Acer Aspire One A110-A 0.5GB 8GB Reviews: Linux 8.9" Screen Laptop computer

+ Small, light and cheap. I bought two of these as prizes for my Year 6 class and they were truly inspirational

- None really as long as you don't mind linux

+ its small and very compact and excellent size of memory on it-handy for taking with you when you travel too

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+ Quickly boots up and shuts down

- Poor battery life

+ The machine is small, sturdily built and very responsive with the standard Linpus install on it. It powers up in no time and the wireless is a doddle to set up. Basically this machine is as simple to operate and use as a machine targetted at the light internet/email user should be. The keyboard is a bit small for my big hands but even I can type on it fairly easily (I swap between lots of keyboards so I'm always getting confused anyway!). The trackpad arrangement is a bit odd (with the buttons on either side as opposed to underneath) but it's still easy to use and highly responsive. The machine also runs Windows7 nicely :) Oh and being able to augment the 8GB SSD with a 16GB SD card is a major plus over other machines of a similar price.

- Its small size makes it a pain to balance on your lap and it does get remarkably hot considering how low powered the Atom platform is supposed to be. The battery life is not very good (2hrs, tops) but as I only use it at home then this isn't an issue. My main issue was with upgrading the memory (which the ads for it say you can do). Yes, you can upgrade the memory, but you have to take the machine to bits to do it! Whilst this is not a difficult job, it isn't for the faint-hearted. Having said that, I only upgraded to 1.5GB to run Windows on it, if you just want to use Linpus as standard then the 512MB it comes with is more than adequate

+ sleek and lightweight, good keyboard and great screen.Super netbook for the money.

- touchpad and buttons could be better.

+ does what it says on the tin! small, light, good netbook.

- upgrading memory is not for the faint hearted but can be done yourself.

+ A great little netbook! If you're planning on sticking with the installed Linpus Light OS then all is good. If you are planning on installing Windows XP, Windows 7 or another Linux distribution then you need to install a little program called Flashpoint which alters the SSD write structure and gets rid of the 2-3 second pauses you will otherwise experience whenever you do anthing (because of the low write speed of the SSD)

- None at all once Flashpoint is installed! (Apart from slightly low battery life).

+ The product was bought for my daughter and it is great to have when the laptop is in use at the same time.
Very fast to switch on and browsing.

- none

+ Size, clarity of screen, ease of use

- battery life non existant

+ Great - can type properly on the 95% size keyboard. Lightweight. Linuxlite OS very straight forward. Converts word documents. Easy to set up on your wireless system.

- Inet browsing is a bit slow as you might expect from spec

+ Size, weight, cost

- Slow SSD!

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- Live update caused problems,(still unresolved) there is no way to undo live update.

+ size, quality, speed

- battery life, you can always upgrade with a bigger battery

+ Very quick start up, good spec of software. Up to date Linux distribution with regular updates available. Decent keyboard and screen. Now running Ubuntu remix 9.04 and no problems

- Fan kicks in regualarly and not completely noisefree.

+ small and compact and easy to manage

- battery needs charging too frequent

+ Good bright screen

- Annoying touchpad buttons either side instead of below

+ design - linux

- batery life

+ Lovely bit of kit
Worked first time.
Simple to connect to WiFi

- Won't work with my Voadafone mobile broadband dongle!
User forum pretty hopeless

+ easy to carry...nothig else

- very very slow...poor performance..I am not using the product as i am fed up with it.

+ it is a good looking machine and as lite as a feather.

- could do with more memory.
battery life could do with better battery life.

+ Size, weight, performance, Linux

- Battery life

+ Good screen, lighweight and small size

- Slowish at times - Linpus Lite easy but rather limiting.

+ its small

- the hard drive is impossibly slow. it takes about 10 minutes to shut the laptop down. not impressed at all

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- No way to find out how to programme for a printer nor to load other programmes. One cannot print off emails or attachments neither can one use it for printing off documents that one has prepared. Can I have the secret please?

+ Very fast conection, loading and power off. The linux system is so easy to use

- The only downside is the messenger. Every time i sign in i have then to reset how i want my contacts displayed. But not a big problem

+ All the above

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+ Size, design, quality of construction

- Poor battery life
Linpus Lite difficult to update, but interface is easy to use.
Replaced with Easy Peasy Ubuntu

+ Cheap, excellent boot time, great for web.

- Linux can lead to compatibility problems (printers etc)

+ size, price and build quality

- very hard to upgrade memory, battery life could be a little better (currently it is around 2hrs), atom processor could be a little more powerfull (it catches lags when opening few tabs in opera browser even after memory upgrade), I have linux linpus version.

