Fantastic Netbooks » Acer Aspire One 531

Top 10 Netbooks For Going Back To School

Fantastic Netbooks — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 21:58:10 +0000

Rounding up the top 10 netbooks for students heading back to school or off to University – we’re looking for lightweight and stylish netbooks whilst making sure they have great battery life and are made from strong stuff – does such a netbook exist?

I know it feels like the summer holidays have only just started and there is a long time before school starts again in September. You don’t want to think about it but you need a netbook to help you with your school work when the new term starts. Or perhaps you are heading off to college or university in a month or two and need a portable computer for writing essays, reports and conducting research.

So if you are thinking about a new netbook to start the new school year in September then I hope this roundup of the best 10 netbooks will be as welcome as an A+ mark in your first test.

I reckon that the main features to look out for when choosing a netbook for a student at school, college or university are the following:

Good battery life – having a decent battery life is essential if the netbook is going to be used throughout the day, not always where there is a power supply close to hand.
Lightweight – nobody wants to carry a heavy laptop around with them all day. Having a lightweight netbook will ease the burden and have you skipping between lectures, lessons or lunch.
Good value for money, i.e. cheap – whoever is paying for the netbook will appreciate it if you get a lot of netbook for your (their) money.
Good design – nobody wants a netbook that looks like a brick or an old Amstrad from the 1980s.
Comfortable keyboard – if the netbook is going to be used properly to write essays, reports, conduct research and prepare for exams then having a comfortable keyboard to type on is pretty important.
Screen – we’re not so concerned about having a screen that looks good when playing DVDs whereas something you can view when outside or under bright fluorescent lights means that matte screens rather than glossy screens would probably be better.
Build quality – it is fair to say that a netbook carried around a school or college is possibly going to get knocked about a bit. This means a flimsy netbook will not be much good so we are looking for one with some sturdiness and good build quality.

So now we have an idea of what we are looking for, let’s have a look at the top 10 netbooks.

Continue reading: Top 10 Netbooks For Going Back To School

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Acer Aspire One 531H vs 532H vs 532G

Fantastic Netbooks — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:19:03 +0000

Acer Aspire One 532H is Acer's replacement for the popular 531H

The Acer Aspire One comparison – popular previous generation 10 inch netbook 531h versus the new Aspire One 532h with pine-trail processor and integrated graphics plus a nod towards the upcoming Acer Aspire One 532g with Nvidia Ion 2 graphics chip including Nvidia Optimas technology.

The 531h or AO531h, as it is also known, is an extremely popular and fairly lightweight netbook that can still be purchased at some very reasonable prices (Amazon UK have got it for £229.95 at the moment). The new pine-trail generation version, called the 532h with Atom N450 processor, Windows 7 and up to 8 hours battery life is now here and can be picked up for less than £300 from a number of places (3 good examples are Oyyy, Amazon UK and Laptops Direct).

We are very much looking forward to the 532g, which is due to be released in the next month or so and features Nvidia’s Ion 2 graphics chip with 512Mb memory plus their brand new Optimus switching technology. Optimus will come into play automatically when extra graphics capabilities are needed and saves a great deal of battery life when compared with an always on graphics chip such as the normal Nvidia Ion found on the HP Mini 311c. This should give the 532g a battery life close to 10 hours instead of the 311c’s 5 hours.

So three great netbooks, the 531h a year or so old, the 532h pretty much brand new and the 532g expected perhaps as early as the end of March but perhaps going to be a bit more expensive once it does hit the shops.

How do these great Acer Aspire One netbooks compare?

Continue reading: Acer Aspire One 531H vs 532H vs 532G

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40 Netbooks Ranked

Fantastic Netbooks — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:08:51 +0000

Lenovo IdeaPad S12 - one of the netbooks added to our updated netbook rankings

We hit the big four-oh with the top 40 major netbooks ranked in order according to the scores awarded to them in real reviews.

There have been some tough reviews this time around since we last updated the netbook rankings in early August with several of the top netbooks falling up to 15 places.

