Why I returned the Lenovo S10 & kept the Aspire One

Discussion in 'Lenovo / IBM' started by fbx, Dec 1, 2008.

  1. fbx

    fbx

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    I've owned two Acer Aspire Ones. The first I sold a month ago on eBay; the second I just decided to keep over the Lenovo S10. Many will think this not so sensible. After all, the Lenovo has easily upgraded drive and memory, a 10.2" screen (and it makes a difference--bigger is better, at least up to 10.2", even for a netbook), arguably a better keyboard, and a couple other advantages. So why did I keep the AA1?

    That's hard to explain. I like the keyboard layout a little better. The glossy screen looks better; the S10 screen, while it has the same resolution, has this slightly grainy look to it. Maybe a lot of people wouldn't notice it, but when I looked at pictures on it, well, they had this . . . texture that was hard to ignore. Very slight, but it was there. And then there's the feel of the computer itself--again the S10 has a textured bezel and keyboard surround. And the touchpad had the same kind of texure--like you're moving your finger on very light but not-so-fine sandpaper. The S10 weighs a little more and is a little bigger, too. Speed of operations seemed about the same (1 GB in each). Hard to tell much difference in keyboard size or feel, but as I said, the AA1 has a layout that I prefer, particularly the location of the PgUp/Dn, and a good right shift key. Oh yeah, it cost a hundred more than the AA1.

    In the end about the only thing I preferred about the S10 was the size of the screen.

    I also had some problems with the S10. At first IE7 would not show the body of Web pages. It would show the tops and bottoms, but not the stuff in the main part of the page. ANd then IE7 started just locking up. I removed the Norton Plague and then IE worked as to the pages, but kept freezing up every once in a while. I worried that there might be something more problematical on the horizon.

    Put it all together and I returned the S10. Think I'll wait until January to see what the 10" Acer is like.
     
    fbx, Dec 1, 2008
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  2. fbx

    info

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    That was a very interesting post fbx, particularly the part about the graininess of the screen and the ("arguably") better keyboard. Although I have not yet seen a Lenovo come to one of the desks or tables around me, I have very much wanted to see one in action. I suspect they might have them at a local Fry's, but I just haven't had time to stop by .

    I suspect that the amount of energy that Acer has put into the configuration of these machines is being underestimated, it is evident in areas such as video where I have never seen a small machine with the performance of the AAO (XP/1G). Just as I've seen complaints about the darkness of the camera in the reviews at the HP Store regarding the HP Mini 1000, for the time being, because of both the design and configuration I believe that Acer is the king of the hill. That's only a suspicion though, as there are so many models coming out that it may be almost impossible to try them all out.

    For a moment, I was impressed with the Asus, but I began to notice glaring imperfections such as the placement of the right shift key, and the sub par touchpad (which does not use the excellent Synaptics software). I am starting to really get used to the keyboard on the AAO and am more impressed with it each day. This little bad boy is getting closer to becoming my main machine.


    I also really liked the 10" screen on the HP Mini 1000 (1010) and the touch of the keyboards on those machines (two very important factors). But judging from my experience with two previous HP laptops (one only four months old), I doubted that they had put their heart into it as much as Acer (not that I ever noticed this before about Acer). Plus, the specs were inferior on other fronts that are important to me.

    At any rate, I pretty sure you made the right decision and that it was not your imagination on the video. Thanks for the post.
     
    info, Dec 3, 2008
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  3. fbx

    hmmwv

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    AA1 will be a killer machine if Acer can manage to integrate a ExpressCard slot into where one of the SD card reader use to be.
     
    hmmwv, Dec 11, 2008
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  4. fbx

    donec

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    I agree that would be a great addition to the AA1.
     
    donec, Dec 13, 2008
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  5. fbx

    DiSK

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    Nice little compare and contrast.

    I probably wouldn't notice anything different (or maybe I would, who knows) except that I have a stupid Canadian bilingual keyboard (does the S10 too?). Lenovo is a better brand than Acer though, and it looks better. At least I think. The AspireOne looks cool, but I don't like how it's kinda fat, and curves up at the bottom...But I've actually never used another netbook, so maybe they're all like that. :lol:
     
    DiSK, Dec 15, 2008
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  6. fbx

    OReilly

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    Thanks for the great info...
    I was really having second thoughts about the Acer just before it arrived yesterday. I was at Circuit City playing with a Lenovo S-10 and MAN it is one solidly built little machine. I was TOTALLY impressed with the build quality. I am a Mac guy and this Acer is my first Non-Apple machine in nearly 10 years. The Lenovo reminded me of a MacBook in it's feel and build quality.
    That said, I took delivery of the Acer and have been pretty impressed with it so far. Not quite up to the quality build of the Lenovo but surprisingly solid. I think the Acer is a bit faster as well.
    I plan on hanging on to the little Acer until the next gen Lenovo comes out and see what they do...I think there is a Lenovo Netbook in my furure... :mrgreen:
     
    OReilly, Dec 24, 2008
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  7. fbx

    naeemsta

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    i agree it would be then the must buy netbook in the market.
     
    naeemsta, Jan 4, 2009
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