This is the 1 im using right now ! Actually i have 3 of them that i use to play online poker at PartyPoker ! This is MWebbs Review and is pretty accurate ! First Netbook That Can Rival a Macbook Air, July 4, 2012 By MWebb This review is from: Acer Aspire One AO756-2808 11.6-Inch Netbook (Ash Black) (Personal Computers) Please note that the Acer list price for this model is $379. Update note 7-19-12: if only one of your two memory slots is populated,the cheapest memory upgrade is to buy a single matching stick to the other, vacant slot. This will boost your video score under the WEI (Windows Experience Index from 4.7 to 4.9. If you add 2 new modules using faster PC3-12800 RAM your WEI for RAM speed will jump from 5.9 to 7.4. The motherboard is quite good, see the comments below this review. Do not mismatch RAM module speeds or sizes! No additional boost to video score. + Better than average display quality - can view the entire screen out to the corners without darkening; videos have a vibrancy lacking in most 10.1 netbooks. Macbook Airs remain the gold-standard however. + Nice keyboard feel - nicely spaced, almost full-sized keyboard with island style keys with good space between the keys. The keys themselves are about 93% of IBM Selectric typewriter sizing. Comparable to Macbook Air. + Very zippy - significantly faster than Atom powered netbooks and lower-end AMD Fusion netbooks (C-60, E-300, E-450). + One of the lightest (2.15 lbs with battery but without charger; 3.05 lbs with charger) and thinnest netbooks /notebooks, short of the Macbook Airs (and their copies, the Intel-sponsored Ultrabooks). Solid feel. + Trackpad is much more stable than on earlier netbooks - two finger scrolling is smooth too. + True high def screen (albeit of the 720p, not 1080p, variety). + Compared to 1gb of RAM on the remaining 10.1 netbooks, this has 4 gb and the lowest configuration is still 2 gb. + Compared to Windows 32 bit in the crippled _Starter_ edition on the remaining 10.1 netbooks, all editions of this AO756 come with 64 bit Home Premium. - Only a four-cell battery, with an average of 3 to 3.5 hours of battery life. Cannot match the better Atom netbooks (5-8 hours) or the Macbook Airs (5-7 hours). With careful settings and just web browsing, maybe 4 hours. - Most editions dont have Bluetooth. (My budget edition doesnt, but neither does this higher end model.) - [Webcam resolution is not specified on Acer website, but appears to be lower res, certainly not the HD found on the latest Apple laptops.] 7-7-12 update: WRONG. Per the device driver and most websites (Frys for example and Amazon, this actually has a HD Webcam with 720p capabillity - amazing at this price point and GREAT for web conferencing (although I have only tried out Skype so far). This pushes this netbook even closer to the practical functionality of a Macbook Air. Trickle down technology is benefiting us hugely. - No backlighting of keyboard if you often type in a dark room (spouse asleep?). Not many laptops have this feature, so it is a minor negative. - Glossy lid remains a fingerprint / smear magnet. Palm rest panel is not glossy but picks up skin oils. The Asus x101ch with its matt, pebbled finish is far better. Doesnt affect functionality, minor. +- Single jack for input/output (microphone/headphones). A big plus if you have some cellphone style earbuds with an inline mic (great for Skype and Google Talk) but a negative if you have an older style separate jack microphone and need to use it at the same time as some headphones. Since there is a good, echo-canceling microphone built-in to the chassis, you dont need earbuds with an inline mic and can use whatever you have lying around for Skype (or alternatively use the netbook in speakerphone mode with no earbuds at all). +- No USB 3.0. But why would you want to pay the significant premium for USB 3.0 on a travel netbook that will only require heavy file transfer when it is initially set up and you dump some music and video files on it. +- Hard drive is a slim profile 7.0 mm height, not the standard 9.5 mm hard drive height. (Thank you, commenter NIKKG for pointing this out.) The OCZ 240GB Vertex 3 Harnessing SATA 6Gb/s 2.5 Low Profile 7mm form factor SSD with Max 550MB/s Read and Max 4KB Write 85K IOPS For Ultrabook - VTX3LP-25SAT3-240G should therefore fit if you need an SSD otherwise start with the Hitachi Travelstar series for conventional platter based hard drives; not all Travelstar are low profile, check! How zippy is zippy? Current 10.1 netbooks are powered by Atom N2600s with a PassMark Benchmark of 592. The former Aspire AO722 with the AMD C-60 had a PassMark Benchmark of 563 (the higher-zoot AMD 450 still only has a benchmark of 739). The Celeron 877 powering this Acer AO756 has a PassMark Benchmark of 1474. For me, that meant a fresh out of box set up that would have taken 4 hours on a 10.1 netbook only took 2 hours on this. With this modern Celeron-powered netbook with its 11.6 HD screen, the netbook era is officially over - except for keeping the low netbook pricing, the compact size, the light weight, the ultra-portability for cafe and travel use. For the cost of a netbook of 3 years