20 Responses

1. elsie

   July 9th, 2008 at 7:03 pm

   1

   Would you say that the Acer Aspire One is a better buy than a Deep Blue H1? I was thinking of purchasing the Blue but I need more reviews.

2. J. Angelo Racoma

   July 9th, 2008 at 7:10 pm

   2

   I’d say yes. Acer is a much more trusted brand (IMHO) than Blue, which is an ODM/local brand. And in terms of specs, the 9-inch screen alone would make the Aspire One the winner over the H1.

3. Noemi

   July 10th, 2008 at 9:56 am

   3

   Hi Angelo!

   Am in the market for an affordable mini notebook as well. I had my mind set on the MSI Wind because of the 80HDD but the blue Acer looks so much better! In your other post there was an option for this HDD - any idea how much it will be?

4. J. Angelo Racoma

   July 10th, 2008 at 10:08 am

   4

   @Noemi,

   I’m not sure how much the retail price of the HDD version is. But if I were you I’d go for the SSD one, particularly if you intend the ultraportable to be a secondary computer (as how it’s meant to be). Or, you can try checking with Acer Philippines at http://www.acer.com.ph or tel. no. (02) 815-3388.

5. Noemi

   July 10th, 2008 at 1:23 pm

   5

   I just called them and they have no word on the 80G option yet. Jefferson Cheng said that they will definitely have one, though. I am torn – I like the MSI Wind’s specs better but the blue Aspire One is just so beautiful! What do you think?

6. J. Angelo Racoma

   July 10th, 2008 at 2:26 pm

   6

   It’s not just the looks. For one, you should consider the size factor. The WIND is a 10-incher, while the Aspire One is a 9-incher. So you can expect that the Aspire One will be smaller than the WIND (unless it’s like the HP Mini Note, which has a 9 inch screen, but a wide body to accommodate the keyboard size).

   Both run on the Atom, and both are sold with the standard battery here, so both will run on about 2 to 2.5 hours only, unless you get extended battery packs.

7. Avril

   July 12th, 2008 at 1:33 am

   7

   Hi Angelo,

   Why do you recommend the SSD version if the amount of memory is so much lower? Would you still recommend SSD if I planned to get an SD card or flash disk to augment the numbers of gigs?

   By the way, do you know if Palm Desktop will run on Linux?

   Many thanks!

8. J. Angelo Racoma

   July 12th, 2008 at 3:57 pm

   8

   @Avril,

   For my purpoes, my ultraportable serves as my secondary computer, either while sitting beside my main laptop on my desk, or for work when I am mobile. It’s small enough to fit my bag anywhere I go.

   For this, the computer should be rugged, and therefore any moving parts or anything that would add to size or weight, or heat, would be disadvantageous.

   Also, while the battery consumption of SSDs is only marginally lower than that of hard drives, the few minutes of battery life increase still helps.

   And I also don’t need the extra hard drive space, because I don’t use the ultraportable for gaming or multimedia, anyway. I have my desktop, my bigger, full-sized laptop (two, actually), and an external hard drive for those purposes.

   Now for people who would be using an ultraportable as their main work or play machine, I would recommend getting the versiosn with larger storage. But for me, I like to use my ultraportable for the purpose I bought it for (and probably what it’s designed for).

9. Avril

   July 12th, 2008 at 4:50 pm

   9

   That makes a lot of sense. Thanks.

10. J. Angelo Racoma

    July 12th, 2008 at 5:19 pm

    10

    One caveat – The SSD version of the Aspire One will run excruciatingly slow on Windows. Apparently, the SSD on the Aspire One isn’t fully supported by Windows for some reason. So in case you want Windows on your Aspire One, better wait for the 80GB (hard drive) version, or a driver-based solution to this issue.

11. Acer Selling Aspire One to Retailers Bundled with Slower-Selling Models | The J Spot

    July 12th, 2008 at 5:22 pm

    11

    [...] is apparently anticipating huge demand for their upcoming Aspire One ultraportable (earlier announced). I’ve made a few calls and Acer said the Aspire One will hit the retail shops third week of [...]

