AOD150-1165
10.1-Inch Netbook - Sapphire Blue
products by Acer



AOD150-1165, Acer's top-selling netbook gets even better with a 10-inch display and six-cell battery. A great choice for students as well as business travelers who like to travel light, the affordable Acer Aspire One AOD150-1165 weighs just under 3 pounds and has a 6-cell battery that provides up to 5 hours of battery life for extended use and productivity when away from an AC outlet. Designed especially for mobile devices, the 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 processor uses a brand new design structure new hafnium-infused circuitry, which reduces electrical current leakage in transistors to conserve energy

Offering a cool deep blue chassis, the AOD150-1165 netbook 's smooth surface is comfortable to touch, and it's accented with distinctive details, such as the attractive orange hinge ring. You'll be able to easily video chat wherever you roam thanks to the Crystal Eye webcam integrated into the LCD's bezel, delivering smooth video streaming and high quality images even in low-light situations. And the built-in digital microphone delivers superior voice quality keeping background noise level low and minimizing echoes.

Packed with roomy 160 GB hard drive--great for storing a mobile digital audio and video library--this Aspire One AOD150-1165 also features 1 GB of installed RAM (1.5 GB maximum), 54g Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g), multi-format memory card reader, multiple USB ports, and built-in email, web browsing, and digital media applications.
It comes preinstalled with the Microsoft Windows XP Home operating system, which offers more experienced users an enhanced and innovative experience that incorporates Windows Live features like Windows Live Messenger for instant messaging and Windows Live Mail for consolidated email accounts on your desktop.

AOD150-1165 Processor
The Intel Atom processor uses a brand new design structure that packs in 47 million transistors into a single chip sized at just 22mm (0.87 inches), and it uses just 2.5 watts of power--less than 1/10 of the 35 watts used by an Intel Core 2 Duo processor--for excellent battery management. This 1.6 GHz Atom N270 processor also includes a power-optimized front side bus of 533 MHz for faster data transfer on demanding mobile applications and a 512 KB L2 cache (which temporarily stores data).

AOD150-1165 Storage
This version of the Aspire One AOD150-1165 comes with a 160 GB hard disk drive (5400 RPM), which offers enough to room to hold a an extra-large digital audio library of and still have room left over for movies, games, and a large collection of software. This Serial ATA (SATA) hard drive also quickens the pace with a higher speed transfer of data--akin to Firewire and USB 2.0.

AOD150-1165 Memory
The 1 GB of installed RAM (512 MB onboard memory and one 512 MB DIMM, 533 MHz) can be expanded to a maximum of 1.5 GB of RAM,

AOD150-1165 Screen, Video and Audio
The 10.1-inch screen has a WSVGA resolution (1024 x 600) and support for up a 262K color depth. Video is powered by the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950, which uses shared video memory with the main memory. Acer's CrystalBrite display technology guarantees the best possible visual experience by preventing the diffusion of surrounding light and internal ray. Compared to normal TFT LCDs, Acer CrystalBrite technology is able to read color coordinates more accurately, thus minimizing distortion and creating high-fidelity colors in all environments.

AOD150-1165 notebook includes an integrated audio card with Microsoft DirectSound compatibility, and it includes two stereo speakers.

AOD150-1165 Connectivity
This Acer Aspire One AOD150-1165 notebook has an integrated 54g wireless LAN (Acer InviLink) that's compatible with 802.11b and 802.11g networks and offers Acer's SignalUp technology for enhanced antenna efficiency. It has has one dedicated SD memory card slot as well as a second multi-in-one card reader that's compatible with five different types of memory cards--Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO and xD-Picture Card--for maximum flexibility. The ability to have both a multi-in-1 card reader and a SD card reader at the same time allows you to download photos from the multi-in-1 to share with others and store to the SD card as an internal storage device simultaneously. Here's the full list of ports and external connections:

• 3 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals--from digital cameras to MP3 players



• Multi-in-one card reader supports Secure Digital (SD), MultiMediaCard (MMC), Reduced Size MultiMedia (RS-MMC), Memory Stick/Memory Stick PRO, and XD Picture Cards



• 1 VGA monitor port



• 1 headphone jack and 1 microphone jack



• RJ-45 port for 10/100 Fast Ethernet connection

AOD150-1165 DVD/CD Drive
Because of its size, the Aspire One AOD150-1165 does not come with an integrated optical drive, but optional CD/DVD read/write drives can be connected to the laptop via one of the three USB ports, enabling you to create your music mixes, burn movies to DVD, and more.



