Electronics Gadget Reviews

Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 720 720p 3LCD Home Theater Projector

The Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 720 takes home theater entertainment to a whole new level, featuring color and detail that’s sure to win rave reviews from friends and family alike. With 1600 lumens and the vivid realism of Epson 3LCD technology, this mega star will make your home the hottest ticket in town. Experience movies, games and sporting events like you never have before. As stylish as it is entertaining, the Home Cinema 720 is the perfect performer, adapting well to virtually any scene, whether you mount it on a ceiling, shelf or table.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Never Go to the Movies Again!
I have owned this projector for almost a year. If you look around, then you can likely purchase it for about $1100 BEFORE a combination $100 AND free spare lamp mail-in rebate (I cannot overstate the peace of mind that having a spare lamp creates).

I put about 90 hours on the lamp that came with the unit and have subsequently put about 500 hours on the rebate lamp (I put that in immediately to make sure it worked. My original lamp is now my back up). I have yet to buy a screen (that day is hopefully coming quickly). Therefore, I have my picture thrown on an off-white wall painted with flat paint. I currently have my picture size set at 120″. I used to have it set at 135″ but I found 120″ to be the sweet spot for me in terms of having a big enough picture that was still sharp and crisp.

Despite my lack of a screen, the picture I get is insane for the price I paid. The colors pop (especially in Living Room mode) and HD material is amazing. DVD’s look good. Blu Ray is a must. There is a caveat. Because the picture is bigger, flaws in source material will be magnified. I notice a distict difference in the sports broadcast by ESPN, ABC, and Fox versus NBC and CBS. NBC and CBS are markedly better. This, however, is due to the source material and not the projector. But I digress.

The projector can handle some ambient light. However, the fact that I am projecting on to an off-white wall and the absence of a screen hampers my projector’s performance in this area. Despite this, I often still watch stuff with a low-light lamp on so my kids can play in the room at the same time. The menu system allows the picture to be customized to your viewing preferences. If you have different preferences for different lighting scenarios or even different preferences for the type of content being watched, then multiple settings can be stored and easily accessed.

I wish I could give it 4.5 stars because it lacks 2 HDMI inputs and the fan is audible in high power modes (but not distracting). The warranty is great and Epson offers overnight replacement.

The bottom line is this; 1080p is best, 720p is sufficient for most (I sometimes wonder how much better 1080 could look). This projector has gotten excellent expert reviews. If you have a room that is suitable for a projector, DO NOT spend $1300-2500 on a “small” 46-58″ LCD/plasma. If you do some research and shop around, this projector, a decent screen, cables, a good receiver and speakers can be had for the same $2500. Reserve the LCD flat panel for the bedroom. Purchase this projector and never go to the movies again.

5 Stars Great projector!
Great projector… have it connected to an Onkyo TX-SR805 receiver and a set of Yamaha surround sound speakers. My cable TV, DVD’s, and HTPC play wonderfully on it! Great purchase and a great alternative to the $3000+ 1080p projectors.

5 Stars An outstanding experience
Manufacturer of the LCD panels used by most companies in their Home Theater projectors, until recently Epsons own offerings had remained lackluster. Their focus was mainly on high lumen, low contrast projectors for business and education, however, that has changed. With the introduction of their current line-up, Epson has unleashed an excellently valued 720p projector, capable of delivering a high quality big screen experience that will wow friends and family.

There is nothing like being able to watch your favorite movie on a 100″ screen. I enjoy watching Blu-Rays on my PS3, but DVDs look great too. Playing Call of Duty 4 occasionally is also a thrilling experience, with rich colors, depth and great shadow detail. If you haven’t experienced a modern high def projector and value video entertainment, you owe it to yourself to check it out. Its just light years from the washed out colors of 5 years ago. Its very watchable in all but the brightest lighting conditions and, in my view, produces a more satisfying picture than Plasma or LCD sets.

