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Aspire One netbook makes surfing easy

New breed of tiny notebook computers is a convenient option for non-serious work.

  • By Abbas Al Lawati, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 23:53 October 10, 2008
  • Gulf News

Dubai: Although "netbooks" have been slow in coming to the UAE, residents now have another option available: Acer's Aspire One.

This is a tiny, lightweight notebook that does all the basics including internet surfing, internet video conferencing, instant messaging, e-mail, along with office software such as word processing and spreadsheets.

Although the keyboard is tiny, I was surprised at how quickly I got used to typing on it.

For those of us who need to use Arabic keyboards, you'll notice that the keyboard has no Arabic letters. This will obviously be possible on the Windows version, which is also available.

I couldn't get over the startup speed on the Aspire One. Being used to Windows-based computers, it was a pleasure to see how fast it started. I recorded 18 seconds twice, and a maximum of about 24 seconds.

The battery life wasn't too impressive, considering that this new breed uses Intel's Atom processor, which promises longer battery life. With the three-cell battery provided, I got under two hours of battery life on full brightness with wifi on.

One thing I find strange about this machine is that it comes with a bootable CD. That would have been great if it came with a CD drive, but the AspireOne doesn't.

Conclusion: This is a great computer if you're not looking to use it for serious work. It's small, lightweight and affordable. It's also a very convenient gadget to travel with. But if you need a serious notebook for work, this is probably not what you're looking for.

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