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Acer Aspire One is a line of
netbooks first released in July 2008 by
Acer Inc.
Many characteristics of a particular model of Acer Aspire One are dictated by the CPU platform chosen. Initial models were based on the Intel Atoms. Later, models with various AMD chips were introduced. Newer versions of the Atom were adopted as well.
Early versions were based on the Intel Atom platform, which consists of the
Intel Atom
Intel Atom is the brand name for a line of IA-32 and x86-64 instruction set ultra-low-voltage processors by Intel Corporation designed to reduce electric consumption and power dissipation in comparison with ordinary processors of the Intel Co ...
processor, Intel 945GSE Express chipset and Intel 82801GBM (ICH7M) I/O controller, and is available in several shell colors: seashell white, sapphire blue, golden brown, onyx black, and coral pink.
Higher end models were released in June 2010 consisting of the AMD
Athlon II
Athlon II is a family of AMD multi-core 45 nm central processing units, which is aimed at the budget to mid-range market and is a complementary product lineup to the Phenom II.
Features
The Athlon II series is based on the AMD K10 architect ...
Neo processor and ATI Radeon HD 4225 graphics controller. These are available in onyx black, antique brass, or mesh black shells depending on model. Also released was a version of the Aspire One 521 with an
AMD-V105 processor running at 1.2 GHz, an ATI Radeon 4225 graphics controller, and equipped with a
HDMI
High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is a proprietary audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed video data and compressed or uncompressed digital audio data from an HDMI-compliant source device, such as a display controlle ...
port.
A range of later models were powered by
AMD Brazos APUs (combined CPU/GPU chips). The AMD chips had much more powerful video capabilities but consumed more power.
Its main competitor in the low-cost netbook market was the
Asus Eee PC
The ASUS Eee PC is a netbook computer line from Asus, and a part of the ASUS Eee product family. At the time of its introduction in late 2007, it was noted for its combination of a lightweight, Linux-based operating system, solid-state drive ( ...
line.
In January 2013, Acer officially ended production of their Aspire One series due to declining sales as a result of consumers favoring
tablets and
Ultrabook
Ultrabook is a marketing term, originated and trademarked by Intel, for a category of high-end laptop computers.
They were originally marketed as featuring ultra thin form factor and light weight design without compromising battery life or per ...
s over netbooks.
History
The line was originally manufactured for Acer Inc. by
Quanta Computer.; Quanta was phased out as a supplier to Acer, and production of the Acer Aspire One line shifted to other manufacturers in 2009. Also starting in 2009, eSobi Inc. partnered with Acer to preload the
eSobi News Center on Acer Aspire One netbooks beginning in the first quarter of 2009.
Operating systems
Windows
Windows XP Home Edition SP3 is installed on the models with a name ending in ''X'', or ending in ''B'' followed by another letter denoting color.
It is also possible to install and run
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, which was released five years before, at the time being the longest time span between successive releases of ...
or
Windows 7
Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, 2009. It is the successor to Windows Vista, released nearly ...
on the earlier model laptop. In high-end versions appearing during 2009, Windows Vista is pre-installed. The lack of a
DVD-ROM
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
drive requires creating a
bootable USB flash drive (the on-board card reader slots are not bootable) using a USB external DVD drive or
PXE boot network install.
Windows 7
Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, 2009. It is the successor to Windows Vista, released nearly ...
Starter is installed by default on models with a name starting in ''D'' such as D255E and D257 as well as other later Aspire models.
Linux
Models with names starting in ''L'', or ending in ''A'' followed by a letter for color, are shipped with
Linpus Linux
Linpus Linux is a Fedora Linux-based operating system created by the Taiwanese firm Linpus Technologies Inc. Linpus was designed specifically to fully support the Asian market, with full Unicode support for the Chinese and Japanese languages. A ...
Lite, which is based on
Fedora 8. This offers a simplified user interface, with default applications like the
Firefox
Mozilla Firefox, or simply Firefox, is a free and open-source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation. It uses the Gecko rendering engine to display web pages, which implements current ...
2 browser,
OpenOffice.org
OpenOffice.org (OOo), commonly known as OpenOffice, is a discontinued open-source office suite. Active successor projects include LibreOffice (the most actively developed), Apache OpenOffice, Collabora Online (enterprise ready LibreOffice) a ...
