Acer Aspire One AOD150-1920 10.1-Inch Ruby Red Netbook – 6.5 Hour Battery Life
Acer Aspire One AOD150-1920 10.1-Inch Ruby Red Netbook - 6.5 Hour Battery Life
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 List Price: $319.99 Sale Price: $375.00 Availability: unspecified 
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Product Description
The 10" Aspire One D150 netbook from Acer personifies speed and power in the finest, most compact form. The Aspire One D Series is built to enhance your mobile lifestyle, boasting up to 7-hour battery life for extended fun and productivity while you're on the move!Propelled by a fast processor made from the world's smallest transistors, the Aspire One D Series is a mini powerhouse delivering optimum Internet productivity and speedy performance on its 10-inch widescreen display. Download and share all the multimedia you want using the large-capacity hard disk. The Aspire One D Series is not only small and energetic but looks fashionable too, sporting a slim profile, smooth contours and polished finish. This cool netbook is the ultimate fusion of aesthetic expression and awesome functionality.
Details
- 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 Processor, 1GB RAM
- 160GB Hard Drive (without operating system), Integrated 802.11b/g, Wi-Fi Certified
- 10.1" Display, Includes Acer Crystal Eye webcam
- Windows XP Home with SP3, 6 Cell Battery (6 1/2 Hours of Battery Life)
Rating
Acer made a nice mini-notebook into a better one. The screen is larger and just as bright. The keyboard is still great (for a small one). No weirdly placed right shift key placement (Asus, Lenovo, etc). The mousepad buttons are below the touchpad not along side (yeah). It is now easy to increase ram or replace the drive without entirely dismantling the unit and voiding the warranty. I have no complaints. I loved the first one, this one fixes all the criticisms of the first one. Nothing major just refinement. Someone is listening to its customers and it is Acer.
Addendum: the screen is glossy, and initial orders are getting the larger 5900ma battery. It stick out the back a bit, but the run time is amazing. It must be the longest running mini-laptop out there, including the new Asus 1000he and the Samsung 10nc, for much less $$. That’s a win in my book. Easy to touch type (for me), good looks, I need a xd-card slot and this one has a 7-1, there is a bit a bloat ware, just delete and put on what you need, the HD is large enough.
Rating
I was worried about getting one as I have had a 12″ laptop and was not happy with screen size. But this screen is SO bright it does not even become a issue, not to mention the 1064×600 really makes it seem bigger!
Another bonus, this baby runs 7.5 to 8 hours due to the 5800Amh 6 cell battery! Sweet. Very happy with that. I heard most were shipping with the 4400Amh 6 cell which gives your 5-6 hours. I can run this all day or two before recharge, very nice! I have to keep looking at battery indicator in dis-belief that the battery is still 75% or 50%, it just lasts forever!
This is super portable obviously, and really how laptops SHOULD be. You can put on one leg, it doesn’t weigh you down when actually sitting in your lap which is nice. I have had many laptops over the years, screen sizes and this one wins hands down for price, and performance. The unit is strong heavy duty case, compared to some newer thin plastic laptops.
Rating
I’m very impressed with this netbook. I ordered mine as soon as I heard they were initially shipping with 5800 mAH batteries and I was pleased to find mine came with one. It is rated 5800 mAh / 59 Wh, and the model number is UM08B52. Windows estimates close to 8 hours of battery life when fully charged and it seems to be accurate. The display is glossy and looks great. It boots very quickly although I haven’t timed it. Performance is better than expected – I can’t tell a difference between this and my Thinkpad R61 when running Microsoft Office applications or browsing the web. I’m not sure if it has a fan because I haven’t heard it kick in yet. It stays fairly cool except when charging. The keyboard takes some getting used to. It has great feel but I can tell it is slightly smaller than the HP netbooks I’ve tried in stores. As noted in some reviews, the mouse buttons are pretty stiff but after a couple of days I’ve gotten used to it.
Rating
I just received my mini yesterday and I love it. Much better than I expected although it takes a little (just a bit) getting use to the slightly smaller keyboard thanks to my fat fingers. The screen is great, it is nice and bright, as is the overall feel of the unit. It feels quite sturdy and is so quiet you wonder if it even has a spinning harddrive (it does). It stays cool and it charges very quickly. Some may think this unit is to small, but that is what I like about it. I bought it to take with me, to keep in the car, to travel with, etc. It fits that bill exactly. This is just great for surfing the web, jotting down notes or using as an mp3 player, etc. You probably don’t want to use it as your main PC unless you just use a PC to do what I mentioned above, but I guess if you attach an external monitor, keyboard and mouse there is little reason why you can’t.