Before I purchased this model, I performed extensive research on the offerings available, reading every single review I could find and you just cant go wrong with either this or the Panasonic AX200. I opted for this one because of the slighter better colors and fewer complaints about problems from existing owners. The Panasonic offers a little more lumen output, but the Epson is more than bright enough.

If you have a little more cash, I would recommend the EPSON Powerlite Home Cinema 1080UB, as it is a superior projector not only in resolution, but in colors and black level, although it does cost over twice as much. For its price and the experience it offers, this projector is a steal and is guaranteed to offer hundreds of hours of great entertainment.

Final thoughts: my room is mostly reflexive white, and light does bounce back to the screen compromising black levels a bit. if you can, opt for matte colors.

4 Stars one of the best 720p projectors!
I bought this PJ elsewhere (not at Amazon) for $1149. This is my third digital PJ and the best unit so far. I started out about 12 years ago with the old heavy CRT beast. CRT is a rapidly dying breed and the pix quality has improved with digital PJ’s they are no longer worth the hassle (IMO).

The new Epson is much brighter then my old Panny PTL 500u (800 lums)which I’m replacing. Sharper cleaner pix with more detail in black areas as well as brighter areas. Blacks are very good with HD and good quality SD sources but not with so so quality SD (most cable channels). HD and full bandwidth off air SD look great! Blacks are as good as some low end DLP (under $2000)units with the dark chip 3. You won’t get the inky like blacks but will not be a distraction from movie either.

If you need to offset from center this is the unit for you. You can set the lens shift one full pix up or down and about the same side to side. You will need to sit about 1.2x screen size back to avoid seeing the pixel structure better know as SDE. I have a 100″ screen and pixels began to disappear about 10 to 11 feet back (102″ to 132″)thus the 1.2x.

Epson has great reputation for quality products and gives you a 2 year warranty if needed. I loved my Panny but with Panasonics ax100U issues I just can’t go with the Panny this time. I hope the 200u has been fixed but I’m not going to gamble with $1300 plus.

If you are like me and can see DLP rainbows then I highly recommend this unit. The only somewhat negative about this unit is the fan can be heard when not in low power cinema mode but does not disturb viewing experience. In low power (cinema modes) unless unit is right by your ear you probably never know it’s on. The high power mode is a little less noisy then a computer fan to give you some idea. If you have forced air heat (I do) then the air rushing from the ducts will make more noise then this PJ in high power mode. Could use a second HDMI input.

The picture quality and brightness is superb and you’ll be very happy with the quality of this unit. You may also want to look at the Sanyo Plv z5 for it has good reviews but is much dimmer then this unit. In a light controlled room that should not be an issue. Reviews by the so called experts put this unit near the top of the LCD pack and Epson customer service is by far better then Panasonic. Sanyo I have never had to deal with so can’t say .

This is one of the better 720p PJ’s on the market at present and you’ll be happy with the PQ of this unit.

Buy/More Info

Garmin A C Power Cable for n vi Portable GPS Navigators 010 10723 00

This A/C charger, which includes UK & Euro adapters, gives you the freedom to charge your GPS while away from home.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Garmin AC/DC power cord is indispensable
The Garmin power cord is a necessity for this product. Whether driving locally, long distance, biking or walking this is the only way to maintain a sure charge for this travel/mapping device. The car charger alone does not retain the memory of this GPS. Otherwise, it takes a long while for the Garmin to recharge if the battery is low. The external power cord should have been included in the original package. Without it I’d be lost……… (pun)

5 Stars The best i’ve ever seen
After having two cars with built in GPS I will never pay a car with it in it. It works better and easier than any I’ve ever seen, and the traffic extra is wonderful!!

Garmin A/C Power Cable 010-10723-00

5 Stars Work great for the Garmin while traveling in Europe
I used the fast wall charger to charge the Garmin when I was in Europe. This way I could use it on “Pedestrian” mode for navigation within the city.

5 Stars Garmin Nuvi Power Supply
If I would have looked closer at the description I would have seen the international adapter that comes with the P.S. I didn’t and so was pleasantly surprised as we are headed for Australia soon. The P.S. is compact and it works fine at a very reasonable price compared to cell phone power supplies. Delivered earlier than promised by U.S. Mail.

