Happy New Year to everyone! (to the 3 people who actually read my ramblings)
I am back to the grind at work, for the most part, and I have now had the opportunity to put my new Aspire One to work for me to a certain extent.
I have stayed at home during the holiday weeks – however I am absolutely certain that I am just going to love this little guy while I am on the road. I do spend a good 3-4 days of most weeks on the road visiting accounts and staying in my 2nd home in Philadelphia. The functionality and portability I get out of the Aspire One will truly allow me to just pitch my aging HP dv1000 laptop that I have been lugging in my bag for years now. The HP laptop was fairly small and served me extremely well however and in recent times has proven to be quite Linux friendly to boot.
As much as I love Linux and I try to use it as my primary OS – my job has made it extremely difficult to continue to do so. Last year the company I work for moved to the use of Cisco-based VoIP phones and as a result I am forced to use a Cisco software-based phone. On top of that, just recently, the company also shifted to Windows Server 2008 and since then my Citrix client for Linux has been non-functional. After many futile attempts to continue to function with Citrix to connect to my company's server – I have had to back burner the endeavor for now. Damn Citrix!
So now that I have attempted to clear the air as to why the hell I am still using the installed version of XP on the Aspire One I think I can put the nudging I may hear from some of my friends to rest for now. To be honest – I am not seeing a great deal of fully compatible distros for the Aspire One either... though I am sure it will improve.
OK, so my impressions of the Aspire One are out right tremendous with the exception of the track pad. Yeah this track pad truly sucks, and I don't think I will get used to it. In my opinion, if the left and right buttons were perhaps easier to click and perhaps a bit more “touchy” I could prove to be a marked improvement to the design and allow better functionality. I have yet to get out my mini-optical mouse yet for the thing .. I am just dealin' with it for now in hopes that I will get accustomed to it. That is the only complaint I have about this netbook.
(**edit: as of 7:23PM 01.01.09 I said f*ck it - and reached for the mini-optical..I can't take it anymore**)
I have the 6-cell battery that gets things done for me... I am seeing an easy 5 ½ hours of life on the average, which is more than perfect. The 6-cell version of the One also came with a 160GB HDD and I am not sure of any US-based retail store that stocks this version – however there are many ways you can purchase this version on-line.
When I first laid hands on the Acer I figured the keyboard would be awkward to use and when I made up my mind one which netbook I wanted, I was expecting this. Again however, the Acer Aone has given me another surprise – after 1 week I am very comfortable with the smaller keyboard and I can just sit down and type away. Very cool indeed.
I have yet to use the 1.3 MP web cam that is built into the unit – well other than making sure it works. Its OK I guess... the built in mic seems quite “tinny”, but I expected that. I will be using the web cam on the road every day when I talk with the kids at home on Skype. Previous to this I was using an external cam with my HP laptop – so the built-in web cam will keep things a lot more convenient for me in this regard as well.
Unless you hear otherwise – just consider my opinion regarding the Acer Aspire One netbook to be a slam dunk. Please let me know how things are coming along in the way of Aspire One friendly Linux distros, I'd appreciate it. As well as anyone that may have some good knowledge of using Citirx on Linux.
My Acer Aspire One Specs:
Model#A150-1447
Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz
8.9" WSVGA
1GB DDR2 SDRAM - 160GB HDD - Fast Ethernet, Wi-Fi - Windows XP Home - Sapphire Blue
I wish everyone all the best in 2009 and thanks for reading.
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