The Acer Aspire One Cloudbook, a small and affordable notebook has proven to be a success among its users from day one. The common consensus is that the Acer Cloudbook is a good mix of functionality, price and just enough hardware, material and feature compromises to make it worth using on a day to day basis.
Review
The Acer Aspire One Cloudbook was designed for the internet. A number of compromises have been made in order to keep the price down, but connectivity isn’t on the list of downgraded features. The Acer comes with a new generation, dual band 802.11ac wireless card, perfect for video and audio streaming, live video chatting via Skype, downloading sizable files or accessing complex webpages in mere seconds.
Also, the Acer is equipped with a tiny eMMC storage card with a capacity of just 32 gigabytes, of which only about 12 or 16 will be available after properly updating Windows 10. It’s not as outrageous as you’d think, since you can user Acer’s own cloud storage service for free, the abApps and a combination of the many solutions found online (like Flickr for photos or Dropbox for files). Storage space can also be extended offline by inserting an SD card inside the laptop’s card slot.
We can see portability is another important sector in which Acer has invested resources. Weighing just 2.5 pounds, the Acer Aspire One Cloudbook is light enough to carry around just about anywhere. It’s also very thin (0.7 inches), meaning it will occupy as little space as possible inside a backpack or a shoulder bag.
Battery life is impressive as well: the standard figures point to 8 hours of usage while playing video before drainage. Adjusting the settings for a more conservative scenario, such as taking notes, researching topics online and more undemanding tasks will likely assure a more long lasting output. This makes the Acer a good laptop for college students or travelling business people, perfect to use in cafes, parks, classrooms or airports.
Click here to buy the Acer Aspire One Cloudbook on Amazon.com
Considering performance ratings, the Acer Aspire One Cloudbook (AO1-131-C9PM version) is decent enough and well equipped to handle web browsing and social media, writing documents and spreadsheets and streaming services like Netflix, YouTube, Pandora and others. The lack of an integrated video card and a more powerful processor means only undemanding indie or flash games will run on it and maybe some older names, but on medium to low settings. Photo or video editing will have to take a backseat, as the Acer will struggle with these activities, as well as heavy multitasking.
But compromises and drawbacks are expected, especially in a sub $200 highly portable notebook capable of running a full sized operating system. Like the all-plastic casing which feels shabby and coarse, unlike its more stylish cousin, the Acer C720. The screen isn’t the brightest out there, but manages to address glare issues quite well.
Click to check the latest price on Amazon.com
As far as hardware is concerned, it’s fitted with a surprisingly snappy dual core Intel Celeron N3050 processor and 2 gigabytes of available system memory, which sadly can’t be upgraded by the user.
Technical Specifications
[table width =”100%” style =”table-simple table-hover” responsive =”true” class=”customtable”]
[table_head]
[th_column]Product[/th_column]
[th_column]Acer Aspire One Cloudbook AO1-131-C9PM[/th_column]
[/table_head]
[table_body]
[table_row]
[row_column]PROCESSOR[/row_column]
[row_column][/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]CPU Name[/row_column]
[row_column]Intel Celeron N3050[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]CPU Type[/row_column]
[row_column]Dual Core[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]CPU Speed[/row_column]
[row_column]1.6 GHz[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]CPU Cache[/row_column]
[row_column]2 MB[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]SYSTEM MEMORY[/row_column]
[row_column][/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Installed Memory[/row_column]
[row_column]2 GB[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Maximum Memory[/row_column]
[row_column]2 GB[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Memory Type[/row_column]
[row_column]DDR3L SDRAM[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Total Memory Slots[/row_column]
[row_column]1 slot[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]STORAGE[/row_column]
[row_column][/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Storage Capacity[/row_column]
[row_column]32 GB[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Storage Type[/row_column]
[row_column]eMMC[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Storage Technology[/row_column]
[row_column]Flash[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]DISPLAY[/row_column]