5 Stars Garmin A/C Power Cable
So nice to be able to charge the Garmin inside when I’m not using it in the car. Nice to know that I’ll be able to use it in other countries with the other adapters as well.

Buy/More Info

Kingston DataTraveler 8 GB USB 2 0 Flash Drive DTI 8GB

Now you can store, carry and transfer large files in an affordable, convenient device. The DataTraveler from Kingston helps budget-conscious users break storage barriers, allowing them to easily store and move large files in a device no bigger than a pocketknife, replacing the need for floppies or the hassle of burning CDs.As easy as click and drag, the DataTraveler can hold just about any file you can think of: term papers, theses, digital images, spreadsheets or other important documents. It works with virtually any computer with a USB port – even cross-platform from Macintosh to PC and vice versa.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Simple, Sturdy, Great Deal
I’d also like to say that this withstood a wash & dry cycle–two actually–with the cap on of course. It’s still running like a champ with no dings and no errors. I prefer the cap to the other methods of covering the USB port (slide-out, rotate, etc). It’s sturdy and simple, nothing fancy here, and it doesn’t include a brand-spattered lanyard or whatnot to make you look like a computer-geek… Which, by the way, I am, and I have to say that the big review about the “slow write-speeds for small files” does NOT affect the average user, because most people are not doing that. Anyway, I’m rambling.. The point is, Kingston & Sandisk are probably the 2 top flash-drive makers, along with the other memory companies (A-Data, Corsair, PNY), so pick the one you like (for whatever aesthetic reason, or for the inclusion/lack-of ‘U3′ software) and go with it.

2 Stars Not very reliable
I just received this in the mail and within the first couple of uses it keeps freezing up. I’m trying to use it to transfer mp3 files. I’ve found that it works fine if you do it 1 file at a time. I haven’t really used it for much else yet. Although it’s a big 4gb drive it does not seem to handle a large amount of info at 1 time.

5 Stars Awesome deal for so much space with the Kingston DataTraveler 8 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive DTI/8GB
I bought this USB Flash drive because it was the best price I have found anywhere for 8 GB and I needed someplace to keep all the files that I do not access regularly. I plugged it in to my computer and within 5 minutes I had transferred all those files onto it, about 1 GB worth. They vary from photos to music to documents and emails. It took no more than a blip for each one to transfer, even the larger ones. I would highly recommend this product to anyone looking for a way to store their files, or at 8 GB, to back up your entire system. These things sell for $50 and up in retail stores so this is a tremendous deal.

4 Stars Great Product
Receive on time and in excellent condition (brand new!!). I am pleased and would buy from seller again anytime.

5 Stars Flash Card
All the reviews I read on this product was correct. I would recommend this flash card for anyone whose need one. I find it easy to use and the price is so much better then the stores where i live and you get more storage space

Buy/More Info

ASUS Eee PC 900HA 8 9 Inch Netbook 1 6 GHz Intel ATOM N270 Processor 1 GB RAM 160 GB Hard Drive 10 GB Eee Storage XP Home Black

The new Eee PC 900HA offers you more options for your mobile computing needs, providing the power of a full-sized laptop–with the latest Intel mobile processor and a 160 GB hard drive–in a compact body with an 8.9-inch screen. Designed specifically for mobile devices, the 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor uses a brand new design structure new hafnium-infused circuitry–which reduces electrical current leakage in transistors–to conserve energy, giving you more time away from the wall outlet. Coupled with the ASUS exclusive Super Hybrid Engine, you’ll also enjoy up to 5 hours of battery life with this Windows-powered laptop.

The Asus Eee PC 900’s 8.9-inch screen is easier on the eyes, and the integrated webcam makes video chats a snap.