ago, you can now get the computing power of a mid-range notebook of the same era, when netbooks, and not iPads, ruled the web. The Celeron that powers this Acer isnt a single cored, old-technology weakling from the era that gave rise to Celerons, it is a slightly de-tuned dual core Core i3 design running Intels last generation HD2000 graphics - not quite as powerful as the chips in the Core helpful comment by i3 series on which the processor is based (please see the helpful comment by James, below). Instead of the 1024*600 resolution screen found in netbooks at their height, it has a 1366*768 resolution screen, same as the Macbook Air, same as most value priced 15.6 laptops. And when I say last generation, the bump from HD3000 to HD4000 only took place a couple of _months_ ago. In other words, processing and graphics power have trickled down to the lowest range of budget notebooks, while the 11.6 size has simply gotten so much slimmer and lighter there is no longer any reason to drop to a 10.1 for portability. Other than the sheer fact of having a larger footprint (but not a fatter or heavier one), this is just as light and portable as a 10.1 netbook. Still small enough to easily fit into even a small daypack and medium shoulder bag. I first saw the AO756 in Asia last month (actually its AMD C-60 powered sibling, the AO725, but the cases are the same) and was impressed by how thin and light Acer had evolved its former AOD722 11.6 netbook (which I just gave to my daughter) into this much sleeker, lighter edition. Over there prices are actually higher than over here (due to a lack of serious discounting over there) while the units come without Windows, meaning a hefty retail purchase of Windows is required to properly run the thing, making it even less compelling to shop overseas (unless you need the foreign alphabet on the keyboard). Shortly after returning from Asia, I noticed the AO756 was up on the Acer website and a couple of weeks later it was up on Amazon and in-stock at my local big blue retail box - in a 2gb, 320gb harddrive edition for _much_ less than Amazon prices as of the date (July 4 12) of this initial review (but not whole lot less after sales tax). I discovered that the bottom panel easily slides forward and off if you take off the battery and remove a single screw towards the front panel edge (front is the edge closest to you when typing). Under the back panel is not just a single memory slot, but two, and the 2gb model used a 2gb stick so I just had to look around for a matching 2gb stick pulled out of a different laptop as part of its upgrade, to easily upgrade the memory here. The harddrive (normal full height, 2.5) was right there too, against the day that SSDs (solid state drives) drop down in price, as they seem to be doing recently. I highly recommend this AO756 over both any 10.1 Atom N2600/N2800 powered netbook, and even over the AO725 sibling to this model, which has the AMD C-60 processor at about a $70 saving (but you get less RAM and a smaller hard drive, not only the slower processor). Although you wont notice the speed difference after initial set-up unless you are always doing big jobs, the difference in speed - an almost 3x difference based on the benchmarks - makes a real difference in productivity when you do have big jobs. I have now (July 12, 2012) confirmed that the motherboard and BIOS will actually support up to 8gb of RAM; it supports both 10600 and 1333 memory modules (Memory controller supports DDR3-1066 and DDR3-1333 memory. - from CPU World website; Acer specs it with the slightly slower 1066. For a few dollars more you can get the up-spec memory.) Finally, this computer comes with the upgrade to Windows 8 for just $14.99 special deal offered by Microsoft for computers purchased between June 2, 2012, and January 31, 2013. _____________________ To maximize performance, you should still remove bloatware and fine-tune the registry. I will detail this process in a comment to this review. _____________________ 7-7-12 update: The Windows Experience Index (WEI) shown in the Windows Control Panel (search WEI) for the ao756 is as follows: Processor: 4.7 Memory (RAM): 5.9 Graphics (Windows): 4.9 Graphics (Games): 5.7 Hard disk: 5.9 Please note that Graphics (Windows) was 4.2 with the stock 2gb of memory that came with my lower-spec edition. When I added a second 2 gb stick (to the second available slot) performance increased to 4.7, which surprised me (I have never seen graphics speed jump from RAM increases before). Original overall WEI was 4.2, limited by graphics, new WEI overall is 4.7 limited by processor speed. Given how easy it is to upgrade the hard disk and memory, I may upgrade to 8gb of RAM and to an SSD (solid state drive) at some point; on other units I own, the performance jump under WEI for an SSD is from 5.9 (a very typical hard drive speed for both my 5400 and 7200 hard drives) to 7.5. Finally, I set up both my old ao722 and this new ao756 side by side on the kitchen counter. Screen illumination and viewing angles on both the old and new models is very similar. However, oddly enough, the old ao722 has a slight bluish tinge to its screen while the new