~A super cheap, super slow net book!~
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When looking for a super cheap net book that could be used as a small portable device to surf the net with for use when away from the home, I came across the Acer Aspire One series A150 Bb model in a local electrical product store. At the time of purchase the little net book was on sale at a nicely reduced price which made it seem like an attractive buy. Having been used to using a range of Apple products for my computing needs I found it took a while to become fully used to the workings of the operating system that came loaded onto this net book. Having used the net book for various tasks such as surfing the net, writing documents etc, my feelings are that whilst the pre installed Windows XP seems to work well enough, I still prefer the rival Apple way of doing things as this little net book really can be super slow when in use.


~The 'Crystal Brite' screen and more~
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The net book has a small and compact 8.9 inch screen that the makers call a 'Crystal Brite' LED back lit display which has a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. In use I found the display screen to show a clear and easy to read and use image, although I found that once I had created a small number of bookmarks at the top of the page for ease of use when on the internet, the size of viewable screen seemed to become really tiny and much harder to view. This meant I had to get rid of the bookmarks in order to regain another inch or so of the screen, so as to allow me to view the screen without becoming frustrated at the tiny size of the pages I could see displayed. This is something that I consider to be very annoying and also rather inconvenient.

The outer casing of the net book is well made with it having a neat and smart look that makes it look attractive to the eye. The deep inky metallic blue shade used on the case of the version of the net book that I bought is a nice calming colour that looks easy on the eye and doesn't get too marked or smudged with finger prints when the product has been in use. The blue toned case is easy to wipe off and clean with a soft cloth and some suitable computer cleaning products and the black plastic panel that sits on the bottom of the net book provides a good slip free surface on which the net book sits when using this at a desk or table. The net book is compact enough to be used almost anywhere you can get a decent internet connection and it folds away neatly after use allowing you to store it away in a bag or case without it taking up too much space.


~Why are we waiting?~
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The hinges that sit at the back of the net book are sturdy and well made and there have been no problems with opening and closing the case when wanting to use the net book. There are a series of indicator lights that sit on the chunky hinge area and these have sometimes been an annoyance as the light that flashes to show the net book is doing something when directed to do so, can and does flash for ages until the net book eventually responds. If you are thinking of buying something like this I would suggest that you may need the patience of a Saint in order to be able to sit waiting for the net book to respond when surfing the net, as this thing is very slow! In fact I am certain that there are small snails who could deliver emails and send over internet pages at ten times the speed that this net book can even when working at it's best.


~Web cam, in puts/ out puts etc~
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There is a so called ' Crystal Eye' web cam built into the top part of the screen on this net book which the makers say provides the ability to live stream and take part in video chats, conferences etc, although I have never had much use for that and so am unable to comment much on how well it works other than to say it is there and does work to a certain degree. There are a number of ports on this model which include a useful 5 in 1 card reader which can be used with SD, MMC, MS, MS PRO, xD products, there are 3 USB 2.0 ports and an external display/ VGA port, a headphone/ speaker/ line out jack/ microphone in jack, an ethernet port and a DC in jack for an AC adapter. These all seem well formed and easy to access should you need to do so and there have been no problems using them as and when required.


~Look, feel and ease of use~
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The over all feel of the net book is of something that has been made reasonably well and the unit does look as though it was built to last, with it having a sturdy feel to both the outer case and the screen and keyboard. Once the net book has been opened up ready for use the screen has enough brightness to ensure that images and text are displayed as well as can be on such as small screen of this type, although in my honest opinion the Apple iPad which has a slightly larger display, is far far superior in terms of how it projects images and text and would be a better buy for many as it has greater versatility and is so very easy to use when compared with this rather slow to respond product. As mentioned once you book mark a few sites on this net book the viewable screen seems super small and makes for a hard time when using this for more than an hour or so.

The keyboard on the net book is quite large when you consider the size of the product and it takes up almost the entire width of the net books casing which makes for easier handling and usage as you don't feel that your hands are too close together when typing away on it. The black toned keys are chunky yet respond well when in use and return back to their original position with ease. The small touch / track pad that sits on the lower part of the net book in the centre of the space not taken up by the keyboard is around an inch or so deep, with it being roughly 2 inches wide, making it small and compact and not as responsive as it might have been had it been just a teeny bit larger and more workable.


~Product specification~
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Sapphire Blue Metallic Effect Outer Case
8.9 inch Acer 'Crystal Brite' TFT LCD Screen
Pre Installed Operating System is Windows XP Home
Intel Atom processor N270
1024MB RAM / 2 512MB Configuration
120GB SATA Hard Disk Drive
Wireless LAN b/g, LAN: 10/100 Mbps Ethernet
Integrated 0.3Mp Acer 'Crystal Eye' Webcam
Possible 3 Hour Battery Life with the 3 Cell Battery Pack
Power Cord and AC Adapter included


~Summary and rating~
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On the whole as a portable device that can be used to surf the net with when away from home, the product does what it should and works well if you don't mind waiting a little longer for the pages to load. If you have been used to faster more efficient models than this one, the Acer Aspire One net book will be a frustration, as you don't get that almost instant response from it that you often want from a computer product these days. The product I have also had an issue with the battery charging unit becoming unable to be used to charge up the net book after only 6 moths of use, which meant it had to be replaced. This was an irritation although to be fair the net book was still under warranty at the time and Acer swiftly provided a new charger at no cost once we sent the faulty unit back to them.

Over all my feelings about this net book are a little mixed as it does have some good features, yet as it seems to be so very painfully slow when in use with the internet it can be a little tiresome to use at times. I eventually decided to purchase an iPad as an alternative to this product for use when I was not able to have access to a full sized desk top or lap top and this has been so much better in terms of ease of use and speed as pages load almost in an instant and the little iPad can be used either as a touch screen product or with its own little keyboard which can turn the iPad into a super tiny desk top computer when it is needed.

Sadly the Acer Aspire One cannot compete with more up to date rival products and whilst it does have its uses and is still in use from time to time, it is never my first call when wanting to use a computer product. There are many nice features about the product with the presentation being neat, smart and compact and the display being clear enough if you ensure that you don't book mark too many things when using the product to surf the internet with. The pricing for this product was reasonable when I bought it, as it had a good reduction of around £80 at the time, taking it down considerably in price and making it fair value for what it is. On the whole my rating for this product has to be a little lower than it might have been due to it's super slow response times when in use, which is why the product only gets a 2 star product rating as these slow speed issues cannot be denied or hidden by the products neat and compact appearance.