At the back, the VESA-mounted Acer AspireRevo doesn’t look so bad. It just sits there, quietly. The annoyance here, it seems, is that the age-old problem of cable management. It’s a mess that just might be enough to drive some people insane. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to keep the AspireRevo nettop under a desk with its diminutive size, so I don’t think having regular-length desktop cables makes any sense at all. But then again, that’s just me, and maybe some of the prospective AspireRevo nettop users are accustomed to seeing spaghetti rolling around the back of their monitors.

Here we see where the spaghetti cables are coming from: the VGA-out as it connects to the monitor, and USB ports for the USB keyboard and mouse. If you think that’s messy, remember that the AspireRevo also has an HDMI port, and Ethernet jack, which means that this side of the nettop is only going to get more crowded. As long as you are in front of the monitor, though, this shouldn’t bother you.

A closer look at the ports of the Acer AspireRevo shows us just where exactly which port goes. There’s also a security lock slot placed at the bottom corner, for those times when you don’t want to mount the nettop on the back of a monitor and just want to have it sitting around above your desk.

These are the bundled accessories that will come with every Acer AspireRevo when it comes out in the market. A USB keyboard, USB mouse, and USB speakers. They are white, and to be honest, look like toys. I know the AspireRevo is supposed to be small, much like a toy that you would just set aside and all, but the appearance of these accessories are totally going in the wrong direction. Upon usage, I’ve found that they really live up to their appearances. That said, it shouldn’t be hard to find a replacement keyboard and mouse combo plus a set of speakers that will match your taste.

So far, the Acer AspireRevo seems to be able to deliver on its promises. Watch out for our full review in a couple of weeks to see our final verdict on Atom + Ion on a nettop. For now, check out a few more photos in our gallery below.

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Acer AspireRevo hands-on

My reaction upon picking it up for the first time is that it is one “heavy” netbook. Though the fact that my review unit had a 6-cell battery on and a larger screen at 10-inches compared to my 9-inch AAO, I think the biggest reason why it has become somewhat heavier than I expected is Acer’s use of brushed metal on the body. Still, it’s not that hard to carry around, and in a man-purse, it should fit snugly into place.

The Acer Aspire D150’s box contains just the necessary papers (quick guide, warranty card, etc), AC adaptor and the netbook itself. The only thing missing from it is a leather pouch just like the one that came with the 9-inch version when it was released.

I’d say it’s a pretty well built netbook, with a great design to boot. Only problem is, it fails in some areas in terms of quality.

Keyboard, trackpad and connectivity

The power button is placed on the right side, just above the keyboard, while opposite to it is the Bluetooth on/off button and Caps Lock/Num Lock light indicators.

The keyboard Acer used on this model still has the same set of plasticky buttons that feel like they’re going to fall off any minute if you ever do any long haul typing. I enjoyed using the keyboard for the slight increase in size (nearing full size), but I’ve found that typing for long periods of time on it can cause some fingers to hurt a bit. And that’s not a good thing. However, for just typing the occasional Notepad notes and blog posts, I felt the keyboard sufficed. Also, it’s nothing a USB/wireless keyboard can’t fix.

As for the trackpad, Acer did the right thing in ditching the old, side-contained left and right click buttons in favor of a single left/right button positioned directly underneath the touch pad. Unfortunately, it’s a little too narrow to provide any real comfort while pressing and oftentimes it can be hard to even just press it at all. Meanwhile, clicking with the use of the touchpad can be equally hard, because it’s not as responsive as it ought to be. Still, this isn’t that big of a niggle since it can easily be solved by using a USB/wireless mouse. I couldn’t get myself to use the multi-touch functionality so I found it pretty useless.

When it comes to connectivity, the Acer Aspire One D150 has got it all–as far as a netbook goes. It quickly runs out of USB ports (as there are only three), and besides the power jack, it’s got a VGA-out port, audio in/out ports, multi-in-1 card reader, Ethernet jack and a security lock slot on its sides.

There’s built-in Bluetooth, but I only got it to work for a file transfer with my Nokia phone, and failed to do so with another Bluetooth-enabled notebook of mine. There’s no built-in 3G module here, but you can always attach one via a free USB port and the Wi-Fi picks up signals very well.