a0756 seems much whiter. Viewed separately rather than side by side, its not anything I would have every noticed. I also went to Apples trailers website and downloaded the 720p trailer for Total Recall. It plays very nicely, but at the Best Buy when I viewed this trailer on a Macbook Air 11.6, the facial details were much sharper and the video was slightly smoother - once again not something I would have noticed without the recent comparison in mind. The ao756 is more than adequate for downloaded video, home-ripped video, and DVD player video (if you have a portable player - about $30-40 these days). I would say the difference is like the difference between a good stereo from Best Buy etc. vs. an audiophile (even a low end audiophile like NAD or Creek) setup from a boutique shop. Both are good - how much do you want to spend, and how much do you want to have at risk in your daypack? Im pretty happy with this ao756, and liking it more day by day. The only recommendation I would make to potential purchasers is to NOT get the AMD C-60 powered version (ao725) which is not nearly as powerful in processing terms and doesnt really save you that much money over this model (although according to published specs somehow it does save about 6 ounces in packed weight). Also, if you see an a0722 on clearance for a really low price - try to hold out for this one, this one is so much sleeker, lighter, and faster. Really an improvement, not just a cosmetic repackaging. While it would have been nice to see USB 3.0 on this, it would only make sense if you were running this as a desktop with a 1TB portable drive on the side - I dont see many people fitting that particular use pattern. I see more people buying this and swapping in an SSD for the slight improvement in performance coupled with better power consumption, or people dropping in a terrabyte or so HD when prices and size work in a notebook. My only regret is we didnt have this 2 years ago. On the other hand, Intel doling out its trickle down processing power to budget platforms has given Apple plenty of time to boost its computer sales to the point where they almost match the combined total of ALL OTHER manufacturers Windows computers. Never thought Id see the day, especially given with the continuing Apple price differential. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Report abuse | Permalink [Add comment] Comments Track comments by e-mail Tracked by 23 customers Sort: Oldest first | Newest first Showing 1-10 of 1115 posts in this discussion Initial post: Jul 5, 2012 7:17:24 AM PDT Last edited by the author on Sep 5, 2012 3:17:45 PM PDT MWebb says: How to remove bloatware and tune up your new netbook/notebook (followed by a couple of hardware related links at the very end): (Here is the streamlined version if you havent ever cleaned up bloatware before and worry about deleting an essential program by accident: 1. Do not install the commercial antivirus program that came with the netbook. It is not efficient and is the biggest single cause of netbook slowdown. 2. Install the free antirvirus program offered by Microsoft instead - MSE or Microsoft Security Essentials. Thats it. There are no other steps. You will get 95% of the perfomance increase from JUST these two steps.) For the bolder or more experienced: Here is my routine for setting up a new netbook (this applies to versions from other makers as well and in fact to any Windows computer): 1. Dont accept the offer to install the commercial antivirus program which has a free trial offer. Its designed for computers with a lot more memory and processing power, and is the number one cause of sluggishness in netbooks. Dont worry about the unprotected messages you will get because you will fix that right away. 2. After booting up the first time, open Internet Explorer and say no to the guided tour and any other options, then enter download Google Chrome into the search box (or Chrome Beta, which has always been stable for me). Note how much space Internet Explorer wastes on the top of the screen, when Chrome opens you will see a much cleaner but highly functional browser window). 3. Install Google Chrome - just follow the simple on-screen instructions. 4. In the Google search box (Google lets you choose among search engines when you install it, I like Google best although Bing from Microsoft is also quite good) search for download MSE which will take you to the Microsoft page to download Microsoft Security Essentials. Select the 64 bit version if offered a choice. 5. Install and run Microsoft Security Essentials. I would run your first scan later, after cleaning up your new netbook. When asked if you want the firewall turned on, say yes. 6. While waiting for the above downloads, right click on the desktop and select Properties and select the option to relocate your Taskbar from its default location at the bottom of the screen to a new location on the left or right of the screen. This gives you extra vertical screen space, which is more valuable than the horizontal screen space since the netbook comes with a pretty short horizontal screen space [except of course for this AO756 which has a standard resolution, not reduced netbook resolution; these notes were lifted from a netbook review; I still think the Start Menu / Taskbar really makes more sense on the left of the screen]. Youll see what I mean when you work in your web browser - plenty of text left to right but you wont get as much top to bottom as text as you will probably want without using a minimalist browser like Chrome plus moving the Taskbar. 