XP performance on the latest A110 16gb model

Hi,

Does anyone have any experience of how XP performs on the latest version of the A110 which come with the 16gb SDD (e.g. http://www.microwarehouse.co.uk/catalogue/item/ACNB8166). I'm curious about start up times, etc. and whether the SDD is still as slow as the 8gb version that shipped with earlier models (although I know they were intended for use with the Linpus OS rather than XP). I'm actually trying to decide between purchasing the AAO and the eee pc 901 and am still wavering because of this issue (i.e. I know the eee pc 901 ships with quite a fast SSD for the OS to run on). Anyway, any info would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

I purchased the 8GB XP 1588 model at Christmas and it comes with most SP3 tweaks already set up.
I found that sending some temp files and the My Documents folder to the 8GB SD card helped out a bit.

It comes with the faster Intel SSD drive. See the post on SSD speeds. The recovery disks were included but no cover other than a cheap plastic one.

There are still some SSD pauses here and there but it works pretty good.

 

I originally bought an SSD (samsung one - 8 gb) version with XP. It's workable, though I did not like the little lag when working with a few Internet explorer windows or websites with heavy graphical content. I ended up putting Linpus Lite and I am very satisfied with the system response. There is very little disk access in Linpus Lite. Since I basically do very light computing(mostly internet) with my AAO, I will stick with Linpus for some time...

 

I installed XP Pro with SP3 with all updates and drivers last night, used it for about 3-4 hours with no problems and it runs VERY well, connected to my wifi straight away etc... Not had any problems at all with it.

No mods to XP, standard 512mb ram and 160gb hdd.

Install on a USB was easy using the guide on this forum.

 

I HAVE tried xp pro in a shrunk version using very little RAM etc. in the end, I gave up because it really didnÄ't work on the 8GB AAO. there was this terrible time lag between typing and the AAO wrting onto SSD. and with each new programme booting toook more and more time. In the end it took up to 3 minutes before I could work.

since, I have gone back to the linux-linpus provided with the little machine and have (with the friendly help of members of this forum) changed to xfce-desktop. And I must say, I don't misss windows for a second. the linux-xfce version ist as fast even with that slow ssd as my regular desktop and all my hardware, including UMTS-modem, running fine.

Unless you have a HDD-version including 1 GB of RAM, I would forget about XP

rgds
Christian

 

You do realize that he is talking about the latest AAO, with a faster SSD that comes with XP?

And also, don't you guys know you can enable EWF to increase the speed of XP on your SSDs?

 

Yeah I missed the point of the post about it being a 16GB SSD drive.
I thought it was about the 8GB SSD drive + 8GB SD Class 6 card XP SP3 AAO.

Mine runs well enough to not try EWF. Doesn't that make the SSD read only?

 

Having now had the A110 with the 16GB SSD for a couple of weeks, I have again completely revised the last two versions of this posting on the A110 with 16GB SSD. Please disregard my previous comments, if you happened to read them.

I am completely at a loss to know how to review this little blighter accurately.

After performing a second 'restore to factory defaults', my A110 now seems okay. I have given it to my wife, and she likes it and thinks it works fine. I have kept my other Aspire One, with the 160GB HDD and 1 GB of RAM, for my own use, as I am much happier with this; I am used to a reasonably fast machine, and the version with the 160GB HDD and 1 gig of RAM does the business for me.

I was initially not at all happy with the A110 16GB SSD model. To be clear which version I have - it's the Acer Aspire One A110-Bw White, Intel Atom N270 Processor, Windows XP® Home, 1GB RAM, 16Gb SSD HDD, 8.9 Screen, LU.S020B.008. (This is the new one with the 16GB SSD drive, not the 8GB SSD + 8GB SD version sold be one or two retailers.) Hope this answers the query below about which SSD model is which.

It maybe work okay with Windows XP, I wouldn't put it stronger than that. I also installed Office 2007 Standard Edition. it is VERY slow with Word 2007 and some other Windows-based programs. Use the pre-installed Microsoft Works word processor, as it appears to work okay with this.