Using Windows XP

Booting up to Windows XP felt like it took longer than necessary. I reckon it’s probably because of the obligatory “bloatware” that comes pre-installed with it in the form of an antivirus program, Acer-made utilities, and Google Desktop. After waiting for a good 30-45 seconds to get from blank screen to the Desktop, you will be greeted with pop-ups like it’s 2005 on the Internet, telling you to update this, download that, check out this, which, needless to say, got really annoying. I doubt if the average computer user will even do anything other than click the visible “x” marks to close these pop-ups, so they will be pestered with these annoying things until the day they learn to turn them off.

But you can’t blame Acer for subjecting their customers to this kind of annoyance. I guess it’s obligatory stuff to have on machines that come pre-installed with Windows XP Home. After all, it enables them to customize the netbook to their liking to the extent that they think will benefit its users.

That said, I think the performance of this netbook with Windows XP Home Edition is just a little bit over the average level. Its 1GB of RAM and 1.6GHz Atom processor with GMA950 graphics aren’t exactly the best combination for an XP machine, but for light tasks which a typical netbook user would be doing, it is fairly adequate. Every once in a while, an intrusive pop-up would come out to disturb the silent peace of operating the Aspire One D150, but it doesn’t really seem to affect how speedy the netbook runs. It’s definitely faster than the SSD-equipped Acer Aspire One that comes with a 9-inch screen, so it would be a nice upgrade for those who own this particular unit.

Battery Life

One of the Acer Aspire One D150’s strong points is its battery life. For through the use of a 6-cell battery, one can run up to 5 hours of usage on a single full charge. I know I have. I even tested the battery life by using the Aspire One D150 for about 1-2 hours each day just for browsing and sideloading of songs to my phone, and I was able to get 6 days of usage. Soon, I believe the battery life on netbooks will be so good that using them will feel like using cellphones all over again–2-3 hours of “heavy” usage per day and you’ll be able to use it for about 3-4 days. One side-effect of the increased battery life, though, is the lengthened charging time. Since the battery is of a higher capacity, it takes longer to fully charge it. Also, it sticks out like a sore thumb at the back of the unit.

Final Thoughts

Compared to the Acer Aspire One with a 9-inch screen, the Aspire One D150 is a worthy upgrade. With a bigger screen, built-in Bluetooth, longer battery life and better design, it beats the old model over most aspects any day. However, I feel that Acer released this model a little too late, for those same features were already found in offerings of its competitors back when the 9-inch model was their only available netbook. For the price, this is still worth it, though, and anyone who still doesn’t have a 10-inch netbook will do good to put this one on their “netbooks to be considered” list.

Acer aspire one D150 is available at Amazon.com for $329.

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Acer Aspire One D150 review

From Engadget’s review, the AspireRevo is touted as an affordable nettop that offers great graphics performance, but processing power that needs more oomph. It didn’t have problem playing Blu-ray and pumping out pure surround sound through its HDMI-out, but games don’t really perform as well as you would expect them to due to the severely weak processor. In case you’re still looking for more opinions, we’ll try to get our own review of the AspireRevo up in the next few weeks so watch out for it here.

Via Engadget

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Acer AspireRevo nettop gets reviewed

I felt that the Acer Aspire D150 was a great deal heavier than its predecessor. This shouldn’t be a surprise since it has a larger screen and theoretically more components (including a higher capacity hard drive and Bluetooth module, among others), but it was quite heavier than I expected it to be.

As for the outer appearance, I’d say I can describe it in just one word: beautiful. the color (red), the brushed metal casing (which is also part of the reason why there’s added weight), the rounded edges all compliment each other. To be honest, the design of the 9-inch Acer Aspire One was what first attracted me when I first saw it last year sitting next to stale-looking, generic white-colored Asus Eee PCs. This next-gen model takes the cake yet again. Based on design, I would still get this over the new Eee PC models. I don’t know, just personal preference.

All the other usual ports and connectors found on the 9-inch Aspire One, as well as other netbooks, are present. On the left side, there is one USB port, 1 VGA-out port, memory card reader (with a filler), audio in/out jacks, and an Ethernet jack. On the right side, there are two USB ports, the charger port and lock slot.

The Acer Aspire One D150’s 6-cell battery evidently bulges out round the back. This is yet another reason why the netbook is heavier overall, since it lugs on a weight of its own, but the benefit of a few extra hours of battery life far outweigh this little inconvenience. I’ll see how long exactly the battery lasts on a single full charge and include my findings in my full review.