+ Easy to carry, easy operating system and good bright screen. Word processing is good with Open Office and its great for surfing the net. I found the built in wi-fi to be very good, better than my full sized laptop. I went for the SSD version as I see this as the future, but for gaming the HDD version would be better.

- The battery....It lasts about as long as the battery on a standard laptop. About 2.5 hours. With the bigger battery, which would be a must with the HDD version, it would be considerably longer.

+ Small light, Linux easy to use....no blue screens of death...

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+ it's size, weight and excellent battery life makes it very portable. it has all of the main tools you need for most peoples day to day needs such as internet access, email, messenger, word program all nicely bundled and easy to find and use.

- the only bad point is the complete lack of help for uers that are not used to the linux system. there are no help files or direction on how to load new software on to the machine, how to uninstall programs that are already on it, how to tweak what is displayed on the desktop. there is a new version of open office i want to use but i hve no idea how to remove the one thats on there now and install the new version and how to get the icons to dispplay if i do.

+ Size, weight, fast start and quit.

- Limited operating system & VERY POOR DOCUMENTATION.

+ Quick to boot up, very compact and easy to use

- A bit awkward for applications such as Skype, I let my wife use it she found it difficult to use thwe command line

+ Nice design, lovely and light and very fast...

- ... don't buy it if you're used to windows! Not much seems to be compatible (can't download flash to listen to music on myspace, can't use my vodafone mobile broadband...).

+ This stylish netbook provides good battery life in comparison with the weight, in which most will know that a heavier battery will provide a longer life, but this has found a nice equilibruim between life and weight.

- I found that linpus was the bad point and have now replaced with ubuntu which I find is vastly superior.

+ This product is excellent my husband was made redundant before Chrsitmas and has been attending interviews and took it to an interview to give a presentation I'm happy to say that he got the job and the interviewee was impressed with the notebook.

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+ Value for money. Large keyboard (relatively). Works well sat on your knee - balanced

- appears to freeze from time to time as system writes to SSD. Fan noisey.

+ Size, weight

- battery life is about 2.5 hrs only
mouse pad not user friendly

+ Boots in 15 seconds, a few seconds later the WiFi has got me on line :-) Very portable

- Standard battery is good for 2hrs max. Needed to buy a 6hr+ extended battery Linpus Linux takes a bit of getting used to - but there is plenty of help available on line.

+ Capable little product. Able to meet most day-to-day computing requirements

- Installed Linpus OS is a bit "Fisher Price". I updated mine to use Ubuntu Netbok Remix and it works well and now looks less like a toy.

+ Nice, simple linux distro - my wife had no difficulty in adapting from XP.

- I'd love one of these things with a little nipple joystick mouse (like the old ThinkPads had) instead of a pad, but they don't seem to exist.

+ Small size, lightweight, easy connectivity. Ideal for those wishing to have internet and e-mail access on the move.

- Not necessarily the machine itself, but the operating system (Linux). It is difficult to install new applications for the inexperienced user. As Linux is open source, all you will get is the program source and the required objects. You then have to compile the source to generate the new program. This is not always that easy unless you have a more in-depth knowledge of the operating system itself.

+ are the size , colour, and fast

- having the american influence , not being able to use the web cam on some sites.would have preferred windows as i was more familiarwith it

+ Quick start up. Ease of use

- Poor battery life (bought 9 cell replacement from e-Bay now runs for ages without charge)

+ Boots quickly, Nice OS, Ultra Portable

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+ Cheap, portable and easy to use. My main reason for the purchase was to keep connected whilst travelling, it passed with flying colours.

- Battery life is not good BUT I'm happy with the limitation as the battery is not too bulky and I'd not really use it for more than 2 hours at a go.

+ good little machine

- windows not installed when purchased

+ Light, starts up quickly, easy to use

- samll screen, but we knew about that before we purchased

+ Reviewer left no comment

- ssd disk drive is very slow

+ Runs any version of linux and is quick and easy to configure. The screen is excellent.

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+ fantastic netbook easy to use, light, portable, good graphics brilliant value for money.

- built in mouse sometimes makes it difficult to scroll page.
speakers do not produce a very good sound for music

+ Good screen image, fast boot-up, simple to operate.

- microphone does not work with standard software provided.

+ size

- can't loads games and i-tunes, wish i'd got computer with windows!!!!

+ Starts up quickly. Easy to use software.

- Didn't explain that you have to leave the computer open in order to charge the battery. Very little explanation of the software - good job it's intuative.

+ Compact and easy to use. Light and child friendly.

- Could have given me a free carry case but thats not a complaint.