Much more compact than a standard-sized notebook and weighing just 2.5 pounds, the Eee PC 900HA is perfect for students toting to school or road warriors packing away to Wi-Fi hotspots. In addition to the 160 GB hard disk drive (HDD), the Eee PC 900HA also features 1 GB of RAM, VGA-resolution webcam integrated into the bezel above the LCD, 54g Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g), multiple USB ports, SD memory card slot, a VGA output for connecting to a monitor, and up to 10 GB of online storage (complimentary for 18 months).

It comes preinstalled with the Microsoft Windows XP Home operating system, which offers more experienced users an enhanced and innovative experience that incorporates Windows Live features like Windows Live Messenger for instant messaging and Windows Live Mail for consolidated email accounts on your desktop. Complementing this is Microsoft Works, which equips the user with numerous office applications to work efficiently.

For journalists, photographers and other professionals who need to use a computer in the field to create, to communicate and to collaborate with other colleagues, the Eee PC’s combination of power, extreme portability and rugged build makes it the ideal computing solution. The keyboard is 95 percent the size of standard notebooks, making it more comfortable to type for larger hands.

It’s also a great choice for young students, with a built-in Dictionary that’s great for homework, and it includes two modes of intuitive graphic user interface design to accommodate both experienced and inexperienced PC users. The Eee PC also handles your digital images, movies, and music as well as Internet radio.

Nicely light at just 40 ounces (2.5 pounds), the Eee PC 900HA has an 8.9-inch wide TFT LCD with a 1024 x 600-pixel resolution (WXGA)–making it more comfortable on eyes than its predecessor. In addition to its 54g wireless LAN (802.11b/g), it also offers wired Fast Ethernet (10/100) connectivity and a 56K modem. You get three USB 2.0 ports, a VGA output for connecting to external monitors, headphone and microphone jacks, and a Secure Digital (SD) memory card slot (compatible with MMC memory cards). It’s equipped with a 0.3-megapixel webcam (placed in the bezel above the LCD) and integrated microphone, allowing you to snap still photos of yourself while on the go for sending via email or join video chats with friends and family.

Battery-Sipping Processor
The Intel Atom processor uses a brand new design structure that packs in 47 million transistors into a single chip sized at just 22mm (0.87 inches), and it uses just 2.5 watts of power–less than 1/10 of the 35 watts used by an Intel Core 2 Duo processor–for excellent battery management. This 1.6 GHz Atom N270 processor also includes a power-optimized front side bus of 533 MHz for faster data transfer on demanding mobile applications and a 512 KB L2 cache (which temporarily stores data).

Together with the exclusive ASUS Super Hybrid Engine, you’ll enjoy a longer battery lifespan of up to 7 hours, allowing you to stay in touch and be connected for a longer period of time while on-the-go. It offers a choice of performance and power consumption modes for easy adjustments according to your computing needs. The Super Hybrid Engine toggles between the following three modes:

• High Performance Mode (high performance with some power savings)
• Super Performance Mode (maximum performance)
• Power Saving Mode (maximum power savings and minimum noise)

Online Storage from ASUS
With this Eee PC, ASUS also provides 10 GB of online storage (easily accessible via a desktop icon), which enables you to download up to 5 GB of data per day. It also provides secure file encryption and accessibility from both Windows and Linux platforms. Whether you want to share images with friends and family or store big business presentations, you can now access your data with ease and not worry about space constraints. The Eee Storage service is complimentary for the first 18 months, and it must be registered within the first 6 months after date of purchase.

Specifications

• Operating system: Windows XP Home
• Internal memory: 160 GB hard disk drive (HDD)
• RAM: 1 GB DDR2
• Processor: 1.6 GHz Intel Atom
• Memory expansion: Slot for MMC/SD(SDHC) cards
• LCD: 8.9 inches, 1024 x 600 pixels
• Networking: 54g Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), 10/100 Fast Ethernet
• Peripheral connectivity: Three USB 2.0
• External video: One VGA
• External audio: One headphone and one microphone port
• Webcamera: Yes, 0.3 megapixels (VGA)
• Battery life: up to 5 hours
• Weight: 2.5 pounds (40 ounces)
• Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.7 x 1.33 inches

What’s in the Box
ASUS Eee PC 900HA, AC adapter, printed operating instructions. It’s backed by a 1-year warranty on parts and labor.