I was originally going to wait a bit more before buying it, but the lure of possibly getting the 5800 mh battery instead of the 4400 convinced me to buy it now. It worked I got a 5800 mh battery that last about 8 hours SWEET!!
Now my boss is thinking about buying one, it’s just a matter of time, because he’s drooling.
The only down side is the nice blue cover shows finger prints, though they wipe off easily, and the mousepad is a little tricky for me but I have never liked mousepads so that’s just me.
I may get another one soon, since my son is already eyeing this one. Oh the joys of being a pushover!
UPDATE: Boss just ordered, couldn’t hold out any longer, he is weak. My friends husband, Oscar is interested in one, it’s just a matter of time, these things sell themselves!
Rating
Several years ago, $350 would get you a good 10″ DVD player. Now, $350 will get you a great full-performance netbook computer with an XP Windows operating system, 160GB hard drive, fast Intel Atom processor, and a 6-cell battery that lasts 5-6 hours. Like many laptops, the touch pad is difficult to master, as least for me. But, I use a mouse when I can. Found out last night, it fits well on an airplane tray, even if the person in front of you leans back. Played iTunes movie and music. Also, works well with my Blackberry Curve as a tethered modem. Fast graphics! Glad I waited for the larger 10-in. This baby performs as nearly as well as my $1,500 work laptop. GREAT computer, Acer!!!
Update: FYI, after doing a battery drain on purpose, it took just over 3 hours to reach a full recharge. PS: Just saw in the User’s Guide you should do this 2 or 3 times soon after first using the computer.
Rating
Acer Aspire One AOD150-1165 10.1-Inch Netbook (1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 Processor, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, XP Home, 6 Cell Battery) Sapphire Blue
I know there are plenty or reviews about the good and bad things about this tinny little piece of hardware. I will not be talking about how good it is but rather WHY it seems good.
First a bit about me. I’m a mac user, love technology and are very critical of details that can make it or break it.
The Acer Aspire One 150 is simply more of what I was expecting, for less that I thought I was paying. I will number the reasons WHY I think such to be the case:
1) Quality. I know you can get them at walmart and they are quite on the cheap side. But that has nothing to do with the built, feel and performance of this device. Coming from my Macbook Pro early 2008, I cannot say that there is much room for improvement. Besides a backlite keyboard LOL.
2) Performance. How many times will you hear a Mac user praising a Windows machine, specially running on an atom N270? Well here it is one. I did not modify the OS or got Linux on it (yet) because I’m review what you will be getting right of the box. The machine is very snappy, booting is a breeze and this is the first time I use a brand new windows machine without reinstalling the OS. I only downloaded AVG free anit virus and unistalled MacAfee and I’m running this baby. Video Playback is very decent. The 5800 mAmp battery 59 Watts rated is just wonderful.
3) Design. They keyboard is just good, it could be better but I really don’t see much room for improvement. It is a 300 dollar machine for Christ sake. Screen, I have to use it in the lowest setting, the LED is great and resolution on the spot. Size and weight are very decent. I actually wish it was a bit wider, then again that is my macbook pro bias. Key layout it works wonders for me so far. Functions and commands are easy to execute on it and it is simply pleasent to use sitting, laying in bad or standing. Viewing angle is good, although video videos have a natural narrower viewing angle.
3) Features. Great battery life (I would put it in the 7 hours range to be fair with real usage). The Audio card is fantastic, it is as good as the macbook pro, no exageration. The atheros WIFI card got reception where my macbook pro doesn’t have it and other computers as well. The HD is very fast, It copies data very quickly and don’t be fool by the 1 G RAM on it, it is plenty to handle netbook oriented computing tasks. The touchpad, in conflict with other reviews out there, there is advance calibration software included in the machine that will allow you to use all the single finger scrolling features and flicker in no time (need to be calibrated first). And just in case people didn’t know there are actually sensors that detect your hand on the resting pad in relation to the touchpad as to avoid unnecessary input.