The following new netbook models have been added this time around to build our chart up to 40 netbooks in total:

Lenovo IdeaPad S12
ViewSonic VNB101
Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2
Gateway LT3103u
MSI Wind U123

The highest new entry of these 5 netbooks is number 23 but which one is it? Click through to the netbook rankings chart to find out. One of the new additions is also propping up the netbook rankings table so keep your eye out for that one.

Along with the new additions, we have updated scores for several of the existing chart entries as new reviews are released. The movers and shakers this time around are as follows:

HP 5101 – up 7 places
Acer Aspire One 531 – down a huge 15 places due to some harsh reviews
Samsung N310 – down 4 places
Acer Aspire One D250 – down 1 place
Asus Eee PC 1008HA – down 4 places
Acer Aspire One 751 – stays in the same position
Asus Eee PC 1005HA – down 7 places
Asus Eee PC 1101HA – down 1 place
Dell Inspiron Mini 10 – stays in the same position
MSI Wind U115 Hybrid – up 1 place
HP Mini 110 – stays in the same position
Samsung N110 – up 3 places
Toshiba NB205 – up 3 places
Samsung N120 – up 4 places
Asus Eee PC T91 – down 9 places due to some harsh reviews

What this means is that there are several golden oldies at the top of the rankings and you can pick some of these up for an absolute steal in our Netbook Deals section or purchase them in our new Netbook Shop.

Continue reading: 40 Netbooks Ranked

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1008HA Seashell finally in stock

Fantastic Netbooks — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:13:55 +0000

Asus Eee PC 1008HA Seashell now in stock

As long as you want the white Asus Seashell, as the red and blue models are still not available just yet.

Following weeks of expected stock dates coming and going, the Asus Eee PC 1008HA Seashell is now finally in stock with a bunch of online retailers in the UK, just as long as you want the white one.

We have checked the stock situation across some of the best and most competitive UK online netbook retailers to find the stock and the best deals for the 1008HA Seashell.

These netbooks are going fast, since we started finding stock and then checking back to update our figures, the number of 1008HA’s available is dropping rapidly. So if you want one then look at the best deals below.

Oyyy has only got 79 of the white Seashell ready to ship and it looks like they are heading out the door fast. Stock for all other models is expected on 30th June. A very good deal at £364.24 inc. VAT with free delivery.
Insight also has 79 of the white 1008HA in stock for £362.23 inc. VAT.
Laptops Direct did have some stock of the 1008HA Seashell in white but is now saying 24th June before they get some more. These 1008HA’s are really going fast and are on sale for £369.97 inc. VAT.
Microwarehouse are still saying ‘Ordered on request’ for the 1008HA.

A quick rundown of the specification in case you are not sure why everyone is going mad for these netbooks:

10 inch LED-backlit display with 1024 x 600 resolution
Intel Atom N280 processor – 1.66Ghz
Intel 945GME/ICH7 chipset with Intel GMA 950 graphics
1Gb RAM
160Gb Hard Disk with 10Gb online
Integrated Wireless 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1
2 x USB ports, headphone, microphone, ethernet and mini VGA port (port extender supplied)
Integrated card reader for SD, SDHC and MMC formats
Stereo speakers, 1.3 megapixel webcam, dual array microphone
Embedded 3 cell battery with 2,900mAh capacity
Windows XP Home SP3 operating system
262 x 178 x 26mm, 1.13Kg

You can read more detail on the 1008HA in our review roundup here or view the full specification here. We have also put together a comparison with the Asus Eee PC 1000HE and the Asus Eee PC S101 so you can see how the 1008HA Seashell shapes up with its siblings.

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1008HA Seashell and Aspire One 531 not in stock

Fantastic Netbooks — Sun, 24 May 2009 12:35:34 +0000

Asus Eee PC 1008HA Seashell review roundup

We have 2 recently released and great netbooks in the svelte form of the Asus Eee PC 1008HA Seashell and the equally lovely Acer Aspire One 531 but little hope of buying one in the UK.

The reason? Only 2 of the retailers that we checked have either model in stock, which is disappointing as both netbooks feature strongly in our netbook rankings charts.

