Acer became a member of the ever-expanding mini-notebook club with the Linpus Linux Lite version of the Aspire One, which we praised for its intuitive interface, fast boot time, and comfortable keyboard. The company follows up that Linux-based machine with the Windows XP–powered Acer Aspire One, a netbook with a nearly identical design that runs Microsoft’s most popular operating system. This model sees a bump in RAM from 512MB to 1GB and swaps a small 8GB solid-state drive for a traditional 120GB hard drive and costs only $20 more than the Linux model at a very affordable $349. We wish it lasted longer on a charge, but you can always pick up the Aspire One with a higher-capacity six-cell battery (AOA150-1447) for $50 more.

Sleek, Small Design

The Sapphire Blue Aspire One (also available in Coral Pink, Golden Brown, and Seashell White) looks far from cheap, despite its $349 price tag. Similar to the ASUS Eee PC 901, the Aspire One’s lid sports a glossy finish that attracts light fingerprints and smudges. Though it’s a small design addition, the neon orange–plated hinge adds a little pizzazz to the overall look.  

Compared with other 8.9-inch mini-notebooks, such as the Eee PC 901 ($599) and the HP 2133 Mini-Note ($729), the Aspire One is both slimmer and lighter. Measuring 9.8 x 6.7 x 1.4 inches and weighing just 2.4 pounds—2 ounces lighter than the Eee PC 901—the Aspire One’s portability alone makes it compelling. With  a total weight of only 3 pounds with the AC adapter, it’s a system that you can just toss into a bag and take with you.

Decent Typing Experience, Cramped Touchpad

The keyboard, 89 percent of full size, is a hair smaller than those on the HP 2133 Mini-Note and the MSI Wind, but it’s big enough for comfortable touch typing. We had no problems quickly entering URLs into Internet Explorer or replying to e-mail. The keys are certainly bigger and more firm than those on the ASUS Eee PC 900/901; the layout had very little flex to it. The keys were quite responsive and offered nice tactile feedback.

Measuring 2.5 x 1.2 inches, the trackpad on the Acer Aspire One is disappointingly small and very narrow vertically: At times our fingers would slip off the touchpad and hit the space bar. Twin vertical mouse buttons flank the touchpad, and they’re far too narrow. We frequently had to press a button twice because our fingers were half on and half off.

Ports and Storage

The Acer Aspire One is well equipped with ports; three USB, plus VGA, Ethernet, headphone, and microphone jacks surround the system. Acer includes a 5-in-1 card reader (for transferring photos, music, and other files) on the right side of the unit, and an additional SD Card slot on the left. The latter was a vital port in the Linpus Linux Lite version of the Acer Aspire One, as any card inserted into it added to the capacity of the skimpy 8GB SSD, and was recognized as one disk. This model’s 120GB HDD effectively eliminates the need for additional storage, but the slot acts as a traditional secondary card slot for loading content. On our LAPTOP File Transfer test, we were able to copy a 5GB folder of mixed media (photos, video, music, and documents) in 5 minutes and 23 seconds-a rate of 15.8 MBps, which is just a tad slower than the Gigabyte M912V’s speed of 21 MBps.

Familiar, Comfortable Interface

Equipped with Windows XP Home (with Service Pack 3), the Aspire One packs on the software, including several Windows staples such as McAfee Internet Security Suite, Microsoft Office 2007 (60-day trial), Windows Media Player, and Outlook Express 6. Best of all, it’s infinitely simple to install additional programs, unlike with the Linpus Linux Lite OS, which required us to tinker with the command line.