7. Download PC Decrapifier (pcdecrapifier dot com) and run it. Although you can run it is a single pass, I find that pops up too many option windows at the same time. McAfee Antivirus in particular is somewhat convoluted to uninstall, so I recommend un-checking the uninstall boxes so that only McAfee is left, and uninstalling it using the cleanup program first. Then run PC Decrapifier a second time and let it uninstall all programs, including all Acer programs. None of them are needed, even the webcam (Google Talk and Skype have their own programs to run the webcam), and if you suffer cleaners remorse later, just go to the Acer website (support dot acer dot com) and reinstall them, its easy. DONT uninstall Microsoft Security Essentials! Dont stress about the dire warnings you will get from McAfee as you uninstall it. MSE is there, direct from Microsoft, to take care of you. 8. After rebooting once or more times to complete the uninstallation, download CCleaner from FileHippo (Google download CCLeaner, go to the Piriform website, select the free option, and download). When installing, uncheck every installation option box EXCEPT the desktop shortcut box at the top. 9. You can ignore all menu options in CCleaner except the blue Registry icon in the left-most column. Click on that. (The little brick building.) Then click Scan for Issues on the bottom off the white box. Then Fix Selected Issues. Save Registry (your computer wont explode if you forget to do this). Fix All Selected Issues. Then, scan again because often it takes two or three passes to catch and fix all issues. Reboot. 10. Click on the Start Menu, then Computer (far right column), then right click on the hard drive and select Properties. Unclick the file indexing option at the bottom of the Properties window, when it asks subdirectories too include subdirectories, and let the un-indexing go to work. This will take some time. 11. Go to the Control Panel (Click the globe in the Start menu, or tap the Windows flag key in the lower left of your keyboard.) Then use the search box in the upper right hand corner of the Control Panel window to search for defrag. Click on the Defragment your hard drive option and select the schedule option; when selected, select never defrag. You can run this yourself manually every six months. Indexing and defragging run in the background but slow down your netbook. They arent necessary for a good Windows experience. Windows still indexes file titles, just not file contents (like all the words in your documents? which are probably online these days in Google Documents?). 12. This is optional. Go to Sourceforge dot net and download Foobar2000, a simple but lean music player, and VLC, a simple but lean video player. 13. If you are brave, turn off automatic Windows updates. I set the option to notify me and let me choose when to install so my netbook doesnt suddenly get bogged down at a cafe. I do the updates later, at home, when I can switch to working on a desktop. I wont tell you how to do this, its easy, but if you cant navigate Windows to this extent, you probably should just suffer through the sluggishness while Windows installs updates while you are working, rather than risk an out of date, and hence vulnerable, machine. [The AO756 has sufficient computing power to not bog down during updates, so you may wish to leave automatic updates on - with a single caution, some internet cafes throttle your download speeds and if you are busy downloading updates in the background, you may not be happy with the download speed of the content you are trying to browse.] 14. No matter how many times Windows Updates offers to install Bing Desktop, it is safe to ignore. 15. Tweaks dot come has a Windows logon screen changer. Search their site for logon or go to [...] (Replace dot with . and close the space to make the link work). [16. Windows Home Premium on the AO756 allows you to change your desktop design to a different wallpaper or even to a solid color, unlike Windows Starter on a classic netbook. Take advantage of it! If you dont know how, post a comment here.] [17. If your purchase a stock AO756 with 4gb of memory, no memory upgrade is required unless you run very memory intensive programs like Photoshop etc. If you purchased a 2gb edition, if you upgrade to 4gb of memory, you will see an increase in the Windows Experience Index for Desktop Graphics (Windows Aero) from 4.2 to 4.7; memory is DDR3, 1366 /10600. It only takes the removal of the single screw on the bottom panel near the keyboard - space bar- edge, and a slight snap forward to slide the panel from the screen hinge end towards the mousepad end to release the cover.] [18. Be sure to sign up for the low cost Windows 8 upgrade! My receipt had instructions, otherwise go to