Continue reading: 1008HA Seashell and Aspire One 531 not in stock

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Acer Aspire One 531 Mini Review

Fantastic Netbooks — Wed, 20 May 2009 22:26:32 +0000

The Acer Aspire One 531 is the latest 10 inch netbook launched by Acer after its first, the AOD150 and is based on almost the same hardware. After producing one of the best selling 9 inch netbooks can Acer repeat that with its latest 10 inch model?

Acer has obviously spent time on the design of the 531, as it clearly benefits from a good finish and sleek appearance whilst entering into our netbook rankings at number 3 behind the Samsung NC10 and Samsung NC20.

Buy Acer Aspire One 531 from Oyyy from £328.11 inc. VAT includes free delivery, stock expected 21st June.

On with our mini review roundup.

Acer 531H Good Points:

1. Design – the Aspire One 531′s style clearly impressed both T3 and Notebookcheck, as they appreciated the slim chassis and felt that the 531 is elegant and slender with a high gloss finish. This is a netbook that puts the 531 on a par with the latest image conscious Eee PC’s and style conscious netbooks.

2. Processor – the Aspire One 531 uses the newer Atom N280 processor, which operates slightly quicker than the N270 processor found in the majority of netbooks. This N280 processor generates a little less heat and slightly less noise than the N270.

3. Trackpad – the trackpad on the Aspire One 531 is a big improvement on older Aspire One’s according to T3. It is quick, precise and Acer have moved the mouse buttons to the correct place. Additionally, Notebookcheck liked the multi-touch aspects of the trackpad, in particular zooming and scrolling although it is too small to be used excessively.

4. Build quality – the 531 is well built, has a solid base and generally feels very robust although the screen does give a little and the 6 cell battery wobbles a bit as spotted by Notebookcheck.

5. Weight – the Aspire One 531 only weighs 1.22Kg even when equipped with a 6 cell battery, which is less than the comparable AOD150.

6. Card slots – there are 2 of them on the 531, a card reader and then a separate SD card slot, which helps for expandability.

Acer 531H Divided Opinion:

1. Screen – the 10 inch screen of the 531 is bright and glossy and does not add to the weight over and above a 9 inch Aspire One. This clear screen is great when working indoors but as soon as you take i outside you will find that the screen is quite reflective when used in bright or otherwise unfavourable lighting conditions. Notebookcheck also noticed that distortions in the image start to appear when the screen is viewed at different angles.

2. Keyboard – the Aspire One 531′s keyboard is 89% of full size and very easy to use according to T3. Notebookcheck also found the keyboard easy to use after a short period of acclimatisation and quiet to type on. There are a few issues though in that the arrow keys are a little bit too cramped to use easily and the top of enter button is cut off to squeeze in a “.

3. Battery – the standard battery is only a 3 cell with a 6 cell battery available as an extra but Notebookcheck noticed that this does stick out from the back of the netbook and puts it into a slanted position. The 3 cell battery has a capacity of 24.4Wh whilst the 6 cell battery has a capacity of 57.7Wh.

Notebookcheck carried out a series of battery life tests and the 6 cell battery achieved 7.5 hours in the minimal use test and 3 hours and 57 minutes in the high load test. Normal use gained 4 hours and 52 minutes battery life. These figures are a little disappointing in that they are slightly lower than the AOD150 for essentially the same hardware but in more general terms the results are fairly good. The 3 cell battery will achieve around 50% of these figures.

Acer 531H Bad Points:

The main bad points have already been mentioned above as a part of other items but they are essentially as follows.

1. Reflective screen – makes the 531 difficult to use outdoors, as with a lot of glossy screens.

2. Small keys – some of the numeric and arrow keys are small and cramped, which does have an impact on ease of typing even though the keyboard is generally fine.

3. Heat – Notebookcheck spotted that the underside of the case is prone to heat up whilst the netbook is under load.

Other points of note:

1. Notebookcheck spotted that when closing the lid there is no catch so it is possible for items to slide between the screen and keyboard.

2. The Aspire One’s connections are integrated into the available space down the left and right sides of the netbook with the largest being the VGA and RJ-45 being placed cleverly in the rear corners. Other connections are placed down the left and right corresponding to their height so they sit nicely within the design of the netbook.

