Cool Stuffs Review

Here's why I bought this little gem: I'm a writer/editor/publisher, and my office machine is an HP 17-inch laptop with all the bells and whistles.

But sometimes I get cabin fever and like to drive out to a scenic spot to work outdoors in fresh air and sunshine. An over 9-pound laptop hooked up to four USBs like a patient on life support is just too klutzy for that. I also travel on business occasionally.

I don't miss the lack of a CD drive. In just a few minutes, I transferred my data files using mostly a large-capacity thumb drive. If I need to load program files from a CD, I have an external CD drive.

Pros:

1. Light as a feather.
2. Surprisingly fast.
3. Beautiful, bright, high-res display. Easy on my "old guy" eyes. And if needed, I can output the VGA to my 22-inch flat-panel monitor at the office, if desired.
4. I too lucked out with the longer-lasting battery. This puppy goes all day without a sweat.
5. I'm still amazed that for Amazon's low price, I can basically clone off everything I need from my larger machine and travel anywhere by air, car, rail, or horseback and still get work done (though I really have to focus while on that darn horse)!
6. Both wireless and Ethernet connections work like a charm.

Cons:

1. Yup. Case collects dust and fingerprints better than a team of CSIs. But it cleans off easy enough.
2. Maybe it was just my unit, but I had a dickens of a time getting the battery to snap into place, even with the little slides pulled aside as instructed.
3. Not really a con, but some here have belly-ached about the small keyboard and tricky touchpad. I already had a great Logitech cordless mouse/keyboard combo, so I just ordered an extra receiver, slipped it into an empty USB slot, and was all set. I have a large-enough rolling laptop case (for the big laptop), that I can slide the Acer netbook, mouse, and keyboard inside any time I need to travel.

My first computer was a Commodore VIC-20, back in 1982 or so. I shake my head now when I look at this little Acer and realize the power and capacity crammed into such a small space.

Since Amazon goes only to five stars, I give this one six!

Get more detail about Acer Aspire One AOD150-1920 10.1-Inch Ruby Red Netbook - 6.5 Hour Battery Life.