Acer Aspire One D150 Netbook Review

Well, I recently picked up an Acer Aspire D150 Netbook at Radio Shack for a measly $349 and I wanted to write a review on the compact wonder so that designers around the globe could get an accurate assessment of the machine.

Weighing in at less than 3lbs, and boasting both a 10" screen and a nearly 8 hour long battery life thanks to the included six-cell battery, the Aspire One is certainly covering all bases when it comes to portability. It comes standard with 1GB of ram, and even though the specifications state the max memory is 1.5GB, I was able to get the system to recognize up to 2GB using a single DDR2 module.

The 160GB SATA drive is ample space for your programs; that said I removed the drive and replaced it with a 250GB SATA drive instead. The built in webcam and audio features wrap up the comprehensive package with features that will allow you to be the first person you know to webcam while grocery shopping if you should also have a mobile internet plan. (I have Verizon mobile internet so I am using a USB modem but you can use a 3G card from AT&T if you prefer to have no modem). I was recently on the Amtrak from NY to DC and I was watching music videos on YouTube the whole way. It was great; and I think the whole cafe car was completely in awe of the power I had in this tiny 3lb machine. Another nice thing about the size is that it allows you to bring and use your computer in situations that it would be otherwise ridiculous to pull out a full sized laptop. For instance if you were lost on the streets of NYC you could just whip this out with ease; sure beats my old 8lb Toshiba!

The Intel Atom CPU is suprisingly speedy, as I considered this a mobile CPU I was not prepared for it to be equipped to run Adobe Creative Suite on the go, but it on the Windows Experience Index this computer rates an overall 2.6 and is OK for doing graphic design actually, just not easy with a 10" screen, but I have a full Adobe Master Collection loaded on here without any troubles honestly it's great. The integrated GMA950 graphics are capable of Windows Aero performance as well. The largest drawback was getting rid of Windows XP which is included with the Netbook as the default OS. I am not sure what the reasoning behind this was; but putting Windows Vista or Server 08 on the Netbook is not complicated if you remove the hard drive or you attach a USB DVDRW to it. All in all; I am extremely happy with this computer; It far exceeded my expectations for both portability and power. And you cannot beat its $349 price tag!

Well, I recently picked up an Acer Aspire D150 Netbook at Radio Shack for a measly $349 and I wanted to write a review on the compact wonder so that designers around the globe could get an accurate assessment of the machine.

Weighing in at less than 3lbs, and boasting both a 10" screen and a nearly 8 hour long battery life thanks to the included six-cell battery, the Aspire One is certainly covering all bases when it comes to portability. It comes standard with 1GB of ram, and even though the specifications state the max memory is 1.5GB, I was able to get the system to recognize up to 2GB using a single DDR2 module.

The 160GB SATA drive is ample space for your programs; that said I removed the drive and replaced it with a 250GB SATA drive instead. The built in webcam and audio features wrap up the comprehensive package with features that will allow you to be the first person you know to webcam while grocery shopping if you should also have a mobile internet plan. (I have Verizon mobile internet so I am using a USB modem but you can use a 3G card from AT&T if you prefer to have no modem). I was recently on the Amtrak from NY to DC and I was watching music videos on YouTube the whole way. It was great; and I think the whole cafe car was completely in awe of the power I had in this tiny 3lb machine. Another nice thing about the size is that it allows you to bring and use your computer in situations that it would be otherwise ridiculous to pull out a full sized laptop. For instance if you were lost on the streets of NYC you could just whip this out with ease; sure beats my old 8lb Toshiba!

The Intel Atom CPU is suprisingly speedy, as I considered this a mobile CPU I was not prepared for it to outperform my Centrino Duo CPU but it did on the Windows Experience Index. The integrated GMA950 graphics are capable of Windows Aero performance as well. The largest drawback was getting rid of Windows XP which is included with the Netbook as the default OS. I am not sure what the reasoning behind this was; but putting Windows Vista or Server 08 on the Netbook is not complicated if you remove the hard drive or you attach a USB DVDRW to it. All in all; I am extremely happy with this computer; It far exceeded my expectations for both portability and power. And you cannot beat its $349 price tag!