AOD150-1165 Operating System and Software

• Windows XP Home with Service Pack 3 (SP3)
• Acer eRecovery Management; Acer Launch Manager; Adobe REader; McAfee Internet Security Suite; Microsoft Office 2007 (Trial)

AOD150-1165 Dimensions and Weight
AOD150-1165 netbook measures 10.2 x 7.28 x 1.31 inches (WxDxH) and weighs 2.95 pounds.



AOD150-1165 Performance
Test by Laptop magazine

On PCMark05, which measures the total system performance for Windows XP, the system notched a score of 1,505, about 120 points above the netbook average. During our subjective tests, programs loaded relatively quickly even when we had several others running in the background. We were able to write this review in Microsoft Word 2007 while listening to an album in Windows Media Player and surfing the Web in Firefox 3.
The 160GB, 5,400-rpm hard drive booted the system in a solid 50 seconds, about 5 seconds faster than average. The LAPTOP Transfer Test (copying a 4.97GB folder of mixed media) took 4 minutes and 47 seconds to complete, a rate of 17.7 MBps. That is about 4 MBps faster than the average netbook and edges out the previous top dog, the Samsung NC10, by 0.3 MBps.

The Aspire One AOD150-1165’s integrated graphics chip allowed it to score 722 on 3DMark03 (which tests DirectX 9 performance), which is 110 points lower than the category average. Nevertheless, it scored in the same range as similarly equipped netbooks, including the HP Mini 2140. The system handled streaming video without a hiccup.

During testing, the Aspire One AOD150-1165 mostly kept its cool, and we didn’t feel our lap getting hot during regular usage. When running the LAPTOP Battery Test (continuous Web surfing over Wi-Fi), the bottom of the system stayed around 92 degrees Fahrenheit. However, when we ran the PCMark05 benchmark, which taxes the system to a greater degree, the underside of the unit registered a very hot 107 degrees.


AOD150-1165 Battery Life Test by Laptop magazine

The Aspire One AOD150-1165's standard 4,400-mAh 6-cell battery delivered 6 hours of battery life on average, which is longer than many older systems such as the Eee PC 1000H and MSI Wind U100. However, the Eee PC 1000HE (7:08), Samsung NC10 (6:34), and HP Mini 2140 (7:19) all outlasted the Aspire One AOD150-1165.

Editors' Note (3/23/09): In our first test of the 4,400-mAh Aspire One battery, the system endured only 4:24, far below average for a 6-cell system and over 3 hours less than the 7:57 we got from a special 5800-mAh battery we originally received from Acer. After some queries from readers who wondered how a battery with 24-percent less juice could last 44-percent less time, we decided to retest the system with the 4400-mAh battery.

In three subsequent tests at the same settings (40-percent brightness), the Aspire One AOD150-1165 lasted 6:12, 5:53,and 5:56, an average of 6 hours, which are now counting as our official score. Even at full brightness, the system lasted 5:23, an hour longer than in its original run at 40-percent. We were surprised because our battery test results have always been extremely consistent from one run to another with variations never exceeding more than a few minutes. The only explanation we have at this time for the extremely poor initial test is that the 4400-mAh battery we received did not come with the system and may not have fully charged the first time we tested it.


AOD150-1165 Wireless Performance Test by Laptop magazine

The 802.11b/g Wi-Fi card provided a strong connection for working in the cloud. On Wi-Fi tests the Aspire One AOD150-1165 pushed data along at a rate of 20.1 Mbps at 15 feet and 18.0 Mbps at 50 feet from our access point. It scored much higher than the netbook averages of 18.7 Mbps and 15.1 Mbps from those respective distances. The Aspire One AOD150-1165’s scores aren’t quite as high as the HP Mini 2140’s (24.5/20.4 Mbps); however, the Aspire One AOD150-1165 is not equipped with 802.11n. In our use of the netbook, streaming video clips from Hulu.com played smoothly. Acer plans to offer the Aspire One AOD150-1165 with mobile broadband and WiMAX connectivity options.

The Aspire One AOD150-1165 does not include Bluetooth, unfortunately. Many other competing netbooks, including the Eee PC 1000HE, MSI Wind U120, Samsung NC10, and HP Mini 2140 include this feature, which allows users to pair the system with a wireless headset for VoIP calls, use a cell phone as a wireless modem, and exchange files with cell phones and other Bluetooth devices.



AOD150-1165 Pros

• very affordable
• improved touchpad
• speedy hard drive
• svelte chassis

AOD150-1165 Cons

• Keyboard a bit cramped
• touchpad button too small
• bluetooth not included