+ Decent battery life, could be better though. light, affordable, decent speakers, excellent keyboard, exept the fact that the keys are not in the usual placement, because the key-board is french. screen is brilliant, difinately enough contrast, good clarity. manual switch to turn on/off wifi, making it very easy.

- plasicy cheap feel, left and right mouse buttons have a horrible feel, and make a verry loud noise. the modell with linux is rubish, it comes with an old version of firefow whitch cannot be upgraded and you can't install anything. breaks down and freezes alot. upgrading the ram voids the warrenty, and is very tricky. the fact that there are just to many bad points to list.

+ Good value, fast startup, does all the basics well

- could really use a 6-cell battery, better OS would be good

+ Nice and light , good clear screen.
Plenty of usb sockets.
easy to use on mobile broadband dongle.

- touch pad a bit fiddly , but i always think that for all laptops.
Would prefer windows system.
Tried xp on it but it was too slow so now back to linux.

+ Great operating system. Absolutely love it.

- None, does what it is supposed.

+ Good display, easy to use, great to use as a portable machine.

- Battery life is not too good, max about 2 hours but quick to charge. Linux OS not for everyone but spend some time on the web, there is loads of info and help out there.

+ Excellent little netbook. The keyboard is pretty much full size, and it boots in a few seconds. Firefox runs quickly and videos look lovely (after you install VLC with all the codecs).

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+ The design and feel are good, the screen size is perfect for a netbook, added to which the weight which is almost feather like. The mousepad is different to conventional ones, but it never hinders your work once you get used to it.

- The lack of RAM in the 512 MB model restricts anything more then one task at a time. The battery life at just over 2 hours could be better. The pre installed Lupus linux distro isnt the best either, although is easily replaced by Ubuntu or Easy Peasy making it much more user friendly

+ easy to use and very compact in size, fits perfect in my hand bag

- just battery life needs to be plugged in to mains majority of the time.

+ Good battery life. Screen very easy to read

- Linpus Linux is awful (old versions of software difficult to add programs). Switched to Ubuntu Netbook Remix which is much better.

+ Lightweight/quick to load and unload operating system

- Battery Life not good
Linux not compatible with some hardware
Difficult to download software via Linux

+ Quick to boot up

- Linpus is a pain

+ Very light and compact little netbook with easy to use keys even with my huge sausage fingers all over them. Screen is bright and clear with lovely colours for viewing pictures, looks almost high definition!. Sound is good from the built in speakers and it boots up in around 15 seconds. Webcam is better than i expected.

- Mouse can be a little sensitive and fiddly. Tiny rubber feet fall off easily as sticky stuff is not sticky enough and found my 4yr old daughter chewing on it after picking it up off the table!.

+ compact easy to use

- none

+ nice compact machine ideal for kids

- memory 2 small

+ small light, durable, great price, good for kids, difficult to break

- Linux OS lacks some functionality and user friendliness.

+ Size, shape, speed, built-in gadgets

- Linux is poor

+ great for quick access to internet and e-mail

- none

+ Small and light. Lovely bright screen. Easy extensibility through USB ports for external storage and 3G modem stick when away from wireless. Great connectivity through Wi-Fi and Wired - easy to configure. Boots quickly
Open Office, Firefox, Messenger, Email client, PhotoMaster, MediaMaster and Skype cover most of what I want from the machine. Inbuilt webcam and sound means you can have a full web experience without plugging anything else in. Web-based forums provide excellent source of tips for upgrading and extending the basic set-up for users who want to do a bit more. Add/Remove software from the advanced menus gives you access to a number of other packaged applications and if you really want to you can get into the underlying Linux and tinker.

- Linpus Linux and installed versions of applications getting a bit dated. Firefox and Open Office upgrades are easy enough, but there is no Linpus upgrade available and some Linux apps you can find on the web don't install because of broken dependencies - not found a decent answer to replacement for iTunes for my iPod yet. Mousepad is too small for my fat fingers, so I prefer to use an external USB mouse. Can be a bit slow if you try anything hevy with graphics, but that's not what this little machine is designed for. File Manager works nicely with external media, but doesn't provide access to network-attached storage without some effort and a bit of Linux shell-scripting.

+ Light weight, compact, Linux distro very easy to use, SDHC compliant card readers (both of them).

- Mouse buttons in bad position, could do with a 6cell battery (as supplied with rival products) included as opposed to 3cell, Linux distro difficult to add additional programs to.

+ It works - no faffing about - it works. Sensible, intuitive, haven't needed the manual yet.

- Battery life is good but could be so much better. Should have bought a spare battery to give me 4-6 hours.

+ very light, nice sleek design, extremely simple to use.

- Wouldn't recognise my external hard drive, noisy fan, very small memory.