ZBD from ASUS
All Eee PC’s come with ASUS’s ZBD (Zero Bright Dot) guarantee. If the purchaser discovers one bright dot within 30 days of purchase, ASUS will replace the panel without cost to the purchaser.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars ASUS Eee PC 900HA 8.9-Inch Netbook
I bought this ASUS Eee PC 900HA 8.9-Inch Netbook (1.6 GHz Intel ATOM N270 Processor, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, 10 GB Eee Storage, XP Home)to use while I’m traveling on my motorcycle.

It’s small and that’s just what I needed as luggage space is at a premium on a motorcycle.

The unit works well for what it’s designed for.

I wouldn’t want it as my main computer. The keyboard although small works well but I wouldn’t want to do a lot of typing with it.

I use it mainly for e-mail and Internet access and loading routes into my GPS while on the road.

Since there’s no CD in this unit you’ll need to use a network or memory cards to add new programs that come on a CD/DVD. I did not find this to be a problem.

I upgraded the memory to 2gb and it’s performance is very acceptable.

If you’re looking for a small computer that’s very mobile this unit will do the job.

5 Stars Works well
So far so good. Small keyboard is hard to get used to. It is fast and portable. Battery works for a few hours. Great computer

1 Star Screen Flaw – Returned it
The one star is mainly because the screen was flawed. Along much of the left side the screen was black in a very random way – covering up anything on the screen that should have been visible. I spent only 10 minutes using it, only long enough to get WINXP going so i could be sure the flaw stayed beyond the boot up screen (it did). But in those 10 minutes I learned a netbook is not for me. With a cell phone the tiny screen and keyboard is a fair trade off for being able to put it in my pocket. But the small screen on the netbook would be grueling after awhile. I touch type and the keyboard was just too small for proper finger position. Maybe I could have gotten used to it, but I would not want to try. I would rather lug my laptop around. So I guess the screen flaw was a good thing.

5 Stars NICE Netbook
This is a very nice netbook. Lots of disk space, storage space. Intel ATOM is recommended for netbooks. Has sufficient RAM. Is very light and portable. I recommend this netbook to anyone. Very satisfied with it.

4 Stars Best in class
I have had my asus for about a month now. I am a power user and have no less than 4 notebook computers I use ranging in size from a gaming 13.3 to this 8.9 screen. When I bought the Asus I purchased a 2GB Ram module at the same time so when I unboxed it started 2 GB instead of 1GB Ram. That being said here are my likes and dislikes about it.

Likes:

Screen is great. I have read reviews that say the screen is not bright enough but I have used my Asus in the car extensively under full sun no problems.

Size is great. I find of all my notebooks if I don’t have a gaming situation or media intensive applications, i.e., I just want to write, surf or edit some photos in Photoshop; the Asus is the one I go for. It’s a great compliment to my Blackberry.

Keyboard is great. Yes this is a great keyboard. Click thru, feel, and function are the best in class. The keyboard is also its biggest fault but only by inherent design.

Performance is great. The Asus has outperformed my Gateway running a Duo Core. Boot up time is fast and I have had no issues with multi tasking apps. I have loaded Adobe Photoshop and MS office suite.

Here is a tip: don’t load your machine with a resource intensive anti-virus program like Norton or McAfee. These anti-virus programs use lots of Ram and Computer resources and are the number one reason your computer slows down or crashes. Find a lean anti-virus program; there are some good ones out there.

Battery is great. If I’m using wifi, Bluetooth and a couple apps I get 3 hours, if I have wifi and Bluetooth turned off and only work on editing in word, I get over 5 hours of use.

Dislikes:

Keyboard. As mentioned above the keyboard is the best in class but as is the nature of the beast, when you want an ultra portable you have to make sacrifices and space is one. It is only a matter of training your fingers to be familiar with the small keys and slightly different layout. You will make more errors regardless but again don’t blame the beast for what it is.

