ACER’s Aspire One is a solid netbook, but it can be much more.
In the last two weeks, I’ve been using it as a full notebook, running office applications, editing digital photos, surfing the Web and watching videos on a robust, full-featured system. The remarkable thing is, I’m doing it on a such a small, lightweight computer (less than a kilo) that has only 8 gigabytes (GB) of storage and 1GB of memory.
The key to unlocking the Aspire One’s power was to replace the Linpus Lite Linux operating system that comes installed with the netbook with Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron).
Linpus Lite, based on Fedora, is a good choice for first-time Linux users because it shields them from the complexity of the operating system. On the other hand, the simplified approach also makes it unwieldy to add programs that do not come installed, or to customize the system to work the way you want.
I chose Ubuntu as a replacement because it’s a great, user-friendly Linux distribution and I’ve always wanted to run it on a notebook.
The first challenge in installing the new operating system was the absence of a CD-ROM drive. Fortunately, I found an excellent guide (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AspireOne) that stepped me through the process, which entails using a USB drive in lieu of an install CD.
A few caveats before you decide to jump in.
First, you will need another machine with Internet access to download the latest version of Ubuntu and Live USB, a program to create the boot USB disk.
Second, you will need a wired connection because Ubuntu’s default drivers will not work with the netbook’s Atheros wireless card when you first boot it. This shouldn’t be a problem if you have a standard wireless router—just connect the netbook to one of the LAN ports with a cable and you’re ready.
Third, because Ubuntu is not tailored to work with the Aspire One’s hardware, some features—the Wi-Fi indicator light and hibernate—will not work. Other functions work only partially.
Further reading @ Philippine News
smacman, member on our message forum, has a good summary of the Acer Aspire One.
“The build quality is very good in my opinion. One of the reasons I held off from buying the EEE PC was it’s toy like flimsy feel. The Aspire One feels more like a real laptop yet retains the ultra portable size and weight. I also have no complaints about the keyboard. It is obviously not as easy to type on as a full size, but in the short time I have had with it, I am getting quite used to typing on it. The display is bright with good contrast. The only thing I am noticing is slight color inaccuracy when I view my photos on it. There is a very slight blue/green tint to it which is only noticeable when I view photos. I didn’t buy it for image editing so it does not really bother me.
After powering it up, the first thing I noticed was how quickly it boots up. Within 5 seconds I was in a configuration screen setting my locale and time zone, etc. After this was set, one reboot (aprox. 15 seconds) and I was up and running on the Linpus desktop. They have really made the interface bulletproof in the sense that I don’t think you could bugger this machine up if you tried. Settings are limited to very basic things (trackpad sensitivity, volume, date/time, etc.). There is no facility for adding/removing programs so you get what you get. Firefox 2.0.0.14, Openoffice 2.3, a media player, some games, a mail client (very basic), a messenger program (supports MSN, Googletalk, Yahoo, and AIM). I would have liked to see Skype preinstalled, as well as a better mail client like Mozilla Thunderbird. Considering most people will by this machine for basic tasks like document viewing, web surfing, and email, I think the software is adequate. I wish the OS could be customized a bit more. It would have been nice to have an advanced mode for users who like to tinker a bit. I am hoping to install Ubuntu on it soon.”
Further reading here
