Content-Type: RST Motherboard, hard drive, keyboard, screen, CD/DVD drive, laptop case. Almost a full computer, no? Well, that's the list of things my Dell XPS M1330 laptop needed replaced throughout its life. Some more than once. Fortunately, it was under warranty for all of those. However, now something broke on my motherboard and it can not charge batteries anymore, making it something more of a "mobile workstation" rather than a laptop. .. figure :: http://blog.opensourcenerd.com/upload/frustration BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP! So, since I *need* a computer with good mobility for class and going other places, and since I am sort of strapped for cash (ha ha, college student stereotype, ha ha), I decided to go with a netbook. One thing I noticed while researching my options, though, is that the large majority of netbooks seemed to dwell around the same price range ($300) and sported similar hardware: 1.60-1.66 GHz Intel Atom, 1 GB RAM, 250 GB HDD (or 4-6 GB SSD), Intel integrated graphics, 10-11" screen, and a 6-cell battery. Each of these specs varied, but only slightly so. I was left with basically looking at the best price, coupled with considering the few models that sported a 9-cell battery by default. Since 10 hours of continuous use is overkill, and this netbook had a discount, and had a combo deal with a 2 GB RAM upgrade and a carrying case, I got it: the **Acer Aspire One**. First Impression ---------------- .. figure :: http://blog.opensourcenerd.com/upload/acer-aspire-front Small. Light. Sleek. Like all netbooks, of course. However, there is something more "solid" about this one than about (for example) the Asus Eee. Plus, I think the white outside and the black inside makes for a very nice contrast. .. figure :: http://blog.opensourcenerd.com/upload/acer-aspire-back Plugged it in, turned it on, and the Windows 7 Starter (eugh) wizard came up. Just for the heck of it, I played nice and let it install and set itself up. However, once booted to the Windows desktop I realized that it's futile to do anything with it, because on a netbook there really is *nothing* Windows can do that Linux can not. So, I popped in a USB drive with Ubuntu 9.10 32-bit burned to it, and let it go. The installation went smoothly, and here I am using it to write this entry. The Good -------- **Linux support**. Awesome. On my first boot, the graphics acceleration, wireless, webcam, sound, card reader, worked out of the box. No trouble at all with "Fn" keyboard hotkeys. The only thing I can complain about is no support for this multitouch touchpad, but I don't have much use for it anyway. Also, because it is a 32-bit platform, installing Flash requires no more effort than a couple clicks. **Battery**. Although it doesn't live up to the advertised battery life (but then, what battery does?), this 6-cell battery can give me 5-6 hours of uptime with desktop effects and wireless on. If I turn those off, switch to a simpler window manager (fluxbox?) and downclock the processor, I'm sure I can hit 9-10 hours or more. **Screen**. The screen is awesome. The white makes my laptop's screen look yellowish by comparison, and it has a good range of brightness. It is also supposedly low-power, since it's LCD, and has the option to turn off the backlight if in very well-lit environments. **Speed**. With 2 GB RAM, this thing has taken most of what I threw at it so far with no problem (for problems, see video_ below). The only noticeable contrast of speed between my laptop's 2 GHz Core 2 Duo and this 1.6 GHz Atom is that it takes me about 1 minute of processing to start a Zope 3 server, whereas it takes me about 10-15 seconds on the laptop. .. figure :: http://blog.opensourcenerd.com/upload/acer-aspire-profile **Form factor**. Really good looking netbook. No sharp corners, thin, and shiny (for downside, see shiny_ below). The hinges on the screen are really well built, and the screen does not wobble almost at all. Also, the Aspire "buttons" on the sides of the hinges are a really nice touch. The Bad ------- **Keyboard**. While the keyboard is generally well-built, and I adjusted to typing it pretty fast, there are two issues I have with it. First, the Page Up and Page Down keys are all crunched into the lower right corner, and it's not a pleasant surprise to hit Page Up when you intended to hit left while text editing. Second, the Home and End buttons are only accessible by using Fn and one of the Page Up / Page Down buttons. It really makes hotkeys like Firefox's Alt+Home much harder. .. figure :: http://blog.opensourcenerd.com/upload/acer-aspire-failarrows .. _video: **Video**. While this netbook can handle small videos fairly well, it has problems with any HD video, Flash or otherwise. This seems to be because of the crappy graphics card, or so the internets tell me. Good job, Intel. *Update:* To clarify, my video card handles YouTube videos just fine, just not when the HD option is on. **Temperature**. Maybe it's just excited to see me, but it gets pretty hot when I use it, especially in the region the CPU is located. Not abnormally or dangerously hot, but warmer than (I think) it should be. The Ugly -------- .. _shiny: **Shiny**. All parts of the laptop save the keyboard and the underside are shiny to some degree. While this makes it really pretty to look at, it also means fingerprints galore. Having to take care of this on top of keeping things like my glasses and iPhone finger print free means I now have a reusable cloth to wipe them all. Works well! **Speakers**. While laptop/netbook speakers are generally not the best, the speakers of this netbook deserve special mentinon. They are placed on the sloped underside at the front of the netbook, facing down. While on a desk this doesn't make much of a difference, when I use it on my lap the speakers are muffled by my legs. This however gives an impression of better bass than they actually have. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing, so it's here in the ugly. The Bottom Line --------------- .. figure :: http://blog.opensourcenerd.com/upload/holy-crepe-cat Picture unrelated. I highly recommend this netbook for the Linux success, but that set aside, I probably could have bought another netbook if it were cheaper and have been just as satisfied. What I wanted was a netbook and what I got was a netbook, so I'm happy. **Note:** I will update later today with pictures of it, when my camera is not stuck in a bus's baggage hold.