Legit Reviews

So I finally made a decision and bought a notebook/netbook. I bought the Acer AS1410-2801. It is a "midnight blue" 11.6" notebook with a 1.2GHz Celeron dual-core processor, the SU2300. It weighs only 3.08 lbs and you can look up the rest of the specs somewhere.

My thoughts so far are:
2 slots of RAM!! 4Gb makes any OS smoother
Dual Core processor built on Core 2 architecture! You don't really miss the Cache.
Video - Good enough for emergency gaming (Last minute invitation to play for a few hours at someone's house). No enough power to do high quality gaming even at the 1366x768 native resolution
Keyboard - Not entirely full sized, but all of the alphabet keys are full size including the keyboard so the majority of your typing will feel natural. Arrow keys are very small which can be a problem for people who use the arrows a lot.
Screen Size - Perfect, I honestly don't need anything bigger except for rarely when I'm trying to read full size PDF pages and don't like to have to do a lot of scrolling.
Upgrading - Computer has a lot of the very thin, snap-in ribbon cables, but the memory is very easy to access, the HDD is a standard 2.5" drive (using an adapter to a ribbon cable). I bought a $17 bluetooth module on ebay and installed it myself in about 15 minutes. There is a spot where I could solder in a connection for a 3G card, but that will almost certainly never happen because I don't have a 3G phone or data plan and don't plan on investing in that just yet.


If you are looking for a netbook, step up and buy my notebook (not mine, but one like it). The retail price is $400 and that comes with 2Gb of RAM and a 160Gb HDD. I can watch HD youtube videos, I can have multiple programs, tabs, videos open with no slowdowns at all. This notebook feels like a fully powered one.

how much did u pay ? glad to hear u like it =]

$368 shipped. I bought 2x2gb from someone on craigslist for $35 and then bought a bluetooth module on ebay for $18. I guess that brings me up to $421 for my current configuration. I need to sell my 2x1gb that came with it to offset some of the cost of RAM.

It is the only way a netbook-like computer will serve my needs. I do internet and email on the go, but I also do presentations for school, video for downtime, and I forgot to mention the computer comes with HDMI out!

Sounds like quite a little machine. Does it void any warranties if you change out any of the original components like the RAM or the optical drive?

I have a similar netbook, but the specs are different. Acer has a very large selection of netbooks and models to choose from. I opted for a bit more RAM than a BT module

Acer a0751h-1346
Picked it up for $349 + tax a few months ago. Here are the specs:
Processor: Intel Atom Z520 @ 1.33 GHz
RAM: 2GB
HD: 250 GB
Vid: Intel GMA 500
OS: Vista Home 32 Bit
Screen size: 11.6"
Wifi enabled
No Bluetooth
Battery: Sales person told me 6 cell, but it was really a 3 cell, so it really freaking sucks!!!

I really should have waiting for an Ion netbook, but this one really does what I want it to. Like Jakegub said, the keyboard is pretty decent. I was happy that the right Shift key was a decent size. My wife's Asus netbook has this half-sized right shift key to make room for arrow keys. Personally I'll take smaller arrow keys over a smaller shift key.

Thanks for the post, Jakegub, I may look into adding a BT module. That's one feature I wish I had on here, besides a 6 cell battery. As for 3G, I have a Sprint EVDO Rev A USB data card that rocks

You won't void the warranty for hard drive or memory. I actually took out the keyboard and plastic cover including the touchpad and there is not a warranty sticker anywhere on it. It was a pretty easy disassembly and I can't imagine they would have any way of knowing I opened up. (except that it has a bluetooth module in it which didn't come with the computer).

The hard drive was actually more difficult than the bluetooth module. Basically the drive is wedged in pretty well with no screws securing it. There is a ribbon cable that attaches to the SATA and power adapters on drive and the thin ribbon cable runs over top of the drive and attaches to a little adapter on the side. I prefer a caddy and the standard adpater, but this works just as well really and the HDD cover provides any stability you need.

Sounds like I might need to invest in one of these little guys here in the near future.

I'm a little ashamed to say that I bought it only to bridge the time between my needs right now and when the ION 2 chipset becomes available. A core 2 ultra-low voltage plus 9400m seems like a dream come true at this point, especially if it could be kept right at about 3 pounds.

I'm going to sell mine when ION 2 is available and just plan on losing $100-125 on the thing.

Whereabouts are you going to be selling it, ebay? I'll keep my eyes open.

Notebooks are good, not good for extreme gaming. Anyway the pc market is dominated by home theatre and internet.

Not that many people use pcs for extreme gaming, i'm more of a nintendo wii man myself.

Thanks for listening. John.