Acer Aspire One netbook on sale $300

[ncpilot]

The Acer Aspire One is on sale starting Sunday at Office Depot... $299... unfortunately I already deleted my email with the advanced flyer link, but it is the 1GB memory, 160GB HD model, blue only I think... Win XP (I think it's the AOA150-1635)

Might be too good a price to pass up...   

[Bushman]

They make an excellent weather station PC!  Running my Davis stuff on it now. 

[Sigdigit]

I know I think you posted this before, but what is the power draw in wattts for those Acers?

[ncpilot]

If I recall correctly, based on a few reviews, around 30 watts, give or take, load/no load, size HD (2.5 or 3.5), etc...

see: http://www.mini-itx.com/reviews/atoms/default.asp?page=7

[Bushman]

I know I think you posted this before, but what is the power draw in wattts for those Acers?

According to my Kill-a-Watt, my Asus 701 (solid state HD)  draws 12 watts flat out and 2-4 watts normally.  No watts in standby.    I would expect the hard drive units to draw ~20.  My IBM T21 laptop draws around 30 watts flat out.

[ncpilot]

[tinplate]

That's a pretty good deal. www.ewiz.com has the AOA150 (the one with the 6 cell battery) for $328 and the AOA110 (with 3 cell battery) for $281. The Office Depot at says it's the 150 they have on sale. Buy.com has the linux version of the 150 at $277 and the 110 at $258. I've bought from both companies, and had good experiences with them. But if office depot is selling the 6 cell battery XP model at 299, that probably can't be beat.

My wife has the AOA150 and really likes it. It's quite handy, and ultra portable.

http://www.ewiz.com/query.php?categry=686
http://www.buy.com/retail/usersearchresults.asp?querytype=home&qu=aspire+one&qxt=home&display=col

[SlowModem]

Radio Shack has them for $99.99 if you sign a two-year deal with AT&T.

[ncpilot]

The comparable one at buy.com is $349, the 6 cell battery version is $380, the one at Office Depot is only a 3 cell...
The one I found at eWiz is $359 with 6 cell http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=AA150-1447

In all my price shopping, I couldn't find the 3 cell version for less than $350.

I'm going to try price matching at Best Buy, since I've got a $25 gift card just waiting to be used...

The exact model number = AOA150-1635 (this Aspire has a 160GB HD, not the SSD--SSD prices are less, but you only get up to 16GB).

======
Re: Radio Shack deal... too bad my new employer is picking up the tab on the iPhone they provided...  , guess I couldn't get that to count at Radio Shack...

[tinplate]

My mistake. I was thinking all the 150's were 6 cell. Having the 6-cell battery is definitely a plus.

As for power consumption, I put the kill-o-watt on my wife's 6-cell aspire one. It draws 15-17 watts with a full battery charge, and 25-27 if it's also charging the battery.

[Bushman]

There are some killer deals on these little boxes.  Here's my weather station eeePC.  Total cost excl. the Davis (of course) was ~$280!!  Not the Dell external modem (it will dial up from remote weather location) and the Logitech camera connected via Sabrent USB extender (you can see the  100 feet of blue Cat 5e cable in the back).  Note the size compared to the Davis panel.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34944117@N05/3243734447/

(Hey - anyone know why this Flickr image won't show in-line??  I tried URL and IMG tags...)

[SlowModem]

That really is the "coming thing", I think.  From what I can tell, you can't get one with a modem (I'm still limited to dialup).  But it's on my wish list.

[Bushman]

That really is the "coming thing", I think.  From what I can tell, you can't get one with a modem (I'm still limited to dialup).  But it's on my wish list.

Actually the Toshiba Netbook comes with an internal modem.  HP is supposed to have one coming with a modem as well. But they cost twice the price.

[Sigdigit]

OK, tomorrow's my last day off before my work week begins, and I'm thinking of taking the plunge and getting one of these Acers to be the heart of my weatherstation.  I see they don't have a CD drive, but I've heard you can use the CD drive on another computer in your network to load programs and such.  Problem is, I don't know how to begin.  I am currently running an old Dell Dimension 4100 series with Weatherlink on a serial connection 24/7.  My weathercam is a Panasonic IP cam connected to a Linksys b/g Wi-Fi router.  I know I'm gonna have to get a serial to USB thing to connect my console to the Acer.  Bushman and NCpilot, any tips you can give me to get me up and running would be appreciated, especially accessing a drive on another computer in your network to be able to load programs.  Probably a lot to type, so feel free to shoot me a message with a phone number!  I guess my first priority will be getting the Acer on my wireless network, something I've never attempted before.

