It’s been only a few months since Acer debuted its Aspire One D150 netbook, but already the company has come out with a slimmed-down model, the D250 (D250-1165), which is both thinner and lighter than its predecessor. However much lower the profile, though, Acer has still managed to cram in the same internal specs while keeping the price a reasonable $298 ($349 for the 6-cell model).
Design
In many ways, the Acer Aspire One D250 resembles the D150: It has the same keyboard, the same glossy black bezel surrounding a glossy 10.1-inch screen, and it’s even a similar shade of blue on the lid and the keyboard deck. It doesn’t have the metallic flecks of the D150, and the blue is more purple in tone, just enough for a noticeable difference. This netbook will also be available in black, white, and red.
At 10.2 x 7.2 x 1 inches and 2.2 pounds, it’s 0.8 inches narrower, 0.3 inches thinner, and more than half a pound lighter than the D150. In fact, with its charger, the AOD250 weighs just 2.8 pounds, the same as the D150 alone. Remarkably, it’s almost identical in thickness and weight to the ASUS Eee PC 1008HA, but, because it doesn’t have tapered sides, it looks larger at first glance.
Keyboard and Touchpad
The D250’s keyboard, unchanged from the D150, is firm and easy to type on; we had no problems typing this review in Microsoft Word. But there’s still a quarter inch of chassis on either side of the keyboard; a missed opportunity for Acer to install a larger, edge-to-edge keyboard, along the lines of the HP Mini 110 or Eee PC 1008HA.
The touchpad is comfortable to use, and offers very little friction, but at 2.0 x 1.5 inches, could be a little wider. The mouse button below is a single bar, lacking a divot to separate the two sides. Still, its action was crisp and not too stiff.
Display and Audio
As with the AOD150, the 10.1-inch LED-backlit screen on the D250 has a resolution of 1024 x 600. We’re glad that Acer didn’t skimp on the 24 vertical pixels in the name of boasting a 16:9 display. Even though it’s a spacious 10 inches, at this size, every pixel counts. The glossy screen was crisp and displayed colors superbly; watching episodes of Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons on Hulu at full screen, we were impressed with how brightly it rendered colors. While horizontal viewing angles were excellent, tilting the screen forward almost immediately results in a distorted image.
The speakers on the D250 were about what we expect from a netbook; not all that powerful, and a little tinny—but they get the job done. Listening to Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire” through Pandora, we felt the bass was on the thin side. The speakers would sound a lot better if they were placed on the keyboard deck, rather than on the underside of the front edge of the chassis; when we tilted the netbook backwards, songs not only sounded louder, but more detailed, too.
Ports and Webcam
Despite its slimmed-down physique, the D250 still manages to accommodate three USB ports, VGA, Ethernet, a 4-in-1 memory card slot, and headphone and mic ports. But the card slot is now on the right side (instead of the left), and the VGA, USB, and audio jacks have been moved further forward on the left side.
A 0.3-megapixel webcam above the display provided decent images when videoconferencing with a friend over Skype, but the image was a bit darker than that provided by the MSI Wind U120’s 1.3-megapixel webcam. The microphone, located to the left of the webcam, allowed our caller to hear us loud and clear without our having to speak up.
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