Acer Aspire One 532h review – PineTrail netbook with a great price

Acer Aspire One 532h review summary

Acer are known for their decently priced laptops that bring just enough features for the standard user, while offering a solid body and reliable construction.

That’s also the case for the AO532h, their new line of 10 inch netbooks. With prices from $299 to $349, there are quite a couple of different versions of this mini laptop available, so finding one for your needs should be easy.

Personally, i’m not really in the target for this device, as I always look for the most buffed with features devices. And while this Acer is just good at every aspect, it doesn’t really excel at any of them.

Pros:

• nice looking, with a two shades case available in many different colors
• sturdy and reliable body, built to last
• standard hardware: 1.66 GHz N450 processor, 1 GB of RAM, 160 GB hard-drive
• decent battery life (up to 10 hours on paper, around 8 in practice)
• price is 30 to 50 bucks bellow the main competitors in its class
• Wi-fi N wireless connectivity

Cons:

• case is glossy and feels kind of “plastic”
• keyboard is not that great; has independent keys but space between them is narrow so you’ll have to take your time adapting with it
• touchpad only has one click button
• battery life is OK, but not as good as the one rivals can offer
• the lower back heats a  little bit too much and might be annoying
• no version offers Bluetooth

Conclusion:

All in one, the new Aspire AO532h will surely become very popular between 10 inch netbooks. Good at almost every aspect but without excelling in any of them, its main strong point is once again the price, being around 30 to 50 bucks cheaper than its main rivals from HP, Toshiba or Asus.

But considering those really bring up some nice goodies, like better battery, better keyboard, better software and connectivity, I for one would rather pay those extra bucks more. After all, i’m not getting a new computer everyday and 50 bucks are not really that much of a difference.

Where to buy:

There are a couple of different versions for the Acer AO532h available in the US these days. They all offer around 8 hours battery life and Windows 7 Starter or Windows XP Home. Plus, there are also a couple of different color options available: Matrix Silver, Onyx Blue and Amethyst Purple, plus a Ruby Red one which seems harder to find these days. All for around 270-290 bucks (price vary based on color scheme). See the links for more details on each of these devices and the option to buy them , if you want to.

Also, there are some buffed up models, with up to 10 hours battery life and bigger hard-drives, for around $320.

These models are available in US and Canada. Names might differ in other countries. For instance, in the UK this device is called Acer Aspire 532 and is pretty expensive, but comes with bigger storage space and improved battery. Details via this link.

Also, prices will vary in time and for the always up to date ones, i suggest clicking the links on each row. You’ll also find there more details about each of these Acers, plus more pictures, reviews and have the option to buy one yourself.

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Tags: Acer, cheap netbook, good netbooks

Last updated: September 28, 2011 | Published: January 22nd, 2010 | See the comments or add yours!