[Bushman]

Welcome to the Dark Side Siggy!    You will love the netbook.    I assume it comes with XP?  If so, it should connect to your wireless easily.  Be aware that  you might have to check your wireless protocol.  My Asus needed WAAP instead of WEP or vice versa; I don't remember.  Assuming it connects to your wifi, go to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304040 to learn how to share CD drives.  BTW, you can load stuff from a nice 16/32 gig USB key.  Your machine has 2-4 USB ports. 

Keep asking Qs and I'll try to help as much as I can.

[Sigdigit]

Thanks man!  I'm going to check out that link on sharing drives right now.

[ncpilot]

Another consideration is having a restore CD for the OS--the Aspire One does not ship with a restore CD, and the eRecovery program does not have an option to backup the restore partition (if/when your HD croaks, a hidden restore partition won't do you much good). After a Google search, I learned that after enough bitching and moaning by a bunch of Aspire One owners, Acer will pretty readily send you the disks needed with a simple phone call... I'll have to try that out.

On top of that, I'm planning on creating an image of the C: drive before I add new programs. Then do another image after I get it configured the way I want (most likely using the free DriveImage XML http://www.runtime.org/driveimage-xml.htm ).

That Microsoft KB link has some good technical info, but I think all you have to do is left click on "My Computer", find your CD drive in the list of devices, right click and select "sharing and security", and select "share"...

I'll have to try that myself--I've shared folders, but haven't yet tried to share an entire CD drive...

[Sigdigit]

I've heard Comcast customers get anti-virus included in their subscription, I'm going to try that when I get the Acer.  Right now I'm using Trend micro anti-virus on my desktop (bought it before I realized Comcast supplies customers with anti-virus.)

Also, I noticed that Walmart and Staples sells this for the same price, but nobody has it in stock in any of their stores!  Making the drive out to Office Depot right now to get my new toy.

[Sigdigit]

Whoooohoooooo!!! I'm typing this on my new Acer, love this thing so far.  I figured out how to access my drives on my desktop upstairs using Windows XP.  Never had a wireless laptop or portable computer before, this is great.  I'm keeping it downstairs, so I can keep my wife company while she watches something I'm not into on TV.  She's been complaining about being an internet widow for years.  Going to get the serial to USB thing soon and give this thing a run with Weatherlink.  It came with Mcafee anti-virus 60 day trial, but then I'll install it via Comcast, they offer the whole suite for free to their internet customers.  I know a lot of you guys have had your laptops for years, but this is all new to me and I feel like I'm finally catching up to the rest of the world.  I still refuse to pay for texting on my cellphone though, I think it's a rip-off.

[Bushman]

Cool!!    Now wait till you see the Asus eeeTop. 

BTW, if you have a Seagate or Maxtor drive in that puppy you can DL a full copy of Acronis 9 backup.  Allows bare metal restore.  www.seaagate.com

[ncpilot]

Sigdigit--ignore my PM then... I see you've had no problem in getting it set up and sharing with your other PC...

It is quite a fun little thing, not too bad a keyboard for typing... this is my 4th computer in the house now... After setting it up for the weather station, I'd almost be tempted to buy another one...

[SlowModem]

Sigdigit--ignore my PM then... I see you've had no problem in getting it set up and sharing with your other PC...

It is quite a fun little thing, not too bad a keyboard for typing... this is my 4th computer in the house now... After setting it up for the weather station, I'd almost be tempted to buy another one...

I just remembed buying a TI-55 for $100 once upon a time.  That's a Texas Instruments calculator for all you young folks out there.  Maybe one of these days, computers will be like that and be a dime a dozen.  That would be nice.

[Bushman]

It is quite a fun little thing, not too bad a keyboard for typing... this is my 4th computer in the house now... After setting it up for the weather station, I'd almost be tempted to buy another one...

That is what I am doing although the new eeeTop (touchscreen!!!) due out in a couple of months might be my choice.  Larger screen too but about the same footprint.  A netbook will replace my regular laptop very shortly.

[Sigdigit]

Touch screen would be really cool, I'm so used to the one on my Toughbook at work that I have to resist the urge to touch the screen on the Acer.

[kray1000]

I know a lot of you guys have had your laptops for years, but this is all new to me and I feel like I'm finally catching up to the rest of the world.  I still refuse to pay for texting on my cellphone though, I think it's a rip-off.

Texting?  What's that?