2.3, ''Acer One Mail'' and ''Acer One Messenger'' available directly on the main screen. The default desktop environment has been designed to hide advanced features from the user and to prevent modification. It is possible to modify the system to present a more traditional
Xfce 4 desktop, enable more advanced features such as
context menu
A context menu (also called contextual, shortcut, and pop up or pop-up menu) is a menu in a graphical user interface (GUI) that appears upon user interaction, such as a right-click mouse operation. A context menu offers a limited set of choic ...
s, or install additional software.
It is possible to install and run other
Linux distributions on the Acer Aspire One, and some specially customised Linux distributions have been designed to offer
out-of-the-box functionality. These include:
*
Joli OS
Joli OS was an Ubuntu-based Linux distribution created by Tariq Krim and Romain Huet co-founders of the French company Jolicloud (also the name of the operating system until version 1.2). Joli OS is now an open source project, with source code ...
*
Ubuntu Netbook Edition (UNE)
*
Linux4One
*
Kuki Linux Kuki can refer to:
Locations
* Kuki, Isfahan, a village in Isfahan Province, Iran
* Kuki, Saitama, a city in Japan
Peoples and culture
* Kuki, or Thadou people, an ethnic tribe native to northeastern India (also Burma, where they are called ''Ch ...
*
ArchOne
*
Moblin
Moblin, short for 'mobile Linux', is a discontinued open source operating system and application stack for Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs), netbooks, nettops and embedded devices.
Built around the Intel Atom processor, all builds were designed to ...
*
Slitaz
Other distributions of the Linux operating system will also run, such as :
*
Arch Linux
Arch Linux () is an independently developed, x86-64 general-purpose Linux distribution that strives to provide the latest stable versions of most software by following a rolling-release model. The default installation is a minimal base system, ...
*
Fedora
*
CentOS
*
Debian
*
CrunchBang
*
BunsenLab
*
antiX
antiX () is a Linux distribution based on Debian Stable.
It is comparatively lightweight and suitable for older computers, while also providing cutting edge kernel and applications, as well as updates and additions via the apt-get package sys ...
*
Mandriva Linux
Mandriva Linux (a fusion of the French distribution Mandrake Linux and the Brazilian distribution Conectiva Linux) is a discontinued Linux distribution developed by Mandriva S.A.
Each release lifetime was 18 months for base updates (Linux, system ...
*
Ubuntu
Ubuntu ( ) is a Linux distribution based on Debian and composed mostly of free and open-source software. Ubuntu is officially released in three editions: '' Desktop'', ''Server'', and ''Core'' for Internet of things devices and robots. All ...
,
Ubuntu Studio
Ubuntu Studio is a recognized flavorAdministration permit the user to "Enable Nice", allowing the use of wireless networking and proprietary graphics cards drivers while maintaining low audio latency free of XRUNs (audio drop-outs) in JACK Aud ...
*
Eeebuntu
*
openSUSE
openSUSE () is a free and open source RPM-based Linux distribution developed by the openSUSE project.
The initial release of the community project was a beta version of SUSE Linux 10.0.
Additionally the project creates a variety of tools, s ...
*
Slackware
Slackware is a Linux distribution created by Patrick Volkerding in 1993. Originally based on Softlanding Linux System, Slackware has been the basis for many other Linux distributions, most notably the first versions of SUSE Linux distributio ...
*
Linux Mint
Linux Mint is a community-driven Linux distribution based on Ubuntu (which is in turn based on Debian), bundled with a variety of free and open-source applications. It can provide full out-of-the-box multimedia support for those who choose to i ...
*
PCLinuxOS
PCLinuxOS, often shortened to PCLOS, is an x86-64 Linux distribution, with KDE Plasma Desktop, MATE and XFCE as its default user interfaces. It is primarily free software operating system for personal computers aimed at ease of use. It is con ...
*
MeeGo
MeeGo is a discontinued Linux distribution hosted by the Linux Foundation, using source code from the operating systems Moblin (produced by Intel) and Maemo (produced by Nokia). Primarily targeted at mobile devices and information appliances ...
*
Puppy Linux
Puppy Linux is an operating system and family of light-weight Linux distributions that focus on ease of use and minimal memory footprint. The entire system can be run from random-access memory (RAM) with current versions generally taking up abou ...
*
Peppermint Linux
*
Lubuntu
Lubuntu ( ) is a lightweight Linux distribution based on Ubuntu and uses the LXQt desktop environment in place of Ubuntu's GNOME desktop. Lubuntu was originally touted as being "lighter, less resource hungry and more energy-efficient", but now ...
- which also features a netbook specific desktop environment.
