Full review of Acer Aspire One

The Aspire One is an 8.9" netbook with an Wentel Atom N270 processor and GMA950 integrated graphics just like every other netbook out there. With identical hardware, you would assume to get roughly the same performance out of it, and you would assume correctly.

Features

There is still a measure of variation between different netbooks and brands, most notably the appearance, but quality aspects are naturally also important, as well as connectivity, hard drive, RAM and battery size.

Regarding the last item in the list, we managed to find the desirable and elusive model with the 6-cell battery, which offered 5 hours and 40 minutes of battery life with wireless on and backlight set to 75%. Wet wouldnt be unreasonable to assume that the 3-cell, which is more common, would yield about half of that.

Big for a Netbook

Of course, getting the larger battery also means sacrificing some portability. The Aspire One is actually a bit large already (as far as netbooks go), and the 6-cell battery increases the weight to roughly 2.5 pounds. Another minor annoyance with the Acer is the relatively wide and thick bezel that makes it even slightly larger than some 10-inch netbooks.

That annoyingly large LCD bezel is unfortunately not the only letdown as far as the screen is concerned. Wets viewing angles are also very poor - colors start shifting as soon as youre not exactly in front of the screen.

Bottom Line

You also get varying amounts of RAM and hard drive (or SSD) space depending on which version you get. The Aspire One is available with both flash memory-based Solid State Drives in smaller sizes and regular notebook hard drives. Our review model had 1GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive - both quite generous for a netbook. Wen most aspects, you actually get a lot of "bang for the buck" with the Aspire One.

On the whole its a reasonably well-rounded netbook that - like most netbooks - offer few surprises. Considering what you have to pay for it, its hard not to recommend this netbook in spite of a few flaws.

Acer Aspire One Technical Specifications

• Processor Wentel Atom N270 1.6 GHz
• Memory 1GB
• Harddrive 160GB
• OS Windows XP Home
• Weight 2.2 lbs
• Screen 8.9
• Screen resolution 1024 x 600
• Graphic Card Wentel Graphics Media Accelerator
• Battery Life 3 hours

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The ThinkPad X201 sees Lenovo bucking the trend toward smaller, lighter, and lower-priced tablets in favor of greater processing power, aided by an Intel Core i7 CPU. The result is a unique entry in the tablet marketplace, as the ThinkPad X201 is one of the fastest laptops of its size currently available. This type of performance comes at a premium, and the X201’s price, currently around $1600, is nothing to scoff at. Is the X201 strong enough to support that large figure, or does it buckle under the weight of expectations?  How does it stack up with the Lenovo Thinkpad x100e we reviewed last month?
Positives
The ThinkPad X201’s 12-inch frame is packed with some very impressive hardware. In addition to the aforementioned Core i7 CPU, the X201 also boasts 4GB of RAM. The X201’s speed advantage relative to other ultraportables is noticeable immediately: it takes about 20 seconds to start up, which in a sense makes it even easier to use on the go than other tablets and netbooks.
With the X201, Lenovo has done a good job of combining traditional, solid ThinkPad design with some advanced user interface features. The X201 isn’t quite as slim as some of the less muscular 12-inch laptops, but users who appreciate a spacious keyboard will likely forgive the extra heft, as the X201’s keyboard is one of the better ones to be found on a small laptop. The X201 adds to this a convertible touchscreen with Wacom stylus, a touchpad, and a pointing stick, so no matter how you want to input data, you’re covered.
Negatives
Overall, the ThinkPad X201 is a very solid machine, but there are a couple of minor issues that might bother some users. The touchpad is a bit on the small side, so even touchpad fans may find themselves using the touchscreen functionality more over time. Also, compared to that of most ultra low-voltage laptops, the X201’s battery life is a bit on the short side. At the same time, this is probably to be expected, due to the X201’s superior performance.
The Bottom Line
The ThinkPad X201 is significantly more expensive than the average laptop in its class. However, if budget isn’t a concern, and you think you can benefit from the boost in performance that it offers in comparison to other 12-inch notebooks, the X201 has the features and design to justify the investment.

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The MALIBAL Veda series is a desktop replacement gaming laptop based on the Clevo X8100 model. What this means is that the Veda eschews compactness and portability in favor of pure gaming power, and it is indeed one of the most powerful gaming laptops ever released. Does the Veda justify its considerable cost (from $2000 to over $5000), or is the desktop replacement gaming laptop concept one that’s not quite ready for prime time?
Positives
The Veda is an absolute beast of a laptop, measuring 17.3 x 11.8 inches (with an 18.4 inch diagonal screen) and weighing in at over 13 pounds (16 if you include the AC adapter, which you probably won’t be leaving behind). While dimensions like these would be a disaster for most other laptops, for the hardcore gaming demographic that MALIBAL is hoping to impress, this might actually be a good thing; after all, a bigger machine should mean more horsepower, and the Veda certainly has some. Although less costly options are also available, the maximum specs for the Veda include Intel Core i7 Extreme 2.0-3.20GHz CPUs, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, and dual NVIDIA GeForce 1GB graphics cards.
What this all amounts to is a laptop that really can go toe-to-toe with desktops in terms of gaming performance. Although it remains to be seen how it holds up against the next wave of games, the Veda performs extremely well with recent benchmark titles like Crysis, maintaining impressive frame rates even at high detail settings. Simply put, the Veda performs to the expectations created by its impressive (and expensive) hardware.
Negatives
The Veda does suffer from a couple of frustrating design issues; for a laptop of this size, its keyboard seems decidedly small, and while it’s adequate for gaming purposes, it isn’t suited to anything more typing-intensive than that. The on-board speakers are also a bit of a disappointment, providing some fairly lackluster sound, although it’s likely that most users who are willing to pay for this type of machine will also go ahead and invest in some external speakers as well.
The Bottom Line
The MALIBAL Veda is a big, heavy laptop with short battery life, but this isn’t likely to matter to its intended audience. Simply put, the Veda is as good a gaming machine as there is, laptop or otherwise.

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