How would you change Acer's Aspire One?
By Darren Murph 
posted Sep 5th 2008 6:50PM
posted Sep 5th 2008 6:50PM
posted Sep 5th 2008 6:50PM
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zv9rZdjv4Mo
Matte screen option.
No bezel.
The only two things keeping me from buying this guy...
we haven't seen this blend yet...
I like it just the way it is. Wouldn't change a thing.
Extend the model line upward with a 10" screen in the same shell. Charge +$40 for it.
MSI Wind prices are already dropping, albeit through a rebate for now. -$30 for 3-cell SKU, -$35 for 6-cell. Give it another month, and my bet is that the 6-cell will be around $450.
More battery life is always a good thing. The dream of the all-day laptop...
girls..bum, bum, bum-bum-bum, and all I really want is girls...
Also a slightly bigger and better keyboard. Having a laptop that lasts all day is no fun when you spend hours cursing the heavens because of the cheap and small keyboard.
Well, here in Canada, we're forced to purchase it with a bilingual keyboard, which is the only option available to us. Everyone in the Great White North pretty much hates it
the man has a point.
I bought mine in Canada without the bilingual option...
@curtis, maybe you bought a US model.
The keyboard I saw at bestbuy is bilingual (English/French). Something i wanna ask Acer, you guys have sold laptop many years in Canada, Why make this stupid mistake? English Windows XP on French Keyboard?? pleaseeee.
I mean, would you make a laptop in the states bilingual (English/Spanish)???
The bottom line is, the price just doesn't make me want to get one. I can get a cheapo full size for 450 bucks more w/ 4 cell battery. With fewer plastics and smaller screen, the value just isn't there, really!
Engadget, did you guys get $$$ back from acer for putting up this post?
I'm from Quebec and I find it easier to type in French on a US keyboard, stupid French Canadian keyboard
I use an english windows vista with a french keyboard... What's wrong with that. It's good to have the choice to use whether language you like. I work mostly in english so I need the english keyboard but the rest of my life is in french.
I strongly agree here. I just got one (in Canada) but am going to return it. The sole reason being the bilingual keyboard layout. When you're working on a small keyboard to begin with, good layout is critical! Unfortunately, the bilingual layout makes it unusable for me.
Perhaps I'll try and pick one up next time I'm in the U.S... Bummer.
It does seem like an odd marketing decision for Acer to make. With a presence in Canada (Acer.ca) you'd think they'd be more in touch with their customers.
4 things:
1) Mouse buttons where they belong
2) Expresscard slot
3) Bluetooth
4) Easier access to the memory slot
Other than that, this is the best Netbook out there at the moment.
I agree with these 4, and I would also like to see that horrible OS taken off and replaced with something a bit more.... useful. Granted, I'd probably put something other than what came on it on there anyway, so it doesn't really matter.
It's pretty BA as is, though
I have to agree for the most part. Especially the memory access issue...I'm a seasoned PC Builder and I'm already having nightmares about it
I don't think a netbook needs an ExpressCard slot but I agree with the others and add:
1. Access to the RAM slot and harddrive in AOA150 from the underside.
2. Support for more than 1.5gb of RAM.
3. The ability to add a 3G card ala Dell Mini.
4. Better wireless drivers out of the box. The .224 drivers the 150 shipped with were really flaky.
I don't think this needs an express card slot nor Bluetooth. You're starting to get out of Netbook territory with all that.
No need for ExpressCard, but surely decent trackpad buttons, Bluetooth and an easier way to access the memory slot.
A six cell standard battery is also necessary and a built in 3G modem would be grand.
Mouse buttons, no bezel, bluetooth, and express card would be nice too. The Lenovo IdeaPad S10 seems to be a better pick for now
Touchpad. Touchpad, touchpad, touchpad. Touchpad. At this price point, I'll accept the battery life, lack of bluetooth, and the buried memory slot, but for the love of God, fix the touchpad so it's somewhere acceptable. It spoils the true brilliance of that keyboard. It's like getting a fabulous cake with poo on top.
Aside from that, bigger battery. Bluetooth or wwan would be nice, but I'd be willing to put up with the absence of either or both.
Or even better, stick in a pointing stick. Takes less space, it's much more usable and precise.
Much as I loathe them for general use, yes, this machine is crying out for one.
+1 for pointing stick - I was hoping that either HP, Dell or Lenovo would have used one as they have them on other laptop lines.
Denser batteries! Why is it that I'm getting less then 2 hours on this thing, or being forced to take a huge battery that sticks out? But otherwise, the thing is great, crappy multilingual keyboards and all.
Bluetooth and a CTO model to mix and max HD sizes, OS, and other options.
Just ordered one myself though.
A matte screen option. No bezel.
That's it. If it had those I'd definitely one. Even just the matte screen.
1) Proper mouse buttons
2) 1 SD/MS and 1 CF card reader rather than 2 SD readers
3) Matte screen and bezel or 10" matte screen
4) Rubberized or matte finish paint instead of the slickety fingerprint attracting glossy surface (ugh)
5) Active expansion slot under the little door on the bottom rather than just an empty spot to put your weed
6) Easier access to memory and HDD
7) 802.11n
8) Stereo speakers that aren't pointed at my crotch so I can actually hear them
So you are the jerk on your laptop at the coffee shop/ airport playing music through the speakers. Use headphones JERK!
/I keed, unless you are that guy.
Buy an eee 1000h...
agree with all
+ blue tooth
using those damn side mouse buttons is a bigger learning curve (adjustment curve) then using a cramped keyboard
Use a display with at least 768 pixels vertically.
I've used a display with 600 vertical pixels for years and it was a pain. Just not enough space!
The only netbook with 768 rows is the Gigabyte Tablet...
1. Hire Apple's design team to correct its fugliness
2. Preload it with OSX
3. Preload it with iPhone syncing software
It's just one giant apple in the ass for you aint it?
you mean itunes?
But if you did that the price would triple.
...and it would be called a macbook.
... and ironically people would still buy it no matter what.
You Sir....FAIL!
4) Put on a mag-safe power lead (so it can burst into flames and incinerate your home).
5) Build it with shoddy materials which crack and discolour under average/light use.
Only then can you truly take it into Starbucks and write your novel - with several other smug-looking guys who had the same idea.
Agreed!!!!
This has already been done... Only Apple made the screen too big, took away ALL the ports except one USB one D-sub and a headphone port, and slapped on a £1200 price tag
but it is thinner
I really like this design. I like it more than my Macbook Air. The Air is too simple - this one is much more Gundam. Cool.
Better SSDs that can actually run Windows XP without chugging everytime something is written to disk.
I DO love this machine, but sometimes the lag pauses make it awfully hard to use.
There's a tutorial on the AspireOne forum that gives details on how to configure XP to run well on SSD.
http://www.aspireoneuser.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=57
I love my 'One' but there are definitely some deficiencies I'm working around...
My wishlist:
1. 6-cell battery standard!
2. Easier access to DIMM slot & SSD
3. Faster CPU (can't wait for dual-core Atom)
3. Integrated Bluetooth
4. Quick-booting flavor of Ubuntu instead of Linpus lite
5. Easy CPU overclocking util
6. Better feel on mousepad buttons
7. HDMI out
Good features to be sure, but that's not the purpose of a netbook. Maybe you should look at the new Dells or Ideapads.
7 hour battery life
larger keyboard
bluetooth