It does get there eventually with most programs, but it can appear to hang for many seconds or even minutes at a time if it's not in a good mood. I put this down to the slow SDD drive. You sometimes need the patience of Solomon to wait for this machine to finish launching a program or loading or saving a file.

I chose the Aspire One Acer A110 ZG5 with the 16Gb NAND SSD HDD and 1 GB of RAM originally because I wanted the smallest and lightest machine I could get, which would still be capable of most things I need it to do. I waited until the 16GB, 1GB model came out in Jan. 2009, - as the 512 MB with 8GB would probably have struggled with Windows XP, and I do need to have Outlook on it.

I wondered whether I should have ordered an Aspire One with the 160 GB conventional hard drive. I should have. In fact I got so tired of waiting for Acer Tech. Support to resolve the several issues I have with the A110 16GB SSD, I have just purchased an Acer AOA 150 with 1GB RAM and 160 GB HDD (conventional hard drive) – which arrived on 02/02/09. I am very pleased with it so far - the version with 1GB RAM and 160 GB HDD handles Windows XP and Office 2007 with ease - it is practically as fast as a notebook computer with a Core Duo chip. So far, everything about it has been a pleasure, and it really shows up how slow the NAND SSD versions are. I can't tell any difference in the weight between the two machines; it is so marginal (maybe 200-300 gms?), as to be unnoticeable. My advice to anyone considering an Aspire One would be to go for the version with a conventional 160GB HDD and 1 GB or RAM if you can afford it and wish to avoid frustrations with the slow SSD drive.

I am going to post about my experiences with Acer Support regarding the A110 16GB SSD in a more appropriate thread, so that's all I'm saying for now - but for God's sake buy the HDD versions if you want a happy little netbook that actually works as it should, and you don't want to waste your time appealing to Acer Support for advice and help - you won't get it! (See my posting in the warranties thread). :cry:

Hopefully this is the last time I will have to revise this posting.

Incidentally, I bought both machines from Simply Acer, and I have also bought a Samsung laptop from their 'SaveonSamsung' website - they are pretty good on price and in my opinion offer much better after-sales support than Laptops Direct. (For example, Simply Acer have a landline number which they actually answer, unlike Laptops Direct, who are virtually impossible to get through to on their after-sales support number.)

 

Hi,

What is EWF and how do you enable it?

 

Does anyone know how to determine when you are buying the Aspire One SSD version that you are getting the faster SSD that works better with XP? Are there still the old slowcoach SD versions on the market configured with XP? Also, it is unclear from reading online whether this new XP "friendly" SD is a single 16GB internal SSD or still the 8GB internal + 8GB external configuration.

I need to use the AA1 for an application with regular drive-writes from an external webcam at about 1.5MB/minute but where there is a potential for movement and shock. I can find no information indicating the AA1 has an accelometer in the HDD versions to protect the drive (like the new HP netbooks). Maybe it is standard advice to set any computer on a static level space when using a webcam or other video capture device.

Perhaps I can get a fast SD card for the expansion and write my webcam video files there.

 

Open a Terminal window and type sudo mousepad /boot/grub/grub.conf
Looking through the file, you should see the line:

kernel /boot/bzImage ro root=LABEL=linpus vga=0x311 splash=silent loglevel=1 console=tty1 quiet nolapic_timer

Edit this to add elevator=noop at the end, making sure there's a space between the end of the old line and the new code.

(Thanks to The Register)


Is there any chance of you finding out what SSD model you have in your 16gb model . I believe this can be done by checking the BIOS

 

Somewhat off topic. This has no bearing on XP performance.

 

My bad , got confused with something else.

 

That model looks like the Aspire One A110X that we have here in Germany with 16 GB SSD, but different color and without the large battery and at a higher price. Of course I cannot be sure about it, but I would expect to find the same kind of SSD in your model.

Be warned that the A110X 16 GB SSD is terribly slow. I've put the details in this thread:
http://www.aspireoneuser.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=6421#p48726

Working with WinXP is no fun at all until you manually install EWF or FWF which puts all write access to drive C to RAM through an overlay. With that, performance is ok.

However, if I had to choose again, I would certainly select the A150X with a real HD if I could get it with the large battery. Or even no Acer at all until the issues with WLAN are solved.

Regards

Guido