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(More customer reviews)UPDATE 08/29/2008: Received my new Acer Aspire One today. Wow, one day shipping from J&R rocks! The blue AAO with Win XP looks just like the Linux version: there is the SD "Storage Expansion" slot on the left side and a multi-format card reader on the right, 3 USB ports, etc. It boots up pretty fast and runs the so familiar WIN XP OS. I liked the Linux graphics, but to be honest, as a Windows user, I felt lost. So far, I haven't had any problems with the wireless (knock on wood) that I have experienced when I used the Linux version. Yes, you can hear the fan, as some of the reviewers have mentioned, BUT, it is not nearly as annoying as they claim. I can live with that. The Hard Drive is listed as 120GB, however, it shows up as 105 GB. The windows XP version comes with a 60-day trial of MS Office 2007 and McAfee Security Suite. Curiously, it also comes with InterVideo WinDVD, although, as you are aware, there is no DVD drive. Other programs included are: MS Works, Adober Reader 8, IE, MSN, Windows Media Player, Windows Messenger, Windows Movie Maker, Acer eRecovery Manager. I installed Firefox without a glitch. So far, I am very pleased with the laptop. It's not a $2,000 Sony or Mac, but it's a great value. It does what it is supposed to do. I am glad I returned the Linux and ordered the Windows. It works better for my needs.
UPDATE 8/28/2008: So, Amazon dropped the price on Acer Aspire One with Linux OS. However, the Win XP version continues to be overpriced compared to other online retailers. I've decided to order the blue Win XP machine directly from J&R for $369.99 and will get an additional 15% off via Live Search Cashback (total price after cashback excluding shipping: $314.41). I decided to go back to the familiar XP configuration simply because I believe that learning Linux will involve too much effort to justify the cost. In addition, the Linux version of Acer Aspire One appears to have more wireless bugs than Windows. We'll see how the Win XP netbook performs.
UPDATE 8/25/2008. So far I haven't seen any price reductions by online retailers. I think they are waiting to purge their inventory. Best Buy, however, does have the blue Acer Aspire One with 1gb Ram, 120 gb HD and Win XP Home for $349.99. So far they are the first ones to jump on the Acer price drop bandwagon.
UPDATE 8/20/08. Acer just (4 hrs ago) made the announcement on Market Watch that it will slash the prices for Acer Aspire One to $349 for Win XP and $329 for Linux. I miss my Acer One and will order one again as soon as retailers update their prices. I thought it was a great deal for $379 but for $50 less it's an absolute bargain. I do hope that I won't have anymore wireless problems with this one.
ORIGINAL REVIEW: I had purchased this laptop from J&R in blue with Linux and it was in my hands the very next day. I really liked Acer Aspire One from the moment I pulled it out of the box. It's very compact, light, elegant, boots in no time (20 sec). I am a first-time Linux user and was actually pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to use. I followed the instructions from one of the Amazon reviews here to unlock the full OS and was able to add Skype (Fedora version) without a problem. OpenOffice is very straightforward and easy to use, email setup was a breeze. I plugged it into my cable modem and loved the very fast web page loading times. All in all, it's a great little laptop alternative, the screen is easy to read, the keyboard size is adequate for error-free typing, the trackpad took some getting used to but it was fine within a couple of hours.
Now to the negatives:
-the surface is very prone to fingerprint smudges
-the screen is very glossy and reflective, but the brightness compensated for the fact that I could always see my reflection on the screen
-the left and right mouse buttons are oddly positioned on either side of the keyboard, so that takes some getting used to
-now last but not least - wireless connectivity problems. I've had the Acer Aspire One for over a week and have tried every single approach out there to get the wireless connection on it. the wireless networks would show up on the connection manager, but when I would attempt to connect to a particular network I would get an error message saying connection was terminated. One of the networks I tried to connect to was my own home wireless network which successfully worked for all of my other laptops. I tried the WEP protocol - no success, I changed the router settings to WPA - tried to connect - no success, I changed it to the open network - no success although I am sure my neighbors appreciated the open net access they could steal from me in the interim. I've searched the web for a solution and found out that this wireless problem seems to be an issue for a number of Acer Aspire One users out there. Some were able to fix it by running Live Update on a wired connection (I did it, but it didn't fix the problem), some played with sleep modes, reboots, etc. None of that worked for me. I tried to look up this issue on the Acer website, but their customer support is not very user friendly. So, I gave up, called customer service for an RMA# and am returning the Acer Aspire One today. I wish it had worked as I liked it so much, but it's no use to me without wireless connections and I believe that if I purchase a brand new item, it has to be fully operational straight out of the box. So, goodbye my dear sapphire blue Acer Aspire One, you will be missed, I hope your maker solves the wireless problem and I will buy you again when that happens. I would recommend this product without reservation if only the wireless problem is resolved.
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