Netbook Review – Acer, Asus Netbook Review

Rating: 6.5/7
The Acer Aspire One Pro 531, available in red, black or white,  is surprisingly attractive for a business netbook, and the keyboard [although slightly small at 89% of full keyboard size], is well laid out. The 7.5 hour battery life [with the 6-cell option] is more than enough to keep you from worrying about finding a socket whilst out on the road. The 160GB HDD/2GB RAM model is available for $450.

Acer Aspire One 531 Review -Top Features

1. Easy portability  – measures just  (10.2″)  x  (7.4″ – 8.1″)  x  (1″ – 1.3″), weighing 2.8lbs.
2. Touchpad – multi-touch capability
3. Connectivity – optional integrated 3G, and Bluetooth 2.0
4. SSD option – with 64GB space

Drawbacks and things to look out for

1. Webcam – For a newer netbook, this only comes with a 0.3 megapixel camera.
2. Keyboard – at 89% of a full size keyboard, this may take a while getting used to.

Acer 531 Netbook Ratings

1. Price and Value for Money -1.0 stars
2. Speed and Performance – 1.0 stars – comes with the regular [but still powerful] Intel Atom N270 processor.
3. Screen – 1.0 stars – attractive glossy screen.
4. Keyboard and Usability – .5 stars – only 89% of the size of standard netbooks.
5. Portability and Battery Life – 1.0 stars – light and compact, with a great battery life on the 6-cell model.
6. Looks and Design -1.0 stars professional and tidy design – we like it.
7. Connectivity & Extensibility – 1.0 stars. Connectivity options include Wi Fi 802.11 b/g, Ethernet LAN and optional integrated 3G and Bluetooth. As for extensibility, there is easy accessibility for hardware upgrades.

That gives the Acer Aspire One Pro 531 an overall rating of 6.5 stars with a bonus point for outstanding connectivity and extensibility.

Acer Aspire One Pro 531 Review -Our Recommendation

As well as being attractive, the combination of portability and connectivity make this netbook is ideal for the business professional – at $450, this is definitely good value for money.

Acer Aspire One Pro 531 Review -Technical Specifications

• Genuine Windows ® XP
  
• Display 10.1 “SD 1024 x 600 (WSVGA) pixel resolution, high-resolution (200-nit) Acer Crystal Brite ™ LED backlight TFT LCD
• Drives 2.5 “Hard Drive with 9.5 mm up to 250 GB or 2.5 “Solid State Disk (SSD) drive with up to 64 GB
  Multi-in-1 Card Reader
• Supports Secure Digital ™ (SD) Card, MultiMedia Card (MMC), Reduced-Size Multimedia Card (RS-MMC), Memory Stick ™ (MS), Memory Stick PRO ™ (MS PRO), xD-Picture Card ™ (xD)
• Supports memory cards with adapter: miniSD ™, microSD ™, Memory Stick Duo ™, Memory Stick PRO Duo ™
• Dimensions & weight 259.41 (W) x 186.8 / 206.37 (D) x 26.1 / 33.09 (H) mm
• LAN: 10/100 Mbps Fast Ethernet
• Battery & Power 30 W adapter with power cord
  Product Safety Electric Appliance and Materials (PSE), zertifitziert for the battery
  24.4 W 2200 mAh 3-cell Li-Ion Battery
• Up to 3.0 hours of battery life
  (actual duration depends on application and configuration)
  or 57.7 W 5200 mAh 6-cell Li-Ion Battery
• Up to 7.5 hours of battery life
  (actual duration depends on application and configuration)
• Integrated Acer Crystal Eye webcam, supporting Acer PrimaLite the vortschrittliche ™ technology and 0.3 megapixel resolution
• 3x USB 2.0 ports
• 1 x monitor (VGA)
• 1 x speaker / headphone / line-out
• 1 x Line-in/Mikrofon
• 1 x RJ-45 connector for Ethernet
• 1 x AC power connector
• Security BIOS user, supervisor and HDD passwords
• Kensington Lock slot

Filed under: Acer Netbook Review