12. Acer Aspire One Spotted in Computer Shops. Not as Scarce as the Mini Note. | The J Spot

    July 16th, 2008 at 7:48 pm

    12

    [...] so I’ve been checking out computer shops in the city for the Acer Aspire One. Guess what? They’re not as scarce as HP Mini Notes. So far, at TriNoMa Silicon Valley and [...]

13. koobten » Yugatech rounds up 9-inchers

    July 23rd, 2008 at 10:28 am

    13

    [...] a roundup of 9-inch netbooks that are on retail in the Philippines market. These include the Acer Aspire one, HP Mini Note and the Asus EeePC 900.with the addition of the MSI Wind 10-incher for [...]

14. Fredmon

    July 23rd, 2008 at 1:21 pm

    14

    Just some errors I noted in your post. You said:

    ========================================
    “...here comes Asus with its Aspire One. This had been announced earlier this year, but it has come as a pleasant (or not) surprise to me that Asus has launched it locally at a starting price of PhP 18,800.”

    Should have been Acer not Asus. And on the next sentence its Asus name again. It should have been Acer.
    =======================================

    BTW, heard that Acer is also releasing a hard disk drive driven Aspire One after they received feedback regarding the slow performance of their SSDs on Windows.

15. J. Angelo Racoma

    July 23rd, 2008 at 3:35 pm

    15

    Thanks for the correction, Fredmon. I’m now correcting the post. I guess with so many netbooks being launched these days (and with both Acer and Asus starting with “A”) one can get confused.

16. irene

    July 24th, 2008 at 1:40 pm

    16

    hi. im just wondering if u have any solution for my dilemma (hehe. since the advent of this UMPC, i just feel impulsive to get my own). i have my PC and laptop at home. i just need a laptop that i can bring around school (for me to make word documents and powerpoint slides). or just to surf sometimes. will it be wise for me to buy an Asus EEE PC 700 (ung 2gb)? pede ko ba yun lagyan ng let’s say 160gb na external hard disk? or will this acer aspire be a better choice for me? thanks in advance for ur help.

17. irene

    July 24th, 2008 at 1:50 pm

    17

    also, how is the perfomance of linux as compared to windows? hope u can enlighten me. thanks.

18. J. Angelo Racoma

    July 24th, 2008 at 3:37 pm

    18

    Hi Irene,

    Frankly, with the introduction of the 9-inch netbooks, I don’t think 7-inchers are good value-for-money anymore. Also, the EeePC 2G will be very limited, even if it’s priced really low (PHP 12,000 per my last checking online and at stores).

    You could go for the Aspire one. The only issue with that is the slow flash-baesd solid-state drive. It will run fine on the Linpus Linux Lite, but with Windows, it’s excruciatingly slow. Read speed is fine, but write speed is really horrendous, based on what I’ve read.

    So if you just intend to use it for surfing, email, writing documents and presentations, the Aspire one would be a good choice (that is, if you consider OpenOffice sufficient for your needs, or compatible with your existing documents/presentations). But since you have your regular-sized laptop, I don’t think you should have problems (I mean you can bring your big laptop when the need arises).

    An external hard drive would be very useful, but don’t count on being able to always use it. For one, hassle din ang magdala lagi ng add-on accessory. Also, it draws power from your notebook, hence decreasing the battery life.

19. irene

    July 25th, 2008 at 7:47 pm

    19

    thanks for the help ha. really helped a lot… but meron nanmang bagong UMPC. MSI Wind is already out and also, i heard Dell E will launch their own on August ata…whew…soooo many choices. maybe its best to wait till christmas na lang. baka i-sale pa nila for the holidays. =)

20. J. Angelo Racoma

    July 26th, 2008 at 9:59 am

    20

    By August, Del will have released its E line. Probably before Christmas HP will have its new, cheaper Mini Note out. Hopefully Asus will release the 901 here also.