3. The 531 has 3 USB ports, VGA port, LAN/RJ-45, card reader slot, additional SD card slot, kensington lock, mains adapter and audio ports.

4. Regarding connectivity the Aspire One features – Ethernet 10/100Mbps, Wireless LAN 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR. There will be an optional UMTS/HSPA mobile broadband at some point although that will cost more.

5. The hard disk is a Toshiba, which has good transfer rates but the access time is a bit slower.

6. Noise levels for the Aspire One 531 are 31.4dB when idle, 32.4dB when in use and up to 41.1dB when under load.

7. Temperature readings taken by Notebookcheck were slightly higher than expected reaching 46.8 degrees Celsius on the underside of the case.

Overall Score – 84.5% (compiled from 2 top industry reviews – see netbook rankings)

Comments and verdicts:

T3′s verdict was – The next generation of netbook wars is destined to be harder fought than ever, but it’s going to take some considerable innovation for a rival to best Acer’s latest effort.

Notebookcheck’s verdict was – As for price, the One 531 sells for around 70.- Euro more than the Aspire One D150. Whoever is ready to invest in the successful design will surely be happy with the 531. Essentially, technical improvements are not to be found.

Reviews Used To Produce This Roundup:

T3 – posted on 22nd April 2009
Notebookcheck – posted on 7th May 2009

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Acer Aspire One 531 vs Acer Aspire One AOD150 comparison

Fantastic Netbooks — Sun, 17 May 2009 22:10:37 +0000

The best selling Acer Aspire One netbooks have another new 10 inch model in the range – the slim and stylish 531.

We compare the main features of the first 10 inch Aspire One, the AOD150, with the new 531 to see which one comes out best. The Aspire One 531 has the newer Atom N280 processor installed plus reports better battery life.

Buy Acer Aspire One 531 from Oyyy from £328.11 inc. VAT includes free delivery, stock expected 24th May.

So if you are looking for an Acer Aspire One netbook then this comparison table should help you decide which one is for you.

Acer Aspire One 531 and AOD150 comparison

A comparison of the main features between the Acer Aspire One 531 and Acer Aspire One AOD150 netbooks.

	Acer Aspire One 531	Acer Aspire One AOD150
Attributes
Screen Size	10.1"	10.1"
Processor	1.66 Ghz	1.6 Ghz
RAM	1GB	1GB
Hard Disk	160Gb	160Gb
OS	Windows XP Home	Windows XP Home
WebCam	0.3 megapixel	0.3 megapixel
Weight	1.27Kg	1.33Kg
Resolution	1024 x 600	1024 x 600
Battery Life	7.5 hours	6 hours
Wireless	Yes	Yes
Bluetooth	Yes	Yes
USB Ports	x 3	x 3
Ethernet	Yes	Yes
Built-in Broadband	No	No
Latest Prices
Oyyy	from £328.11 inc. VAT	not available yet
Insight	not available yet	not available yet
PC World	not available yet	£279.99 inc. VAT

View The Full Specifications:

See where the Acer Aspire One 531 places in our netbook rankings.

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Acer Aspire One 531 Specification

Fantastic Netbooks — Sun, 17 May 2009 20:57:16 +0000

The Acer Aspire One 531 is a slim and stylish addition to the best selling line of Aspire One netbooks.

Using the slightly better performing Intel Atom N280 processor alongside a fairly standard specification and a bright and glossy screen, the Acer Aspire One 531 is scoring well from the reviews that we have seen so far.

