Acer Aspire One

I haven't reviewed a gadget for so long.. it's perhaps because I haven't been gadget shopping for ages. Here goes.. Acer Aspire One, one of the newly launched Mini Laptops :)

I went to an Acer exhibition in Mal Taman Anggrek yesterday, this one is a popular item, selling for Rp. 4 038 000,- (after discounts, not including the free gifts you're getting there plus the lucky draw tickets. If you're lucky you can get a free holiday in Singapore!). The price in other shops such as Dusit Mangga Dua will be Rp. 4 100 000,- to Rp. 4 200 000,- Ready stock colors are BLUE and WHITE (I go gaga after the white!).

The good qualities I like about this laptop:

- Cute size, nice fashion statement laptop, light at around 1 kilograms.

- Much cheaper than its new competitor, HP Mini Note (selling at Rp. 6 600 000,- at the same size and weight, but HP is using Windows Vista).

Then why am I not buying this one?

Available in sapphire blue, pink, gold and pearly white, it's one of the smallest mini laptops ever made (the smallest one being the 7" Asus EEE PC). This one is equipped with a 8.9" screen, with Linux as the operating system. This is one of its weaknesses, because not a lot of people can use the OS, and if you decided to install Windows XP into the system, it drags the whole process and slows the processor down. It loads really slowly and sometimes even pauses midway a typed sentence, which I cannot afford while writing.

The whole concept of mini laptop is ease of use, portability and style. However, this one might be lacking in other areas. If you really needed a laptop that can do multiple functions, this might not be the best option. A small laptop is good enough to make powerpoint slides, check emails while using the free WiFi at Starbucks, and other simple tasks.

If you don't mind using Linux, or the slow processor while equipping it with XP, then this one's for you. :) It's a really good deal, and it's selling quite popularly here, as targeted to fashionistas, writers, journalists, and the young, the hip, the restless.

Specification

• Screen: 8.9″ at a 1024×600 resolution, with LED backlit
• CPU: Intel Atom at 1.6GHz
• Solid State Drive: 8GB
• RAM: 512MB DDR2
• Connectivity: Ethernet, Wifi 802.11B/G
• VGA output
• 3 x USB
• 2 Memory card reader: MMC/SD/SDHC/xD/MS/MS Pro
• Operating System: Linpus GNU/Linux
• Weight: About 2 pounds, or 900gr
• Dimensions: 9.8″x 6.7″x 1.14″
• 1.3 megapixels webcam
• 3G Sim card reader
• On sale: July 10