*
Xubuntu
Xubuntu () is a Canonical Ltd.–recognized, community-maintained derivative of the Ubuntu operating system. The name ''Xubuntu'' is a portmanteau of ''Xfce'' and ''Ubuntu'', as it uses the Xfce desktop environment, instead of Ubuntu's Unity a ...
*
Parrot Security OS
*
MX Linux
MX Linux is a Linux distribution based on Debian stable and using core antiX components, with additional software created or packaged by the MX community. The development of MX Linux is a collaborative effort between the antiX and former MEPIS ...
Mac OS X
Through the
OSx86 project, an Aspire One can boot and run a modified version of
Mac OS X
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and la ...
, including ''iAtkos'', ''iDeneb'', "XxX" and ''Kalyway'' distributions. This procedure is not supported by Apple or Acer.
FreeBSD
FreeBSD v. 8.2 is known to run on the Acer Aspire One, although some limitations apply: lid close not starting a hibernate, and power management which works to a very limited degree.
OpenBSD
OpenBSD releases ranging from 4.4 to 6.4 are known to run on some of the many models of Aspire One, with some limitations based on BIOS and other variations.
Android
Some models are dual boot (e.g. D250, D260), with Android 1.6 and Windows 7 Starter. The computer boots up into Android first, with a tab to select Windows. The
Android-x86 OS has limited apps available to it.
[Acer Aspire One Android netbook « Acer Aspire One « ACER ICONIA TABS](_blank)
. Acericoniatabs.com (22 February 2012). Retrieved on 2012-07-29.
FreeDOS
It is possible to install
FreeDOS
FreeDOS (formerly Free-DOS and PD-DOS) is a free software operating system for IBM PC compatible computers. It intends to provide a complete MS-DOS-compatible environment for running legacy software and supporting embedded systems.
FreeDOS can ...
on even the earliest models. Some peripherals, like a USB mouse or Ethernet port, will not be detected by the standard setup and may require manual tweaking.
Storage
Solid state drives
The A110 model ships with an 8 GB or 16 GB
solid-state drive
A solid-state drive (SSD) is a solid-state storage device that uses integrated circuit assemblies to store data persistently, typically using flash memory, and functioning as secondary storage in the hierarchy of computer storage. It is a ...
(SSD), although some models do not come with one. Early 8 GB models come with the Intel Z-P230, model SSDPAMM0008G1. This SSD has been criticized for its slow read and write speed. Intel lists the drive's maximum speeds as 38 MB/s read and 10 MB/s write. Later models come with the slightly faster Samsung P-SSD 1800.
Hard disks
The hard disk is a regular 2.5-in 5400 rpm SATA drive with 80, 120, 160, 250, 320, 500 or 750 GB. A number of different drives from different manufacturers have been reported to be included. Newer-model Aspire Ones take a 7 mm thick drive, as opposed to the usual 9.5 mm thickness that makes up most 2.5-inch form factor hard drives and SSDs.
Expansion slot
There is also an SD/
SDHC
Secure Digital, officially abbreviated as SD, is a proprietary non-volatile flash memory card format developed by the SD Association (SDA) for use in portable devices.
The standard was introduced in August 1999 by joint efforts between SanD ...
storage expansion slot on all models for additional storage (the 533 model does not support SDHC as verified by Acer support UK). On Linux versions this automatically expands the space of the SSD or HDD using
aufs
aufs (short for advanced multi-layered unification filesystem) implements a union mount for Linux file systems. The name originally stood for AnotherUnionFS until version 2.
Developed by Junjiro Okajima in 2006, aufs is a complete rewrite of t ...
. Windows XP models treat it as a normal removable drive.
Some models have a second slot that functions as a standard multi-in-1 flash memory card reader. The 110 BIOS does not allow one to boot an operating system from this slot, but the 150 BIOS is capable of booting from an SDHC card in the slot. (Note: with Linux, it is possible essentially to boot from HD or USB by using a /boot partition on the regular boot device and an initrd that loads the real OS from the slot).
Power management
The
Intel Atom
Intel Atom is the brand name for a line of IA-32 and x86-64 instruction set ultra-low-voltage processors by Intel Corporation designed to reduce electric consumption and power dissipation in comparison with ordinary processors of the Intel Co ...
platform has a specified maximum
TDP of 11.8 W. Individual figures are 2.5 W for the N270 processor, 6 W for the 945GSE chipset and 3.3 W for the 82801GBM I/O controller.
The AUO B089AW01 LCD panel is rated at a maximum power consumption of 3 W. Typical read–write power consumption for the SSD is around 0.3 W, and 0.01 W when idle. The different HDDs are rated at about 1.5–2.5 W for read–write operations and around 0.7 W when idle.
