Review of Acer Aspire One A110

Netbooks seem to be the most fashionable gadget to have around. It started out with being as simple as a netbook can get and now, there’s a whole different package with multi-features and different designs to pick from. Meanwhile, the Acer Aspire One A110 is proving to be different from the rest. Let’s find out how and with what..

Specifications
Processor:  Intel Atom N270 at 1,6 GHz
Chipset:      Intel 945GME
Memory:      512 MB DDR2
SSD [GB]: 8
Graphics Adapter: Intel GMA 950
Screen: 8,9” (1024×600)
Connectors:  3xUSB, VGA, Wireless 802.11b/g, card reader, Storage Expansion
Weight: 1kg

Design
The Acer Aspire One A110 has the looks of a MacBook, if chosen in white, and this 8GB netbook is considered the least expensive from the rest of the Aspire One models. Let’s get into the design, it’s small measuring at 249 x 170 x 29mm and weighting at 995g which is considered light with its metallic casing. We consider its design quality something to talk about especially with the well-placed keyboard. Good colour mixture in its design, a mixture of black and white (separately). Other colours available are in brown, pink and white.

Keyboard & Touchpad
From what we can see, this netbook is slightly wider than the Asus Eee PC 900. The reason would be for its keyboard present which is almost (85%) the size of a complete keyboard. So technically, it’s easier to be used and not as uncomfortable as the one on Asus was. While the keyboard has gathered applauses, the touchpad on the Aspire One A110 can’t expect the same with its odd positioning of buttons. It’s also not that comfy while using it but we’ve played around its settings and found the results slightly better than from its original state.

System
Like always, Acer doesn’t disappoint with having a faster start-up time to its system which is at 19 seconds. From its fast operating system to its great word processing, using its keyboard makes this netbook an immense word processing tool but the same satisfaction can’t be noted for websites browsing. The OS system runs smoothly so no complains there.
There’s an integrated 1.3 megapixel webcam which we tested by using it with a couple of Instant Messaging applications and it worked perfectly well by getting recognized in the applications almost instantly. Image quality from there is alright. A couple of software comes preinstalled with the netbook and we found them to be easy to use or run. While the software on this netbook are easy to be used, there are no upgrades available for them which slightly disappoint us to not have any improvement in this area. For those who enjoy playing and watching videos on their netbooks should be prepared to download another video player as the Aspire One A110’s default player doesn’t seem to be able to playback videos from different formats or rather when we tested, there were a couple that were able to play while recent released videos couldn’t be viewed. Thank God for free video players or we would surely add this in our list of letdowns on this netbook.

Power
Having experienced the long lasting battery from other netbooks such as the MSI Wind U100 and Asus Eee PC901, this one is a disappointment as it can hold up for about 3 hours. For those who want better battery life with this netbook can consider buying the 5200mAh 6-cell battery.

Connectivity
There’s no Bluetooth in this one but there’s the option of obtaining a wireless connection which can be achieved via the 802.11b/g WiFi chip featured on the Aspire One A110.

Conclusion
On the whole, Acer as the brand has rarely been labeled as a ‘let-down’. That said, Acer Aspire One A110 is a basic netbook with basic features and the keyboard is great to be used so go for it if you don’t mind a simple gadget on hand.