+ compact and lightweight, but big enough keyboard aand screen to use easily.

- not compatible with windows so I can't download word documents.

+ Good size and weight.
Upgradeable to 1.5GB of RAM.
Easy to install Ubuntu Netbook Remix (with additional USB pendrive).

- Gloss screen finish difficult to use outdoors.
Difficult to upgrade RAM - need to dismantle entire netbook.

+ Excellent laptop once you get the OS you want on it - the one that comes with it is a bit basic. I have no real complaints at all about this personally , but if you need a CD drive be aware than these netbooks never come with CD/ DVD drives

- Typing is a bit harder initially becaise of the small size of this

+ Conpact size and good features.
Ideal for web browsing and emails.

- Short battery life
Mediocre processor performance

+ Quick opening and internet access

- Cant get my head around Linux and no instructions about downloads.

+ Great design and very robust

- Battery power averages 2 hours

+ Excellent product and very pleased with the laptop. Ideal and compact for carrying around and picks up broadband very quickly with the wireless connection. Would recommend highly for use when studying or just generally surfing the net

- The mouse pad can a bit fiddly but you can always connect a mouse if you need to!

+ small and compact good for travelling to college.

- would prefer windows but not a big problem

+ Fells like a solid chassis, keyboard is a good size even though I have quite a big hand span.

- Mouse buttons just don't seem to fall to hand well and are perhaps a little too low in the chassis.

+ Good compact design ideal for a second Laptop

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+ Size, weight, portability, disk size, fast start-up.

- Trackpad hypersensitive, left and right clicks in weird position,

+ it's lightweight, well designed, good performance, has all the features I need.

- touch pad's design is not ergonomic, battery's (3cell) life is ~1.5h - will need to upgrade the battery.

+ Adequate size and weight for most uses when on the move.
USB keyboard and mouse can be added if needed. I can abandon two PC's and get rid of two telephone lines with great saving.

- Linpus lite. Scrap it and install Ubuntu 9.04. Then everything works brilliantly.
Wireless networking and Mobile broadband work out of the box after deleting password on mobile modem.
Only problem is some application windows are deeper than the available display area ( only one so far was Ardour. - sound editing app. - but Audacity works well enough.)

+ Reviewer left no comment

- It never worked when it arrived. This was over a month ago and they are no closer to giving me a refund for it. My advice would be to stear well clear of this website

+ Small, cheap and is a similar spec to netbooks double the price A great hackintosh if you are willing to swap out the wireless

- slightly loud, terrible battery and god damn terrible buttons for the track pad( I was willing to put up with these when I bought it but finally relented to buying a logitech nano receiver mouse - really good)

+ Fast.
Good disk space.
Good value.

- Battery life not great, but OK.
Sound volume is poor.

+ Small, good battery life for size. Screen quality is suprisingly good.

- SSD is quiet slow.

+ I recommended the same machine to two relatives who are aExcellent value for money. Nice and compact for taking away in my motorhome! I recommended this netbook to two relatives who then bought from you and are similarly satisfied.

- Battery life, while not actually 'bad', has to be watched carefully. All things are to some extent a compromise though and compactness inevitably means a battery of manageable size.

+ Light and easy to carry. In most cases easy to use

- Seems limited Acer Explorer. Cannot connect to my e-mail explorer

+ Memory card slot is useful, VGA output for outputting films to lcd, fairly good battery life on standard battery.

- Reviewer left no comment

+ So small and light, fantastic screen clarity, the keyboard is surprisingly easy to use even with my fat man sausages, it's also very well laid out and the keys are all where you would expect them to be. It looks sleek and stylish, everyone always gives it second look when I'm out and about. The wifi connection is perfect when stationary not so great on the train, bus etc. but there are 3G cards that will work with this model so that really is not a problem.

- The big one is the battery life, less than two hours on the standard 3 cell, although getting a 6 cell is a good move, it's a little bigger but the battery life is around 5 hours, well worth the upgrade and the addition weight is really insignificant on something so small.
The speakers are number two, they are placed underneath and sound really bad, really tinny no bass, no mid. Although the sound chip is actually quite good and this is evident when used with headphones or a nice pair of portable speakers, I've not yet sat on train without my headphones when watching a movie or doing some work, so it's not really an issue.

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- im stupid i dont know how use it!!!

+ Its small light and totally portable. I love it. It took a bit of getting used to the size of the key board, and to start with I miss typed as the keys are a little smaller but soon got used to it.

- The only bed point is that sometimes its size means I can't see the whole picture,
For example if I want to play scrabble on face book i can't see the whole board unless I make the screen smaller but them its hard to see as the words are so tiny.