My New Netbook

Picked this up last weekend. Netbooks are all the rage right now. A simple, compact laptop that provides enough power and performance to do email, offer Internet access, and use Office apps. Battery life is between 4-8 hours depending upon what you do. The Acer that I purchased is suppose to get about 7-8 hours of power. The first batch apparently is shipping with the larger (longer lasting) battery, while later productions will ship with a smaller battery capable of 4-5 hours; which is still great.

I loaded mine with Windows 7, Office 2007, and a few other apps that I use regularly. This is the perfect device for travelers who regularly have to present (VGA output), like to take notes in a meeting or lecture, or just need quick access to email. It weighs under 3 lbs., so you can’t ask for much more. It ships with 1GB RAM, but for $20 you can swap out the 1GB chip for 2GB.

So far, I’m very impressed with it. I did my research on these, which was a very frustrating process. It is really hard to find full specs on a lot of these units, specifically information about upgradability of RAM and hard drive. Needless to say, I saw a few people out in Redmond running with the Acer (both 8″ and 10″ screens), and were very happy with them. The Acer is available through Amazon, CostCo, and MicroCenter.