Acer Aspire One 521 user reviews
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User reviews8
charlie1989 23 April 2013
Good: everything but
Bad: heat
Comment: i love my new laptop it works brilliant mainly used for online gaming was gonna go for Packard bell ......but at 100 pound Packard bell at 179 pound i thought id give acer a whirl i CAN NOT fault it
Ronny Watson 16 January 2011
Good: Processor, HDMI, and graphics performance
Bad: Heat, technical support
Comment: First off, Charles Kloet's conclusions in his review are completely false. Any benchmark test will show this machine significantly outperforms each of the current Atom-based netbooks, in terms of computing performance. Just turning on the machine and playing YouTube videos should make the increased computing power apparent.
As an IT expert, I bought this machine to get the most performance from as small a package as possible. I immediately scrapped Windows 7 starter for Fedora 14 to use this netbook for programming, general administration, and sandbox testing. The AMD processor supports virtualization and I've been able to run Windows 7 Ultimate via kvm. On the Atom based notebooks, testing scripts and databases locally would be a chore and virtualization isn't possible at all.
As with most companies these days, technical support is abysmal at Acer. Even though the machine was brand new and less than a week old, the support agent refused to answer a question without paying for a support call. It took a flame-o-gram to the executive team at Acer to finally get a response.
If you need as much performance as possible from a small form factor, this is the machine to get. You will pay for that extra performance with battery life though... even still, you'll get 2-4 hours on a full charge.
Nukeit 6 December 2010
Good: Fast, compact and HD Streaming
Bad: hot, W7 Starter, bloatware and 1GB ram
Comment: What can I say. Clean out the bloatware, upgrade to Win 7 Pro and drop a 4gb stick and you have a pocket rocket. This netbook sits beside the HDTV and is on 24/7. I have the Windows ARC keyboard and mouse and use the machine to do my homework, video skype, write my blogs and most of all enjoy HD streaming of Netflix, Youtube and all online content. I love this little machine that could. It has gone to fishing camp with me and my son and I was able to get a matte screen protector and keyboard overlay for about $10. With Office 2010 loaded I find it has taken over as my machine of choice. Also with the 4gb and the HDTV hookup, Left4Dead runs well and is great on the big screen.
The Bestbuy had it onsale for $289 - a steal!
Alan Bennett 4 December 2010
Good: Better than the Atom processor based netbooks
Bad: Nothing
Comment: I took a while deciding on this netbook and was about to get a packard Bell but when Curry's dropped the price to £199, down £50, it was enough to switch and i'm glad I did, its much better at processing video than the Atom based machines. I added an mpeg decoder so I good watch recorded tv, .wtv, programmes recorded on my media center whilst traveling - played without a glich.
I get about 6 - 7 hours of battery life once you change the power settings to be optomised for running on batteries, the default is for mains use about 3 hours.
Would recommend this netbook.
Ben Pilkington 18 November 2010
Good: Netbook gaming, portable
Bad: Battery Life
Comment: OK i've signed in here just to say that I almost didn't buy this netbook because of the harsh review here on cnet, but i'm pleased to say that your reviewer 'Charles Kloet' was totally wrong about virtually every aspect of the netbook.
As noted, it has it's own graphics card, and a different cpu, so it's great for streaming HD, i've not had a 'slideshow' which Mr. Kloet viewed.
It is unfortunate that your reviewer failed to obtain benchmarks that a lot of other reviewers managed to get.
Anyway, having got the netbook now, i'm pleased to say it copes with the games that i've been throwing at it (WoW etc.) fairly well, though it obviously doesn't handle the latest games, it's an able machine. It would have been nice if they put a HD screen into this netbook as it would have really improved it!
ukkarl 29 October 2010
Good: Great styling, HD output
Bad: Windows 7 Starter, Resolution setting
Comment: I must admit, the netbook I have doesn't seem to resemble the reviewed one either. I can download or view HD content on the iPlayer just fine, I have none of the problems associated with the reviews.
I've upgraded the HDD to 320Gb as I use the netbook to DJ with, and have upgraded the OS from Windows 7 Starter (you can't even change the desktop background with 7 Starter) to Windows 7 Professional, and have ordered a 2Gb stick of memory.
The only other gripe I have is the screen resolution. At it's native 1024x600 resolution, the picture is bright, sharp and even, and I have no complaints, however .... the DJ software I use has a resolution of 800x600, and while the netbook supports this, it doesn't stetch to fill the whole screen, leaving two wide black bars down either side of the screen .... odd.
distantlurker 8 October 2010
Good: power
Bad: nothing
Comment: I'm rather shocked at the CNet review. I've had this box for a couple of weeks, swapped it at PC World for an ageing laptop from the 90's (£50 trade in, paid £200 in total).
1st thing to do (as with any netbook) is grab a 2GB stick of memory.
I use it for playing games, particularly when I have to look after my mothers house and dogs. Half Life 2 runs great, Civ, I even had a game of Empire Total War with it hooked up to her 42" plasma via HDMI.
It's far and away the most powerful netbook I've ever come across (and I work in IT so I've seen a good few).
DL
Erin Ryan Chambers 5 October 2010
Good: HD Video, fast CPU
Bad: Hard to type on the keyboard, but hey its a 10 inch netbook right?
Comment: The review of this product is VERY DIFFERENT from my experience. This netbook kills 1080p content, I have a huge library of 1080p movies & they all look amazing.
In addition w/ flash 10.1 it also EASILY plays 1080p flash content.
It sounds like the CNET reviewer has a computer literacy issue perhaps?
Very sad CNET, I suggest you review your CV's of your employees and there ability to use a computer prior to letting them write an 'official' CNET review.
Yours Truly,
Mr. Disillusioned by Pathetic CNET Reviewers