[row_column][/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Screen Size[/row_column]
[row_column]11.6″[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Screen Type[/row_column]
[row_column]Active Matrix TFT LCD[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Screen Technology[/row_column]
[row_column]ComfyView LED Backlit[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Screen Resolution[/row_column]
[row_column]1366 x 768[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Aspect Ratio[/row_column]
[row_column]16:9[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Touchscreen[/row_column]
[row_column]No[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]GRAPHICS[/row_column]
[row_column][/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Graphics Processing Unit[/row_column]
[row_column]Intel HD Graphics[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Graphic Card Type[/row_column]
[row_column]Integrated[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Graphics Memory[/row_column]
[row_column]Shared[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]AUDIO & VIDEO[/row_column]
[row_column][/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Audio Technology[/row_column]
[row_column]High Definition Audio[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Speakers[/row_column]
[row_column]Two stereo speakers[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Webcam[/row_column]
[row_column]Yes, VGA[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]NETWORK AND COMMUNICATION[/row_column]
[row_column][/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Wireless LAN[/row_column]
[row_column]Dual band 802.11ac[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Bluetooth[/row_column]
[row_column]Bluetooth 4.0[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Ethernet[/row_column]
[row_column]No[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]INTERFACE[/row_column]
[row_column][/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]USB Ports[/row_column]
[row_column]1 x USB 3.0
1 x USB 2.0[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]HDMI[/row_column]
[row_column]YEs, with HDCP support[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]VGA[/row_column]
[row_column]No[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Headphone/Mic[/row_column]
[row_column]Audio Combo Jack[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Multi Card Slot[/row_column]
[row_column]Yes, SD card support[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]LAN (RJ45)[/row_column]
[row_column]No[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]INPUT DEVICES[/row_column]
[row_column][/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Keyboard[/row_column]
[row_column]Standard notebook (84 keys)[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Backlit Keyboard[/row_column]
[row_column]No[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]BATTERY[/row_column]
[row_column][/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Battery Type[/row_column]
[row_column]2-Cell Lithium-Polymer[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Battery Capacity[/row_column]
[row_column]4200 mAh[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Maximum Battery Life[/row_column]
[row_column]Up to 8 hours[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Other Features[/row_column]
[row_column]None[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Operating System[/row_column]
[row_column]Windows 10 Home[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Dimensions (W x D x H)[/row_column]
[row_column]11.5″ x 8″ x 0.7″[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Weight[/row_column]
[row_column]2.54 lbs[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[/table_body]
[/table]
Scores, Pros and Cons
[row]
[column lg=”4″ md=”12″ sm=”12″ xs=”12″ ]
[progressbar value=”65″ bartype=”progress-bar-warning” label=”Performance: 6.5/10″]
[/column]
[column lg=”4″ md=”12″ sm=”12″ xs=”12″ ]
[progressbar value=”90″ bartype=”progress-bar-info” label=”Functionality: 9/10″]
[/column]
[column lg=”4″ md=”12″ sm=”12″ xs=”12″ ]
[progressbar value=”100″ bartype=”progress-bar-success” label=”Price: 10/10″]
[/column]
[/row]
[list]
[li]Pros[/li]
[li type=”glyphicon-plus”]Affordable notebook solution[/li]
[li type=”glyphicon-plus”]Great battery life[/li]
[li type=”glyphicon-plus”]Featherweight and thin[/li]
[li type=”glyphicon-plus”]802.11ac WLAN[/li]
[li]Cons[/li]
[li type=”glyphicon-minus”]Small storage space[/li]
[li type=”glyphicon-minus”]Plastic casing[/li]
[li type=”glyphicon-minus”]Low end performance ratings[/li]
[/list]
Final Thoughts
All in all, this is a more than decent laptop for the proposed price of just under $200. It’s ideally suited for college students in need of a cheap device and for people who travel a lot and don’t need too much computing power to go with great battery life and portability.