4) Personal Gripes: I know these are not really serious concerns but I’m pretty sure they will make the product better overall. First, dual booting. I mean come on how hard it will be to add ubuntu remix to this little wonder. Just as to get a taste of it. Touchpad buttons, I wish i didn’t have to go all the way to the very end of them to click and there was more feedback, maybe I need to get used to them. N280 processor, I know it does not make it or break it but it would be nicer to have the newer atom processor here. Although I know it is not a deal breaker at all. Last but not least, Intel GMA 950??? Come one, it works but this is by far the weakest point on the device. I know we are not doing high end graphics in here, but give me some better integrated graphic action LOL
Overall, I give it 5 starts because I find no serious flaws with this product to reduce a single start. It is more that what I bargained for and I’m very sure that it will be a very good addition to my technological arsenal for years to come lol…
Rating
I had seen these and similar units available for some time. The Acer models caught my attention the first time I came across them browsing through hardware for an order I was placing. They are sleek netbooks with a nice clean paint job resembling a showroom sports car. Ultra portable, thin and lite, these are the best balance of functionality and extreme mobility.
Like I said in my introduction I had seen these online for some time but never bought one. I thought they looked attractive but doubted there efficiency for office use. I didn’t want to spend $300+ on something I wasn’t sure could meet my needs. I had used a HP mini and hated it. Found the screen too small and unstable. Noticed some flickering with the HP units that turned me off from the netbook PCs. However something about the Acer units kept me curious.
The wife must have noticed how curious I had grown, and surprised me with one for Valentines Day. This was the best gift I could have gotten. This PC is awesome and totally destroyed my skepticism.
The video was amazing! Nice sharp display, perfect resolution for the size. Runs games I never expected it to run. Half-life one based games run great, and the Half-life 2 demo runs playable (although not well enough to be competitive online 15-30fps) Hard-drive has plenty of room for a mobile PC. Divx and Netflix Instant watch runs nice with a great picture quality. Another feature that amazed me was the audio quality. HD audio with great sounding speakers that were remarkably loud!
This PC is also amazingly light. It’s solid, well put together, and barely even gets warm when running with full CPU load. The six cell battery gives me almost 7 hours of continuous use. The long battery life means if I take it out on call, and forget my power cord, I do not have to worry about it dying on me. This is the first laptop I have ever came across that can virtually give you a full days use on one charge. This is a great stride for the business user who relies on their PC to work all day.
Office applications run great. OpenOffice and Microsoft Office 2007 runs nicely. My only complaint is the PC is running XP Home. The types of consumers who would benefit most form the system would need XP Professional. This is not Acers fault. Microsoft only allows XP Home to still be sold, and only for netbooks. All other sales of XP has been stopped. This is because even though XP has reach it end-of-sales status, Microsoft has recognized that vista is too much for these low end netbooks. But what about Windows 7? The full release of windows 7 is expected to hit shelves by Christmas, and with the growing popularity of the netbook and Microsoft claims that 7 requires less resources than vista with more features, Windows 7 might be a good choice for the netbook class of portable PCs.
I had already tested Windows 7 on an older Athlon system and it performed surprisingly well. It was also very close to the specs of the Acer. Running a 1.4Ghz with 266Mhz fsb system with 1GB DDR 266Mhz ram it was pretty close. In fact the Acer is more powerful, 1.6Ghz with 533Mhz fsb and 1GB DDR2 533Mhz, it should prove a viable system to run Windows 7.
It was simpler than other users made it seem. Most people who installed other Operating Systems on the Acer Aspire One claim you had to use a USB flash drive properly formatted with the installations files on. Then boot form the flash drive and install windows. That was because a lot of USB CD/DVD drives are not bootable. The first one I tried wasn’t. I use a thermaltake USB drive enclosure with a NEC 16X DVD+-RW. Works good for installing and burning on the Acer but not recognized during boot. However I did have a USB to IDE cable I use to recover information from crashed hard-drives. I plugged it into a burner I pulled from a dead emachines PC and it worked liked a charm. Booted from the DVD no problem and installed Windows 7 Beta.
First thing I noticed is that it recognized all the hardware right away. I ran windows update and received all the updates and this PC is amazingly stable. The Aero interface runs flawlessly, with all the effects. Some stuttering but only noticeable by picky users like me. Windows 7 looks beautiful on this machine and really compliments the high quality LCD included with Acer. Even the slide show wallpaper feature runs nice. The wallpapers transition every 5 minutes and do so very smoothly even with full CPU load! (JORDAN VARDEN, Jordos Computer Services, Tupper Lake NY)
Rating
It’s amazing and I love it. The battery life is four times any laptop I’ve ever owned. Just to cycle the battery a couple times I had to run my virus scanner for 5 hours, after changing the power settings to “always on.” That’s five hours of the hard drive spinning almost constantly.
I recommend you spend an extra $25 for a 2GB memory stick. I’ve regretted not max-ing out memory on laptops in the past. But I’ve never regretted spending a few extra bucks to max them out up-front.