Hard drive. I really wanted a solid state hard drive in the size of 32GB or bigger but Asus does not offer this.

Bluetooth. Again Asus does not offer a Bluetooth option and I had to buy a separate dongle that I must tote around.

Power adapter. If Asus had come out with a mini folding adapter it would have been perfect. Fact is the adapter is going to have to travel with you because at some point you need to recharge and all adapters are the Achilles heel of notebooks/ netbooks.

Overall:

for the money and quality Asus wins. I looked at HP Mini, Aspire and Dell. Both the Dell and HP models where considerably more expensive and the Aspires overall design turned me off plus upgrading the ram was difficult at best. The Asus works well for its intentions and I find myself using it more than any other notebook I own. Easy to carry around and gets the job done.

Buy/More Info

Acer Aspire One AOA150 1784 8 9 Inch Sapphire Blue Netbook 6 Cell Battery

A great choice for students as well as business travelers who like to travel light, this affordable ultra-lightweight Acer Aspire One (AOA150-1784) weighs just over 2 pounds and is packed with a 160 GB hard drive and Windows XP operating system. It has a vibrant 8.9-inch CrystalBrite WSVGA LED backlit display, integrated webcam for easy video chatting, and Intel’s latest mobile processor–the Atom. Offering a cool sapphire blue chassis, the netbook’s smooth surface is comfortable to touch, and it’s accented with distinctive details, such as the attractive orange hinge ring.

A great choice for light-packing business travelers, it comes with Windows XP Home, a 160 GB hard drive, and a 6-cell battery for up to 5.5 hours of battery life.

Weighing just 2.17 pounds, the stylish Acer Aspire One goes anywhere with you.

Designed especially for mobile devices, the 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor uses a brand new design structure new hafnium-infused circuitry, which reduces electrical current leakage in transistors to conserve energy and gives you more time away from the wall outlet–up to 5.5 hours with the included 6-cell battery. Other features include 1 GB of installed RAM (1.5 GB maximum), 54g Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g), multi-format memory card reader, multiple USB ports, and built-in email, web browsing, and digital media applications.

It comes preinstalled with the Microsoft Windows XP Home operating system, which offers more experienced users an enhanced and innovative experience that incorporates Windows Live features like Windows Live Messenger for instant messaging and Windows Live Mail for consolidated email accounts on your desktop.

Processor
The Intel Atom processor uses a brand new design structure that packs in 47 million transistors into a single chip sized at just 22mm (0.87 inches), and it uses just 2.5 watts of power–less than 1/10 of the 35 watts used by an Intel Core 2 Duo processor–for excellent battery management. This 1.6 GHz Atom N270 processor also includes a power-optimized front side bus of 533 MHz for faster data transfer on demanding mobile applications and a 512 KB L2 cache (which temporarily stores data).

Storage
This version of the Aspire One comes with a 160 GB hard disk drive (5400 RPM), which offers enough to room to hold a an extra-large digital audio library of and still have room left over for movies, games, and a large collection of software. This Serial ATA (SATA) hard drive also quickens the pace with a higher speed transfer of data–akin to Firewire and USB 2.0.

Memory
The 1 GB of installed RAM (512 MB onboard memory and one 512 MB DIMM, 533 MHz) can be expanded to a maximum of 1.5 GB of RAM,

DVD/CD Drive
Because of its size, the Aspire One does not come with an integrated optical drive, but optional CD/DVD read/write drives can be connected to the laptop via one of the three USB ports, enabling you to create your music mixes, burn movies to DVD, and more.

