Acer Aspire One 8.9″ Netbooks - Acer Aspire 1 AOA150 8.9 inch

Acer is the clear market leader in netbooks with its leaving behind the numerous EeePCs and other netbooks.

Even though Acer has recently (Feb 9th, 2009) released the new 10.1″ AA1 netbook, it’s worth looking at the 8.9″ in detail. Here are the important details -

1. The Acer Aspire One 8.9″ was the highest selling product at Amazon during Holiday Season 2008.
2. It comes with a 1.6 GHz Atom N270 processor, a 160 GB hard disk drive (5400 RPM), 1 GB of installed RAM (expandable to 1.5GB), and 2 card reader slots.
3. 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 shares the RAM memory.
4. Remember to buy the version with the 6 cell battery as the 3 cell battery is rather inadequate.
5. Prices start from $329 (for the white one).
6. Acer is available in 4 gorgeous colors - seashell white, sapphire blue, coral pink, and golden brown.

My favorite colors are the blue and the white. The is available at Amazon and is actually cheaper than the other colors -

Acer Aspire One AOA150 8.9″ Netbook Specifications

Here are the technical specifications -

1. Intel Atom N270 1.6 GHz Processor
2. 512 KB L2 Cache, 533 MHz Front Bus speed
3. 1024 MB DDR2 (PC2-4200) RAM
4. 120GB (5400 RPM) SATA Hard Drive
5. 8.9-inch screen has a WSVGA resolution (1024 x 600).
6. Integrated 54g wireless LAN (Acer InviLink)
7. 3 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals–from digital cameras to MP3 players
8. Secure Digital (SD) card reader, also compatible with MultiMedia cards (MMCs)
9. Multi-in-one card reader supports SD, MMC, Memory Stick/Memory Stick PRO, and XD Picture Cards
10. 1 VGA monitor port
11. 1 headphone jack and 1 microphone jack
12. RJ-45 port for 10/100 Fast Ethernet connection
13. Either Windows XP Home or Linux Linspire. Note: I’d recommend XP Home.
14. Either 3 cell battery or 6 cell battery. Note: You MUST get the 6 cell battery.

Acer Aspire One 8.9″ Netbook Ratings

Here are my ratings for the 8.9″ AA1 -

1. Power + Performance - B. However, if you factor in its price, this is an A.
2. Price: A+. Amazingly low price.
3. Portability: A. Very good portability. Note: only buy the 6 cell battery, as the 3 cell battery is very low on portability.
4. Looks: A-. A good looking netbook in 4 good colours.
5. Usability: A-. Good usability overall.

Overall, a solid A- rating. It’s hard to argue with a low priced netbook that has some good features and looks good. Definitely worth buying, although I’d recommend too.