Before my trip to Bali, I decided to buy a Acer Aspire One ZG5 Netbook at Fry’s for $349+tax, and use that instead of my usual 15″ (and 5.5 pounds) notebook.
The netbook model was white, ran Windows XP Home, and came with 1 GB RAM and a 160 GB hard drive, though advertised as 120 GB. It weighs in at a mere 2 pounds. It came with a free leatherette form-fitting case, no handle, and a foamy screen protector.
It seemed a little sluggish initially, likely due to its Atom N270 CPU and integrated graphics, so I selected 16-bit video instead of the default 32-bit. Fixed.
The pre-installed XP Home operating system comes with Microsoft Office 2007 Trial and Intervideo, but almost no spyware. (I believe this was because Acer wanted to avoid slowing down the limited CPU and RAM and causing store returns.) Because there’s no CD or DVD drive included, there is an i386 directory containing the .CAB and driver files.
The computer case is too small to fit a DVD drive. I have tried it with both a USB LG-brand exernal drive, as well as a generic Chinese model, and they both worked fine.
How well did the netbook work out for travelling?
Awesome … solidly-built, jewel-like, razor-sharp display, and locks onto all wifi signals I tried.
At 2 pounds, able to be carried everywhere effortlessly – no back injuries when getting in and out of taxis and planes for 2 weeks.
As a bonus … it inspired lust in everybody who saw it.
I don’t know how many times I heard, “on your next trip, please bring me one and I’ll pay you for it.”
Update 2009-01-31: Fry’s is dumping the brown version for $299.99+tax. It does not include the free case. Other retailers also are offering $299 for various colors.