Connectivity
This Acer Aspire One notebook has an integrated 54g wireless LAN (Acer InviLink) that’s compatible with 802.11b and 802.11g networks and offers Acer’s SignalUp technology for enhanced antenna efficiency. It has has one dedicated SD memory card slot as well as a second multi-in-one card reader that’s compatible with five different types of memory cards–Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO and xD-Picture Card–for maximum flexibility. The ability to have both a multi-in-1 card reader and a SD card reader at the same time allows you to download photos from the multi-in-1 to share with others and store to the SD card as an internal storage device simultaneously. Here’s the full list of ports and external connections:

• 3 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals–from digital cameras to MP3 players
• Secure Digital (SD) card reader, also compatible with MultiMedia cards (MMCs)
• Multi-in-one card reader supports SD, MMC, Memory Stick/Memory Stick PRO, and XD Picture Cards
• 1 VGA monitor port
• 1 headphone jack and 1 microphone jack
• RJ-45 port for 10/100 Fast Ethernet connection
• 56K modem port (V.90)

Screen, Video and Audio
The 8.9-inch screen has a WSVGA resolution (1024 x 600) and support for up a 262K color depth. Video is powered by the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950, which uses shared video memory with the main memory. Acer’s CrystalBrite display technology guarantees the best possible visual experience by preventing the diffusion of surrounding light and internal ray. Compared to normal TFT LCDs, Acer CrystalBrite technology is able to read color coordinates more accurately, thus minimizing distortion and creating high-fidelity colors in all environments.

This notebook includes an integrated audio card with Microsoft DirectSound compatibility, and it includes two stereo speakers.

What’s in the Box
This package contains the Acer Aspire One notebook PC (AOA150-1784), rechargeable 6-cell lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, and operating instructions. It is backed by a limited warranty for parts and labor for one year from date of purchase.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars LOVE IT!!! LOVE IT!!! LOVE IT!!!
I love this lil’ notebook… Easy to tote around, easy to get on line, easy to understand and use… Love the large hard drive, can store lots of movies on the notebook alone, because the only down side is there’s no c.d. drive… But save all your stuff on the 160gb hard drive or get a portable drive, and it’s just as good as anything else… Thank you to my BF who actually LISTENS to WHAT I WANT…

5 Stars Packs a whole lot of functionality; and performance is v.g.
I bought the white 8.9″, HDD XP version, 6-cell (pretty much what’s on this page) for my son’s 12th birthday. I had done a lot of research, and in fact, actually bought the Vaio lifestyle pc and returned it after very poor performance/speed. I did not have great expectations for this little guy, but it was worth experimenting. Well, much to our surprise, this is an amazing machine with a very comfortable keyboard, bright screen (that you’ll probably want to adjust down), and pretty darn fast!! At first, when you set it up, it seems slow to get to the desktop, but that’s only for the set-up. We also loaded Skype, and within 10 minutes, we were calling each other with full video, etc. I had heard that with the Linux version of this machine, there is trouble with the built-in recorder, but not on the XP version — it worked “out of the box”. And, I thought I had to buy a microphone, but no, it’s right there, bult in on the side. I just can’t say enough about this machine.

2 Stars Buyer Beware
I have read many reviews extolling the virtues of this computer and after having it for a few days the glitter quickly dimmed.

{1} It’s much slower than people would lead you to believe and I’m not talking about the usual lag time for a XP to boot up, I’m saying it take longer for programs like Chrome to boot and when it does it takes it much longer for it to complete a page. I didn’t expect a super fast computer but from reading many of these misleading reviews my expectations were quickly a little higher than what is delivered.

{2}Of course you could always upgrade your memory to speed things up a bit. That is until you have to completely disassemble the enire computer and I mean take it apart, not just remove a cover or a back, do a search and watch a video on what you have to do to replace the memory, this alone will make you think about buying this netbook.

5 Stars Everything I wanted
Opened this and it worked just the way it should right from the start! Only had it a few days so far, and for the price I’m dazzled. Only regret is the Mac doesn’t make something this small for a small price. I bought this, not because I needed it, but for the price it was too good to not experiment with and enjoy the extreme practicality of all it does.

5 Stars Small enough to carry everywhere, but not a toy
I am thrilled with my Aspire One. I got in in black back when that didn’t cost extra. I am using in place of a 15″ business-grade HP laptop. The HP didn’t break or anything, I just got tired of lugging it around.

