tiny touch pad isn’t much of a problem.
When mobile, I also tend to gravitate towards a power outlet every chance I get, so two hours of battery life is usually enough.
I was much more concerned about the extent to which I could customize the Aspire One to meet my needs.
Like the Eee PC, the Aspire One doesn’t make this easy to the casual user. In fact, the default launcher doesn’t even have an icon for installing or removing software.
Fortunately, Laptop Magazine details how to do this:
1)Open a terminal by going to My Documents in the Files group. Then choose File > Terminal.
2) Type “xfce-setting-show” (without the quotation marks) and hit Enter.
3)In the Settings Manager window that appears, select the Desktop icon. In the Behavior tab, check the box that says “Show desktop menu on right click.” Now you have access to the system’s advanced menu by right-clicking on a blank area of the desktop.
4)Open a terminal and type “sudo -su” and hit Enter. Type “passwd” and Enter. Type in a new root password. The password cannot be a dictionary word but a combination of letters and numbers. Retype the password.
5)Right-click on the desktop and choose System > Add/Remove Software. Enter the root password you set and use the Package Manager to install the programs you want.
Using this method, I was able to install Gimp, a powerful open source image editing program similar to Photoshop and Deluge, a BitTorrent client for downloading large files.
Because of time constraints, I haven’t been able to go much beyond that, but I hope to do a bit more exploring before I have to return this review unit.
In the meantime, one thing is apparent: in the campaign to capture the next billion users, the Aspire One is Acer’s ace in the hole.