the Microsoft website or Google Windows Upgrade and look for the purchased new computer option. $14.99, NOT $39.99.] Link to the Acer manual for disassembly: manualowl/m/Acer%20Computers/AO756/Manual/292074 Link to YouTube video on screen replacement (one of the readers cracked his screen): youtube/watch?v=e_XAx0jyP-E Reply to this post Permalink | Report abuse 22 of 22 people think this post adds to the discussion. Do you? Yes No Posted on Jul 5, 2012 8:30:26 AM PDT T. Deffenbaugh says: Is it a removable battery? Can you upgrade it in the future to more cells? Reply to this post Permalink | Report abuse 2 of 2 people think this post adds to the discussion. Do you? Yes No In reply to an earlier post on Jul 5, 2012 3:06:10 PM PDT MWebb says: It is removable so theoretically a larger battery should be available although no current model seems to be sold with a larger battery. I tried fitting the 6 cell.battery off my 722 into.this ones bay and it would slide in, but the actual power pron an socket dont match up, so the batteries are not interchangeable. Reply to this post Permalink | Report abuse 3 of 3 people think this post adds to the discussion. Do you? Yes No Posted on Jul 6, 2012 8:34:05 PM PDT A. King says: Im thinking of buying, how is the heat. Most netbook heat up. Thanks Reply to this post Permalink | Report abuse Do you think this post adds to the discussion? Yes No In reply to an earlier post on Jul 6, 2012 8:36:17 PM PDT des says: Hi, one of the things that attracted me to this 11.6 netbook is the 720 p HD cam, is it really that bad ? you say low-res.. I do a lot of video conferencing with friends and bar the new macbook air with its 720p cam, not many others have it. thanks Reply to this post Permalink | Report abuse Do you think this post adds to the discussion? Yes No In reply to an earlier post on Jul 7, 2012 8:56:14 AM PDT MWebb says: Runs cool, surprisingly so. I have a couple of Atom N2600 netbooks and they run much hotter. The chip is rated at 17 watts but the larger chassis with better ventilation dissipates the heat much better. As with all netbooks/laptops that have bottom vents, you should not rest this on a pillow or on your lap or you will block the vents. If you dont have a formal laptop desk, ransack the kitchen for a thinner, lighter cutting board and use that. Reply to this post Permalink | Report abuse 1 of 1 people think this post adds to the discussion. Do you? Yes No In reply to an earlier post on Jul 7, 2012 9:04:02 AM PDT MWebb says: @ des, where did you get the information that it has a 720p HD webcam? It has an HD screen, but so far as I can tell from the specs on the Acer website for ALL models nowhere do they claim the webcam is 720p. Even Apple just added 720p to their laptops! I think that is a high end feature. This is a value model you can buy three for the price of the least expensive Apple (the Macbook Air 11.6). If you really need 720p, I think you have to go to a new iPad, brand new Macbook, or search for an accessory webcam that supports it; then have the bandwidth on your internet (a lot of providers have very low UPload bandwidth). Reply to this post Permalink | Report abuse 1 of 1 people think this post adds to the discussion. Do you? Yes No In reply to an earlier post on Jul 7, 2012 9:09:43 AM PDT MWebb says: Sorry Des, I see the brief remark in the Amazon feature run-down but there is no similar comment on the Acer website, which is odd. I will see what I can find out. Reply to this post Permalink | Report abuse Do you think this post adds to the discussion? Yes No In reply to an earlier post on Jul 7, 2012 1:05:57 PM PDT des says: On us.acer/ac/en/US/content/series/aspireone756 it says Enjoy plenty of face time with the Acer Crystal Eye HD webcam paired with Wi-Fi® or Fast Ethernet I read about it here as well : netbooknews/51344/deal-of-the-day-acer-aspire-one-756-11-6-netbook/ thanks Reply to this post Permalink | Report abuse Do you think this post adds to the discussion? Yes No In reply to an earlier post on Jul 7, 2012 3:35:32 PM PDT MWebb says: @ Des, you are right and I was wrong. I will correct my review! I uninstalled the Acer webcam program and didnt do enough subsequent detective work before criticizing the ao756 for the usual low rez webcam found in netbooks. On Skype the picture is MUCH sharper than typical and in the device driver (and on Skype) the device is reported back as HD Webcam. Mea culpa and I cant understand why the Acer site doesnt play this up more. BTW Frys reports it as an HD webcam on their website, exact same model the 2808 edition. Reply to this post Permalink | Report abuse 2 of 2 people think this post adds to the discussion. Do you? Yes No ‹ Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ... 112 Next › Review Details Item Acer Aspire One AO756-2808 11.6-Inch Netbook (Ash Black) 4.2 out of 5 stars (37 customer reviews) 5 star: (22) 4 star: (7) 3 star: (4) 2 star: (1) 1 star: (3) Used & New from: $180.00 Add to wishlist 1 used & new available from $180.00 Reviewer MWebb (TOP 500 REVIEWER)
Posted on: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 18:27:11 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015