THE PROS:

The hardware is surprisingly adequate. It feels a lot like a high-end notebook from four years ago. The analog video out works as well as analog ever does, which I have confirmed with both 20″ (1600×1200) and 23″ (2048×1152) monitors. It can drive one of these AND its own screen without a hiccup. The screen resolution of 1024×600 works well for a browser, especially if you go full-screen on the pages, and the pixel density is crazy (bad for “old eyes” who may want the 10″ version instead, good for the 20-somethings and 30-somethings). It has enough speed to run MS Office acceptably, though the screen really isn’t big enough to do anything serious — but I say the same thing about the HP notebook. It’s not great at anything, but it has no glaring weaknesses either.

It has JUST enough CPU and graphics muscle to run eyecandy like Milkdrop on the built-in screen, though you’ll have to compromise (settings and/or frame rate) a bit to drive a larger screen.

Audio quality is excellent using external speakers.

Battery life with the three-cell is two to three hours depending what I’m doing with it. Playing a movie would probably drain it in two hours, but that’s generally long enough for a movie. The six-cell option does double this capacity if two to three hours just isn’t enough, but it also sticks out of the back in somewhat of an odd manner and adds weight, which is why I decided against it.

The keyboard is laid out in a manner that avoids the annoyances of so many other netbooks — namely, CTRL and the right SHIFT are exactly where you’d expect them to be, and the arrow keys are small but well-placed. The keyboard is quite usable for being 89% size, and does not feel cheap or flimsy.

It has three USB ports, WiFi, VGA, a 100mbit Ethernet port, and TWO memory card slots. The left one is SD/SDHC only, the right supports a few other card types as well as SD/SDHC.

Due to the modest power demands, the brick is fairly small and light compared to most notebook bricks. The brick and cords, the mini-mouse, and the Aspire One all fit in a lunch-size cooler bag… with lunch still in it.

It looks really cool, once all the fingerprints are wiped off.

It gets warm in use, but not enough to be worrisome or even particularly uncomfortable. It runs much cooler than the HP.

This little computer is not a toy, and it doesn’t fit in your pocket (unless you wear cargo pants, I don’t), but it’s quite easy to take along for whatever purpose. I often go to lunch with the Aspire One in my hand and a mini-mouse in my pocket, or streamcast a game when I’m cooking or in the bathroom or anywhere else I can’t stare at a fixed TV.

THE CONS:

In the few months I’ve had it, I’ve had ONE problem: it started shutting itself off, either while booting up or shortly after. I did a bit of googling and found this is due to the CPU fan not turning on, and the machine shuts off to protect itself. However, there is a fairly simple procedure to fix it: unplug it and remove the battery, hold the power button for 20 seconds, reattach the power but not the battery, start it up — it may shut off one more time — then put the battery back in. It should work fine after that. Apparently I’d been tossing it around a bit TOO casually and may have caused this, but it’s fixed.

I had to update the WiFi driver. It was flaky out of the box, but it works much better after the update.

The lid and screen are REALLY glossy, and are thus complete fingerprint magnets. The built-in screen is only 16-bit color. It took me quite a while to notice the difference so this is not a major problem, and external monitors are not limited to 16-bit color.

No optical drive. Deal, it’s a netbook.

The built-in speakers suck. See above point.

The trackpad is mediocre, and the buttons are on the sides (undoubtedly to save precious front-to-back space), but it works, especially once it breaks in. It starts out requiring a lot of pressure, but this eases fairly quickly. I’ve never gotten comfortable with ANY trackpad, so I do not consider this a serious flaw.

SUMMARY:

If you are looking for a small, affordable, and all-around useful replacement for a regular notebook, and don’t need blazing speed, this will fit the bill. If you expect to add a bunch of extra plug-in hardware when you get to work, it will still fit the bill. It will mostly just work out of the box but could use a bit of tweaking to perform optimally.

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