The full specification for the Acer Aspire One 531 is shown in the table below:

Full specification for the Acer Aspire One 531

	Acer Aspire One 531 Specification
CPU
Processor	Intel Atom N280 1.66 GHz
CPU Bus Speed	667 MHz
Package	Micro-FCBGA
Memory
Memory (Maximum)	1024 MB ( 2048 MB) 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
Memory Slot	1 x SO-DIMM
Storage
Hard Disk	160 GB ( 1 x 160 GB) 5400 RPM Serial ATA Hard Drive
Input
Keyboard	84/85/88 keyboard, 1.6mm Key travel
Keyboard Size	89% of standard-size keyboard
Pointing Device	Touchpad
Control Buttons	12 function keys, four cursor keys, one Windows key, hotkey controls, embedded numeric keypad, international language support
Display
Monitor	10.1 ins CrystalBrite High-Brightness WSVGA Colours
Display Resolution	Dot Pitch 1024 x 600 Pixels
Sound
Sound Device	High Definition Audio support
Sound Card Interface	Integrated
Speakers	2 x Built in Stereo Speakers
Integrated Microphone	Yes
Audio Features	MS Sound Compatible
Interfaces/Ports
VGA Port	1 x External VGA
RJ-45 Ports	1 x RJ-45
USB Ports	3 x USB 2.0
Microphone In Port	1 x Microphone In Jack
Headphone/Audio Line Out	1 x Headphone/Speaker/Line-out jack
DC Power	1 x DC in
Media Adaptor
Removable Flash Memory Media	5-in-1 Card Reader (mini SD/ MS Duo/ MS Pro Duo via adaptor)
Sony Memory Stick	Supported: Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro
MultiMedia Card	Supported
Secure Digital	Supported
xD-Picture Card	Supported
Network (Wired)
Network Interface	Fast Ethernet 10/100 Mbps Integrated
Network (Wireless)
Wireless System	Acer InviLink solution supporting Acer SignalUp wireless technology
RF Network Standard	IEEE 802.11 b/g
Protocols Supported	Wi-Fi Certified
Wireless Communications
Bluetooth	Yes
Bluetooth Version	Bluetooth 2.0
Video Card
Graphics Device	Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 with 128 MB
Video Card Interface	Integrated
Camera
Webcam	Integrated CrystalEye Webcam
Camera Resolution	0.3 Megapixels
System
Software Included	Acer Recovery Management • Microsoft Office Ready 2007 (Service Pack 1) • Google Toolbar • Google Desktop • Google Setup • Adobe Reader 9 • Adobe Flash Player 10 • Microsoft.NET Framework 2.0 • Customized Internet Explorer 7.0 • eSobi • Carbonite Online Backup • McAfee Internet Security Suite (60 Day trial) • Acer Video Conference Manager 4.0 • Windows Live Essentials Wave 3 (Mail, Photo Gallery, Live Messenger, Writer)
Security	BIOS user, supervisor, HDD psswords
Operating System	Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Environmental
Certifications	WiFi • Energy Star 4.0 • WEEE • RoHS
Electrical
Battery	Lithium-Ion ( 6 Cells) 5200 mAh
Battery Life	7.5 hours (expected)
Power Supply	30W adaptor with power cord
Power Management Features	Energy Star
Physical
Form Factor	Mini Notebook PC
Security Locking Mechanics	Kensington Lock Slot
Dimensions	25.941 cm(W) x 20.637 cm(D) x 3.309 cm(H) - Weight 1.27 kg
Latest Prices
Oyyy	from £328.11 inc. VAT
Insight	Not available yet

See where the Acer Aspire One 531 places in our netbook rankings.

Please let us know whether you found this specification useful by leaving us some feedback below.

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Netbook Rankings updated with new models

Fantastic Netbooks — Sun, 17 May 2009 19:10:20 +0000

Our netbook rankings tables have been updated to include several newly released models including – Samsung N310, Asus Eee PC 2008HA Seashell and the Acer Aspire 531.

We have also added a few netbooks previously released including the Lenovo S10e, MSI Wind U120, Asus Eee PC 1000H and Dell Inspiron Mini 9.

These netbooks have been added to the Overall Score, Lightest Netbook and Longest Battery life rankings so you can see at a glance which netbook is the best in each category.

Click here to see our updated netbook rankings.

As we add more reviews and more netbooks to this site these netbook league tables will be regularly updated to help us determine the best netbook in each category and the top netbook overall.

And let us know what future netbook rankings you would like to see. Would a league table for best screen or best keyboard be useful to you, how would you measure which one was best? Any feedback is more than welcome and we will respond to any comments you leave.

Find the latest netbooks at the lowest prices at our Netbook Shop.

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