Obviously, this is the perfect airplane companion. Even if it’s your second laptop, for the airplane only, it’s well worth the $350 if you travel a lot. You don’t even have to worry if the person in front of you puts the seat back–it still fits. And you certainly don’t have to worry about the battery life.
The keyboard is NOT a problem. I’m 6 feet tall with large hands. After reading these reviews I thought it would be an issue. I just plunked down my hands and started typing, and it was fine! That leaves only the tiny screen size as the only thing less-than-ideal, but you know what you are getting — it’s a netbook, not a laptop.
Performance is snappy — It seems to be better than my 2.4Ghz Celeron laptop. The thing preventing lots of multi-tasking is the screen, not the CPU. If you are at home, you might consider an external monitor.
Here’s a tip for would-be buyers. If you don’t want to spend money for a USB CD drive, just download “Alcohol 52 Free Edition”. It allows you to rip installation CDs and DVDs to image files, and to mount those files into a “virtual” drive. Just transfer the image files onto this baby using a thumb drive or over the network. Of course, some installations are not particular about running from a CD, and you can just install by copying all the files to a thumb drive. I use my thumb drives for other things, though, and it’s more convenient to move 2 files across to get the whole CD, and then be able to easily clean it up after.
The first thing you’ll want to do when you get this machine is uninstall all the trial software. That’s pretty quick — maybe 20 minutes. The second thing is adjust the touchpad sensitivity and speed in the control panel under “mouse”.
If I can figure out how to get it to boot up with the WiFi disabled, I’ll be 100% happy about it (instead of 99.9). I checked the BIOS, and didn’t see anything there. Of course, flicking the button once is not much of a big deal.
Rating
Hey, I recommend this little gem to all my friends and co-workers. I own both the 8.9″ Acer in Bronze and this 10.1″ in Ruby Red. I like this newer version better because it’s so easy to upgrade, and UPGRADE I DID. With hardly any effort, I switched out the 1GB of RAM for 2GB (Crucial 2GB 667 Mhz CT25664AC667 DDR2 200-Pin SODIMM card approximately $25.00 on Amazon), then slapped in a humongous 500GB Western Digital (Western Digital 500GB Scorpio Blue 2.5 SATA II Laptop Hard Drive, approx $99.00, also from Amazon). Just a tiny phillip’s screwdriver is all that’s needed for the exchange of physical components in the bottom of the case. You need to download the Acronis TRUE IMAGE Home Edition trial (or similar cloning/backup software) to the smaller drive and clone the original drive to the new drive before you swap them, but believe me, it’s simple and my new configuration works like a dream!!! (You will also need a 2.5 SATA drive enclosure, roughly $10-$20 on Amazon or eBay to hold the new drive while you clone the internal one to it before transfer to your computer, but you can use it to hold the drive you take out and have even extra external storage) I prefer the slimmer suave 3cell battery and bought a couple of those online for about $26.00 a piece. (After all, who in the world would ever stare at such a small computer for more than 1-1/2 hours, the avg use of the 3-cell before recharging – without taking a break – and the batteries pop in and out so very easily) No worry, the 6-cell battery charger seems to be working fine with them. So for under $500, I have one RUBY RED 500GB, 2GB ram, video taking-chatting, movie/song playing, office-working behemoth I love and carry it with me on-the-go everywhere. I own a MACBOOK 13″ Intel, and while I love it too, believe me, this little baby is every bit as powerful, only in a miniPC package and a whole lot lighter. And if you wanna top it off with a nice genuince leather case (3 different colors, smooth or crocodile) you can always find them (PDair) online to fit this little baby too.
Rating
I took delivery of my Acer about a week ago. I am compelled to write this review because prior to buying this I had owned two other netbooks. The original ASUS 701, and then later the HP2133. Both of which were great for varying reasons. But I want to focus on this netbook.
There are several import features any netbook user will soon realize have great value. First, it needs to be reasonably powerful. It needs to have a reasonable keyboard layout. And it needs a good battery life. When you choose what is best for you, take my word for it. If any of those three items are not up to your expectations, you’re not going to be happy with your choice.
Let’s cover the powerful part first.
This particular ASUS has 1 GB of RAM, and it’s a single SO-DIMM which you can replace very easily with nothing more than one screw and a Philip’s screw driver. The cost of the DIMM at the time I purchased mine was $25 for a single 2 GB SO-DIMM. And just like that, I went from 1 GB to 2 Gbs for the Windows XP Service pack 3 install on this netbook. You’ll want to do the same. Jumping from 1 GB to 2 Gbs changes the whole experience and it’s not a lot of money. Just do it. You’ll be glad you did. Or more to the point, you’ll not be as happy as you could be if you don’t.
