Acer Aspire One AOA150-1049 Onyx Black Intel Atom N270(1.60 GHz) 8.9" WSVGA 1GB Memory 160GB HDD Netbook

Pros: For me, the keyboard is easily the best feature of the Aspire One. It felt very natural the second I used it.

The build quality is amazing; I'd have to say it's the nicest Acer I've ever used (and I see a variety of them on a day-to-day basis). It feels very sturdy and I know it's safe in my bookbag with minimal cushion.

So far, the Atom has been a very snappy processor. I've ran a few VM's on it (NOT simutaneously) and they're pretty smooth. Kubuntu with KDE4 wasn't the fastest thing ever but I didn't tweak it past the install so that could probably be worked with. DOSBox works really well and only stutters with relatively 3D-heavy games (Daggerfall works pretty well in the starting dungeon). I thought I had high expectations for the Atom but Intel exceeded them.

Last, but definitely not least: the battery. I've reached about six hours with general usage like using the internet or doing word processing. It also adds extra support to the base.

Cons: The gloss on the case and screen. It was a tremendous fingerprint magnet for the first few days I had it. After carrying it a few places the fingerprints don't seem as prominent, so to me this isn't really much of a con.

Maybe I'm in the minority about ths, but I think the case looks great otherwise. I don't usually like glossy surfaces but I don't think I'd want this computer any other way.

Everything applies to the screen there as well. They're easy to wipe away, so it's not a big deal. I don't think the gloss is as reflective as other laptop screens I've seen, either.

Upgrades? You have to take the whole thing apart. I'm not shy with opening electronics, and I'm hesitant to open this (probably won't last..).

The hard drive. This isn't much of a con either, but an SSD is great because they're basically shock-proof. 160GB on this, though? I'll take that much HD space over a 16GB SSD any day of the week.

Overall Review: This is the best deal for a netbook since the original Eee PC.

For what you pay, you get a pretty fast processor (which uses *very* little power) in an attractive case. It's not going to beat a Core 2 Duo machine, but those generally don't come in 2.3 lb formfactors.

The battery life was a real winner to me. There are other netbooks with 6-cell batteries, but there are none that I know of that are at this price point.

I had an original Eee PC (701 4G Surf), and this beats it hands down. The Aspire One has very minor flaws, and I think it's more aesthetically pleasing than the Eee PC (any generation).

The five rating does not mean I think the Aspire One is perfect (see Cons), but it reflects what I think of the overall package.

Overall; great computer A++ would buy again

Pros: * Bright screen
* Incredibly light weight, even with the 6 cell battery
* Long battery life
* 90% keyboard is very comfortable to type on

Cons: Known wireless issue: the wireless card will intermittently go out. Funny enough, I'd written out a four-star review for this little machine, the wireless dropped without apparently disconnecting from the network, and that review was lost. Anyway, the wireless on this unit goes out during use. This is not an isolated issue with my unit (google: the acer guy aspire one wireless). I've tried all the posted fixes, but nothing seems to stick, including updating the driver by Acer/Atheros, updating according to Windows Update, updating the bios (per the Acer website).

Overall Review: I really love the portability of this little machine. It fits my lifestyle as a doctoral student perfectly, including the perfectly-sized keyboard and perfect weight of the unit. Unfortunately, the wireless is a severe set-back. I'll end up exchanging the unit with New Egg or sending it to Acer for repairs, as it's quite clearly a hardware issue.