[Momentus 5400.4 SATA. Product Manual]
seagate.com[WD Scorpio Blue-SATA-Festplattenlaufwerke mit 120 GB (WD1200BEVS)]
. Wdc.com. Retrieved on 2012-07-29.[Travelstar™ 5K320]
. hitachigst.com
The official ratings for the battery are up to 3 hours for the three cell, and up to 8 hours for the six cell.
Linpus Linux
Linpus Linux is a Fedora Linux-based operating system created by the Taiwanese firm Linpus Technologies Inc. Linpus was designed specifically to fully support the Asian market, with full Unicode support for the Chinese and Japanese languages. A ...
Lite has been optimized by Acer for lower power consumption. Battery life is shorter on HDD configurations with Windows XP, at approximately 2.5 hours for the three cell. Although the standard three cell battery is 2.2 Ah, some users have reported 2.4 Ah and 2.9 Ah batteries from the factory. Various suppliers online now carry aftermarket batteries, including the six cell. Aftermarket nine cell batteries are available though they are quite heavy, and also protrude out of the back, reducing the aesthetics but improving airflow.
Specifications
An Acer AOD model (10.1" screen) product comparison guide, in the form of a spreadsheet file download, is available from increa.com.
[Increa Computer Resources](_blank)
Increa.com. Retrieved on 2012-07-29.
Additional hardware
Since November 2008 the 3G-enabled model Aspire One A150X-3G is available in Europe, while models with 3G modems began shipping in the United Kingdom in December of the same year and were denoted by the letter ''G'' in their model number. The first generation Aspire One webcam is an Acer Labs International M5608 camera controller with attached 0.3 MP SuYin or 1.3 MP LiteOn CMOS sensor.
Some models of the Aspire One use an Intel 945GSE chipset which only supports 2 GB of RAM.
Installing memory modules larger than 2 GB has caused the Aspire to fail the
power-on self-test
A power-on self-test (POST) is a process performed by firmware or software routines immediately after a computer or other digital electronic device is powered on.
This article mainly deals with POSTs on personal computers, but many other embed ...
. Model 522, featuring the
AMD Fusion
AMD Accelerated Processing Unit (APU), formerly known as Fusion, is a series of 64-bit microprocessors from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), combining a general-purpose AMD64 central processing unit (CPU) and integrated graphics processing unit ...
C-50 chip, has been reported to work with 4 GB installed (although the included Windows 7 Starter edition has an artificially imposed
2 GB limit).
AO751h (751h)
The AO751h has the larger 11.6" screen with an LED backlit display and a 1366x768 native resolution. It includes a 1 GB/667 MHz DDR2 533 MHz SDRAM memory option (2 GB being the maximum), a 160 GB HDD option, Bluetooth option, Intel northbridge US15W, and an OS option for Windows Vista Home Basic edition or Windows XP Media Center Edition. All AO751h units are powered by an Intel Atom Z520 processor running at 1330 MHz (or 1240 MHz in first version). The US15W system controller incorporates a GMA500 video core. The AO751h has a dual power (AC/DC) option. The six cell battery provides the working time of about 8 hours. Besides the mentioned specifications of the AO751h it supports 10/100 Mbit/s Ethernet interface, 802.11g Wi-Fi card Atheros, Bluetooth 2.1, standard VGA-out jack, 3 USB 2.0 ports, a Memory Card reader 5:1 (xD-Picture Card, SD card), as well as Microphone In jack 3.5 mm (1/8" Mini), Headphone Out jack 3.5 mm (1/8" Mini). One of the cons is the relatively small TouchPad and mouse buttons. Large and comfortable keyboard is one of the distinguishing features of the device.
There have been reports of some AO751h units randomly
freezing
Freezing is a phase transition where a liquid turns into a solid when its temperature is lowered below its freezing point. In accordance with the internationally established definition, freezing means the solidification phase change of a liquid ...
, which has led to recalls in Denmark. Some users have reported that having their motherboards replaced by Acer solved the problem and Acer officially reporting that the fix is to install an updated BIOS.