Next is the processor. This one uses the Atom 1.6 GHz CPU from Intel. On battery it scales back to 1.0 GHz and extends the life of the battery. On AC it jumps up to 1.6 GHz. Even at 1.0 GHz, I didn’t realize it reduced in speed at all. My use of Open Office on this felt as it always feels.
The battery
The battery life remaining time indicator ranged from 6.5 hours to a whopping 9.4 hours. I have yet to even see the battery die because I have not had the opportunity to use it on battery long enough to actually kill the battery. It just lasts and lasts. Virtually every single laptop or netbook I have owned doesn’t come even remotely close to the battery life of this thing. And I have to tell I have been disappointed many times in the past over this single issue. I need a laptop that can last a while on battery, otherwise I am lugging something around for no real reason and I don’t like that. You will get plenty of battery time on this.
The keyboard
I hate to say this, but the keyboards on the ASUS line are the worst. And this ACER and the HP netbooks out there are superior. Both the HP2133 and this ACER have 92% sized keyboards. But just as important as close to full size is, it’s not the total. It’s the keys themselves. You simply must have a right shift key under the enter key and it must be larger than the enter key. Why? Because that’s the muscle memory you have when you type. All keyboards have always been this way until the dawn of the netbook when vendors such as ASUS changed that. And it makes the eeePC difficult to work with. Some keyboards put the UP key right under the Enter key. And you will intend to shift, but instead will cursor up and start inserting text into a previously finished sentence. This will drive you crazy. Always look at the images of the keyboard layout before you buy a mini. This Acer has the proper layout.
Some notes on other netbooks.
You should know that many netbooks have just 1 GB and are not expandable. Do not assume you can drop 2 Gbs into any netbook. You’d be wrong in that assumption. Do not assume that SSD is always better. I happen to own an SSD drive, and I paid a fair amount of money for it. It’s not so much better than a hard drive at this point. Not until the lower cost ones dump the old JMICRON controller which causes stutters in loading is resolved. The more expensive ones use an Intel controller but cost more than this netbook does. And JMICRON only recently announced a new controller that resolves this issue. For now, a cheap 2.5″ standard laptop hard drive is still a better bet for the money. Be sure your netbook can use a standard 2.5″ laptop drive. They are so cheap these days. You should easily have 160 to 250 Gbs of storage. Many believe less is fine, but we all say things like that early on, and then demand more and more from our purchase as time goes forward. So just go for something spacious to begin with and you future-proof yourself. This particular ACER has a nice 160 GB hard drive.
The Mouse Pad and button
I read many reviews that talk about the mouse pad and button. They all scared me by being so very negative about it. Claiming it has a life of its own, etc. And how hard the button is to press. I am sorry to say I think those reviews are written by, shall we say people with no brains, or something. The single button is really two buttons. You press the left side of the single button to do a left mouse, and you press the right side to press a right mouse click. The center is the rocker bridge. If you press the center, nothing is going to happen. Like a teader todder, the center is what is holding the button in place. You are not meant to press there. You are meant to press the left side and the right side. Sorry but, dah. How dense are people not to realize this. And the mouse pad itself. I have nothing short of perfect results with it. I am happy to discover this after I bought it, but those who wrote such poor reviews of it need to stop drinking or smocking whatever they are abusing so early in the morning. These must be the same people who think that tray on a CD drive is a coffee cup holder.
Screen real estate. This Acer has 1024 x 600. A web page as wide as the Wall Street Journal will have no problem at all. From left to right, you see the width at 100% without problem. But the up and down resolution of just 600, a common size in most netbooks is really the minimum. Some newer gen netbooks are starting to offer higher resolution. My HP2133 does 1280 x 768 in an 8.9″ screen. It’s too tiny in my opinion, but you get used to it. Problem is, my HP2133 uses a VIA processor, not an Atom. The Atom is by far the better CPU for these minis. A 10.1″ screen at 1024 x 600 is large. You will be able to read the screen easily. You just don’t have a lot of top to bottom real estate. So limit things like tool bars so you leave enough room for the content itself.
I paid a total of $365 for mine with shipping and the cost of changing the memory to 2 Gbs. I feel like I got much more than I paid for. So much so I gave my HP2133 away to a friend in need of a netbook. This is my 3rd purchase of a netbook, and so far I finally feel like I got it right.
Alex Alexzander