Video Hands-on with $299 Acer Aspire One A0532h: Cheap Yet Chic

If you can get a good-looking Windows 7 netbook with a 6-cell battery for less than 300 bucks, why would you pay more? This is a question that should make Acer’s competitors nervous, because the Aspire One AO532h is a very fashionable and functional device for the price. The HP Mini 210, for example, costs $369 with a 6-cell battery, and the Toshiba mini NB305 goes for $399. So is the AO532h really a good deal? Decide for yourself by reading our impressions and feasting your peepers on the gallery and video.

The Onyx Blue version of the Ao532h sports sort of a two-tone finish on the lid that fades from black to blue. (It’s also available in Garnet Red and Silver Matrix). The dimpled touchpad also looks cool, and we like that it’s larger than earlier Aspire Ones. Just beware of friction; our finger dragged a bit more than we liked. The single touchpad button is a bit shiny for our tastes, but at least it’s fairly large. Acer’s FineTip keyboard also felt solid.

In terms of specs, we’re looking at an Intel Atom N450 processor, 1GB of RAM, and a 160GB hard drive, but a $350 model will likely feature a bigger hard drive and more memory, along with an extra-capacity 6-cell battery that’s rated to last as long as 10 hours. Stay tuned for a full review, but in the meantime enjoy the gallery and video.