AOA150 speaker vibration and other issues
The 8.9" models have an improperly designed speaker location that causes vibration to the internal hard drive, causing it to be problematic. The right speaker is especially prone to this. Audio frequencies around 1
kHz cause the hard drive to almost stop responding. Full volume MP3/audio playback easily causes these models to run extremely slowly, or crash because of unresponsive disk I/O. This problem also causes bad sectors, crashed hard drives and corrupt Windows partitions in the long term. Even sound from an external speaker with 1 kHz tone test causes this hard drive behaviour. SSD drives do not suffer from this problem. Workarounds identified are: listening to music at a lower volume, using only the left speaker, using a software equalizer to tone down the 1 kHz frequency, replacing the hard drive with an SSD, and trying to install soft sound dampening material around the speakers and the hard drive.
Aspire One Happy
The Acer Aspire One Happy is a 10.1 inch netbook with different
operating systems: (
Android 2.1 and
Windows 7
Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, 2009. It is the successor to Windows Vista, released nearly ...
). It was launched by
Acer Inc. in November 2010. The computer is nearly identical to the Acer Aspire One D255. The main difference is that the Happy case comes in several different color options (comes in Candy pink, Lavender purple, Lime green and Hawaii blue). It is powered by Intel Atom N450 or dual-core Intel Atom N550, with up to 2 GB RAM and Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3150. There is also a 3G version for proper portability, with each model measuring 24 mm thick and weighing 1.25 kg with a six-cell battery pack.
In mid–2011, the "Acer Aspire One Happy 2" line was released.
This model may have bluetooth on board. It seems that some countries ship this newer model with bluetooth while others do not.
This seems to depend which wireless card they shipped with, some can in fact be replaced as the BIOS should not be card specific.
The functionality uses an internal USB bus on miniPCIe slot specification but not all have these pins connected.
A good way to check is find a miniPCIe to USB3 card and see if the device is recognized or not.
Acer Aspire One D270
The Acer Aspire One D270 netbook is the first 10-inch Acer netbook to feature a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N2600 dual core processor and running Windows 7 Starter 32-bit.
The AOD270-1186, the white models, feature an Intel Atom N2600 dual core processor with 1 MB L2 cache, 1.6 GHz processor and Hyper Threading technology.
The AOD270-1410, the black model, features a 10.1 inch WSVGA LED-backlit display with CrystalBrite technology with a 17:10 aspect ratio and 1024 x 600 resolution display, 1 GB DDR3 SDRAM memory, a 320 GB 5400 rpm hard drive and integrated Intel GMA 3600 graphics with 64 MB dedicated memory.
In Europe, the Acer Aspire One D270-26Ckk NU.SGAED.011 is running Linpus Linux and comes in an "espresso black" color. It also includes 2 GB of RAM, and a 320 GB hard drive. With Linux, this netbook becomes a bit faster than its Windows 7 counterpart.
Although Intel specifies the maximum RAM capability of the N2600 as 2 GB, numerous users have reported a 4 GB SODIMM works well in the D270, with 2.99 GB reported usable by Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit (after upgrading from Starter).
Some models of the Acer Aspire One D270 have Windows 7 Home Basic pre-installed and have an Intel Atom N2800 1.86 GHz processor.
Some more recent AOA's can be upgraded to 4 GB 1.5V RAM if they use DDR3 and the 64 bit CPU; though this is not a recommended upgrade path it works on the D270 -26Dbb and the modification was medium term stable on the test machine running x64 Windows 7 Home using SDR#. It is believed that many other inexpensive VT64x equipped DDR3 netbooks have the same capability but disabled for licensing reasons or due to the clock circuitry being unable to handle certain modules correctly resulting in system instability, that can be overcome using spdtool and slightly altering timing parameters.
There are known issues with the WiFi in the D270 over time, which sometimes occur after the card is changed. Putting the OEM one back in does not resolve this problem and symptoms include the Fn + F3 not working. Further investigation suggests that the issue may be BIOS corruption and replacing or reflashing the chip may well resolve it but as of yet this is untested. The D270 is known to have SPECTRE/Meltdown vulnerabilities but this may be patched at a later date with a third party BIOS.
Reception
CNET editors' review has been positive, although held reservations as the Aspire One is early to market and many netbooks are planned for the near future.
A
The Tech Report
The Tech Report is a web site which used to be dedicated to covering personal computing technology and culture.
TechReport's "Abo ...
(Techreport.com) review of the 751h, and the similar
Gateway LT3103U, was generally positive, praising the notebooks' battery life but criticizing the large number of third party software products preinstalled and running by default on the computers.
Acer Aspire 1 A114-31-C4HH
LaptopsAdvisor (2018-22-07).
See also
* Gateway netbooks
* Comparison of netbooks
References
External links
*
{{Linux devices
Computer-related introductions in 2008
Linux-based devices
Netbooks
Android (operating system) devices
Acer Inc. laptops