The next two things I’m going to discuss about the Acer Aspire One D150 are among the biggest improvements. The keyboard is larger, and the trackpad is now done in a standard way where the left and right click buttons are positioned below the actual trackpad. I haven’t been able to do any long haul typing on the Aspire One D150’s keyboard yet, but from what I’ve experienced so far, it doesn’t differ much from the keyboard of the 9-inch model in terms of tactile feedback and travel.

It’s keys are somewhat larger, which makes for better typing, but graduating from the 9-inch model’s keyboard to this one won’t feel like you’ve just escaped from prison. As for the improved trackpad, while I like the fact that Acer moved the clickers below the touch panel, it would have been nice if they made it larger overall too. The more space to move my fingers on, the better. Anyway, it’s always easier to just use a USB mouse for on-screen navigation, so that’s not a problem at all (at least for me).

All Acer Aspire One D150 units come pre-installed with Windows XP Home Edition, and as I booted the device on I noticed that it took a bit longer than my old Aspire One to boot. The fact that it was also pre-installed with a fair amount of bloatware might have something to do with it. I’ll discuss more of this in my upcoming full review and comparison with the 9-inch Acer Aspire One.

Well, it doesn’t look like the Acer Aspire One D150 will disappoint. Right now, there’s no way to know for sure if it satisfies in every aspect or not, but I’d say it’s promising so far. Check out the rest of the photos I took while unboxing the unit below.

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Acer Aspire One D150 unboxing and first impressions

Via Electronic Pulp

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Patent app shows Acer’s plans for a mobile Internet device

Quanta Computer is the company responsible for producing the 8.9-inch Acer Aspire One netbooks, and if the same report referenced above is correct, the company will receive an order for another netbook, an “enterprise model” that will have a 10.1-inch screen. Could this be a separate model from the Acer Aspire 103? Seems so, since it was specified that the 10.1-inch Acer Aspire one will be manufactured by Compal Electronics. But what exactly this “enterprise model” netbook with a 10.1-inch screen remains a mystery. Perhaps we’ll learn more about it in the following weeks.

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Acer to phase out 8.9-inch Aspire one in Q2 2009, intro an ‘enterprise model’ 10-inch netbook

TG Daily have reported that Acer are planning on boosting their new model of netbook – the 10.2 inch Acer Aspire One by installing not Linux, not Windows XP but, by installing Windows Vista on their next generation of netbooks.

According to the article on TG Daily, the new model will be powered by an Intel Atom CPU and will possibly be branded as the “N-Series” in Acer’s future netbook line up. It is expected that the 10.2 inch Acer netbook will support upto 320GB hard drives and that these models will cost from $500 when they are released in 2009.

Acer could be hoping to out-sell their rivals Asus in the netbook market by using the Vista operating system as an incentive to buyers and with a larger screen too that would seem incentive enough but, it remains to be seen whether consumers will be happy to pay up to $200 more for the new Acer netbook than for the current Aspire One which is popular in it’s own right, without the 10.2 inch screen or Vista OS.

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Vista for New Acer 10.2 Inch Netbook?

After spending a little time on the HP website looking at the HP Mini 1000 Vivienne Tam Limited Edition which, is something that should appeal to the female netbook user more than the guys out there, it was a ‘girlie fate’ that brought the upcoming Acer Aspire One to my attention.

Pink is the color. Pink and white to be precise and German site,  Eee PC News have posted up some of the first photos of the pink model of the popular Aspire One. It won’t be the first pink model, there are other equally as pink models of netbook out there (MSI Wind for example) and it wont be the last either, with the Lenovo S10 getting the pink treatment in the future too.

Not a netbook for everyone but, it’s a subtle shade of pink they’ve chosen. I’m not a huge fan of the urge some companies seem to have to turn their products pink but, at least with the Aspire One Acer have made a good job of the ‘pinking up process’ with a nice metallic finish and enough white to balance up the coloring on the netbook. All in all it’s a very nice job, if you are looking to buy a pink netbook that is.

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Acer Aspire One in the Pink

A new version of ‘Acer Aspire One Fan Control’, a free application which allows the user to control their fan speed, has been released.

Version 1.1 is now compatible with the any Acer BIOS between 0.1xxx and 0.3304 and will work for Windows Vista or XP users that wish to silence those fans when they aren’t needed or that would just like a little more control over their Asus Aspire One netbook.

You can download the software here.

via

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Fan Control Application Update for Aspire One